any church band bassist here?
- Thread starter hayabusa
- Start date
dumbcube
New member
Do you have a systems of hand signals from the worship leader? That'll help alot.
TidesOfBlood
New member
i believe there are hand signals for respective parts. if don't have, better develop. no way you can do without it.
hayabusa
New member
hey.. i didn't notice the update to my thread here. haha.. now my current music team is already different. the guitarist and keyboardist are novice youth (teens) they're not good at chords when it comes to complex ones like Eb6, Csus2, etc (yes, worship songs are FULL of weird chords!).. so they only play Eb and C. nothing wrong, but it kills part of the feel. so it's up to me to sound the full chord with the bass. but i can only play note by note, so if's a fast song that change chord on every beat, then nothing much i can do..
Chord instrument players: learn your chords!
i'm yet to hear the come holy spirit song. rapidshare links, anyone? :mrgreen:
Chord instrument players: learn your chords!
i'm yet to hear the come holy spirit song. rapidshare links, anyone? :mrgreen:
guitarlover
New member
my take on playing in churches...
I have come to notice the trend many churches started to have bands, even small churches who don't really have enough "real musician" want to have a band...
So it turn out many are ask to serve cause "lack of players" and the result are always not musical...
I have personally experience myself.....and I dare say that many just wanted to be musician but are not actually gifted to be a "musician"..
I am not pointing at anyone here but just that i feel really irritated by this fact......
when I play with my secular band, they are "real musician"...we can simply understand each other without even talking sometimes.....all by ears and just eye contact....very easy
when i was playing in church, I was having a hard time just trying to communicate cause they are so many things that are done not right musically.....and my advice was not always taken seriously.....they will always use the word "subjective" as an excuse...
anyway, I hope those of who want serve in church as a musician, don't just go thru the motion...do your part....if you don't know theory,you better have real good ears....or else..take lessons, listen a lot, attend clinics,practise EVERDAY ,know your stuff(like how to get a good sound, what equipment, how to connect etc).. be humble...cause there is too much to learn
as musician, we rather have not enough musician than "bad" musician...
Apologise for out of topic, just my feelings
I have come to notice the trend many churches started to have bands, even small churches who don't really have enough "real musician" want to have a band...
So it turn out many are ask to serve cause "lack of players" and the result are always not musical...
I have personally experience myself.....and I dare say that many just wanted to be musician but are not actually gifted to be a "musician"..
I am not pointing at anyone here but just that i feel really irritated by this fact......
when I play with my secular band, they are "real musician"...we can simply understand each other without even talking sometimes.....all by ears and just eye contact....very easy
when i was playing in church, I was having a hard time just trying to communicate cause they are so many things that are done not right musically.....and my advice was not always taken seriously.....they will always use the word "subjective" as an excuse...
anyway, I hope those of who want serve in church as a musician, don't just go thru the motion...do your part....if you don't know theory,you better have real good ears....or else..take lessons, listen a lot, attend clinics,practise EVERDAY ,know your stuff(like how to get a good sound, what equipment, how to connect etc).. be humble...cause there is too much to learn
as musician, we rather have not enough musician than "bad" musician...
Apologise for out of topic, just my feelings
Hello all... I also play bass for church. My primary instrument is drums, so I can see things from both perspectives.
My two cents is that you gotta work things out with your drummer. Personally, if I were in your shoes, I'd be darned annoyed if my drummer is having rhythm schizophrenia. Poor you trying to figure out wad exactly is he gonna come up with next. From the listener's POV (in this case the congregation), it can even be distracting hearing different things within the same verse. Try to get him to discipline himself and keep things simple. That would give the listener's ear drums something to 'chew' on, rather than distract their attention from God.
I'm an advocate of the "less-is-more" principle when it comes to playing bass in church. No flashy stuff, just lock with the kick and let ur notes serve the song. It's about God working, not our skills. I don't mean you completely avoid the complex stuff; you have to judiciously apply those complex licks up your sleeve to the song. I think that applies to all musician in a band actually.
IF all else fails, just make sure u land on '1' with him and change chords with the rest of the band. Oh, and if you think everyone in your band is n00b, then just revert to playing REALLY simple and build from there. It may be painful at first, but it'll help you in the long run.
Yeah, just my advice. I didn't factor how the worship leader works into this equation as I feel the worship leader should also know how to manage his band properly too. But that's a separate issue altogether.
My two cents is that you gotta work things out with your drummer. Personally, if I were in your shoes, I'd be darned annoyed if my drummer is having rhythm schizophrenia. Poor you trying to figure out wad exactly is he gonna come up with next. From the listener's POV (in this case the congregation), it can even be distracting hearing different things within the same verse. Try to get him to discipline himself and keep things simple. That would give the listener's ear drums something to 'chew' on, rather than distract their attention from God.
I'm an advocate of the "less-is-more" principle when it comes to playing bass in church. No flashy stuff, just lock with the kick and let ur notes serve the song. It's about God working, not our skills. I don't mean you completely avoid the complex stuff; you have to judiciously apply those complex licks up your sleeve to the song. I think that applies to all musician in a band actually.
IF all else fails, just make sure u land on '1' with him and change chords with the rest of the band. Oh, and if you think everyone in your band is n00b, then just revert to playing REALLY simple and build from there. It may be painful at first, but it'll help you in the long run.
Yeah, just my advice. I didn't factor how the worship leader works into this equation as I feel the worship leader should also know how to manage his band properly too. But that's a separate issue altogether.
100% agree.
EADGBe
New member
I just can't help noticing that the problem is not you, brother! Are you guys missing out on song arrangement?
The drummer goes a on a 'delightful' trip whilst the electric guitarist 'free fretting' on his own - that doesn't sound like arrangement!
The drummer goes a on a 'delightful' trip whilst the electric guitarist 'free fretting' on his own - that doesn't sound like arrangement!
my lead guitarist never bother to follow the songs. he'll just ask for the key and goreng on his own. in return, he steals the show instead. wish we bassist can do that too.
that's one of the reason wny not many people interested in fat strings. shallow minded people adore the skinny
alanchia
New member
In my church band, we receive the songs (chord charts) 2 weeks before the Sunday worship. During the 2 weeks, we'll listen to CDs to familiarize the worship song arrangements. Some of us even visit Youtube for tips on difficult parts.
The lead electric guitarist and myself (bass guitarist) have a Tascam MP3 trainer each, and we rehearse our parts faithfully. Likewise the drummer follows the drum groove as played in the original.
That way, as a cover band, we attempt to reproduce (as much as possible) the original arrangement in order not to 'murder' the songs.
The lead electric guitarist and myself (bass guitarist) have a Tascam MP3 trainer each, and we rehearse our parts faithfully. Likewise the drummer follows the drum groove as played in the original.
That way, as a cover band, we attempt to reproduce (as much as possible) the original arrangement in order not to 'murder' the songs.
keithC
New member
i face the same problem of not having enough players bro.
but the real worship theology behind this issue is not "rather have no enough musician than bad musicians",
but, "God would rather have bad worshippers than no worshippers, bad musicians than no musicians." so long as you want to, he will accept, period..
keep playing and dont be discouraged!
kerplunk182
New member
I sent in my application for the music ministry a couple of days back. My chances of getting in are pretty slim. But i'm still gonna give it my best shot
alanchia
New member
Yes, it's the heart that counts. And also, the worship is all about God - not the musicians.
alanchia
New member
I sent in my application for the music ministry a couple of days back. My chances of getting in are pretty slim. But i'm still gonna give it my best shot
Your church has many serving in music/worship ministry? In my church's situation, we cant find enough musicians to fill-in.
kerplunk182
New member
Alanchia: Um i guess so; it's a pretty large congregation. But they use the same musicians most of the time. I use to go to a church with a similar situation. There were so little musicians to the point that the church got a little desperate and it was quite sad :\
alanchia
New member
In the Celebration service, there are 4 worship teams in my church. But, one of the worship band (which I am in) have to serve in 2 worship teams due to lack of musicians.
drumandbass
New member
Facing the same problem.
And we're kinda just picking out people to play. Just train who we feel can make it. But I really don't like that idea.
Guuys, any tips to share on how you recruit musicians?
