Fun songs I can bring to our church... Need some help

[jbasso]

Hello all

I just recently started playing bass in our church band, which, well, I will admit I am hesitant. I am 17 years old, keep this in mind. My brother, who is 15, usually plays drums (he is amazing for his age) and the other rotating bassists are young also (the girl that played today is 13 I believe). The other members of the band are quite a bit older, the vocalists (we usually have a few, 3-4) are usually in their mid 40s or so. Our music director is in his 50s, and our organist/keyboards is probably in her 70s or so.

Anyways, us younger folks want to step outside the box a bit and bring something a bit more, dare I say it, up-beat into what is supposed to be a contemporary service (but it is NOTHING like other contemporary services I have been to). The average age of our congregation is probably pretty old, so yeah, there are some older people. I was thinking of bringing it up to our director, who is a cool guy, he will understand, if maybe we could do a more "modern" and upbeat song or two one Sunday. Most of the current material, as much as I hate to say it, is pretty boring to play. Although I know I am not there to have fun, I think the youth of the church would really like it.

Basically, I was inspired by the band who played at M.O.V.E. last weekend. Im not sure if you know what move is, but it was a large get together for youth groups in MN, Im sure they have them around the US, but we went out and did small mission projects and such, and they had a few worship services each day. The band was amazing. The bassist was also amazing, and he was having a BLAST, I could tell. In my opinion, he led the band as much as the vocalists. They are also the band playing at CHIC this year, Im sure you know what that is. I was thinking of finding some contact info for the band and asking them if they could send some music, but I was going to ask you guys first.

So, bottom line, anyone have any good song suggestions for me? Just anything you think would be fun to play, and possibly inspire other youth who may not like the slower worship songs we normally play. Nothing wrong with slow, but the way things go at my church, they just seem "dead"

Thanks for taking the time top read, and I thank you in advance for any suggestions you have for me.

-Josh

[steveb98]

Since you said all I will throw in my two cents. Who are you playing for yourself or the audience. I would say offer the suggestion and some songs that you would think the audience would like. If they don't want to do it, then I would see if they would consider a youth concert or dance. The first time I saw a band play live was at a church dance and that is what inspired me to want to play music. So as a musician you need to play for your audience and if you have other music you want to play then you need to find or create the opportunity to play.

[Torch7]

Originally Posted by jbasso

Hello all

I just recently started playing bass in our church band, which, well, I will admit I am hesitant. I am 17 years old, keep this in mind. My brother, who is 15, usually plays drums (he is amazing for his age) and the other rotating bassists are young also (the girl that played today is 13 I believe). The other members of the band are quite a bit older, the vocalists (we usually have a few, 3-4) are usually in their mid 40s or so. Our music director is in his 50s, and our organist/keyboards is probably in her 70s or so.

Anyways, us younger folks want to step outside the box a bit and bring something a bit more, dare I say it, up-beat into what is supposed to be a contemporary service (but it is NOTHING like other contemporary services I have been to). The average age of our congregation is probably pretty old, so yeah, there are some older people. I was thinking of bringing it up to our director, who is a cool guy, he will understand, if maybe we could do a more "modern" and upbeat song or two one Sunday. Most of the current material, as much as I hate to say it, is pretty boring to play. Although I know I am not there to have fun, I think the youth of the church would really like it.

Basically, I was inspired by the band who played at M.O.V.E. last weekend. Im not sure if you know what move is, but it was a large get together for youth groups in MN, Im sure they have them around the US, but we went out and did small mission projects and such, and they had a few worship services each day. The band was amazing. The bassist was also amazing, and he was having a BLAST, I could tell. In my opinion, he led the band as much as the vocalists. They are also the band playing at CHIC this year, Im sure you know what that is. I was thinking of finding some contact info for the band and asking them if they could send some music, but I was going to ask you guys first.

So, bottom line, anyone have any good song suggestions for me? Just anything you think would be fun to play, and possibly inspire other youth who may not like the slower worship songs we normally play. Nothing wrong with slow, but the way things go at my church, they just seem "dead"

Thanks for taking the time top read, and I thank you in advance for any suggestions you have for me.

-Josh

Speak to your director, about some Israel and New Breed & Martha Munizzi, or Clint Brown songs, I think they do a good Job of bringing great musicianship to there songs, and seemlessly erasing genre lines.

We have a good mix of older saints, and young people in our Sunday Morning Worship Services. Everyone seems to enjoy the music. Our typical formula is to play some upbeat selections then moving into more reflective slow moving Worship Music.

Also ask for liberty during reharsal to try new things, changing the tempo & bassline of an existing song, can do wonders. We often during practice go into an improvisation type mode (Well the other musicians, I usually, jus follow their lead, every once in a while I have a stroke of genius...) And new songs are often birth this way.

[erikbojerik]

What kind of stuff are you playing now? Any modern comtemporary radio stuff? Or revamped hymns?

You might try bringing some CDs to rehearsal to play for your worship leader, and see how he responds.

[Tony G]

I used to love playing the song "more than gold" in church with my fretless.

[WalterBush]

Check this guy out. FWIW, he gave permission a few years ago to freely distribute his music in MP3 format, but slowly some of his songs are showing up on iTunes, so I'm not sure what's legal to download now and what's not. He's got a great bassist, though:

http://www.onfritz.com/TaylorDownloads.html

[Todd Johnson]

Hi Josh,

On a personal level.... I REALLY love the old hymns of faith... They present the gospel message..... plus... the melodies "tend" to be GREAT.

The only thing is they "generally" need a little help or re-harmoniztion done to them to bring them into the 21st century.

I've had a ball ..... and quite a bit of success at "fixing" some of the old hymns..... The older saints will love it because you're playing something they recognize..... the younger saints will appreciate the "face lift" you gave to a "tired" old tune etc..

People will be genuinely blessed by your creativity and musicianship etc. Our pastors don't read prepared sermons etc. They put things in their own words (quoting scripture accurately though) and present their "take" on it ... so to speak.

Why do the musicians have to play it "just like the cd"..... or exactly the way it's written in the hymnal???

Now, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with playing things that way,....... but after a while.....that stuff get's VERY stale ..... and for me personally...... can take away from the worship.... God WANTS us to use our creativity, musicianship etc. to glorify HIM!!!!

This is just one way..... one example of things you could do... The options are endless.

Kudos to you for looking to "create" for God's worship.

What a priviledge!!!

[RacingBeat]

I'm pretty young (19 years old), and i just love hymns!
There's something about the things old men of faith write, songs, sermons, or books.
Even though we live in this age, remember that the Bible is timeless and it will never be updated, and 2000 years of saint's wisdom are in these songs!

speaking of old saints, i encourage you to read writings by Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, Wesley brothers, John Calvin, etc. Gain from these men's wisdom!

As for creativity, i just love singing old songs in new ways! it's quite refreshing! like todd said, what a priviledge it is to use our creativity, which is God given, to give back to our creator!

[cptnhook]

Originally Posted by Todd Johnson

Hi Josh,

On a personal level.... I REALLY love the old hymns of faith... They present the gospel message..... plus... the melodies "tend" to be GREAT.

The only thing is they "generally" need a little help or re-harmoniztion done to them to bring them into the 21st century.

I've had a ball ..... and quite a bit of success at "fixing" some of the old hymns..... The older saints will love it because you're playing something they recognize..... the younger saints will appreciate the "face lift" you gave to a "tired" old tune etc..

People will be genuinely blessed by your creativity and musicianship etc. Our pastors don't read prepared sermons etc. They put things in their own words (quoting scripture accurately though) and present their "take" on it ... so to speak.

Why do the musicians have to play it "just like the cd"..... or exactly the way it's written in the hymnal???

Now, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with playing things that way,....... but after a while.....that stuff get's VERY stale ..... and for me personally...... can take away from the worship.... God WANTS us to use our creativity, musicianship etc. to glorify HIM!!!!

This is just one way..... one example of things you could do... The options are endless.

Kudos to you for looking to "create" for God's worship.

What a priviledge!!!

+1

Passion's "Hymns" CD has a lot of interesting rearrangements of old classics, and could be a great starting place for developing new ideas for rearranging old songs. They even add entirely new chorus sections to some of the stanza-formulated hymns.

[Todd Johnson]

Originally Posted by cptnhook

+1

Passion's "Hymns" CD has a lot of interesting rearrangements of old classics, and could be a great starting place for developing new ideas for rearranging old songs. They even add entirely new chorus sections to some of the stanza-formulated hymns.

cptnhook,

You've got it......great idea!!

There's inspiration EVERYWHERE we look. I think we all just have to look and put a little effort into things. It's that simple!!

Well done!!

[mr gray]

be encourage i play with church choir and praise and worship
you must listen to todays gospel 6-string bass and 12strings are running with these young gospel players check out GOSPEL CHOPS.COM
MR GRAY
DENVER COLORADO

Originally Posted by Torch7

Speak to your director, about some Israel and New Breed & Martha Munizzi, or Clint Brown songs, I think they do a good Job of bringing great musicianship to there songs, and seemlessly erasing genre lines.

We have a good mix of older saints, and young people in our Sunday Morning Worship Services. Everyone seems to enjoy the music. Our typical formula is to play some upbeat selections then moving into more reflective slow moving Worship Music.

Also ask for liberty during reharsal to try new things, changing the tempo & bassline of an existing song, can do wonders. We often during practice go into an improvisation type mode (Well the other musicians, I usually, jus follow their lead, every once in a while I have a stroke of genius...) And new songs are often birth this way.

[groov'ster]

Originally Posted by Torch7

Speak to your director, about some Israel and New Breed & Martha Munizzi, or Clint Brown songs, I think they do a good Job of bringing great musicianship to there songs, and seemlessly erasing genre lines.

We have a good mix of older saints, and young people in our Sunday Morning Worship Services. Everyone seems to enjoy the music. Our typical formula is to play some upbeat selections then moving into more reflective slow moving Worship Music.

Also ask for liberty during reharsal to try new things, changing the tempo & bassline of an existing song, can do wonders. We often during practice go into an improvisation type mode (Well the other musicians, I usually, jus follow their lead, every once in a while I have a stroke of genius...) And new songs are often birth this way.

+1 on Israel and Clint Brown. Both offer great messages and music. My church does alot of both and the congregation really enjoys them. The music really creates an atmosphere of praise and worship. And as the bassist, I just luv it, you really get to groove.

By the way Torch7 other than myself not alot of people know about Clint Brown, or at least don't mention him, how did you come across him? I have the NBC DVD and those guys flat out jam.
Believe it or not he used to direct music for a church down the road from us several years ago. Great guy.

[Todd Johnson]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the Clinit Brown tip......I'll have to check him out.

[groov'ster]

http://www.clintbrown.com/


Hey Todd, Clint is not only an annointed singer / musician he is an annointed pastor as well.
But when it comes to music he and his worship team are awesome.
His bassist is Jamaal Andrews and he is one bad / deeeeeeeeeep in the pocket player.
Like I said earlier I don't think alot of people have heard of him/them, but once you do you are hooked.

[Todd Johnson]

Originally Posted by groov'ster

http://www.clintbrown.com/


Hey Todd, Clint is not only an annointed singer / musician he is an annointed pastor as well.
But when it comes to music he and his worship team are awesome.
His bassist is Jamaal Andrews and he is one bad / deeeeeeeeeep in the pocket player.
Like I said earlier I don't think alot of people have heard of him/them, but once you do you are hooked.

Thanks for the link.....I'll try to check him out!!

Cool........

[megiddo]

We're going to play "Strong Tower" by Kutless this Sunday. Fantastic lyrics, rocking song.

You might look into some Mercy Me, Audio Adrenaline (Leaving 99 - Ocean Floor), David Crowder or Chris Tomlin. There's a little something for everone there.

[Todd Johnson]

Originally Posted by megiddo

We're going to play "Strong Tower" by Kutless this Sunday. Fantastic lyrics, rocking song.

You might look into some Mercy Me, Audio Adrenaline (Leaving 99 - Ocean Floor), David Crowder or Chris Tomlin. There's a little something for everone there.

Thanks for the tip!!!!!!!! I'll keep my eyes open for these guys.

[Torch7]

Originally Posted by groov'ster

+1 on Israel and Clint Brown. Both offer great messages and music. My church does alot of both and the congregation really enjoys them. The music really creates an atmosphere of praise and worship. And as the bassist, I just luv it, you really get to groove.

By the way Torch7 other than myself not alot of people know about Clint Brown, or at least don't mention him, how did you come across him? I have the NBC DVD and those guys flat out jam.
Believe it or not he used to direct music for a church down the road from us several years ago. Great guy.

Hey groovster sorry, I haven't been around lately and I got you post just now...

My pastor and Praise & Worship Leader turned me on to clint brown, we have covered numerous clint brown songs over the years, almost every song from the Judah One CD, and maybe 60% of the In His Presence CD.

His Bass player has a myspace page http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...1-9d0173d908c8

Martha Munizzi started out singing with CLINT.

[Torch7]

Originally Posted by Todd Johnson

Hi Josh,

On a personal level.... I REALLY love the old hymns of faith... They present the gospel message..... plus... the melodies "tend" to be GREAT.

The only thing is they "generally" need a little help or re-harmoniztion done to them to bring them into the 21st century.

Hey Todd, if you haven't already done so... you might want to look into Donnie McClurkins latest CD, "Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs". His bass player Darrell Freeman is a MONSTER!!! The Reharmonization of some of the old hymns is WOW... http://www.donniemcclurkin.com/ the "I Love to Praise Him"(snippet) that loads when the page loads makes me want to listen to so much more. And he has a version of "Awesome God" that is put to a caribbean melody... Then there is the "Language Medley" Where donnie is singing in "japanese, german, suranamese, zulu... it is sooo cool. TWO CD's well worth the price.

Donnie actually has a portion on the CD when he was talking about how the younger generation needs to learn the older hymns, because their message is so powerful.

Its a staple in my CD player.

[Cardiac95]

Originally Posted by megiddo

You might look into some Mercy Me, Audio Adrenaline (Leaving 99 - Ocean Floor), David Crowder or Chris Tomlin. There's a little something for everone there.

Crowder absolutely rocks & would go over well with any Youth Group.

For the congregation at large, Tomlin might be a better jumping off point. He's a little more Pop/Top 40 & his lyrics are outstanding & rooted in truth.

Also, if I read correctly & you're just getting started with bass, check out www.normstockton.com. Phenomenal player with some very cool instructional videos geared towards aspiring Christian bassists.