Playing for a church band

[5string5fingers]

So,many sudden and recent changes have happened in my life in trying to better my life and fill a void that has been there for years with God. I'm looking at joining a church down here that just got started and they're looking for musicians in the band. I talked to one of the leadership members today and so there's a high possiblity if I stay at this church I'll be playing bass.

My question is,what are some things I need to make sure I know how to do?

Sorry for my ignorance..I've honestly never really been in any sort of organized band,just jam sessions with friends, so I don't know what to expect,and what's expected of me.

[MDFreeze]

Nashville Standard is a must. If you don't what exactly it is, look it up. Very useful. Also learn the Circle of 5ths. On the fly it's easier for someone to signal how many sharps or flats are in the key the leader is in, without having to scream it over the whole band during a worship set.

Just a couple things that are useful in every situation, Good luck and have fun!

[tjh]

What Freeze is referring to, is the need to quite often play a song in several different keys, depending on who is singing, or leading worship on that day ... Nashville 'notation' is assigning a # to each note of the key scale, so patterns and bass parts are more 'movable' on the fly ...

also, we are there to compliment the message of music, so just be steady and simple, and listen to where the leader is taking the rest of the group ... it can be easy to want to 'overplay' some of the worship tunes ... so try to listen, and keep a tight pocket with the drummer that compliments the vocals and lead instruments ... most importantly, we are the worship 'team' with a purpose to lead others in their praising and giving thanks ... congratulations!! on your recognizing God's calling you ... it took a lot of years for me to wake up to the fact that this is what was missing in my life, and now it is the reason for my life ... enjoy your new found closeness with Him ... it is life changing

[tobie]

Find out what 'notation' they use and get used to playing from them. Most churches simply use lyrics with chords written on top of the words. If they're playing off standard music sheets which do not show the chords as well and you're not used to playing off those, you've got some homework cut out for you...

Find out if they've recorded some (or hopefully most) of their songs. If so, get the recordings and use them for practice together with their relevant chord sheets / music sheets. It will make you feel much more at home on stage.

Enjoy the new experience - playing in a church band simply ROCKS! The added advantage is that church bands mostly play accross all genres, so you get unmatched exposure!

[JimmyKickButt]

I've grown up in the church but I didn't pick up the bass till year and a half ago. I was on the youth groups band after "playing" for 5 months, and after about 13 months was allowed on to the regular Sunday band. I still have A LOT to learn but, being put in the band pushed me to learn the basics FAST. If I can do it with no experience, and I'm no musical prodigy, I'm sure you'll catch on just fine if you've been at for any reasonable amount of time. The above posts tell you the things you should expect/know. best wishes!

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by 5string5fingers

I'm looking at joining a church down here that just got started and they're looking for musicians in the band.

Yes, find what kind of sheet music they will be using and practice using it.

Church bands - you are a member of the church first and a member of the band second. Have you joined the church? That would be the first commitment.

Welcome.

[TheMutt]

Congratulations on deciding to get your relationship with God back on track!

I've been playing for praise teams for about 4-5 years now. I wouldn't say that I am in any way shape or form a professional, but I currently play for two praise teams, and occasionally at small to mid-sized church conferences. There are a number of things that I have learned over the years.

Get used to playing things in odd tunings. If you aren't used to seeing things notated in Eb instead of D#, start learning your enharmonics. The keyboardist in your group (if you have one, and they happen to be the leader) will give you all kinds of odd notations. This may necessitate a 5-string bass (I'm assuming that you have one with your user ID ), a 4-string bass with a detuner, or the ability to tune to a pitch on the fly if need be.

Learn the concept of space. Moreso than most other forms of music (IME), if you are overplaying on the bass in praise, you can really drown out the other instruments or draw attention away from the lyrics, their meaning, and the congregation's ability to worship. This goes for all instruments.

Learn to read what the praise leader's ques are. They may suddenly decide to repeat a verse instead of hitting the chorus, or run a chorus once at normal speed, and then slow it down the second time around, or abruptly change keys mid-song. If your praise leader doesn't have any ques, ask them to give you some ques until you are all in tune and time with what he or she is planning on doing.

Take advice with a grain of salt. You're not there to be a bass hero to all of the aspiring bassists in the congregation (which doesn't mean that you can't teach some of the youth kids how to play bass, in fact I'd highly encourage this). Instead, you are there for the sole purpose of leading others in the praise and worship of God. You need to play in a way that suits the music and supports the other instruments.

Have or aspire to a humble attitude about your place on the praise team. It's about praising God, not boosting your ego.

Learn to sing and play if you can carry a tune. I'm currently working on this one.

Definitely try to get a listing of songs along with some form of recorded version of them beforehand and learn the songs to the best of your ability. However, you should also be ready to play anything on the fly.

Work on your ear training. Sometimes the praise leader will start out a song and forget to tell everyone that they are playing in a different key. This doesn't happen often, but it's important to be aware that it can happen.

Learn to read the keyboardist's hands, or the guitarist's hands to see which key things are being played in. This also helps with chord transition timing, which can vary greatly from the recorded version of songs and from praise leader to praise leader.

Be ready to not use effects much if the praise team isn't cool with it. I have slowly been able to implement effects into the songs that we are playing little by little. This is the current board that I am using:

The pedals that get the most use are the Compulator (compressor, always on), the tuner, and the chorus.

This all absolutely does not mean that there are not times when you can't completely cut loose and double absolutely does not mean that you can't have fun and enjoy what you are playing. By all means rock on and have fun while doing it.

[tobie]

Originally Posted by TheMutt

This all absolutely does not mean that there are not times when you can't completely cut loose and double absolutely does not mean that you can't have fun and enjoy what you are playing. By all means rock on and have fun while doing it.

All of our band leaders love to occasionally stop all instruments and clap together with the bass & drums. That's the time to cut loose and have fun!

[TheMutt]

Originally Posted by tobie

All of our band leaders love to occasionally stop all instruments and clap together with the bass & drums. That's the time to cut loose and have fun!

+1!
I love when that happens.

[WalterBush]

This may cause controversy, but I've had a couple worship leaders and high-profile Christian musicians tell me the same thing, so I'll pass it on; giving offense is not my intent, and every church is different, etc, but here's a piece of advice I've found valuable:

Make sure to get your own worship, prayer, etc done at home; be filled up before you take the stage, or else you'll have nothing to give during corporate worship. What's more, the church needs it's worship team paying attention to the worship leader, not getting lost in the moment, no matter how wonderful that time of corporate worship is.

In other words, pay attention on stage. Get fed spiritually at home, so you can help feed others at church. They've called you to minister at a higher level; that's a big responsibility, something more awesome than simply playing bass. Some worship teams only play or sing in worship at church; this leads to the members closing their eyes because it's the first worship they've experienced all week, or focusing on what they're receiving from God rather than what's going on around them, missing cues from pastors, missing prompts from the Holy Ghost, or simply missing the bridge of a song.

Sing and praise at home as well as church (practice time doesn't count, IMO) and you'll be better equipped to lead your congregation. Receive ministry when you're not on stage, so you have something to give during the service.

Anyway, my .02 and the .02 of a few high profile worship leaders I've met over the years. I know being my church's bassist is the most rewarding gig I've got, hands down. I know you'll feel the same way

[TheMutt]

Originally Posted by WalterBush

This may cause controversy, but I've had a couple worship leaders and high-profile Christian musicians tell me the same thing, so I'll pass it on; giving offense is not my intent, and every church is different, etc, but here's a piece of advice I've found valuable:

Make sure to get your own worship, prayer, etc done at home; be filled up before you take the stage, or else you'll have nothing to give during corporate worship. What's more, the church needs it's worship team paying attention to the worship leader, not getting lost in the moment, no matter how wonderful that time of corporate worship is.

In other words, pay attention on stage. Get fed spiritually at home, so you can help feed others at church. They've called you to minister at a higher level; that's a big responsibility, something more awesome than simply playing bass. Some worship teams only play or sing in worship at church; this leads to the members closing their eyes because it's the first worship they've experienced all week, or focusing on what they're receiving from God rather than what's going on around them, missing cues from pastors, missing prompts from the Holy Ghost, or simply missing the bridge of a song.

Sing and praise at home as well as church (practice time doesn't count, IMO) and you'll be better equipped to lead your congregation. Receive ministry when you're not on stage, so you have something to give during the service.

Anyway, my .02 and the .02 of a few high profile worship leaders I've met over the years. I know being my church's bassist is the most rewarding gig I've got, hands down. I know you'll feel the same way

I'm totally gonna have to +1 on all of this. I use a daily devotionals journal during the week as well as group study meetings twice a week between the weekend (I'm at different churches on Saturday and Sunday for two different services). Not including my personal or group practice time, I try to get in at least a song or two per day playing guitar and singing, playing bass and singing (this is slowly becoming more natural than playing guitar, and is getting more and more enjoyable), or even just listening to a track in the car and singing along for my own personal enjoyment. You definitely need to get fed some of the Word in your daily life, or you're going to be stringing out the grace from weekend to weekend with huge troughs inbetween. This absolutely has an effect on your playing and the congregation.

[JTE]

First, it's praise and worship to God, not to the music, the singers, nor the musicians. So keep focused on that and things will be a lot easier in the long run.

Second, it really depends on the church. I see these posts here, and it's pretty much not what happens at our church. No charts most of the time, at best it's a lyric sheet. The keyboard player will work with the choir to determine the key, but they'll often start cold in a different key come Sunday. So, you gotta be listening and watching to see what's going on. Lots of key changes happen in our stuff, a half-step up after repeating a chorus is common, and again, and again sometimes.

Third, going back to #1. Volume is always an issue. Some people like the music louder than others, acoustics are seldom optimum, and monitoring is often less than ideal too. These always apply more in a new church as they build the worship experience. So, have enough to play the gig, but don't be bummed if you can't play as loud as you want too.

Our church is a 95-year old high-school building and our services are in the old auditorium. The room was designed for unamplified music and for speakers who projected. The acoustics are a mess because we don't have any of the theatrical curtains that were part of the original design, the acoustic tiles in the huge ceiling have been painted (which destroys their acoustic properties), and the original seats were removed decades ago. All that gives us a very "live" room with a HUGE reverb time. Lows carry (I have just about everything below 150 Hz rolled off the PA mains and monitors because those frequencies take over from everything else). When the drums and bass hit hard, it makes it impossible for me to get the choir levels up enough without being so loud that it bothers people. It's NOT a concert. So, pay attention to the sound of the whole presentation, and fit in.


Fourth- Trust in the LORD with all your heart. You'll likely be nervous at first, but work on getting better, you CAN do it. He will provide what you need when you need it.

Last thing- Be ready to help others welcome in Holy Spirit and the atmosphere of worship. Be fueled up yourself when you start, as others have said.


John

[5string5fingers]

I'm actually freaking out about all this now,reading all these posts,and doubting if I have the skill to do it. I'm not very experienced when it comes to playing with a group of people like I said before,I've done a good bit of jam sessions,but nothing organized,formal, and anything I've ever had to bust out a lot of theory. I just have a strange and bad feeling this may be beyond my level of playing right now.

[thatonedude02]

Originally Posted by 5string5fingers

I'm actually freaking out about all this now,reading all these posts,and doubting if I have the skill to do it. I'm not very experienced when it comes to playing with a group of people like I said before,I've done a good bit of jam sessions,but nothing organized,formal, and anything I've ever had to bust out a lot of theory. I just have a strange and bad feeling this may be beyond my level of playing right now.

Don't be too scared off. I have never seen a church band transpose on the fly or use weird keys. The group I sing with right now does everything in the written key and all of the music (except one song) has had full guitar chords and piano melody lines. (So, can you make up a bassline based on chords? Can you follow melody in treble clef? If not, are you willing to learn?) See, no problem. As for the sudden changes (repeating a verse, etc...) that's what rehearsal is for. A good group will talk about the strange nuances of the music before performance time.

If you want to get a better feel for what to expect, ask the music director which book(s) they use, and pick up an appropriate copy. If they play a variety of stuff, pick up a general book (such as the Spirit and Song book) and take a look through it.

[KingRazor]

Originally Posted by WalterBush

This may cause controversy, but I've had a couple worship leaders and high-profile Christian musicians tell me the same thing, so I'll pass it on; giving offense is not my intent, and every church is different, etc, but here's a piece of advice I've found valuable:

Make sure to get your own worship, prayer, etc done at home; be filled up before you take the stage, or else you'll have nothing to give during corporate worship. What's more, the church needs it's worship team paying attention to the worship leader, not getting lost in the moment, no matter how wonderful that time of corporate worship is.

In other words, pay attention on stage. Get fed spiritually at home, so you can help feed others at church. They've called you to minister at a higher level; that's a big responsibility, something more awesome than simply playing bass. Some worship teams only play or sing in worship at church; this leads to the members closing their eyes because it's the first worship they've experienced all week, or focusing on what they're receiving from God rather than what's going on around them, missing cues from pastors, missing prompts from the Holy Ghost, or simply missing the bridge of a song.

Sing and praise at home as well as church (practice time doesn't count, IMO) and you'll be better equipped to lead your congregation. Receive ministry when you're not on stage, so you have something to give during the service.

Anyway, my .02 and the .02 of a few high profile worship leaders I've met over the years. I know being my church's bassist is the most rewarding gig I've got, hands down. I know you'll feel the same way

+1

If you're prayed up God will move through you. Although practicing can make that a little easier too.

[5string5fingers]

Originally Posted by thatonedude02

Don't be too scared off. I have never seen a church band transpose on the fly or use weird keys. The group I sing with right now does everything in the written key and all of the music (except one song) has had full guitar chords and piano melody lines. (So, can you make up a bassline based on chords? Can you follow melody in treble clef? If not, are you willing to learn?) See, no problem. As for the sudden changes (repeating a verse, etc...) that's what rehearsal is for. A good group will talk about the strange nuances of the music before performance time.

If you want to get a better feel for what to expect, ask the music director which book(s) they use, and pick up an appropriate copy. If they play a variety of stuff, pick up a general book (such as the Spirit and Song book) and take a look through it.

Yea, I can make basslines using chords and what not. I hope they go for a more structured approach. I was told right now they're actually having to sing along with the cd they're singing songs from because they dont have the people to play the instruments they have.

[TheMutt]

Originally Posted by 5string5fingers

I'm actually freaking out about all this now,reading all these posts,and doubting if I have the skill to do it. I'm not very experienced when it comes to playing with a group of people like I said before,I've done a good bit of jam sessions,but nothing organized,formal, and anything I've ever had to bust out a lot of theory. I just have a strange and bad feeling this may be beyond my level of playing right now.

I should apologize for bombarding you with all the technical ins and outs of praise. You shouldn't worry too much about the technical stuff when you are starting out. Especially since this is a new church, I am certain that the praise team will be playing things fairly straightforward and there will be kinks to work out all around. These technical aspects are all things that you should keep in mind and learn little by little as they will help you to play more comfortably later on down the road no matter what genre of music that you are playing. However, it's absolutely not the skill of the player that matters in the end. If you're there to worship God, everything else will work itself out in the end because it was His plan that it be so in the first place. Focus on the reason why you want to join the praise team, and the technique and theory will follow.

As a personal testimony, I was just barely opening up to playing bass outside my bedroom when the praise leader and the current bassist at my church came up to me and said that they had heard that I was a bassist. The current bassist was starting a job that would only allow him to be present for the first service, which is done in Korean (my church has a Korean and English service), so they needed a replacement bassist for the English service. I had no real concept of how to play in a band context, but I wanted to be a part of the worship in a larger way and they both caught on to this. I started out being extremely shy, staring at my feet and playing awkwardly sometimes out of tune, sometimes before or after the beat. Eventually, I became comfortable in my position and learned how to follow along better and better. The challenge was actually fun, and I am extremely thankful that I could learn everything that I have so far while being able to worship God on my instrument of choice. This is when I started receiving the most grace as a member of the praise team. The rest of the congregation only really looks at the lyrics or the praise team, rarely at each other. Even then, when they do, it is usually at each other's backs. However, the praise team gets to see everyone's face as they praise. You get to see the miracles that are worked every single week through praise and worship. You get to see the people who looked so downtrodden before the service, who walked in with a chip on their shoulder, suddenly brighten up and really get into praising God with their everything. You get to see the new believers, who at first can't even sing the songs, and are timid and quiet during praise blossom into dedicated members of the church, some of whom may even eventually join you on the praise team. Honestly, I feel extremely blessed to be on the praise team and be able to pray for members of the congregation and see the answers to those prayers and the fruits that are born out of those people each and every week.

[LSquared]

Originally Posted by tjh

also, we are there to compliment the message of music, so just be steady and simple, and listen to where the leader is taking the rest of the group ... it can be easy to want to 'overplay' some of the worship tunes ... so try to listen, and keep a tight pocket with the drummer that compliments the vocals and lead instruments ... most importantly, we are the worship 'team' with a purpose to lead others in their praising and giving thanks ...

+1

[LSquared]

Originally Posted by 5string5fingers

Yea, I can make basslines using chords and what not. I hope they go for a more structured approach. I was told right now they're actually having to sing along with the cd they're singing songs from because they dont have the people to play the instruments they have.

When I started playing with our Praise Band (about 15 months ago, and after a 20+ year layoff from bass) they had been singing along w/ recorded tracks. When they added guitar, bass and drums we actually played along with the tracks for a bit. That provided a bit of a mental safety-net, as well as having "correct" versions to practice to. But it didn't take long before we were pushing to ditch the discs and go "live"...

[dogbluedrummer]

Pray before you play...every time. And remember that God call us to Service, not a perfect performance. Go serve openly with all your heart and don't worry about mistakes.
It's for His glory!