The Praise and Worship Band Bassists Club part 22

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by velalv

Fwiw the main reason I am looking to move to another church has to do with distance. I commute an hour and a half
To get to work, and travel a fair bit. The church is 30 minutes away, and I am just getting tired of traveling all the time. The person who lives closest to me is 30 minutes away if
There is no traffic, which is rare in the dc area. I have been attending for 6 years, and am the longest tenured person there besides the pastor, who is a good friend of mine. I feel like I live in 3 different communities in the same area, and I would like to invest more into the community around me, which we are noticing is close knit. I want my kid to be able to go to cub scouts with the kids he goes to church with and awana, and the folks he plays soccer with. We have five churches less than a mile away.

I just would like to serve where I live.

Nothing wrong with that at all. Do you know which church you want to be part of yet?

[velalv]

No. We are going to start visiting soon. We only have one we have gone to visit, and it was not for us We have a great selection around here. I have been part of church plants for a long time. Most of the churches here are established and a bit larger. That will be quite a change.

[kbaxter26]

So, I couldn't afford to get my Fender Std Jazz MIM out of layaway yet, so I spent my Christmas Holiday refurbishing my Squier Affinity Jazz. Not sure how, but somehow it sounds MUCH better now. More sustain and a much deeper presense. SWEET!!!

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by velalv

No. We are going to start visiting soon. We only have one we have gone to visit, and it was not for us We have a great selection around here. I have been part of church plants for a long time. Most of the churches here are established and a bit larger. That will be quite a change.

Accepting that it won't be what you're used to is a good start. If you're looking for opportunities to serve, it might be an idea when visiting to have a word with the WL, worship pastor, music director or whatever they have and mention your gifting (in humility). You might be able to get a feel for whether they need you and whether you think you'd fit in.

[khutch]

Originally Posted by velalv

Fwiw the main reason I am looking to move to another church has to do with distance. I commute an hour and a half
To get to work, and travel a fair bit. The church is 30 minutes away, and I am just getting tired of traveling all the time.

That is a fair reason. Our new church is about 900 cubits from our front door and that is a huge blessing, though no guarantee that we will show up on time! The church is between 800 and 900 and when I arrived they had two bass players and were begging for more in the weekly announcements. So I bought a bass, started practicing again after a 30 year lapse, and eventually worked up the courage to offer my "talent" to the worship pastor. His delight at having me on the team exceeded my talent by a considerable margin but God blesses and things are working pretty well. We are all the way up to five bassists in the rotation now although one is a college student and has yet to show up for one of his assigned weeks so the rest of us are getting more work than we expected. If God leads you to a new church, He probably has your talents in mind.

Downtown DC is probably not where you want to be but if it is the Evangelical Free Church has a church plant that meets Sunday evenings in a Methodist Church's building somewhere downtown. One of their pastors grew up in my church and was one of our pastors until they "stole" him from us. I can recommend him highly, if you or anyone is interested I can send you details or you can get them from the EFCA.org website, I presume.

Ken

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by kbaxter26

So, I couldn't afford to get my Fender Std Jazz MIM out of layaway yet, so I spent my Christmas Holiday refurbishing my Squier Affinity Jazz. Not sure how, but somehow it sounds MUCH better now. More sustain and a much deeper presense. SWEET!!!

Nice! Did you upgrade anything or just give it a good clean and setup?

[khutch]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

We were watching a TV programme with a Texan guy on it, where I think I only understood about 20% of what he said - then had to translate it for the kids.

So far I have not needed subtitles for a Texan although their "take" on many Spanish works can be every bit as creative as an Englishman's! Do you still have the "Texas Tom" kitchen units/cabinets chain over there? Have I asked you that before? We always got a kick out of their commercials on TV, mostly because of the incongruity of a Texan named Tom selling kitchen remodeling supplies in the UK.

Originally Posted by MissingHighs

Glad you quantified that... deep Glaswegian?

If they stick to English I am ok. The Scotts, Irish, and Welsh all lose me if they mix their flavor of Celtic with their English. One of my English coworkers once started to warn me about traveling to Wales and then stopped short and said "never mind, you won't have a problem". I hadn't a clue what he meant so I pressed him for details. He claimed that he had run into situations where some Welsh people would only speak to him in Welsh because of his accent and that they would not do that to someone with an American accent. I don't know if there is any truth to that whatsoever but if so the Welsh are far better than the English at identifying Americans from their accents because we never had anything but a warm welcome during our visits to Wales and certainly no trouble over our credit cards.

Ken

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by khutch

So far I have not needed subtitles for a Texan although their "take" on many Spanish works can be every bit as creative as an Englishman's! Do you still have the "Texas Tom" kitchen units/cabinets chain over there? Have I asked you that before? We always got a kick out of their commercials on TV, mostly because of the incongruity of a Texan named Tom selling kitchen remodeling supplies in the UK.



If they stick to English I am ok. The Scotts, Irish, and Welsh all lose me if they mix their flavor of Celtic with their English. One of my English coworkers once started to warn me about traveling to Wales and then stopped short and said "never mind, you won't have a problem". I hadn't a clue what he meant so I pressed him for details. He claimed that he had run into situations where some Welsh people would only speak to him in Welsh because of his accent and that they would not do that to someone with an American accent. I don't know if there is any truth to that whatsoever but if so the Welsh are far better than the English at identifying Americans from their accents because we never had anything but a warm welcome during our visits to Wales and certainly no trouble over our credit cards.

Ken

Never heard of Texas Tom - must have been a local thing.

I've heard mention of the Welsh thing but never experienced it. It's more likely to be a reality away from the cities - I'm not sure how many of the population of Cardiff or Swansea really speak Welsh. It's not something you're likely to experience in Scotland as Gaelic just isn't very widely spoken or taught.

Wow, we really do get away from the main subject sometimes.

[MissingHighs]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

Wow, we really do get away from the main subject sometimes.

Uh-huh!

And then, within one post we're back on track! Well, maybe

I've just heard that the drummer/bassist guy has decided to quit 'bassing' and stick to drumming only. He feels he is blessing God when he drums, but stresses whe on bass. I think (and said it to him) that is very mature thinking.

Not like one youngster who is on soprano who is trying muscle in on bass.... ah, maybe I should bring my soprano skills back up a bit and muscle in on his territory... OK, not very brotherly, but it might show how it makes others feel.

Back to the mature guy; he is taking on an "overseeing role" to get the sound all balanced out properly as well as (and this is my hope) bring the sound guys up to scratch (only 2 years late).

2013 may just be a year to remember!

[english4bw]

Originally Posted by MissingHighs

I've just heard that the drummer/bassist guy has decided to quit 'bassing' and stick to drumming only. He feels he is blessing God when he drums, but stresses whe on bass. I think (and said it to him) that is very mature thinking.

Exactly what I did by quitting guitar and moving to bass full-time. I had FAR too much pride attached to my guitar playing, but none attached to my (then lackluster) bass playing.

As we all know... "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" James 4:6

A very mature thing to do indeed.

On a personal note, I played like rubbish on Sunday ("jazz notes" aplenty) but immediately gave it to God and had my Pastor pray for me. Then the next night at our Christmas Eve service I played perfectly. Same basic songs with 2 exceptions. Couldn't figure it out. If I attached pride to my playing I may have held onto the rubbish mistake day and not been able to have the serenity to play with excellence the next night.

[Montanamike]

Back in

[kbaxter26]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

Nice! Did you upgrade anything or just give it a good clean and setup?

No upgrades. I wish. All I did was tear it all down. Strip about 10 coats of black paint and 2 coats of varnish. Then covered with 2 coats of Polyurethane (CLEAR/GLOSS). Bought the new pickguard as well. That is why I am surprised at the difference in sound and sustain.

[Starflyer59]

Ive been trying for years to get into a sunday worship team at the church i attend to no avail.

Even tough i submitted my name, had interviews and auditions (nailed every song they have throw me at) i never get a call back.

The church i go is a big one with around 1500 people a service and they do have an army of musicians at hand.

While im almost convinced the reasons are that im not an educated musician, while i can follow guitar charts, tabs and some scores, ive been playing by ear since i picked up the bass to the point that if i need to learn a song i just need to memorize it and its in permament memory.

That and i dont play a ken smith, fodera or mtd like the other guys

Tl:dr im hoping this coming year its going to happen

[SoCalBassman]

Originally Posted by velalv

Fwiw the main reason I am looking to move to another church has to do with distance. I commute an hour and a half
To get to work, and travel a fair bit. The church is 30 minutes away, and I am just getting tired of traveling all the time. The person who lives closest to me is 30 minutes away if
There is no traffic, which is rare in the dc area. I have been attending for 6 years, and am the longest tenured person there besides the pastor, who is a good friend of mine. I feel like I live in 3 different communities in the same area, and I would like to invest more into the community around me, which we are noticing is close knit. I want my kid to be able to go to cub scouts with the kids he goes to church with and awana, and the folks he plays soccer with. We have five churches less than a mile away.

I just would like to serve where I live.

I went to a church that was a half hour drive for about three years. I played bass on Wednesdays and attended service on Sunday.
After a year of praying for a move to somewhere local I was finally released from my worship responsibilty (a God thing). I now attend a church that is three miles away and after several years of waiting for a spot to open up I am now the bass player for Sunday services.

[Beersurgeon]

Hi TB,

I have to play Furious by Jeremy Riddle on Sunday and as I listen to the live version, sounds like the bassist is using a pick. Has anyone else played this song and did you use a pick?

Thanks!!!!

[invalidprotocol]

Originally Posted by Beersurgeon

Hi TB,

I have to play Furious by Jeremy Riddle on Sunday and as I listen to the live version, sounds like the bassist is using a pick. Has anyone else played this song and did you use a pick?

Thanks!!!!

Yes I learned pick for that song. It was a necessity for me. Kudos to anyone that can play that through fingerstyle. Needs a little grit dialed in as well.

[TodB]

Originally Posted by velalv

On a different note wanted to hear from people who switch churches and
Play on new PW teams. I currently play just about every Sunday, and the occasional home bible
Group with the acoustic bass. I am not terrible, but not very good
Either. Our church is about 40-60 people. I think I am scared of switching
Churches, especially a bigger church, because I won't ever get to play on worship, and it's something I love
Doing and the main reason I Learned to play the bass, since our church did not have a bassist and I wanted to find a way to serve.

Can some people chime in here? Is it easy to slot in at another church? Are PW bassists in relatively short supply at churches? Am I in a really good situation by being the only regular bassist at our church? All comments welcomed.

I've switched churches a few times over the years. The big thing is that I can't imagine switching just because I'm looking for someplace to play. If you go to a church because you believe in the direction, style, leadership, and so forth then the playing thing will work out so long as you can play. If you pick the biggest mega church in 100 miles it may be a different thing, but even the medium large church I'm in now (multiple campuses, 4 services at the main campus) is always looking for more players.

Most of the time when I've moved I knew people at the new church, and they knew I played. It doesn't take long for the phone to ring. Even coming in completely cold just give it a couple months and then start talking to the WL.

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by Starflyer59

Ive been trying for years to get into a sunday worship team at the church i attend to no avail.

Even tough i submitted my name, had interviews and auditions (nailed every song they have throw me at) i never get a call back.

The church i go is a big one with around 1500 people a service and they do have an army of musicians at hand.

While im almost convinced the reasons are that im not an educated musician, while i can follow guitar charts, tabs and some scores, ive been playing by ear since i picked up the bass to the point that if i need to learn a song i just need to memorize it and its in permament memory.

That and i dont play a ken smith, fodera or mtd like the other guys

Tl:dr im hoping this coming year its going to happen

Well, you could try and guess. Or we could try and guess. Or you could ask the person you auditioned for and they could give you something constructive to work on.

It may just be that they don't need another bassist at the moment but when they do, your name's top of the list. Or something else - all I can do is guess!

[SoVeryTired]

Originally Posted by MissingHighs

Not like one youngster who is on soprano who is trying muscle in on bass.... ah, maybe I should bring my soprano skills back up a bit and muscle in on his territory... OK, not very brotherly, but it might show how it makes others feel.

Or you could encourage him and show him the ropes. If someone wants to learn bass I'm all for it. He may have seen what you do and been inspired.

I say this as a guitarist-turned-bassist. I have the least 'territorial claim' to the position but am grateful to those more experienced 'bass heroes' that helped me move from a guitarist hitting a bass to something vaguely near a bassist. I tend to treat any task I'm given in church as a caretaker role - I'm just getting everything in order and improving things ready for the next person, whether that's in 5 months or 50 years.

[MissingHighs]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

Or you could encourage him and show him the ropes. If someone wants to learn bass I'm all for it. He may have seen what you do and been inspired.

Uh-oh! Oops! Yikes! Ouch! You've indicated another wrinkle in my character is showing. I know the source of my irritation; he happens to be one of the MD's sons. You'll understand a little when I say this guitarist's younger brother is the one drummer I can't connect with (he ignores me completely); he displays the fine art of testing the tensile strength of the drum heads as well as retuning the cymbals, all while he is playing! Asking the MD if he could get this addressed was answered with "I'm not going to dampen his exuberance". I can see this occurring on the bass.

But, you are right, be there as a guide; not in words, but as an example of what it means to bring excellence in His service.

Thanks for the heads-up!