whats with all these church bassists

[Fretlessdude]

it seems that a good 10 percent of tb is church bass players howd you guys get into that position?

[dhagler]

I started playing with that position in mind. I wanted to be the bassist for my church.

[manicbassman]

previous bassist had a tiff with the Church Elders, walked off in a huff and started going to another Church... we then had a period of music with no bass... the congregation were not happy so I volunteered my services.

[spencer]

Well, I used to play until the youth pastor didn't believe I was living right or making the right decisions when I really had no way around it. But I played bass and wanted to play on the worship team after I got saved. I remember the night they let me go up on stage to play with them, it was my first time ever playing infront of people and I played the crap out of that bass. Im not that good anymore..

[Bassguy61]

I had been a member of my church for several years, and always thought that being part of the praise band would be a great way to be involved in music and serve at the same time. What actually got me to do it was simply a notice in the worship guide saying they were needing specifically bassist and guitarists. I went through the audition process and have been part of the team for 4 years now. I love it.

[wodock]

I guess my question would be - do a lot of churches have bands? I have never been in a church that has a band. They always seem to have an older lady playing an organ.

TW

[QuintrKD]

I transferred to a church about 6 months after I bought a bass. The Praise Team for the contemporary service did not have a bass player, and when I shared that I was learning bass with the worship leader he immediately invited me to rehearsal. A few weeks later, the worship leader said that the band sounded better with me than without me, and I've been serving with the Team just about every Sunday since.

Now, I'm sensing a call to stretch a bit more and take music ministry outside the church walls into my community. I am currently facing the daunting task of equipping myself for this ministry by picking up my guitar after a 20 year hiatus.

[Bassist4Life]

My family picked a church where the music was solid. I could see myself fitting into the worship team. There are two teams and there were two bassists. I was only able to sub when one of the bassists couldn't make it.

One of the bass players moved and left and opening. I stepped up and filled in his position. I feel extremely blessed.

I used to play upright bass in a church my family used to attend. There was a strong music program there. The church was on the campus of the college I attended. Many top notch musicians filled positions at that church due to the music program at the college. Students and professors made up much of the orchestra. We had strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion, organ, piano, and choir. It was awesome! There was an electric bass player, but I was playing upright at the back of the string section.

Joe

[QuintrKD]

A lot of churches are making a concerted effort to adapt and become more culturally relevant, especially to the younger generations. I'd like to think that all churches would naturally do this as a way of reaching out to other generations.

However, there is a resistance to contemporary worship, as a portion of the older generations perceive any change as threatening to the way that they have historically worshiped. This is unfortunate, simply because worship is all about where the heart is, and not about music genre or instrumentation. Some church leaders just don't understand that yet, and continue to hold onto their stubborn perspectives and never realize opportunities to draw in and retain younger generations.

While we need to respect traditional styles of worship, I think its entirely appropriate for us all to stretch the boundaries that we corporately put on worship, so that more of its participants are able to engage in worship.

[crack-boom]

Originally Posted by QuintrKD

A lot of churches are making a concerted effort to adapt and become more culturally relevant, especially to the younger generations. I'd like to think that all churches would naturally do this as a way of reaching out to other generations.

However, there is a resistance to contemporary worship, as a portion of the older generations perceive any change as threatening to the way that they have historically worshiped. This is unfortunate, simply because worship is all about where the heart is, and not about music genre or instrumentation. Some church leaders just don't understand that yet, and continue to hold onto their stubborn perspectives and never realize opportunities to draw in and retain younger generations.

While we need to respect traditional styles of worship, I think its entirely appropriate for us all to stretch the boundaries that we corporately put on worship, so that more of its participants are able to engage in worship.

WOW very well said and I agree ten fold!!! The cool thing is, and we have some older members in our church. When they get used to the new songs they really get into them, they learn the lyrics and the music that is played become unimportant because they know how to worship God.

Now we are able to release about 10 new songs each year and no one complains or says it's too hard to keep up. Occasionally we may bust out How Great Thou Art as a tag on the end of How Great Is Our God and the older generation absolutely love that! And from what I've seen the younger generation love it too cause it's a hint of nostalgia and the lyrics are ever so powerful even today.

It's great to have good music, and if all things were invented by God and for God then we really have nothing to lose by keeping up with the trends of modern music.

[yankeesman714]

To make a long story as short as possible...raised Catholic but stopped attending when I was 14. Played bass since I was 10 but stopped playing at 26. Twenty-five years later my wife starts attending a local Christian church. She says "they have a great worship band and you should check it out." I did and she was right. It gave me the desire to play again. I sort of worked my way onto one of the worship teams and I couldn't be happier. It's the best gig I ever had (for the record, we don't get paid...at least not in money). It also helped me to find faith in God again so I attend church regularly, even on the weekends I'm not playing. I've been doing it for a year and a half now and nobody has yelled "Freebird" either.

By the way, for those who haven't played or listened to any Christian music recently, it's not what I thought it would be at all. I find it just as interesting, challenging and fun to play as any rock or pop that I ever played.

[Wolf Tyrant]

I was on the leadership team when the worship pastor said he wanted to hire a bass player. Our church was strapped for cash (aren't most churches?) and I volunteered the information that I had played bass in high school but hadn't touched a bass in 20 years. I was immediately accused of holding out. Two weeks and half a dozen lessons/rehearsals later I was up front with the praise band. That was 7 years ago and I haven’t looked back. I figure I play about 48 weeks out of the year. Love it.

[wazzel]

Originally Posted by Fretlessdude

it seems that a good 10 percent of tb is church bass players howd you guys get into that position?

My family slept late and when to the afternoon service one Sunday. The afternoon service is the contemporary service and when we went I noticed they did not have a bass player so I offered to play. That was over a year ago now.

This is the 5th (might be more) church I have played in on a regular basis. I have sat in at my parents church a couple of times since my dad leads the guitar service there and they do not have a bass player.

[optikhog]

Our church said "we're starting a praise band, anybody play an instrument?"

[Bardley]

Originally Posted by wodock

I guess my question would be - do a lot of churches have bands? I have never been in a church that has a band. They always seem to have an older lady playing an organ.

TW

This totally depends on the type of church you are visiting. Most modern churches have bands. Some "Contemporary" worship can range from just an acoustic guitar or keyboard to a full on rock band style. It can vary greatly from one church to another even within the denomination (i.e. Baptist, Church of God, Assemblies of God, Methodist, etc.) or even across town. IME

[Lizooki]

I started playing the bass w/ the intention of playing in church.
We had the piano and organ, and I wanted to do more than just sing in the choir.
I started to get and electric, but I realized that we already had 4 or 5 gits in the church. ( but they didn't play.)
I bought, practiced and started playing the bass. Been playing all songs at all services and some specials.

Contemporary? No, very much traditional Baptist. Now we even have a Mandolin and 2 gits playing........ Not really a p/w band, just musicians.

BTW - Why? Just another way to serve our Lord! And to praise and worship HIM!


Matt

[wazzel]

Originally Posted by wodock

I guess my question would be - do a lot of churches have bands? I have never been in a church that has a band. They always seem to have an older lady playing an organ.

TW

We are not a band persay, more like a choir with guitars and other insttuments.

[iamthebassman]

Been playing bass for 30 years, moved to a new town, joined a new church, a guitarist was trying to play bass in the praise band, when he found out I was a bass player he asked me to replace him. So I did.

[Bassist4Life]

Originally Posted by yankeesman714

By the way, for those who haven't played or listened to any Christian music recently, it's not what I thought it would be at all. I find it just as interesting, challenging and fun to play as any rock or pop that I ever played.

+1

I agree completely. There is some really great quality music out there. check out guys like Baloche, Tomlin & Redman.

I find that I have to really practice to get some of those lines down. The one that recently had to spend a lotta' time on was "Rising" by Paul Baloche. That was a tough one to transcribe. It can be played simply based on the chord/lyric sheet, but I really wanted to play it well. I figured out the bass part, practiced it, and nailed it for Sunday. It felt great! It has slides and chords. Wild stuff.

A really rockin' tune is "Made To Worship" by Tomlin. Again, this can be played in a simple way, but to play it like the CD is really challenging. The chorus is the fun part for me. Also, the outro is pretty challenging.

Guys like Baloche, Tomlin & Redman are really changing the face of Christian worship music.

Peace & Music,
Joe

[levifly]

I played guitar in the praise band and the bass player left. I was the worst guitar player so I was sentenced to the bass. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Mike