Worship Team Bassists - Losing Musicians (and Motivation)

[jaywa]

Here’s the deal. I’ve been a volunteer bassist on my church’s worship teams for almost 9 years. Over the past year, due to various reasons, we have lost both of our veteran drummers (who were near professional caliber as well as close personal friends of mine). By the end of this month our remaining experienced drummer will move off to college. At that point our pipeline consists of one guy who is just teaching himself and can keep a beat but not much else, and a couple of junior high kids who have some potential but are nowhere near ready to play “for real”. That is IT.

I have asked leadership if I can approach some other local drummers I know (but who don’t go to our church) about sitting in, but have gotten the impression they want to stick strictly with “in-house” talent. I have been playing bass for 28 years so they are looking to me to make up on my instrument for the lack of rhythmic stability from the drums, but it is tough getting motivated right now, especially vis-à-vis my bands outside of church which have very accomplished drummers. Personally I wonder if God is trying to tell our church to put the drums away for awhile until He brings in people qualified to play them (or the people we have get proficient enough), but leadership seems intent on “doing worship” the way we’ve always done it.

I'm sure others here have been in this situation... suggestions on dealing with it? If leadership will not table contemporary worship till we get the right people should I be thinking about taking a break myself? Should I keep pushing them to bring in outside drummers? Thanks for your thoughts.

[wazzel]

Has the band considerd just playing without a drummer for a while? Their is the possibility their is one in the congragation that would step up if they noticed one was missing. That is how I joined the choir I am in. Went to that serviced, choir sounded good, but needed a bassist so I volenteered my service.

[SpectorBass308]

Have faith that God will bring in the right person. Things will not always be in their ideal conditions and we must be able to sustain our worship even in the tough times, after all thats what it is all about. If you can have a great attitude of worship even when the chips are down and the team is without a drummer then I believe God will bless you in that way, until then hold tight.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

[jaywa]

Spector - thanks for the words. And the Word.

[wideload]

I feel your pain. Our praise band consists only of church member volunteers, so we work with varied levels of ability. God will bring whoever He needs. Playing w/o a drummer leads to different worship experiences, for both congregation and musicians. Don't discount the benefit a youthful drummer will gain from working with established musicians. Even a month of rehearsal without worship service performance may pay great dividends!
Larry

[RedSubway]

I play in a praise band made up strictly of others from my youth group, we're totally self-organized and we play for service often. The church is extremely small, there's only one guy that drums, and sometimes he isn't that reliable. On days when he isn't available to play we just don't use drums (we have another guy that places congas, bongos, etc. and we let him handle the percussion). It usually works out just fine, so maybe your church could consider the same. And you should push for outside help as well, but respect their wishes if they really don't want outsiders coming in to lead worship, it's understandable.

[thesteve]

I agree with what's been said. Maybe now is the time to table the drums until someone "good enough" steps up or the guy teaching himself gets more advanced.

I know that for myself talking to leadership has been a difficult thing, but don't be afraid to talk to the music director about simplifying your groups musical style. There's no reason that contemporary worship can't continue without a drummer, you may just have to focus on simplified music that doesn't rely as heavily on having a constant drum beat. There's a lot of songs out there that sound great with just an acoustic guitar and bass providing the music.

Also like wideload mentioned, keep working with the drummers-in-training that you have. Even if they aren't playing on Sundays, a month or two of working with the worship team during rehearsals could pay off immensely and very quickly.

[KBarker]

two words dude...."Drum Machine"...

I'll pray for you and your team.

[jaywa]

Originally Posted by thesteve

I agree with what's been said. Maybe now is the time to table the drums until someone "good enough" steps up or the guy teaching himself gets more advanced.

I know that for myself talking to leadership has been a difficult thing, but don't be afraid to talk to the music director about simplifying your groups musical style. There's no reason that contemporary worship can't continue without a drummer, you may just have to focus on simplified music that doesn't rely as heavily on having a constant drum beat. There's a lot of songs out there that sound great with just an acoustic guitar and bass providing the music.

That's been my frustration more than anything. There's actually something invigorating about the concept of raising up a new generation of drummers, but it's like leadership doesn't "get" that we cannot do the same type of material with those drummers that we could before. Also (and this has gone on at my church for a lot longer than the drummer situation), there seems to be this mindset that every musician on the stage has to be playing at all times - which makes the acoustic guitar/bass combo idea a tough sell. "Layering" is non-existent. For example, I often find it very effective on a song to lay-out on bass till the 1st chorus or even 2nd verse but more often then not when I do that in rehearsal I am told I need to come in much sooner - right at the top or very soon thereafter. I have tried to encourage the other team members to listen to recordings of songs and hear how LITTLE is being played by each instrument (and then emulate that approach) but it doesn't seem to register.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by jaywa

That's been my frustration more than anything. It's like they don't "get" that we cannot do the same type of material with marginal drummers that we could before. Also (and this has gone on at my church for a lot longer than the drummer situation), there seems to be this mindset that every musician on the stage has to be playing at all times. "Layering" is non-existent. For example on a lot of songs I would rather lay out on bass till the 1st chorus or even 2nd verse but I am told I need to come in right at the top or very soon thereafter. I try and encourage the other musicians to listen to recordings of songs and hear how LITTLE is being played by each instrument but it doesn't seem to register.

That's tough. I go through the same stuff and often try to remind our vocalists and musicians about playing dynamics. I think some people (like us) get it and other people simply don't. I'm not really sure why that is, but it is. If you haven't already done it, I would try to set aside some time to chat with your music director, or shoot him an email expressing your concerns about the drummer situation and also about the (lack of) dynamics on stage.

[Dave Muscato]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Here’s the deal. I’ve been a volunteer bassist on my church’s worship teams for almost 9 years. Over the past year, due to various reasons, we have lost both of our veteran drummers (who were near professional caliber as well as close personal friends of mine)... Thanks for your thoughts.

Have you tried paying?

Look, every charity organization is looking for good people willing to work for free. The bottom line (har har) is that in real life, it's often a trade-off between pro caliber and free.

Playing on a worship team takes commitment and effort, just like playing drums at a professional level.

Sometimes, good people are available on a volunteer basis, and it seems like you've been blessed with that for awhile, but these things come in waves. When the tide is low, if you want to surf, you might have to pony up to keep an even keel (these nautical metaphors doing anything for ya? lol). Hope this helps!

[jaywa]

I neglected to say originally, we are currently between Worship Directors so that's not helping things either. They are basically running things "by committee" and things are going reasonably well but it's always tougher when there's not one point person making decisions that you know will stick long-term.

[Lowtonejoe]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Here’s the deal. I’ve been a volunteer bassist on my church’s worship teams for almost 9 years. Over the past year, due to various reasons, we have lost both of our veteran drummers (who were near professional caliber as well as close personal friends of mine). By the end of this month our remaining experienced drummer will move off to college. At that point our pipeline consists of one guy who is just teaching himself and can keep a beat but not much else, and a couple of junior high kids who have some potential but are nowhere near ready to play “for real”. That is IT.

I have asked leadership if I can approach some other local drummers I know (but who don’t go to our church) about sitting in, but have gotten the impression they want to stick strictly with “in-house” talent. I have been playing bass for 28 years so they are looking to me to make up on my instrument for the lack of rhythmic stability from the drums, but it is tough getting motivated right now, especially vis-à-vis my bands outside of church which have very accomplished drummers. Personally I wonder if God is trying to tell our church to put the drums away for awhile until He brings in people qualified to play them (or the people we have get proficient enough), but leadership seems intent on “doing worship” the way we’ve always done it.

I'm sure others here have been in this situation... suggestions on dealing with it? If leadership will not table contemporary worship till we get the right people should I be thinking about taking a break myself? Should I keep pushing them to bring in outside drummers? Thanks for your thoughts.

Look at it as a new challenge in your ministry. Pray that God provides for it and that you remain pliant to His will.

His will may have nothing to do with what you want. By the end of it all you may just be down to a guitar player or some kind of monkey stomping on a tambourine. On the other hand your new drummer may walk in through the doors today.

His grace is sufficient for you.



Joe.

[drnknmstr]

Oh, I've so been through this, too.

What's the context here? Is this a decently sized church of adults? Did I read that you're working with mostly youth kids?

We have a fairly large church of young adults and it's growing past the 400 mark. Lots of talented people, but we've always outsourced drummers because there aren't any we know of in-house. Sure it's not ideal, but I guess our church has been used to a certain level of slickness, so that's what it is for us.

For my 2 cents, I think you're being very reasonable in a situation where there's an unstoppable force colliding with an immovable object

I hope all the parties involved can come to the same place of humility.

[peter G]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Here’s the deal. I’ve been a volunteer bassist on my church’s worship teams for almost 9 years. Over the past year, due to various reasons, we have lost both of our veteran drummers (who were near professional caliber as well as close personal friends of mine). By the end of this month our remaining experienced drummer will move off to college. At that point our pipeline consists of one guy who is just teaching himself and can keep a beat but not much else, and a couple of junior high kids who have some potential but are nowhere near ready to play “for real”. That is IT.

Maybe try simplifying the rhythm section. You have someone who can keep rhythm instead of using a kit get a Djembe.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Meinl-Af...73-i1174038.gc
or;The cajon is an authentic Afro-Cuban wooden box percussion instrument.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Meinl-He...67-i1175732.gc

They're simple to use (we use both) and someone can do a good job of hold the beat. It won't be as dynamic as a kit, but if you bring in a hired gun to drum just think how the guys in "the pipeline" would feel. They are your future.

[Thunderthumbs73]

Originally Posted by jaywa

Here’s the deal. I’ve been a volunteer bassist on my church’s worship teams for almost 9 years. Over the past year, due to various reasons, we have lost both of our veteran drummers (who were near professional caliber as well as close personal friends of mine). By the end of this month our remaining experienced drummer will move off to college. At that point our pipeline consists of one guy who is just teaching himself and can keep a beat but not much else, and a couple of junior high kids who have some potential but are nowhere near ready to play “for real”. That is IT.

I have asked leadership if I can approach some other local drummers I know (but who don’t go to our church) about sitting in, but have gotten the impression they want to stick strictly with “in-house” talent. I have been playing bass for 28 years so they are looking to me to make up on my instrument for the lack of rhythmic stability from the drums, but it is tough getting motivated right now, especially vis-à-vis my bands outside of church which have very accomplished drummers. Personally I wonder if God is trying to tell our church to put the drums away for awhile until He brings in people qualified to play them (or the people we have get proficient enough), but leadership seems intent on “doing worship” the way we’ve always done it.

I'm sure others here have been in this situation... suggestions on dealing with it? If leadership will not table contemporary worship till we get the right people should I be thinking about taking a break myself? Should I keep pushing them to bring in outside drummers? Thanks for your thoughts.

I think drummers from outside CAN be brought in that would be a musical fit for the music, and would respect the services from a religion point of view. Some people get all hung up on "must believe exactly what I believe, and as I believe it, or you can't perform here" kinds of viewpoints, and I think if a broader, more inclusive approach can be taken, then you're good to go!

I believe there are people out there who are capable, interested in performing, and can certainly be respectful of and in the services. And perhaps in due course, those individuals may or may not become members of that particular church.

I guess I've never understood if someone is assisting/aiding a religious function and helping a church (whether or not they believe to the nth degree all the tenets) as well as acting in the spirit of community building and basic brotherhood for the betterment of the church and the congregation's experience, why that is not more widely accepted.

I would try to hang with it, if possible, but yet continue to advocate the concept of getting a good drummer.

Just my two cents.

Good luck with it.

[jaywa]

Our average attendance is around 800 on a Sunday up to 1,200 or more for specials like Easter and Christmas. "Slickness" has definitely been used to describe our production values. Song selections trending more towards Tommy Walker / Israel Houghton as opposed to Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche etc. The "youth movement" is something recent that our prior Worship Arts Director implemented just before leaving (and that I truly believe is a God directed thing for our church long-term even though it's causing pain now) - but the core of our ministry (including myself as well as the drummers we lost) is adults in their late 20s to around 50.

[SpectorBass308]

Funny you mention Tommy Walker, he is the worship leader at my church!

[jaywa]

Originally Posted by SpectorBass308

Funny you mention Tommy Walker, he is the worship leader at my church!

Well that's cool. I'm curious, is he there almost every Sunday leading worship or does he travel around a lot? I've always wondered how that works with some of those really high-profile guys.

[SpectorBass308]

He is pretty good on being there regularly. Most of the time he is there 3 out of 4 sundays. Just recently he wasn't there because he was cruising in the pacific on a worship cruise and just this last month he was in some Indonesian country with a group of musicians playing for them. When he is not there he has a sub play who plays the exact same type of music, sort of like a clone Tommy. His numero uno bass player is this guy named Jerry Watts, check him out he is amazing.