Help with getting started playing bass at a church

[nnnnnn]

I don't care what the religion is, I just want to possibly play there.

In my experience here in Australia, churches generally prefer their musicians to be believers, ideally members of the congregation already before joining the band. They're generally not looking for people who are only interested in a performance opportunity.

 

[pappabass]

Not an easy one to answer. Most worship leaders will want you to be a member of the church and a believer. Well, the ones I have played at requested it. I auditioned for a large church and they had a questionnaire to fill out. The smaller churches would like you to be recommended by someone. Do you currently attend a church? Are you a believer?

 

[B-Lo]

Why do you want to play in a church to start out playing with other people? I'm not judging...just trying to foster a little introspection because as many have mentioned, most grounded worship leaders will want someone else who's grounded and who's not there just to "start out playing with other people."

Have you thought about posting CL ads looking for others to jam with? You'd be surprised how many folks who want to make/play music will respond because they're also looking for likeminded folks who want to jam. Good luck in your search by the way!

 

[juggahnaught]

Why do you want to play in a church to start out playing with other people? I'm not judging...just trying to foster a little introspection.

When I did it, I wanted the opportunity to play with a larger ensemble that had heavy piano and little guitar. It was also nice playing with a vocal section, and I felt that the quality of musicianship was better than the average Craigslist jam session (more complex chords, better progressions and turnarounds, interesting structure and changes). It was also a good way to build professionalism and get a little pay on the side (money for beer and hot pockets, I was in college).

OP's reasons may differ.

 

[Mushroo]

Hope this doesn't sound like a strange suggestion, but have you considered singing in the choir at your current church? (I think you mentioned you are Catholic?) It would be a good opportunity to meet the music director, network with other musicians, and learn a bunch of songs. Plus you would be performing for a congregation that shares your own personal denominational beliefs. And singing is just about the best way to improve as a musician; it will definitely make you a better bassist.

 

[Magthegrate]

I found my first band by posting on CL that I was an intermediate level bassist who owned his own reliable car for transportation. I had 4 auditions within a week. I think the reliable transportation was more important than my skill level. LOL

 

[RoaDan]

I'm really lost on this one. Been playing bass for 2.5 years now, alone, and want to play in a church band to start out playing with other people. What kind of church would have a band with a bass player? I don't want to just walk into church after church on a Sunday mornings to attend mass to find out they don't have a band. I don't care what the religion is, I just want to possibly play there. Can anyone list the type of churches/congregations I can research? What's one song I could learn that is church music? Then I will just walk into the church when its not going on and talk to someone.

For the most part you need to check out non-denominational churches... AKA Bible based churches. That is exactly how I got "re-started" with public performance. Most churches that utilize bass players have a rotating roster though some have dedicated players. It is an excellent way to get your chops up. Of course, I stopped playing at our church for two reasons... 1. My band gigs too much so time is limited and... 2. They went from amps on stage to no amps and IEM. Sorry, no can do!

 

[TheReceder]

I could use the phone and call. My problem is I have no idea what the types of churches I would need to call. I come from a catholic upbringing (only in grade school, a long time ago). There is absolutely no band in that type of church, so I would not call a catholic church, and I have no idea what the other types of churches are or which ones would have bands, especially with bass guitar. I guess I will start the old fashioned way, the phone. The other thing is, I look on YouTube for top 20 church songs. Some of that stuff is very musical, versus some things I read about church bass players that only play on 2 strings, root notes basically. So right there, there is a difference in the scope of church songs between churches that have live bands, and I don't know what type of churches would play the basic songs or the nicely produced more technical songs.

I've been playing bass in a Catholic Church since 1976. As egotistically as I can say... Nearly every group ended out being a rocking group because of me.... not my playing, but because of what bass added. If you're good on bass, you'll draw up more quality musicians... granted... you have to have an open minded ensemble leader.


The current worship ensemble I'm in has a herd of acoustic guitars, An electric guitarist (Gibson Les paul through a Mesa Dual Rectifier), Drums, Piano and synth. for the pretty stuff we have a French horn that's concert quality, and what I consider a "Lead" flute. (translation.... she plays too many notes). 3 of the musicians (including the leader) are currently "professional" musicians.

Protestants haven't cornered the market on rocking groups... I do think that if the only reason you're wanting to play in a church is to play in church... you might want to rethink the point. I do hope that no matter where you play you find more than you seem to be looking for.

I recommend you listen to some common stuff. personal favorites of mine... Paul Baloche, Phillips craig and dean, Mercy me, but I'm an old guy. There's a lot of really good Contemporary Christian stuff out there.

I'll be going to play at what my church calls aftershock in a couple hours. Basically about 200-300 kids that sing loud enough that they sometimes drown out the "band". Since it's lent... it might be a little more subdued... but we'll see. It is a blast. It helps to have quality musicians. Mind you … the town I'm in is only about 15,000 people.

BTW... there has to be at least one rocking Catholic Church in Vegas... If not... Do what I do... create one.

 

[tjh]

I agree with a few of the posts above, I think the cart is before the horse here if someone is simply seeking church as an outlet to play with others in public … Worship teams are there to lead the congregation in their praise and Worship of the Lord, and to give thanks for what we have been given and what was done for us … I have been around a while, and every Worship team I have played with meets early Sunday mornings (or Wed/Thurs evening for mid week services) early enough to pray for each other, and those around us, before anyone even touches an instrument … if one is not a believer, this would be a very awkward time for them, although hopefully they would benefit from it if placed in that situation …

With that said, I have seen straight professional situations, usually very large congregations, where musicians are hired, paid, and are usually very good at their trade … but even then, believers almost always get priority …

I have done well over a couple hundred Worship services at probably 4-5 different facilities (no credit to me, it was my pleasure to give back and a blessing to have the ability, and to be a part of it all), and I was also part of a Christian based original country music group that traveled for large festivals, community events/concerts, and even churches as benefits and fundraisers .. we belonged to the Inspirational Country Music Association (ICMA) with an original CD released …

I only say my experience, to add that I stepped away from playing weekly Worship services, because I had issues in my life which led me to question my ability to be 'right with God', and in a position leading others in pursuit of Him ... the issues are still not completely resolved, and I will not seek a position again until they are, if at all, I am not getting any younger …

JMHO .. as always …

Edit to add: .. I should add, I have also subbed in situations where the Worship leader felt that the bass player they had was struggling in his walk with God … the WL often times will not allow people to partake if they feel they are not prepared to do so ...

 

[zoonose]

Play at church just to get to play out? As a non-believer, I couldn't do it. Not just because it's not my thing, but also because I feel like it would be incredibly disrespectful.

 

[gln1955]

You should also realize that just because it's a church doesn't mean you won't have to deal with the same problems other bands have. Maybe not bandmates showing up drunk and stuff like that, but poor disorganized leadership, personality conflicts, egos, people who don't come prepared, etc. I had to step away from our praise band for a while because the leadership became so bad I developed a bad attitude about the whole thing and felt I should not be playing God's music under those circumstances.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I'm really lost on this one. Been playing bass for 2.5 years now, alone, and want to play in a church band to start out playing with other people. What kind of church would have a band with a bass player? I don't want to just walk into church after church on a Sunday mornings to attend mass to find out they don't have a band. I don't care what the religion is, I just want to possibly play there. Can anyone list the type of churches/congregations I can research? What's one song I could learn that is church music? Then I will just walk into the church when its not going on and talk to someone.

I hear that you want to play bass in a Church. My question is are you “called” to play bass at a Church?
This is an important distinction as playing in a Church band is not show business. If you are not called by God to use your talents to glorify him, you are missing the main reason for being a church band.

I’ve been the praise and worship band leader at my church for almost 23 years now and have always been seeking those with the call. It you are one that does, God will open those doors for you.

 

[MynameisMe]

I play bass on the worship team at my church, and I don't mean to sound "judgey", but I think you may be going about this the wrong way.

Seek out a church that shares your values and beliefs. Attend several different churches. Does the worship set move you? Do you feel God moving in your heart when you're there? Once you find the right church, talk to the worship pastor and let them know you play bass and you'd like to audition.

I auditioned for a church I attended after I'd only been playing about a year. Here in Nashville, I had a LOT of competition and I wasn't politely turned down. I continued singing in the choir at that church until some things changed that my wife and I didn't care much for, so we sought a new church home. I'd been playing about 2 years by this point, and I auditioned at my new church. They were thrilled to have me and I've been volunteering on the worship team ever since. Being in "Music City", it's not uncommon to have some high level pro players and singers on stage with me. I really have to prepare and spend hours a week practicing for the 15-20 minute worship set. But I do it to use my talents for God's service. It's so awesome to see people worship and see God move in them.

You might have the best luck looking into "non-denominational" Christian churches. If you Google "non-denominational church las vegas" (without the quotes) you'll get a bunch of hits. A friend of mine is a pastor at The Crossing Church in Las Vegas. It's a "megachurch" that I'm sure has lots of musicians, but I've never personally been there. Non-denominational churches tend to play contemporary Christian worship music, which is sort of light-rock (guitar/bass/drums/keyboards/vocals) and well-suited to a novice bass player. I played in churches for about 30 years. Most churches look for musicians who are already part of their congregation, who share their values/beliefs, and who are known not to be flakey (before they let them up on stage). I have occasionally seen churches advertise for musicians on Craigslist, however.

As far as songs to learn, if you go on Youtube and search for Hillsong or Vineyard or Matt Redman or Chris Tomlin you'll get plenty of examples. I've been out of it for a few years, so I don't know which particular songs are currently popular.

+ 1 on both these suggestions.
Find a church where you like the atmosphere, feel like you are growing in your faith, Enjoy the music style, get plugged in, then look to joining a worship team. The whole experience will be more pleasant. There will be opportunities.

 

[briandavismurph]

I could use the phone and call. My problem is I have no idea what the types of churches I would need to call. I come from a catholic upbringing (only in grade school, a long time ago). There is absolutely no band in that type of church, so I would not call a catholic church, and I have no idea what the other types of churches are or which ones would have bands, especially with bass guitar. I guess I will start the old fashioned way, the phone. The other thing is, I look on YouTube for top 20 church songs. Some of that stuff is very musical, versus some things I read about church bass players that only play on 2 strings, root notes basically. So right there, there is a difference in the scope of church songs between churches that have live bands, and I don't know what type of churches would play the basic songs or the nicely produced more technical songs.

 

[briandavismurph]

I play twice every Sunday in my Catholic Church and we have a full band meaning to say rhythm section piano bass drums sax violin and at every single mass to a certain point we rock.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Been playing bass for 2.5 years now, alone, and want to play in a church band to start out playing with other people

I don't care what the religion is, I just want to possibly play there.

Go to an Open Mic Night to get your feet wet playing with others.

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

Respectfully, I would not attempt to join the worship team for a church unless you are potentially interested in being a member of the church. I don't mean any offense by this, but a church is not going to want to have people participating in leading the congregation in worship (this is how churches view their praise bands) if they are not doing so for the purpose of sharing the church's values.

Practically speaking, you can generally find out about which churches have contemporary praise bands through word of mouth and Googling in your area (websites and other information on the churches tend to highlight these sorts of things that are there). You can then go to attend a service or two to see how the church services run, what type of music the band plays, and whether the whole process is something that you want to participate in.

My experience has been that, unless praise bands have a 100% set-in-stone lineup, they are more than happy to have people in the congregation join into the rotation and serve as temporary or permanent band members. I do not know if they would be very likely to consider allowing someone to jump in if they were not a member of the congregation or seem hesitant to go "all in" with the church, but that certainly may vary by organization.

Just my two cents as someone who participated in the praise bands for multiple churches in the past and did have points where I voluntarily stepped away because I was not sufficiently invested in the individual church and believed it was disingenuous to continue with that knowledge.

So Anyway, THIS.
Yojimbo would be proud.

 

[Zen Ho]

As a Christian and worship leader at my church, I’m shocked at what you’re planning to do. I’m equally surprised at the many replies giving you tips on how to go about it, but very glad a few others eventually explained it correctly. I can’t imagine a church in my country that would be okay with someone coming in just to play bass and to “not care what religion it is”. You must remember most of a church service is not the music and even when you’re playing, you’re expressing the content of the song lyrics, in worship to God.

I don’t want to be dissuading you to attend church, but at this point you really should just seek out some other musicians to play secular music with. You can attend church services, perhaps you will feel God’s calling and then eventually you can think about playing in the worship band.

Anyway, to add to some of the discussion above, I’ve played in church bands since I was a teenager, but when asked to step up as worship leader it took me years to finally feel ready spiritually and heed the calling.

 

[Nick1234]

In my experience here in Australia, churches generally prefer their musicians to be believers, ideally members of the congregation already before joining the band. They're generally not looking for people who are only interested in a performance opportunity.

I strongly agree with nnnnn. Large established churches, who are the ones more likely to be playing great music to a high standard, consider music as a "ministry area" (sorry for the jargon). To get into any ministry area, they will require commitment; firstly to Christianity (you must be a christian, and your life will show this); secondly to the church (you must attend regularly over some time period); and only thirdly to having a skill that you can use (in your case bass playing).

Reversing this order will be a non-starter, even if they could actually do with another bass player.

 

[slobake]

Googled "churches in Las Vegas" the first church I saw was Canyon Ridge Christian Church. Went to Youtube and searched for Canyon Ridge Christian Church worship. Found this, you could probably find other churches that use a bass the same way. Hope you find a good place to play.