I was told this at my audition.....

[rutabaga bob]

Similar experience for me: I was part of the team rotation, playing rhythm guitar. We had one bass player, who happened to be in the reserves. The pastor asked me if I would consider playing bass, so when the regular guy couldn’t play there would still be someone holding down the low end. I said...well, okay. Got a Peavey Fury off eBay and an old Kustom practice amp.

 

[Killing Floor]

Haha. Call her up and ask what kind of bass you need.

 

[brocket]

My friend bought a guitar and talked me into buying a bass. I did, and a week later the worship band leader asked if I wanted to sit in for rehearsal. I was terrified and nervous and probably not that great. Afterword he said see you early Sunday morning! More than 15 years later, I can say I'm a much better bass player, musician, and person because of the leader taking a chance with me.

A fun/sweet memory I hadn't thought of in awhile- I typically wore flip flops to church and would play barefoot so I wouldn't make noise walking up to the stage. My last Sunday playing at that church before I moved away, the worship band all played barefoot. I was too young to fully appreciate it at the time, but that really was a great group of people.

 

[Vitamin D]

I love these stories -- can't even call them "audition" stories! More like "if you can make a low note, you're in"!

Actually the standard seems to be lower: if you tell me you will be able to make a low noise, (given we provide the equipment) , then you're in. Anyone not confident enough to promise being able to hit some strings at a future date is ruled right out.

 

[JW56789]

That's why I preferred playing bars in some ways: You could say terribly rude things I wouldn't dare say playing church !

Give her that thousand-yard stare, pause, then say 'IF it was easy, ANYBODY could do it.'

 

[dbase]

I forgot to mention I had a new guitar amp with a 15jbl. That's how you get to play bass in a band.

 

[kesslari]

@Deeper Texan that's a great story and a great way to get into what sounds like an super fun and rewarding pursuit. Keep groovin' and enjoying it.

 

[nickpc]

I got pulled into playing at my church because one of the acoustic guitarists knew I "played" bass, and one of our bassists was going to be out for a while. The group was very supportive of me, and the drummer in that band cast was also a bassist and REALLY helped me out at first - "Watch my foot on the kick drum - play the root when I play that."

That is the second best advice I've received about playing.

The bassist I covered for later became our Worship Leader, playing keys. I joked with him and that same drummer that when we played together I was the 3rd best bassist in the band. They both gave me a look and the WL said "You're the bassist - own it."

And that is the best advice I've received about playing.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I've had bad experiences with volunteering. It always seems like they want the world since they're getting it for free. I guess I would still try it again, but I'm jaded at this point.

 

[Scarysharkface]

I had an audition for a bass player/acoustic guitar payer yesterday at my church. The worship leader, who is a little overwhelmed, gave me 2 tunes to work up on bass, acoustic and be ready to sing them as well. No problem because I offered to sing if needed too.
I get there and she tells me that I won't be able to play my bass since the sound tech couldn't make it. (Everything is IEM's). She then said...

wait for it......



"If you can play guitar then I'm sure you can play bass too."

I am now a bass player in the rotation for Sunday Mornings.

This is one of those situations where I typically would ask myself if I really am going to benefit from surrounding myself with people who don't "get it" and aren't inclined to care whether they do or not. This lackadaisical approach to one thing generally informs peoples' approaches to all other things. You will never find excellence in that environment. Find people who actually give a poopie.

Just my two cents.

John

 

[dangevans]

LOL. I started on guitar first, and what people don't realize, to learn bass WELL after playing guitar... It is a different animal.

 

[dangevans]

I've had bad experiences with volunteering. It always seems like they want the world since they're getting it for free. I guess I would still try it again, but I'm jaded at this point.

I played bass at my Catholic Church for years, but then, in the effort to make Mass more reverent, they only use organ and maybe piano, with all of the songs either being ancient chant or really slow.... "Funeral Music". No bass, guitar, drums, etc, allowed. Oh well, one less place to drag my gear to.

 

[39-Bassist]

"If you can play guitar then I'm sure you can play bass too."

Wow is that an assumption.

My guitarist got asked to play bass for a blues/jazz type band. So 4 weeks later he says to me...

"I owe you an apology, playing bass is much harder than I thought."
And he has been playing guitar for many years...
Saying that, just means that there is more to Bass than most think.

Congrats though on being to play for the Lord. May you enjoy every minute of it.

 

[hrodbert696]

There are people who can move between instruments seamlessly, and... there are those that cannot. All too common of an attitude, unfortunately, to assume what that MD did.

I actually moved in the other direction: when I started really wanting to play music again, bass was my instrument. My wife had her old guitar from her teen years lying around, and after a couple of years learning bass I picked it up. I didn't have much real aspiration to play it, but I figured it might be useful for songwriting and I wanted to be able to "follow hands" of guitarists in band situations.

I started playing bass in our (small) church's worship team. At first there was a rotation of a couple of guitarists and a keyboardist. Over time people moved away and, the church being small, no one new stepped up to play a chordal instrument. So I wound up being pressed into service to play guitar, with VERY rudimentary skills. Eventually I got comfortable with it. In bands I still stick to bass, but through the pandemic, playing on my own, I've spent a lot more time with the acoustic.

 

[Medicine Man]

When I was 15, my friends said "Tim plays guitar better than you, so you're the bass player." They were right.

 

[jdh3000]

I had an audition for a bass player/acoustic guitar payer yesterday at my church. The worship leader, who is a little overwhelmed, gave me 2 tunes to work up on bass, acoustic and be ready to sing them as well. No problem because I offered to sing if needed too.
I get there and she tells me that I won't be able to play my bass since the sound tech couldn't make it. (Everything is IEM's). She then said...

wait for it......



"If you can play guitar then I'm sure you can play bass too."

I am now a bass player in the rotation for Sunday Mornings.

Yea that seems to be a generalized view of guitar players... there’s an assumption that they can all play bass... and most of them believe it themselves.

Someone who can drive a car could probably herd an 18 wheeler down the road, but it doesn't mean they can drive one.

Don't blame her for her thinking, as she probably has only dealt with guitar players playing bass. Many mediocre bands who've only had such players don't know the difference until they get one who actually knows how to play.

It's a annoying, but hey, it saved you a step.

 

[db59]

I had an audition for a bass player/acoustic guitar payer yesterday at my church. The worship leader, who is a little overwhelmed, gave me 2 tunes to work up on bass, acoustic and be ready to sing them as well. No problem because I offered to sing if needed too.
I get there and she tells me that I won't be able to play my bass since the sound tech couldn't make it. (Everything is IEM's). She then said...

wait for it......



"If you can play guitar then I'm sure you can play bass too."

I am now a bass player in the rotation for Sunday Mornings.

My experience with guitars playing bass it sounds exactly like a guitarist playing bass....right notes....no feel, groove whatsoever

 

[MynameisMe]

I've had bad experiences with volunteering. It always seems like they want the world since they're getting it for free. I guess I would still try it again, but I'm jaded at this point.

I've had a couple bad experiences myself but I feel called to play bass in the worship setting. It's something hard to ignore.
It's easy to get jaded.
I just concentrate on why and whom I am doing it for.
Also bring able to say no helps.

 

[squarepeg]

My experience with guitars playing bass it sounds exactly like a guitarist playing bass....right notes....no feel, groove whatsoever

I had to learn to play bass in a hurry (see above), so I got out an album I had recently bought, James Gang Rides Again, and since I already knew the fretboard from playing guitar, played along with the bass part. Dale Peters taught me everything I needed to know.

 

[chadds]

Alert: There will be no name dropping in this post.

I have missed one gig in my life since 1968. My group had the other guitarist play bass in my absence. They begged me to never get sick again as it was a travesty. LOL

My friend is first chair Violinist wherever he goes. He once asked me can I play Jazz. I said yes. He said I spend all day trying to make four notes sound right. Rest of the story is redacted because of names. Violinist says, "I was in a hotel room with violinists "JL" and "SG" and I couldn't play at all. You would have had a great time."

My good friend is a world famous international touring singer songwriter. He asked me to come over and put bass on some tracks. He said, I don't think like a bassist. Actually his bass self accompaniment on guitar is amazing.

My vocal coach writes amazing praise genre songs. He uses EZbass but loves my stuff because he says he doesn't think like a bassist.

Alert disclaimer: No famous people were injured in the making of this post. The reason I left out names is because a wonderful drummer once said to me quote, "Jerry Garcia once told me that namedropping is not cool."