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

[Cowboy0071]

My family had always played bluegrass, every instrument but a bass was covered. I knew maybe 3 or 4 guitar chords and had never touched a bass. I was 20 had just gotten married and was pretty much broke. My Dad took me to the local music shop and picked up the cheapest Peavey P-bass copy he could find played a few notes through a 15W amp. He bought it without me ever touching it. Taught me a L shaped pattern based of the song key and said here you go "band practice is next week". That was 25 years ago.

 

[thetragichero]

so for much of the popular ccm songs, you just need the first five or six frets on the E and A string anyway, so they're not wrong....
the worship leader i played under for the longest was originally a bassist so he appreciated what i brought to the table. pray for a competent sound tech as the original one low passed the crap out of my bass. yick

 

[dkelley]

Hey man, that's what Jimi Hendrix said to Noel Redding who showed up to audition as guitarist. "Hey man, I like your hair. You can play guitar, so you'll be my bass player."

or words to that effect.

And he was right - Noel became a pretty damned good bass player imho, and learned to do walking blues lines so well that Jimi chose him over a more seasoned "real" bassist to do blues songs on the last album he was recording when he died.

But then.... Jimi was a brilliant musician and guitarist, and himself was an excellent bassist, so he ( a ) believed that others could do it since he could, and ( b ) was very good at assessing the actual talent and skill of other musicians.

 

[Deeper Texan]

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

That was me for a long time(or what seemed like a long time) I was so focused on hitting the right notes, and staying in time, I didn't get the "feel" for the bass, and what it brought to the overall sound. I had played guitar mostly for my own amusement. I had a few jam sessions with others, but never in an organized, or rehearsed setting. Once I felt comfortable, playing with the group, my "feel" came to me, and I was able to expand on my playing, anticipate places, to add runs, etc. As new members, BL etc, have come and gone, I have had the challenge of changing with them. We may play the same songs, but everyone has their own nuances. The members have stayed the same now for the last 2 years, so, we are a pretty tight group. We do have the occasional stand in singer that may require some tweaking, but overall, we are pretty much on the same wavelength.

 

[Yellow Bang66]

Your story is similar to how I became a bass player back when i was 15. I played acoustic guitar in high school and the music director went to my parents and said that he needed a bass player for the school jazz band. Next thing I know my dad bought me a bass.
I have been playing bass in church for the past 20 years. We changed churches and there is an audition process to vet new players. They didn't know me or if I could play. This is the first bass player gig that I ever got without having to show any ability playing the bass.

Ugh, bad memories for me, I could play a Little guitar mostly noodling around nothing serious. Went to a new church youth group during easter break, Problem was there was already a resident guitar player there. I unknowingly steped on his toes by wanting to play rhythm guitar for worship. Bad Idea, He hated the Idea & me especially after his Gf "crush" started getting really Flirty with me! I played along cause she was really cute! But even for it being a christian group,he sabotaged me eany chance he got! during 1 performance he glared & scolded me for not knowing a song. I shruggled because even though I knew how to play I wasnt real good with chord playing, so he would constantly belittle me if I couldnt quickly change chords! I was clumsy at changing fingeringchords I was better at playing melodies/ bass lines, but this was unacceptable by the youth leader who was also the Jr. Music Director! so they kind of made me a musical Outcast, pretty humiliating for the New kid in the group! sad because I was doing well at the new church, & he was suppose to kinda be my mentor/music Buddy but he pretty much hated me. we were to go over songs, but never did. I slowly bowed out, gave up & stuck to just playing Bass! never picked up a guitar again!

 

[Johnny Fingers]

Played bass at a lot of churches. Ended up at one where the pastor played bass so I got to get back into electric guitar and got good at switching back and forth. Even my singing improved so got to lead sing and play bass, lead guitar, and acoustic guitar.

 

[Sixgunn]

This is why there are so many bad bass players and bass lines.

Bass was my first choice of string instruments, so I worked my posterior off to get good. Too many see it as a consolation prize and put in a half fast effort, if any.

First choice for me too.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

Statistically, one in ten people who endeavor to play guitar stick with it for more than a year. Of those who stick with it, yeah they are going to be able to pick up bass pretty quickly.

 

[two fingers]

I used to sell pianos. (I don't play piano. But I sold them.) The other guy at the piano store at the time was a worship leader at a church. He asked me to fill in for him a few times. That's how, long before I met their mother, I wound up being a member of the church my daughters are growing up in.

 

[Killing Floor]

And I forgot to say congratulations!

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

I used to sell pianos. (I don't play piano. But I sold them.) The other guy at the piano store at the time was a worship leader at a church. He asked me to fill in for him a few times. That's how, long before I met their mother, I wound up being a member of the church my daughters are growing up in.

 

[two fingers]

View attachment 4253089

I'm afraid I don't understand.

 

[Ryno1330]

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.

Ha! That sounds exactly like a praise team situation. Congrats.

 

[Deeper Texan]

And I forgot to say congratulations!

As did I!

Congrats on the gig! Hope it lasts as long as you want it to.

 

[lfmn16]

Statistically, one in ten people who endeavor to play guitar stick with it for more than a year. Of those who stick with it, yeah they are going to be able to pick up bass pretty quickly.

Knowing where the notes are is different from knowing which ones to play. Any guitarist can do the former, few can do the latter.

 

[Killing Floor]

And if you can play bass and guitar, you must be able to sing too.....

And you can set up the PA and make sure everyone else is in tune.

 

[Verner]

Played guitar in my high school jazz band, and the director said I was now the bass player my second year. Reamed me out when I said I wanted to stick with the guitar and told me to go buy a gd bass. So I did. Very glad he made me do that now. Not only for the experience, but I had to dive into a new instrument and learn to read the clef. Was a real leg up when I went to college for music.

 

[dfreeland83]

I'm a drummer/bass player. I started going to a church with a contemporary service back in 2010 or so. I talked to the worship leader, he had me sit in on bass for practice, and I held my own... but, they had 3-4 bassists Before I had my *first* practice in rotation (4 bassists + an additional guy, takes a while to enter the rotation), the primary drummer got into it with someone and completely left the church.

I sat in on drums a few times, and the other drummer ended up leaving as well. So, just me on drums. It was that way from 2010-2013 or so... then, somehow over time all of our bassists left and we had 4-5 drummers. I was talking to our worship leader and he was fretting about not having any bassists. I told him, "I don't know if you remember this, but I actually tried out on bass guitar about five years ago." After we had a good laugh about that, I ended up being the one reliable bassist at our church until 2016, when I ended up moving out of state.

The one thing I've learned about churches in our area is that one area of the rhythm section will always be feast/famine, so if you're decent at both, you can always find a place to plug in.

 

[FenderB]

That’s pretty much how I became the bass player for my church’s praise band. They asked for volunteers for the band, I am a self taught rhythm guitarist. Never played in a band. But I volunteered. They asked, “ Can you play bass? We need a bass player”
I had never even held a bass. The music director volunteered to teach me, so I said “Why not?”
I was just a youngster of 44, so she began lessons which consisted of scales, and simple bass runs. During my second lesson, she said she was resigning as music director, and would only be there for one more lesson. After my third lesson, I was the bass “player”
I spent the first few Sundays, pretty much frozen in fear, playing root notes, and praying, that I didn’t screw up everyone else. I bought bass lesson books, rented videos,(this was 16 years ago) and practiced. I could only afford a cheap Kona bass, that I had to raise the action to almost cello height, to prevent buzz.
Despite all of that, it has become the most rewarding part of my life. The band has gone through 6 different BL, 4 different guitarists, 3 different drummers, but I’m still here. I will never be compared to great bassists, and when it’s my time to go, I don’t expect to be missed. But being part of the ministry, music provides, will be something I will never regret, or take for granted.
Relax, enjoy where God is leading you, and remember, that when it’s for His glory, there are no bad notes!

You'll be missed.

 

[gln1955]

I've played bass at three churches over the years. I never had to audition for any of them, just showed up for rehearsal and played the following Sunday. The worship leader in the OP's case is not really wrong. For the majority of mainstream praise and worship music, if you can play guitar you can play bass well enough to get by just fine.