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The Christian Praise and Worship Band Bassists Club Part 4

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#101
That is a neat idea. Maybe they could put the money aside until they could afford the gear that you, and/or, the future bassist could use.
I have my own gear but the church where I play already had an SWR Workingman for me to use upstairs (plus they run everything through the PA) and an old Peavey of some kind downstairs that I use when I play for the yutes.
I only need to tote my bass.
That won't fix your commute but it would certainly remove some of the hassle of hauling gear, IMHO at least.
 
#102
Versatek6 said:
We have a well-communicated standing policy that all prep time in the sanctuary is complete 15 minutes before the service start. No music starts sooner than five minutes before. That leaves 10 minutes for quiet time.
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I would think that this would be the acceptable minimum. Our church tries to cut off rehearsal and any other noise from the worship team at 30 minutes prior to service. We dim the lights and turn on some quite worship music in the P.A. We do go a bit over occasionally, but always have at least 20 - 25 minutes for 'quiet time', prayer, etc before service starts. We don't start any music until service time. We begin our service by leading the congregation in a minute or so of worship, starting with us clapping our hands and praying. Once that is complete, our Pastor kicks off the first song on the piano.
 
#105
Our WT is very casual. We have no practices except for what we work out Sunday morning. We try to arrive an hour early and we are often working out the details as folks are coming in to sit down. As a new bass-player I do practice as much as possible at home. I try to play every day and I have a list of songs on my PC (mix of secular and worship) that I shuffle and then play along.
On the rare occasions that I know what we are planning on playing ahead of time, I will work on those. I consider myself to be the weakest member of the team and take the responsibility upon my self to not be a cause for distraction. The rest of them have been playing for so long that they do not really need to practice unless they are introducing something new.
Though we do not take ourselves too seriously when we are together, I believe that each member takes the job/honor of being the worship team very seriously and everyone does their very best as we are all aware for whom we are playing.
I guess that, much like The Church itself, there really is no set formula for a successful worship team. IMHO, as long as you remember why you are there (hint: not to entertain or impress) and as long as each member has a heart for The Lord and you do not forget the element of prayer, you are bound to be successful in this ministry.
That’s not to say that we cannot learn from one another’s mistakes and successes but in the end, not amount of “perfect” planning will accomplish our mission unless we are committed to working for the right reason.
 
#106
Lucky Strike said:
Here's the deal, I met this guitarist by networking and he asked me if I could come play at this church that he has just started leading worship at. I'm the first bass player he has found and I am an experienced player, naturally he feels comfortable with me and wants to keep me around, I don't blame him; once you find a good musician to fill a spot you don't want to lose them and have to look all over again for more musicians...

He didn't specify how long he needed me there so I just showed up and played, and after the first Sunday service came the "So I'll see you next week right?" along with the rest of the worship team looking at me with 'Please come back!' looks on their faces. One thing after the other and now I feel like I am really obligated to be there because of the way they keep telling me how lucky they are to have me and how it would not be the same without me... Ive been playing there ever Sunday since October 2008.
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That sounds exactly how I ended getting burnt out at my church. It is unfortunate that a more structured method of joining a worship team is not used every time. If it was everybody would understand a members schedule needs and limitations and the members would understand the team's needs.

Maybe you could sit down with the leader of the team and express to him/her want you have told us. There might be a solution to your burn out that doesn't involve you leaving the group.
 
#107
What a blessing to find a club such as this... I have been struggling to find people to converse with about playing music / songs that are uplifting to the Lord. Sure there are some great secular songs with amazing bass lines however it is nothing your probably gonna jam to with fellow band members in the house of God.
With that said - does anyone know of where I can find a songbook for the Christian Ska band, OC Supertones (if they even have one..), and other major Christian Rock bands? I own alot of Christian CD's and would enjoy being able to play along with them with their offical Song Books. Any help from fellow members would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all the help, and again it is such a blessing to see fellow bassist playing for our Lord. :)
 
#109
HOWZIT THERE,
First of all practice makes perfect, even the best gospel musicians have to practice eg Isreal, Hillsongs, integrity music team. I believe your WT should consider practicing, because you will find out that you can add
exciting stuff to your praise and worship eg:
solo's; scripture readings; better music and worship flow. you need to get a few musicians from your team a drummer and a keyboard player to help you one day during each week and believe me, if this is their ministry, this ministry is inclusive of helping one another, so you go and get some help from them and remember, surely we are not to imress any body with our music talent
. The only person we are gonna impress is
God and believe me he deserves the best.
Remember by getting them to practice with you, you will be as good as them in no time. It will make you understand them more musicaly and you will click with them esspecially with your drummer.
 
#110
Lucky Strike said:
The church is about 40 minutes away from me via freeway, along with the fact that I have to bring all my own gear since I don't get plugged in (410svt, amp, bass, cables, stand).

The church offered to pay me $50.00 per Sunday but I told them that I would rather not be payed because A) I don't need the money, and its hard financially for a start-up church to pay musicians. B) I feel that my playing along with my tithe could be my offering. (I don't feel there is anything wrong with being paid, though)

So that's the situation, I just feel burned out from it. The funny thing is that while I'm on stage playing I'm having a good time, but that's only 10% of the time and work that is done. At this point I just want to let the WL know that I no longer want to play and kinda give my two weeks notice. But in doing so I feel like I'm kinda letting them down, and really its the fact that I feel like I would be letting them down if I left that is keeping me there each Sunday.

Sorry, kinda a long post.
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Very interesting!!!!

I have the same issue!!! I took a job that made me move 40 minutes away from my home church. There are 2 others here in town that have expressed interest in my services, but I'm not a "church hopper".

I get paid $50 every 2 Sundays which is to go for "strings, etc", but that was established when I was living 4 miles away....now I have this extra outlay of cash and have prayed on what I should do.

Just "trust in the Lord and the fullness of His might..."

All I'm trying to do is work my way into a spot in the Heavenly Jam Band......what happens down here is miniscule by comparison
 
#111
9mmMike said:
I consider myself to be the weakest member of the team and take the responsibility upon my self to not be a cause for distraction. The rest of them have been playing for so long that they do not really need to practice unless they are introducing something new.
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Me too. They started practicing weekly mainly for my benefit but they to have found it useful and we are now playing as a band and not a group of musicians :)
 
#112
sk8 said:
Me too. They started practicing weekly mainly for my benefit but they to have found it useful and we are now playing as a band and not a group of musicians :)
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I would love to practice with the whole group regularly (and start doing some really cool, and more complicated tunes) but many of the team travel a good distance on Sunday already. A couple are also involved in ministries during the week at the church and, while it would not be a problem for me as I am only there Sundays, Wednesdays, every other Thursday and Saturday, it would be a great inconvenience for them to make the trek. It would mostly be for my benefit too. I live relatively close (twenty minutes).
Plus, with the exception of the bass player (me) and the main singer, the rest of the positions rotate. The drummer who is “usually” part of the team and I are often the first to arrive on Sunday’s so we do get a little time to figure out how to lock-in but more often than not, we do not know what songs we are doing so we just jam to what we know. He also plays the keyboard for the youth (he is one of the youth leaders) so I do get to play with him a couple times a week.
Our worship songs are kept very simple though and we do not suffer much from lack of group practice. There is little threat that we'll be recording an album anytime soon!
We work with what we have and within the framework of our abilities/gifts.
Pre-born-again, I would have been too serious (read "intense") and driven to be part of this group. I would have been frustrated with lack of practice and if anything went wrong (as in not perfect) during the services, I’d have been visibly/audibly annoyed but God is great and He has really been gracious to me and mellowed me. I am a kinder/gentler 9mmMike! LOL
I think of our WT as more of a couple/few folk-singers gathered around a fire...with amps…..and microphones……well.....kinda sorta......
Not sure if I have a point here other than to reiterate that I do not think that there is any fixed-formula for a successful WT.
For me, it is joyful noise.
 
#113
Hi gang, we're doing something a little different at church this week. The worship team has the whole service and yours truly is pulling it together.

We're going to do quite a few different styles:

- start off with 3 traditional hymns vox (parts) keys and piano only
- next a Country/Bluegrass segment with acoustic guitars for 2 numbers then add bass and drums for two numbers.
- From there we'll go into a southern gospel segment (God is Good - Don Moen type songs) piano / brass / guitars / rhythm sect.
- Next up we'll transition into a long contemporary worship set that will build from some slower numbers to some bigger numbers (like Mighty to Save). This segment will be mostly piano / keys / rhythm section / electric and acoustic guitars.
- We have a guest artist (Angie Reichenbach) who will then take the next segment with six songs
- Last but not least we'll have an "everybody on stage" segment of three songs (All Things are Possible - Hillsongs, Amazing Grace - Chris Tomlin version) and end up with a hymn.

Interspersed will be some introductions, devotionals, scripture readings.

As this is about 25 or more songs for the worship team we're having fun with practices! We had one 1.5 hr session last week and we have two more two hour rehearsals coming up on Thurs nite and Sat morning. Sunday @ 8:00 we'll have a quick run thru to get entrances / exits / soundguys up to speed.

If you happen to think of the old Hawk' this week, offer up a prayer will ya. We're making this an invitation Sunday, hoping to get some visitors out (no boring sermons :eek:)

Even though song selection is done, there is still a lot more work to do organize as there are many personnel changes, sound system changes etc. that could be a challenge.

It's a privilege to be a lead worshipper though. The team is looking forward to it.
 
#114
Hey - I also was just thinking. If anyone is in the WNY / Buffalo area, on Sunday night our church is putting on a concert to debut our new CD "Release the Sound". You can see the information at myspace Link Removed or facebook [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. If anything just pray for God's anointing over the people, the team, and anyone that comes into contact with this concert.

On a side note - what do i need to do to become an offical member of this club?
 
#117
Hello,

My group started out filling in as a Praise and Worship for a small church. We are from diffferent churches and decieded to start a band called TOTAL VIBE MUSIQUE is a musical group founded on friendship; empowered by the love for music; and sustained by our collective faith in JESUS CHRIST.

The mission of TOTAL VIBE MUSIQUE is to entertain our audiences by unifying their musical diversity into one “Total Vibe.” The goals of TOTAL VIBE MUSIQUE are to: 1) Utilize our talents as a witness for our Lord and Savior, JESUS CHRIST; 2) Encourage One Another in his or her spiritual and musical growth; 3) Respect the diversity of each member 4) Recognize these differences as tools will empower the group to better serve our audience 5) Increase our repertoire towards the continued entertainment of our diverse audience; and 6) Earn the funds needed to sustain the mission, goals and needs of the group and honor community-based organizations/ individuals whose activities center on helping others.
So if your ever in Philly Look us up [email protected]
 
#119
Lucky Strike said:
Here's the deal, I met this guitarist by networking and he asked me if I could come play at this church that he has just started leading worship at. I'm the first bass player he has found and I am an experienced player, naturally he feels comfortable with me and wants to keep me around, I don't blame him; once you find a good musician to fill a spot you don't want to lose them and have to look all over again for more musicians...

He didn't specify how long he needed me there so I just showed up and played, and after the first Sunday service came the "So I'll see you next week right?" along with the rest of the worship team looking at me with 'Please come back!' looks on their faces. One thing after the other and now I feel like I am really obligated to be there because of the way they keep telling me how lucky they are to have me and how it would not be the same without me... Ive been playing there ever Sunday since October 2008.

The church is about 40 minutes away from me via freeway, along with the fact that I have to bring all my own gear since I don't get plugged in (410svt, amp, bass, cables, stand). We have to be at church 2 hours before the service to practice the set. Its a brand new start-up church and there are sometimes only 20 or 30 people who show up.

The church offered to pay me $50.00 per Sunday but I told them that I would rather not be payed because A) I don't need the money, and its hard financially for a start-up church to pay musicians. B) I feel that my playing along with my tithe could be my offering. (I don't feel there is anything wrong with being paid, though)

So that's the situation, I just feel burned out from it. The funny thing is that while I'm on stage playing I'm having a good time, but that's only 10% of the time and work that is done. At this point I just want to let the WL know that I no longer want to play and kinda give my two weeks notice. But in doing so I feel like I'm kinda letting them down, and really its the fact that I feel like I would be letting them down if I left that is keeping me there each Sunday.

Sorry, kinda a long post.
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Hey LuckyStrike...

Man, if you are feeling obligated to do this gig at the church for any other reason than the LORD's leading and guiding you to be there then you may not be in the right place --regardless of how much they THINK they need you there (or how much the express this need to you). A need expressed does not equal a calling from the Lord... and if you are having genuine feelings of discontentment, I feel it can be one of two things... spiritual attack against you --trying to prevent you from being a blessing to others ---or spiritual nudging from the Lord trying to tell you that you are in the wrong place--- leading worship for the wrong reasons... It could be that you are hindering someone else from stepping up and leaving their comfort zone to fill this need somehow...

Just my two cents... or less..
 
#120
I just thought I'd post some recordings of a couple of projects I had the privlage of working with some years ago. Not professional recordings --just demos we did back in the day...

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This song was writen by our drummer about an experience he had as early in his christian walk; witnessing to a herorine addict who had just attempted suicide in the parking lot of his failing church while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

Noah's Psalm by Refraction--recorded in 2003
This song was writen pretty much by all of us -in a state of morning for a very-very close friend of our singer --and to us all. He went to every show and every rehersal and would witness to the people in the audience at our performances. He had struggled with bi-polar disorder... and ended his life at the Age of 22... This song just poured out of us as we sat around a couple of days latter weeping... We performed it as his funeral...
 
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