Role of a Praise Band Bassist

Jynx3dx1

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I still dont get it. Im the bassist at my church, but at times, it feels theres no need for a bassist. The Acoustic and the Electric have their lil low e strings and the keyboard can play lower notes. The drummer takes care of the rythems.

What really is the role of the bassist in a worship band, or is it a position given just to make that person feel better?
 
the bass player can be vitally important, trust me!!

i'm a keys player (and i play bass too) and it is so much easier for me to play and flow in the higher notes with someone filling in the low end...it's less for me to have to think about and do. It's not about one person taking the lead and being the most important, but it's more about each one of the members enhancing each other and complimenting each other.
whether you know it or not, you compliment the guitarists and the keyboardist and the drummer with your bass, without you there is a void that the rest of us have to try to fill. to be honest, there is so much more versatility in the bass than there is in a kick drum or a keyboard...you can do slides, slaps and many more extra smooooth sounds that i know i can't do on keyboard.


so i guess what i'm trying to say is you are very important and valued, you may not always feel it but you are and i'm sure the musicians in your team would say the same thing.
 
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GuruGreg

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I'm the bassist and worship leader at my church, and I know when I first came on we had no bassist and everyone in the church noticed the difference. The sound is just more complete with it. We do keep the bassi pretty loud though. Maybe you need to turn up the bass or get by a monitor to hear yourself, because if the electric and accoustic guitars can fill in for it, then they are off by about an octive.

Maybe you just feel the monotony of being a bassist in a praise and worship band. Songs tend to be pretty easy to play and it doesn't seem like your doing much, nor does it seem to be exciting, but it is important. Don't be discouraged...even if no one can hear you and you're still praising God to the fullest, He couldn't ask for anything more!
 
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rachelg2004

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My dad plays bass at my church and he has a lot of the same problems because we do a lot of hymns and the bass doesn't fit with all of them. Our keyboardist is really good but she can't play without playing a bass line and the organ can't play without using the booming bass pedals. Sometimes I think you just have to sit out sometimes and play the songs that suit the sound of the bass and play when it will make the song sound better and not worse. It's hard when you have 3 bass lines going and there should only be one!
 
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keyz

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I can hardly live without a bass player. I play keys and some bassists will tell me that I have the bass taken care of because I sometimes play low on the scale. The bass adds so much to it.. It also drives the song. If the drummer and bass are working off of each other it is wonderful. :)
 
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IbanezTony

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I still dont get it. Im the bassist at my church, but at times, it feels theres no need for a bassist. The Acoustic and the Electric have their lil low e strings and the keyboard can play lower notes. The drummer takes care of the rythems.

What really is the role of the bassist in a worship band, or is it a position given just to make that person feel better?
 
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IbanezTony

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In spite of this being an old thread, the question here is often asked by bassists. "What is the role of a bass player on a praise team?"
There is always a need for a bassist. As a bass player on a praise team, you and the drummer locked in the pocket provide the necessary rhythm and harmony foundation that the rest of the group relies on to do their parts. If the bass is out of sync with the drummer, it is an instant train wreck. From your description, it sounds like you are in a blended band and not a guitar driven band. On the praise teams where I am the bass player, there is often a piano player, lead and rhythm guitars, vocalists and an occasional flute player. To help define our roles in the group, each member via mutual agreement has a clear idea what they are going to do in the performance of a song. When I first started playing on a praise team, I was a root note bass player. Later, as I got more comfortable being in a praise team, I realized that I had a lot of control over how I defined and performed my role as a bass player. I was given a lot of leeway to create my own unique bass lines. With several instruments able to fill the low end, you have a great opportunity to create your own bass lines low, midrange and higher while still locked in with the drummer. Get creative, don't go overboard and take steps to define your role as a bass player. The organist will play that steady bass pattern against the mid to high range melody line. The lead guitar will chord and put in the riffs and the rhythm guitar will maintain that steady set of chord progressions. You are in a great position to create bass lines to play against this background of coordinated sound and by doing so, you define your part in the group.
I started with a four bass but by my second year on the praise team, I realized that I really needed a 6 string bass and the added range because I was given piano music to read for my bass lines. Well, it did not take long for me to realize that piano music bass lines more than not are written out of range for a four string bass. So, hence the six string. As I gained more experience on the six string and confidence, I began to experiment. Double stops, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, chords, trills, inversions, with a jazz, blues, and/or rock pattern here and there. I began to define my role as a bass player in the group. This approach has made me a better bass player and a much wanted member of the praise team. In fact, I was asked by another praise team at the same church if I could help out as bass player just last Saturday. I learned the songs by practicing at home as usual and then came for rehearsal. After rehearsing the first two songs, the music director stopped and said "We are not used to having a bass player that just comes in and plays without stopping every few measures to ask questions. You just play and it sounds great!" The drummer chimed in and said " "I love those slides, runs, and chords!" At this point I realized I had just defined myself as a bass player in this group as well. Do not view your situation as a limitation to your role as a bass player; view your situation as an opportunity to get creative and tastefully define your unique role as the bass player. And you will feel better about your role on the praise team!
 
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Dave-W

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I have been playing bass in worship bands for over 35 years.

I started off learning how to sing bass with some Southern Gospel greats, and when I started playing guitar, I started walking the bass lines. The music minister at our congregation in the early 1980s noted that and told me to learn the bass which I did and have not looked back.

In my youth I listened to a lot of Motown soul music and apparently absorbed the jazz style of James Jamerson and Bob Babbit - Motown studio bass players. So it now comes out like that on a variety of genres. So what I play is how I used to sing bass and how I would imagine Babbit or Jamerson would play a piece. It is NEVER boring.


There is a song or 2 that we do on occasion that has ONLY a bass and drums for accompaniment.
 
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