LeftyP

I plug my bass into a Tascam GB10 and listen through headphones. The Tascam plays mp3 tracks that I can play along to. I can change the key without altering the speed or change the speed without altering the key. I can even loop sections of the songs if there are tricky bits to practise. It's a great piece of kit.

There are many songs that I can live without but Come On Eileen has to be one of the worst records ever made.

We had a great Easter morning service on Sunday. The church was packed (we can seat 150 people) and we played five great songs; Come People of the Risen King. See What A Morning. Who Is This Man? (Kids' song from Emu Music) Living Hope. Glory To Jesus (Thine Be The Glory) A good band line-up of male and female vocals, semi-acoustic guitar, bass guitar (me), oboe (my wife), drums and keyboard had the congregation singing loud enough to cover up all my mistakes! There were fun and games for the kids while getting the Easter message across and hot cross buns and chocolate egg nest cakes with tea and coffee. People stayed long after the service had finished for fellowship and food. Then some of us met up at a church member's house for a meal in the afternoon. The group consisted of; Three people from Egypt (our hosts), five from India (four of whom worked in London but were visiting one of our church members) one guy from Brazil with his English wife and their two boys plus five of us from the UK. We had great food and fun games. Our church contains people from all over the world, from South Africa and the Philippines to Asia and Eastern Europe. A few months ago we had an afternoon get-together where the various nationalities brought food from their countries and we learned about how they were trying to adapt to the British culture. There were some funny situations recounted. I can recommend Filipino Chicken for lunch! Christian fellowship at its best. I feel blessed to belong to such a diverse yet united family.

Not an exact match but close enough.

Does anyone, apart from the player, care how much the bass costs? I have an Tanglewood version of the Hofner violin bass (Beatle Bass) which I bought about 20 years ago for under £200 new and with hard case. You can get Chinese made versions for around £400 these days. A genuine, German made Hofner violin bass costs over £2000 but will it be that much better than the cheap versions? Most punters don't consciously notice the bass so wouldn't know the difference between a custom made, expensive, one and a tea chest and broomstick model! We all like to have nice things, whether that's watches, bicycles, or basses but if a cheap model does the job - what's the problem?

I posted this earlier but it went onto the general list instead of the "Playing in Church" thread. I am quite open to hearing new versions of traditional hymns. Stuart Townend's interpretation of "The Lord Is My Shepherd" works very well and we sing it in our services. EMU music do some nice arrangements of older hymns too. I know some people may throw their hands up in horror at any changes to well known hymns but they can become so familiar that we can often sing them without really thinking about them. Re-working a song can sometimes bring out hidden depths to the words. I came across this version of Fanny Crosby's great song "To God Be The Glory" by an all female band called Faithful. Check out their latest album, from which this is taken, on YouTube - they are very good. Not sure a "traditional" congregation could adapt to it but I find it very refreshing.

We don't usually have a mid-week rehearsal for our church band but with our carol service coming up on Christmas Eve we had a get together last night. I really enjoyed trying out the songs and arrangements and felt that I was a better player by the end. We had the usual situation of several different versions of the same song. Three of us had the lyrics for "O Come, O Come Immanuel" while the rest had different verses to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"! One of my chord charts must have been put together by Eric Morecambe as I had all the right verses but not necessarily in the right order! Our usual run through happens on a Sunday morning about an hour before the service but I would really like a mid-week rehearsal to explore the arrangements and just spend time with the rest of the band. Sadly I am in the minority so playing along to mp3s at home will need to continue. Do you have regular band rehearsal during the week?

I have back issues (trying to snowboard for my 60th birthday!) and as a result play a semi-hollow, short scale bass that weighs a little over 7lb (2.69kg). I only play in church and we do between four and five songs on a Sunday morning - sitting down between each of them. If I was a gigging bass player on stage for two 45 minute sessions I would go for an even lighter bass, like the Hofner violin (Beatle) model.

I was a teenager in the 1960s and well remember hearing "River Deep, Mountain High" blasting through my little medium wave transistor radio from a "pirate radio" station, based on a ship anchored off the Isle of Man. It still sends tingles down my spine. Aretha's "I've Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)" was another track that got to me. There have been many classic tracks that have stood out from the crowd like; "The Power of Love" by Jennifer Rush and "Macarthur Park" by Richard Harris. They made an impact even if they may not be personal favourites. I love Macarthur Park by the way! Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman" is a classic country song with a beautiful arrangement. Personal taste obviously comes into our selections but some tracks just have that certain something that sets them apart.

We had a informal get-together of the church music group members last night. It was refreshing to sit and chat about what was good about the music side of worship and what we could improve. Our church has a number of musicians and singers who are on a roster to supply the music on Sundays. I end up playing bass about once every three weeks and do not often play with the same people each time. It was an opportunity to meet up over tea and biscuits to chat and listen to new songs that we may be doing over the coming months. We agreed that the relationship between us all was good and there were no prima donnas amongst us. When I read about the difficulties that some people have with their music team it makes me sad. We all get along well and can have a laugh with each other when things go a little awry. That doesn't mean we don't try to play to the best of our abilities but we do not stress over being human and making the odd mistakes. Last Christmas (I feel a song coming on!) we were warming up before the service with "While Shepherds Watched". It didn't sound quite right until we discovered that we had three different versions of it between us! Playing in the church band is a privilege and we do it to honour God and help the congregation lift their praises to Him. I do feel that some church musicians need to chill a bit. It's not about you or your ego it's about God. Enjoy it.

I only play in our church band and use a four string. There are some worship songs that feature an Eb but I just play it up the octave on the A string. With our 100+ congregation belting out the words it makes no difference. I also use a short scale, hollow bodied bass to ease my injured back and I don't know of a five string version. There is also the point that I only have four fingers so four strings are perfect! Having said that, I only have two feet but my car has three pedals!

Live albums can be very good or very poor. Capturing the atmosphere of the venue/crowd and balancing the stage sound can be hit and miss at times. I can understand why sometimes studio "tweaks" may be required. One of my all time favourite albums is Harry Chapin's "Greatest Stories Live". It sounds edited in places but it's a great listen. Then there's Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" double LP (that dates me!) which is just a riot - in a good way.

That's the way I do it too.