Playing in Church.

[xgsjx]

1 hour ago, oldslapper said:

Too often I had “I’d like us to sing (x/y/z) now” at the end of a sermon, often something I’d never heard of, without notice. 
Given the significance often put on the “sermon/preach/word” and the time spent preparing it, gave some indication of the value put on musicians time in preparation.
 

That's every week at my church.  It's usually towards the end of the sermon that the worship pastor or a worship leader will send a WhatsApp saying "We'll do this song" & sometimes it's accompanied by a chord chart.

1/2 the time it's a song I've never heard before, so it's made up on the spot.  Thankfully I only play about once a month.

[SuperSeagull]

Question…..we have our carols service this Sunday evening, rehearsing tonight. What are your churches doing re mask wearing for musicians (I assume wear all the time), singers (wear other than when singing), audience / congregation masks on all the time? It’s provoked a bit of a debate. Bass content - using my new to me Ashdown RM500 and a 1x12 ABM Neo cab for the first time for this. 

[LukeFRC]

9 minutes ago, SuperSeagull said:

Question…..we have our carols service this Sunday evening, rehearsing tonight. What are your churches doing re mask wearing for musicians (I assume wear all the time), singers (wear other than when singing), audience / congregation masks on all the time? It’s provoked a bit of a debate. Bass content - using my new to me Ashdown RM500 and a 1x12 ABM Neo cab for the first time for this. 

It proves contraversial doesn't it - and it's good to remember that Churchs in Korea were some of the first super spreader events. -best bet it to look to Evangelical Alliance or CoE or a body you belong to for guidance. 
EA I know has policies based on gov. guidance AND best practice. For example we've been wearing masks for congregation singing and walking around, even though until recently that wasn't gov guidance. 

 

[Owen]

We should all be wearing masks in public places. Full stop.

[LukeFRC]

3 hours ago, oldslapper said:

Very little in my experience, other than   whim and fantasy, clothed in super spiritual language in some cases.

I feel for you, and find it so sad that this is still going on 10 years after I was last involved in church organised music.

Leaders, please either trust your musicians, or help them by having some thought about what they may need to assist whatever it is you’re trying to achieve in a service. 
Too often I had “I’d like us to sing (x/y/z) now” at the end of a sermon, often something I’d never heard of, without notice. 
Given the significance often put on the “sermon/preach/word” and the time spent preparing it, gave some indication of the value put on musicians time in preparation.

it's the same/worse if you're a visual artist/designer. I have an undergrad in Sculpture and my dissertation was looking at Art and Religion in contemporary art/culture... so it would be an understatement to say I've read a bit on the subject and could talk at length about the different frameworks for "art in a christian context" and the positives and minuses of those approaches when it comes to our postmodern culture...  
`

"Can you do something for/with church?"  "umm what were you thinking?"   "I think X"    "ahh I see what you're trying to do, the reasons why that might not be a good idea are........ [long conversation]"
"oh so you don't want to do X then? We really want X." 🤦‍♂️

[Richard R]

2 hours ago, SuperSeagull said:

Question…..we have our carols service this Sunday evening, rehearsing tonight. What are your churches doing re mask wearing for musicians (I assume wear all the time), singers (wear other than when singing), audience / congregation masks on all the time? It’s provoked a bit of a debate.

 

Our church went straight back to masks on unless you are speaking from the front or singing. While the guidelines allow the congregation to take masks off to sing, nobody did except those leading from the front.

Singing with a mask on is odd, because when you try to take a deep breath the mask pulls in and restricts the air flow, but it was fine.

[dmc79]

3 hours ago, xgsjx said:

That's every week at my church.  It's usually towards the end of the sermon that the worship pastor or a worship leader will send a WhatsApp saying "We'll do this song" & sometimes it's accompanied by a chord chart.

1/2 the time it's a song I've never heard before, so it's made up on the spot.  Thankfully I only play about once a month.

Over reliance on technology and the presumption that people have their phones surgically attached to their hand does my head in. Call me old fashioned, but I’ve never been keen on having my phone by my side in church. Perhaps because I grew up without one and because I hate seeing people staring at their phones during a service. 
 

If I’m playing, my phone is often off the back of the platform behind me. Once I got home after playing and there was a Whatsapp from the worship leader saying “We’ll do this song at the end.” Honestly I was a bit taken aback by the presumption that we’d all be looking at our phones during the message, especially as they’ve never stated “Watch your phones in case something changes during the message.” The final song is generally set in stone. Back on Sunday, and back to masks. Great. 

 

 

[bass_dinger]

6 hours ago, Sardonicus said:

 ". . . he now wants the entire service to be an off-the-cuff, un-rehearsed, un-scripted, all ages naivety play."

 

 

 

Fixed it for you . . . .

 

 

[SuperSeagull]

1 hour ago, Richard R said:

 

Our church went straight back to masks on unless you are speaking from the front or singing. While the guidelines allow the congregation to take masks off to sing, nobody did except those leading from the front.

Singing with a mask on is odd, because when you try to take a deep breath the mask pulls in and restricts the air flow, but it was fine.

I think that is the right thing to do. I fear we may be tempted to allow congregation to take masks off when singing - surely the most ridiculous thing to allow at present. 

[LeftyP]

7 hours ago, dmc79 said:

Over reliance on technology and the presumption that people have their phones surgically attached to their hand does my head in. Call me old fashioned, but I’ve never been keen on having my phone by my side in church. Perhaps because I grew up without one and because I hate seeing people staring at their phones during a service. 
 

If I’m playing, my phone is often off the back of the platform behind me. 

 

 

I don't take my mobile 'phone to church.  I'm there to worship and praise God not check my emails and texts.

[LukeFRC]

41 minutes ago, LeftyP said:

I don't take my mobile 'phone to church.  I'm there to worship and praise God not check my emails and texts.

I set my in-ears mix with my mobile and sometimes have the chord chards on it too... there's even an app with the bible in in 

[xgsjx]

Same as LukeFRC.  I use the MX-Q app for mixing the in ears (works with eh Behringer M-32 mixer) & the Bible app.

[Richard R]

Bible on the phone, the Mixing Station app for IEM if I'm playing.

If I am running the livestream then the phone is on silent but available for texts from whoever is monitoring YouTube.  We used to get texts when we started,  but virtually never now as we're more experienced.

Mixing Station works with our Qu32.

[bass_dinger]

I can recommend a book "the Heart of the Artist" by Rory Nolan.

 

Read it, then give it to your leaders to read, so that they can better understand how us "creatives" work! 

 

It allowed me to be a little less precious about what I have been working on - a bassline that I have been working on for a few days is now more easily binned, when I see that it does not fit.  

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by bass_dinger

[LukeFRC]

9 minutes ago, bass_dinger said:

I can recommend a book "the Heart of the Artist" by Rory Nolan.

 

Read it, then give it to your leaders to read, so that they can better understand how us "creatives" work! 

 

for broader creativity this came out this year and is worth a read. https://www.eden.co.uk/christian-books/personal-life/christianity-and-the-arts/why-art-matters/?site_id=162595&adtype=pla&device=c&product_id=5512659&gclid=CjwKCAiAh_GNBhAHEiwAjOh3ZMJ8OEFUgx0e16t3ET6x1BL9TwZfQJQqB-5lM9-F90gq9b1ToEEXDBoCC2kQAvD_BwE 

 

(for your own enjoyment as much as making a point to leadership  ) 

[xgsjx]

1 hour ago, bass_dinger said:

I can recommend a book "the Heart of the Artist" by Rory Nolan.

 

Read it, then give it to your leaders to read, so that they can better understand how us "creatives" work! 

 

It allowed me to be a little less precious about what I have been working on - a bassline that I have been working on for a few days is now more easily binned, when I see that it does not fit.  

 

 

 

If the bassline itself is good, but doesn't fit with the song, save it for another song.  

 

[bass_dinger]

2 hours ago, xgsjx said:

If the bassline itself is good, but doesn't fit with the song, save it for another song.  

 

Nowadays, I am a veritable riff machine, able to churn out musically appropriate basslines spontaneously.  I can happily throw away melodic basslines that Bach would have turned into a fugue. 

 

Either that, or I manage to cram the bass riff from Fontella Bass's "Rescue Me" into every single song, and not care who notices it.

 

Actually, I am much closer to the latter.  One week, our young singer was at home, isolating.  So, I deliberately inserted every cliché and standard line I could think of into the songs, to reach out to her as she watched us YouTube.  When I next saw her, I asked her if she spotted it. "Yes! I was saying to my sister, 'listen, he is doing the riff again!', but she could not hear it."

 

It was at that moment that I realised that musicians hear, but the rest of the congregation don't really notice what I do.  So, that is the real reason why I am happy to throw stuff away. 

 

I used to very much enjoy inserting the descending octave bassline from Bach's Air on a G String, into the chorus of Jared Cooper's King of Kings, Majesty.  It worked in A, but I could not transpose it to G on the fly - so, I decided to create a new bassline, which fitted better with what the others were playing that morning. 

 

Nobody noticed. Nobody complained.  

 

 

[Richard R]

6 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

I can happily throw away melodic basslines that Bach would have turned into a fugue

Given that Bach was a fugueing genius it is far more likely that any riff any of us ever write, he already had. 

Which is sad in a way, but solves any future  copyright infringement cases.

[joseb84]

On 02/12/2021 at 10:27, bass_dinger said:

That's an unusual set up.  Is it because your predecessor was a bass-playing worship leader, and you inherited the role?

 

It seems to me that the guitarist is often looked to as the leader, regardless of whether they are qualified or willing to carry out that role. 

 

Apologies I missed this question...

 

So from what I can make out all of the worship leaders are guitarists, and the logic of having 'direction' from the bassist is essentially not to overload anyone else with too much responsibility. The drummer is responsible for the click track, the keys player for computer/pad set up and the leader for leading the congregation. So quite equitable in a way.

 

I also know that the Catalyst festival worship band have a similar set up as apparently the bassist is a phenomenal musician and sensitive to the worship dynamic, but absolutely not a 'front man' character. I don't claim either of these things for myself!

 

In reality it mostly involves counting in intros or any tricky line timings for the vocalists, and occasionally giving 'let's go around that bit again' instructions. Quite happy to do it.

 

[Richard R]

Just got in from Carols By Headlights,  organised by Olton Baptist Church in Solihull. 

Great band, playing from a trailer with a proper event PA and broadcast on local FM to the car radios. Good bass mix too.

[Sardonicus]

On 17/12/2021 at 14:01, bass_dinger said:

Nobody noticed. Nobody complained.  

I also regularly insert bass lines from other songs into the service to keep myself amused and to see if anyone else notices.  When I've been on guitar I've played bits of ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman", whilst on bass I've inserted "Walking On The Moon" by The Police, "Gangsters" by The Specials, "Shine Eye Girl" by Black Uhuru and "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley 😁

 

It's normally only other members of the worship team that notice.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Sardonicus
Bad grammar

[Sardonicus]

The nativity play went well on Sunday, as well as being on bass, I was a shepherd.  I kept the head covering on for the entire service, it was for a 3-4 yr old and the top of my bonce was almost numb by the end, it also made me look like I had a sh*t haircut 😆

 

[Richard R]

2 minutes ago, Sardonicus said:

The nativity play went well on Sunday, as well as being on bass, I was a shepherd.  I kept the head covering on for the entire service, it was for a 3-4 yr old and the top of my bonce was almost numb by the end, it also made me look like I had a sh*t haircut 😆

 

You got off lightly!

I had to wander all around church following a 3 year old in a star costume while I was dressed like this:

[LeftyP]

I've been following a series of Youtube podcasts by Sovereign Grace Music and enjoyed this episode very much.  It deals with the instrumentalist's role in worship and gives a lot of food for thought.

 

 

[Sardonicus]

In the past, I have posted stories about `The Learner' bassist, I say learner but they have been playing for over 3-4 years now, I knew that they only played the E and A strings but on Sunday I learned that they have never even tuned their D and G strings.  It was pointed out that to tune all of the strings was preferable as it would give stability to the overall tuning but we were met with an expression of complete confusion.

 

Things like this used to frustrate me but now I embrace the madness and laugh.

 

On second thoughts, perhaps they're just a big fan of Stig Pederson of D.A.D.