Playing in Church.

[Richard R]

1 hour ago, Sardonicus said:

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. 

 

I may need to go and lie down somewhere having just read that post. 

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, Sardonicus said:

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. 

sometimes you just have to step away and observe other peoples madness from a zen type place. 
I used to do some PA stuff for church, and some professional design. 
I chose to stop doing PA and now just look with amusement at some of the things going on... 
And in my last church a rebrand happened, they obviously knew more about design than a professional designer... and now there is a church in leeds with a logo that doesn't work very well on websites or ppt or display screens... who would have anticipated that?...   

[bass_dinger]

On 10/01/2022 at 10:38, Sardonicus said:

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. 

 

It is good that you can laugh at this.  Because the alternative (rage, and frustration) would damage your own wellbeing, and not change the Learner's attitude. 

 

Thanks for sharing . . . 

 

 

[LukeFRC]

actually I retract a little of what I said previously about letting it all wash over you.... 

It's amazing. It's hilarious- at what point of learning an instrument do you only tune half of it?  

 

[LeftyP]

On 10/01/2022 at 10:38, Sardonicus said:

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. 

Although I can play using all four strings, I do prefer the tone of notes played on the E and A strings.  The note D played on the A string has a much better tone to it (to my ears) than an open D string.  I'm currently working on a song for church which has a top note of G but instead of using the open G, I play the note on the D string for a more muted tone.  In theory, you could play most bass lines on just the E string - now there's a challenge!  Anyway, four strings and four fingers - a match made in heaven.

[Richard R]

 

47 minutes ago, LeftyP said:

Anyway, four strings and four fingers - a match made in heaven.

 

5 string:  for those of us with opposable thumbs 👍 😉

 

Plus you find you hardly ever play an open string at all.

[oldslapper]

48 minutes ago, Richard R said:

 

 

5 string:  for those of us with opposable thumbs 👍 😉

 

Plus you find you hardly ever play an open string at all.

6 strings for those of us in Somerset 

[xgsjx]

The sad reality is that the majority of CCW can be played on one string without any difficulty.

 

I’ve found myself not practicing to the original versions of songs anymore & just find acoustic versions to practice along with. This way, a more fitting bassline prevails during worship. 

[LukeFRC]

14 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

 

I’ve found myself not practicing to the original versions of songs anymore

Me too! 

[Richard R]

59 minutes ago, oldslapper said:

6 strings for those of us in Somerset 

I wasn't going to make that joke!

[Richard R]

17 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

The sad reality is that the majority of CCW can be played on one string without any difficulty.

 

I’ve found myself not practicing to the original versions of songs anymore & just find acoustic versions to practice along with. This way, a more fitting bassline prevails during worship. 

 

We still get a mix including CCW, old hymns and stuff like Graham Kendrick and Stuart Townend. Old hymns I enjoy as essentially the bass can play the melody and it's a finger workout. Some of Kendrik and Townend is hard work!

[dmc79]

21 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

The sad reality is that the majority of CCW can be played on one string without any difficulty

If I get sent a 7 minute YouTube video of a song to learn, I’m generally bored 3 minutes in. Whoops, Freudian slip there, I meant to say I’ve got the hang of the song by then

 

[Owen]

6 minutes ago, dmc79 said:

If I get sent a 7 minute YouTube video of a song to learn, I’m generally bored 3 minutes in. Whoops, Freudian slip there, I meant to say I’ve got the hang of the song by then

 

To be fair, in a 7 minute CCW vid, the first 2 minutes are sub-Clannad "wooooowooo" and the last 2 minutes are a repeated tag with someone giving it their max on the vocal front. Not the max, but their max. During lockdown we had a bunch of these in our online services which were a run of videos at the begining. We usually managed 30 seconds before moving on to the next video. I often wonder what people are hearing that I am missing.

[xgsjx]

8 hours ago, Owen said:

To be fair, in a 7 minute CCW vid, the first 2 minutes are sub-Clannad "wooooowooo" and the last 2 minutes are a repeated tag with someone giving it their max on the vocal front. Not the max, but their max. During lockdown we had a bunch of these in our online services which were a run of videos at the begining. We usually managed 30 seconds before moving on to the next video. I often wonder what people are hearing that I am missing.

As my Mrs calls them, "Cardboard box" songs.  They're very predictable, uninspiring  & follow the same formula every time.  It's pretty much all our church plays.

 

All the main worship bands seem to release albums full of these sort of songs.  There'll be one or two that are slightly better, but our worship leader ladies seem to have a knack of picking the worst tracks from each album. 

[bass_dinger]

11 hours ago, xgsjx said:

The sad reality is that the majority of CCW can be played on one string without any difficulty.

 

I’ve found myself not practicing to the original versions of songs anymore & just find acoustic versions to practice along with. This way, a more fitting bassline prevails during worship. 

 

Good thinking!  I will try this.   I find that a lot of the material is very busy, and the bassline, too simple, or too buried in the mix, to be of any musical use. 

 

 

I also play other songs, to increase my dexterity and technique.  Last Sunday, the bassline to "Let Your Yeah be Yeah", by  the Pioneers, found its way in some new song (the title of which escapes me.  As do the lyrics...).

 

 

[Richard R]

If anyone fancies introducing a new song to their church which definitely has space for the bass player to improvise then you're very welcome to one of mine we introduced last year which was quite well received.  The line I play on the recording is pretty simple (to make sure got it right), but others have put more runs and fills in.

[bass_dinger]

4 hours ago, Richard R said:

If anyone fancies introducing a new song to their church which definitely has space for the bass player to improvise then you're very welcome to one of mine we introduced last year which was quite well received.  The line I play on the recording is pretty simple (to make sure got it right), but others have put more runs and fills in.

 

Oh, go on then!!  

 

Do please share it.

[xgsjx]

👆

What he said.

 

😀

[Richard R]

OK.  This is the version we did in lockdown last year.
Excuse my expression -  I did ask the video editor to just crop to the instrument, but she didn't ☹️
 

 

[LeftyP]

When I get a list of songs I check out the music manuscript on our church site and make up a chord chart.  I then work around the chords with arpeggios and chromatic fills if there is room.  Most sheet music shows the bass line for the left hand of the pianist and is not suitable for the bass player.  In a few weeks time we shall be playing "Crown Him With Many Crowns" and our sheet music actually has a bass line I can follow on the bass guitar!  It's not too involved and has been great practise at reading music.  I've tried to become more proficient at reading music but, as so little of our songs provide bass guitar lines, I don't get much opportunity.  I still think that the old KISS principal is the best (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and that we should play as well as we can but not be distracting.  I just hope that when I get to play the rest of the band have learned the same version!

[Richard R]

How did "Crown him with many crowns' go, @LeftyP?

[Owen]

47 minutes ago, Richard R said:

How did "Crown him with many crowns' go, @LeftyP?

Da da-da da da daaaaa,

da da da da da daaaaa,

da da da da da da da-da da etc IIRC. 

[LeftyP]

On 14/01/2022 at 08:18, Owen said:

Da da-da da da daaaaa,

da da da da da daaaaa,

da da da da da da da-da da etc IIRC. 

Wow Owen, you set a very high bar.  I'm not sure I can play it that well!

[Owen]

19 minutes ago, LeftyP said:

Wow Owen, you set a very high bar.  I'm not sure I can play it that well!

No guts, no glory LP man!

[Richard R]

21 minutes ago, Owen said:

No guts, no glory LP man!

I've been to @Owen's church. What you need to appreciate is that half the congregation sing the songs in English, and the other half in Welsh, at the same time. Now while this makes for an awesome sound in the sanctuary,  it must be a nightmare for the musicians who also have to play in two languages at the same time.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Richard R
Edited for typo.