7 Reasons More Worship Bassists Should Listen to WSRS

I don’t think I’ve ever written before about playing bass, which is kind of strange, because I’ve been playing bass ever since I just picked up a friend’s on a whim back in 1986-ish and started jamming. (I’ve been playing other instruments for much longer than that, since the 1970’s.) Today, I play most Sundays at CPC Newton, where we have the rockingest praise & worship band on the east coast. (Probably not, but allow me a little hyperbole.) And half of the Saturdays, I also play bass at Ruach Israel.

[Update: I’m no longer at CPC Newton.]

Music for me is a labor of love and passion, as I have only earned a penny or two at most from my music, and that I’m sure is because someone felt guilty for enjoying what I have to offer. I’ve also recorded songs for fun, like my semi-unplugged rendition of “Amazing Grace.” (I’m doing everything in that recording, by the way, even though my brother and I originally performed it together, him on guitar, me on bass.)

Several weeks ago, Mario called me in a non-obvious semi-panic, wondering if I could play bass for In the Deep, because most of their other musicians had to cancel at the last minute. When I describe In the Deep, I say it’s candlelight ambience, loud worship music. I agreed to play. That was a fun, fun gig. Almost made me want to start another band again… But that’s a different story.

Afterward, I received a number of complements on my rockin’ bass playing. At first, I attributed them to two facts: 1. Mario had actually introduced me publicly to the group as the stand-in bassist, and 2. Dan the drummer and I have been playing together for years on Sunday mornings. We groove together, almost without thinking, so much so that sometimes I wonder if we’ve gotten into a rut. So when I subbed in at In the Deep, opposite Dan, we naturally provided all the backing needed. Yeah, that could be it.

But after thinking about it more, I’m thinking there’s more to it than that.

Enter WSRS

WSRS is an adult contemporary radio station that my teenage daughter insists on listening to whenever we ride in the car. Around here, they syndicate the popular Delilah program. (That’s yet another story.) Delilah plays approximately the same kind of music WSRS plays the rest of the time, so if you’re familiar with her, then you have an idea of the genre of music I’m talking about.

I’m not sure when it happened. But I do remember I was listening to WSRS, because I was in the car with the family, and the radio was on. I suddenly realized that even though I was listening to smooth, lite adult contemporary, I was being dragged along by the groove. Almost every song had an interesting drum-bass foundation that almost exactly mirrored my style. And then I understood what had actually happened at In the Deep. The attendees were probably used to the way that most worship bassists play, and now they were hearing someone who cut his chops–not on contemporary praise & worship–but on actual music.

When I went back and reviewed the original recordings of popular worship songs by Hillsong, David Crowder, Matt Redman (whose music I love), and others, I discovered a common thread. The bass lines were all boring. There were a couple of exceptions, like “Beautiful One” by Tim Hughes. (Although our arrangement of that song still blows his out of the water.)

And this boringness is not a characteristic of contemporary Christian music in general. If you turn on your favorite contemporary Christian radio station or Music Choice channel, you’ll hear plenty of interesting stuff happening. In fact, musically, CCM mirrors much of what you hear on WSRS.

What’s the difference?

There are specific differences in almost every instrument, every part. And having played almost every part at one time or another during my decades-long music career, I hear them all. The general difference is that most contemporary worship music is played with the skill of a 12-year-old. That’s probably so that even amateur church musicians, who just last week learned how to play that chord, can still feel confident in leading those songs in front of their congregations.

I could offer specific advice to every instrumentalist in the band on how to address this deficiency. The general advice is just to treat your instrument as a profession, become better and better, even though you’re just doing it for love and passion. After all, the fact that you’re an amateur is no excuse for not treating your music seriously, for giving God anything less than your best.

Since I began from the perspective of a bassist, let me offer some unsolicited, specific advice to worship bassists. (All of these points you can hear in song after song on the radio, if you listen for them.)

1. Focus on feeling the groove, and practice play with it. As a bassist, you’re not just playing the right notes, but you’re playing them at the right time, in order to set down the groove of the song and establish the mood of the song. When you play is just as important as what you play, because the bass is both a percussive and a melodic instrument.

2. Listen to the drummer, and play with him. This goes hand in hand with #1 above. This will require you to learn a little about what the drummer plays and when, but the effort is worth it. You should pay particular attention to when he hits the kick (i.e., the bass drum) and the snare. These are points in the rhythm you should enhance with your playing. Note that each drummer has his own style, and if you’re doing it right, drumming from a different drummer should suddenly throw a monkey wrench into your bass-ing. If you can go seamlessly from drummer to drummer without a hitch, one of you is doing it wrong.

   (I know that some church bands don’t have drummers. That’s okay. As a bassist, you can still play both parts. Learn about what a drummer would play, if he were playing with you. Hear his drumming in your head, and play along with it.)

3. Master the mute to intensify the groove. That is, not playing can be just as powerful as playing. For example, try intentionally stopping your bass note short, on the beat where the drummer hits his snare. It’s a more dramatic effect than holding your bass note through the snare hit. Use this effect when it feels right, in order to emphasize the groove.

4. Master scales to add effortless variety to your bass lines. Chord sheets only list the lowest note in the chord as the “bass” note. But an effective bass line also uses other notes from the scale, and those are never listed on the chord sheet. Yeah, I know: you thought by playing bass you wouldn’t need to learn scales. Well, absolutely not true. On any melodic instrument, learning your scales is one of the most effective uses of your time. Listen to bass lines on the radio, and experiment with playing different notes, and you’ll suddenly discover that most of those complicated bass lines are within your reach.

5. Master bass chords. Yes, you heard me right. Bass chords. Usually played on the upper strings, high on the neck, these moody additions can really spice up a bass line. They can also add thickness to the other chord instruments, making up for the paucity of instruments in most worship bands.

6. Use slides, octaves, bends, hammer-ons, and pull-offs. A slide is when you slide your finger from one note to the next. An octave is when you play the same note one octave above another, either alternately or simultaneously, doubling up the note and giving your instrument a whole new level of tonal depth. (The next slow, melancholy song you play, try doubling the bass note on octaves and sliding up and down the neck to play the bass line.) A bend is when you bend the string you’re playing in order to make the note a little higher, especially effective in conjunction with blues scales. (Try playing an octave and bending the upper note a little to create a bass-chorus effect.) A hammer-on is when you play one note, then hit the fret on a higher note without plucking the string, especially useful for quick riffs. A pull-off is the converse, play a note and then quickly lift your finger from the fret, allowing another note to play. (See this video for a demonstration.) Frankly, the bass is the most versatile instrument in the band, more versatile even than the electric guitar. Do your part to add variety to the arrangement.

7. Play high notes sometimes. The bass is not just for low notes. Yeah, it’s easier to play high notes if you have one of those trés kewl 6-string basses. But even if you only have the much more common 4-string variety, you probably have over 3 octaves at your disposal. (My 4-string can play anything from a low E up to a high G, 3½ octaves above.) Try experimenting with guitar-like leads, to complement the electric guitar or to sub for it (if your band is missing one).

8. BONUS: Don’t play the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over again. Play something different once in while. Even if the song consists of the same 4 chords repeated ad infinitum (e.g., “Trading My Sorrows”), that doesn’t mean you have to play the same 4 notes over and over again like a robot. Vary the rhythm. Vary the intensity. Play different inversions (that is, different bass notes from the same chord). Play different fills.

But it’s not a performance!

Heard this objection before. If you’ve thought of an objection, I’ve probably heard it before.

Actually, playing worship is a performance, because you’re performing. It’s just a performance of a different sort to the one where you stand up on stage and entertain the masses. I’ve done both; I know the difference.

But just because worship is not “a performance” is no excuse not to treat your craft seriously, to invest in it all the skill you have to muster, to improve your skills and to use them, to give God everything you have and are. I’m tired of musicians using “not a performance” as an excuse for shoddy musicianship.

There’s a reason why professional musicians (except in the worship genre) play the way they do, and it’s not to get attention. Any professional musician will tell you that if you’re doing it right, your playing should not stand out, but should effortlessly merge into the background. Because playing that grabs attention is not rockin’, but rather is awkward and distracting.

When you listen to the radio, the musicians who set down those tracks chose to play those particular parts, because they enhanced the song and make listeners want to get into the song, want to get up and groove, want to sing along, all the things that the worship artist also wants.

-TimK