Creating a Bass Line

June 20, 2006 in Training with 0 Comments

 

An closeup image of the pickups underneath the strings of an electric bass guitar

I’m really hoping with these posts to be very practical to musicians who might not have much training.  I love the fact that there are resources out there that are meant to help train church musicians, but the only problem is that you get these powerhouse players for these resources that make everything look so easy and perhaps brush over some of the basics that people don’t think about.

So, that said, today I would like to look at the basics of creating a bass line.

  1. Learn music theory (or at least the basics of it).  There is nothing more important than understanding how the musical structure of a song works.  If you can learn basic music theory (such as knowing the I, IV, V, and vii chords in every key), you will be way ahead of the game.  If you understand musical structure, you will be able to anticipate where your next note should go, know how to fill within a chord, and much more.
  2. Practice.
  3. After learning music theory, don’t only rely on the bass note of the chord.  If you see something like G/B, don’t skip over the G!  Yes, you must first of all be solid on knowing that you as the bassist are supposed to play the B, but if you don’t know what chord goes over the B, how can you fill and make your bass lines more interesting?
  4. Practice again.
  5. Learn style.  This one can be tricky.  Where do you start?  The best way to do this is first of all, learn step 1, then secondly, find some drum grooves that are written out.  For those of you who go to Lord of Life, I have a poster of them in my office.  Learn where the kick drum and snare drum are written on these drum grooves and match them.  A great way to practice this is by going to the Jam Zone at CyberFret Bass, choosing a style, and just plain doing it.
  6. Practice more.  Are you sensing a trend here?

The best things to do when learning how to create bass lines are to know the foundations of music theory, and to know style.

Next time we’ll look at how the drums and bass work together, utilizing these same concepts.

What are some tips you have for creating a bass line?

(photo by Salvi)

 

Always Do Microphone Checks

June 19, 2006 in Uncategorized with 6 Comments

Yesterday was another fantastic time of worship where God’s Word was proclaimed and Christ’s body given for us.  Pastor John spoke to us about the fact that everyone, everywhere has a breaking point, but that God would not let that breaking point destroy us.  John shared from 2 Corinthians 4 the amazing limits that God puts on our breaking points.

“We are hard pressed on every side, BUT not crushed.  We are perplexed, BUT not in despair.  We are persecuted, BUT not abandoned.  We are struck down, BUT not destroyed.”  This is reason to worship God!

The music came together very well.  In light of Bob Kauflin’s recent post on how important it is to have skill within a worship team, I was very excited that Pat, our drummer, nailed the tricky celtic rhythm for the song “His Forever.”  It was awesome!  Thanks for practicing, Pat!

One glitch however, leads me to the title of this post.  Our music ministry has been around for a long time, but the tech teams have only just recently started.  We have not gotten into an established routine of what to do every Sunday morning which caused a bit of a problem.  Last week, we had a guest pastor who must have used a different belt pack than Pastor John, which caused the label on the sound board to get moved.  It didn’t get moved back to Pastor John’s original channel.

Now, John hadn’t used his microphone until prayer time in the service as the elders are now doing announcements.  I started to strum a bit on the guitar while John was praying and realized very quickly that his microphone was not on.  I started playing as softly as possible (and thankfully our sanctuary is small, so that he could be heard by most of the congregation.)  John’s gain was down too low for any signal to register on the board, and the sound tech wasn’t sure which channel John should be on.  It eventually got fixed, but not until close to the end of the prayers.

This is why it is so important that we always do a sound check on every microphone, especially the pastor’s!  The most important thing about our worship services is that the message of God’s love and grace which leads us to a more Godly life be proclaimed and proclaimed so that it is heard. Paul puts it so well when he says,

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!…Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:14-15; 17

Earlier I said that thankfully our sanctuary is small, so that he could be heard by most of the congregation.  That’s not good enough.  The Gospel message must be heard by ALL.  We’ll try to consistently do microphone checks for the pastor.  Will you?

CD Review – Worship God Live

June 15, 2006 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

WorshipGod Live from Sovereign Grace Ministries is seriously one of the best worship CD’s I’ve ever heard. There are a few reasons for this:

The doctrine and theology is rock solid. There are no “fluffy” songs on here. Every song is filled with rich Biblical truth that sinks into your soul. I especially love the truths of “Count it All Joy,” a song about Paul’s teaching on considering all of our trials joys. This CD isn’t afraid to get down and dirty with some difficult issues, yet keep the music listenable and singable.  Check out these powerful words from the song:



Lord I’ll count it all joy
When the weight of sorrow
Drives me to my knees
Every heartache and pain
In Your mighty hands
Is forming Christ in me
And I know that Your Word is true
Yes, I know every trial
Will only prove


You have always been my Rock
I will trust You forever, forever
You have never failed me God
I will trust You forever, forever


Secondly: The music is singable. I understand that a lot of pop artists these days have tenor voices, but it’s rare that you’ll find a church that can actually sing that high, so if you don’t have a competent worship leader who knows how to change keys and who’s sensitive to these things, the congregation isn’t going to be able to sing many of today’s songs. Not so with WorshipGod Live. Almost all the songs on here are in a singable range that’s comfortable. And the CD has more than two-part harmony! So many times modern music only has the ability to have two-part harmony and I have enough singers to have 3-part or 4-part harmony. These songs have plenty of oppurtunities to incorporate lots of harmony.

Thirdly, this CD is a great example that having sound doctrine does not mean you have to sacrifice sound musical quality. The musicians and singers on this CD are phenomenal, being able to play a range of styles and moods. Well, no wonder, after I look at the sleve and see that Carl Albrecht, Don Harris, and Ben Gowell played, I’m not very surprised at all. Kudos to Steve Cook for producing such wonderful styles and textures for the music.

This is a fantastic CD and I would highly recommend it! I have and will continue to use these songs in congregational worship.

The Meter Ate My Quarter

June 14, 2006 in How to be an Offering with 0 Comments

I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “Wait a minute, I thought I came across a blog on worship and music.  Why in the world does the title have to do with downtown parking meters?”


I chose this title because today the parking meter in front of Mrs. Murphy’s Irish Gifts ate my first quarter I tried to put in it.  At first, I was really frustrated.  I was frustrated with the parking meter, I was frustrated with the city’s maintenance of the meters, and I was frustrated that I wouldn’t be able to have any time in the meter to park.  But then I thought, “Try another quarter.”  And it worked.


There is a passage from Phillipians 2 that Paul wrote that deals more with worship than we realize.  The passage is this:



“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.” Phillipians 2:14-16


We can worship God through doing things “without complaining or arguing.” First of all, there was no need to complain about my quarter.  I’ll forget about it in two days.  There is no need for us to complain about small stuff that doesn’t matter in the eternal scheme of things.  There is no need for us to argue about trivial things, when we could be advancing the Kingdom of God.


Secondly, as teachers, like Paul, we would like to say of our students, disciples and worship teams that they indeed “shine like stars” as they “hold out the word of life” so that our labor is not in vain.


We exist to be offerings first of all to Jesus, our God and Savior, but secondly to be offerings to those we lead and serve.


I hope this blog can help us all do that just a little bit better.

Page 77 of 77« First...506070«7374757677