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Worship Bass With Steve Gregory: One Worship Under a Groove
Meet Steve Gregory –
Groove is a key concept for all bassists to understand and, as we will find out, is especially important to worship bassists. To start things off, let’s play a little game I call, “Groove or No Groove”.
…Watch the following videos and decide for each if the music grooves or doesn’t groove.
1. Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah –
2. Lincoln Brewster and Norm Stockton Jam –
3. Chris Tomlin – Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) –
4. The Isaacs – He Ain’t Never Done Me Nothin’ But Good –
5. Hubn Bubn Polka Band – Line Dance Polka –
OK, have your answers? Since I can’t tally everyone’s responses, here is a set of answers that would not be unusual:
“Steve, easy game, dude! Lincoln and Norm ~g-r-o-o-v-e~! You can feel the groove as soon as the downbeat hits! As for the rest: “Hallelujah Chorus” absolutely does not groove. “Amazing Grace” is a lovely tune, but doesn’t groove. “He Ain’t Never Done Me Nothin But Good” is a great country song, but is a country song, not a groove. And the polka…well, you’re a funny guy, Steve.”
What about your answers? Agree? Disagree? Final answers, please…
What if we consider the possibility that all of these pieces groove?
It has become common, particularly among bass players, to make “groove” synonymous with “funky”. In worship circles, songs that have a strong gospel feel will be labeled as having groove. While music with funk and gospel feels may indeed groove, it is very important to realize that groove is completely independent of musical style, tempo, or meter.
If groove is an independent element, what is it exactly? One definition from Merriam-Webster Online is, “a pronounced enjoyable rhythm”. I’m not sure that captures the meaning of groove completely, so I’ll offer the following:
Groove is the underlying, defining pulse of music that provides a foundation for the rhythmic and melodic elements of a song.
So, back to our quiz: The “Hallelujah Chorus” is certainly not funky; however, there is a strict 4/4 groove that the piece is based on. You can sense the sharp pulse upon which long phrases and staccato accents are laid to create beautiful music. Lincoln and Norm are absolutely in a groove – this one just happens to have a funkier feel (not to mention fantastic bass work by Mr. Stockton!). “Amazing Grace” has a slow tempo, but still has a groove! The pulse can be felt like a heartbeat, which highlights the depth of the music that is following this groove. “He Ain’t Never Done Me Nothin’ But Good” is chock full of groove! Take a look at the people in the audience if you have any doubt that there is groove in that room. Finally, yes, the polka has groove! When you watch the video, notice the movement of the players – they almost can’t help themselves from moving to the groove. They feel the pulse of the music – the groove – and build the rhythms and melodies on top of that pulse.
The game was fun, but there’s actually more to the understanding of groove than word play and semantics. Groove is the underlying pulse that bassists have to understand and feel in order to create bass lines that have musical depth. Groove is everywhere, but many bassists tend to only tap into the groove when the music is interesting to them. Here are four fictitious examples: Song 1 is funky, so there is a deep connection to the groove. The bass lines fit in the pulse, which is felt by the drummer, which creates a pocket for the music to reside. Song 2 is full of static eighth notes playing the roots of chords, so the groove relationship is absent. The lack of this connection makes the music “flat” and weakens the interconnectivity among the group. Song 3 has a bass solo spot, so the groove can’t be stopped. Bassists tend to want solos to sound great, so we instinctively lock into the groove so that we have a home base from which to improvise. Song 4 has 32 measures of rests, 8 measures with whole notes in each, and 64 measures of rests, so why even bother finding the groove? In pieces like this, those 8 measures are often climactic and need to be filled with the groove.
When bassists don’t tap into the groove, another definition from Merriam-Webster Online fits:
Groove: a fixed routine : RUT
This happens in worship all of the time. Worship bassists decide to turn groove on and off depending on whether they like the song, whether the song is exciting to play, whether other musicians enjoy the song, and a plethora of other reasons. Here is the problem with this: the worship bassist isn’t just providing the base for the worship music, but is providing the foundation upon which the entire worship experience rests!
This was brought to my attention on a recent Sunday. We had a song on the set list with which I didn’t connect. I wasn’t feeling the groove and initially my playing reflected this lack of connection. This changed when we started the song and I noticed a woman on the front row. She was singing, dancing, and was absolutely filled with the song! She felt the groove! This song was speaking to her in a way more powerfully than I ever would have thought. I realized that each and every song requires attention to the groove so that the worship experience is built to the fullest.
Groove is powerful! Depression, fear, anxiety, and other negative emotions that someone might carry into the worship service create barriers between that person and the worship. Music that is immersed in the groove can destroy these barriers and let the worship flow freely. In contrast, people can have their joy, happiness, and hope drained when we choose not to tap into the groove and bring our best to worship. It is a responsibility of the worship bassist to hear, understand, and play with the groove on every song, regardless of any other factor!
I’d like to offer a challenge: in the next service you play, tie every single song into the groove. Fill yourself and your playing with the groove regardless of tempo, meter, your like/dislike of the song, or the influence of anyone else. Be the absolute rock upon which the worship rests. If you truly commit to this challenge, I bet that you will experience worship in a way you never have before and your playing will never be the same! In fact, I anticipate that you will receive compliments for the “feel” of your playing. This will happen without changing any notes or tempos, but simply feeling the groove and translating it into your bass lines. Let me know your results – leave a comment or join me in the Bass Musician Magazine Community – I can’t wait to hear what happens!
Until next time, I hope that your bass playing is blessed and that you can bless others through your bass playing!
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
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Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
FB @lettucefunk
Bass Videos
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
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Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
New Gear: The Dingwall John Taylor Signature Model
This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
New Gear: Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
