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When Elvis Goes One Way by Steve Gregory
Meet Steve Gregory –
The other day, I heard a recording of an Elvis performance that went horribly, horribly wrong. The band went one direction, “the King” went another, and chaos ensued. The struggle to get everyone on the same page continued for almost a minute before the implosion was complete and the show ground to an abrupt halt. Listening with “sympathetic musician ears”, I couldn’t help but cringe as I sensed the “what do we do now?” feeling. I suspect we have all had situations that range from hitting a wrong note, to going to a wrong song section, to things just going plain wrong.
As worship bassists, we are most certainly not immune to things going awry, whether it is something we play on our instrument or something that affects us in the group dynamic. To add weight to the situation, worship bassists provide the foundation upon which the worship setting – the worship setting many in our congregations and worship teams rely upon – is developed. To be a successful worship bassist, it is necessary to think about our responsibilities and how we can best uphold those responsibilities when things don’t go as planned. Here are a few thoughts on defending against problems before they occur, gracefully getting out of bad situations when they do happen, and learning from our experiences:
1. Preparation is the very best defense against things going wrong in worship.
This may seem obvious, but preparation is critical. First, if we don’t know our bass parts, and I mean really know our parts, we really shouldn’t be surprised when things go wrong. Spend time with your music before you stand in front of the church! Practice your music at home, rehearse your music at rehearsals, and perform the music in worship. These three steps are all separate and are not interchangeable. Trying to “get” the music once you are performing in worship is a recipe for disaster.
Second, we are bass musicians, not just bass players. That means that we should also know details about each piece of music, such as:
- The chords of the song, not just the bass line.
- Other musicians’ parts of the song.
- Whether there is a loop or a track that controls lighting, etc.
- Any potential “gotchas” that need special attention.
- The lyrics to the song.
- The “landmarks” in the song – whether in our part, others’ parts, or in the song as a whole.
At first glance, it may seem that preparation is only useful for stopping problems from happening in the first place. While proper preparation does prevent many problems, it is also important for getting us out of difficult situations when they do arise, as we’ll talk about below.
2. Playing a wrong note isn’t great, but making a wrong note into a bigger problem than it needs to be is much worse.
Let’s consider a song that has a tempo of 120 BPM. At that tempo, a quarter note will sound for ½ of a second. This is not a long time in the ear of a listener; however, if we take that ½ of a second and prolong it by not correcting ourselves or playing other wrong notes because of panic, then we have a big problem. Your audience most likely won’t pay much attention to a ½ second oddity, but may be distracted by subsequent fumbling.
When you do hit a note other than the one you mean to play, quick decision making is the key. If you can move on, by all means – move on. For example, in a measure of eighth notes on A, if you hit the first note as a G#, fix it on the second eighth note and leave the errant note behind. If you hit a note that is more exposed, immediately decide on a fix and go for it. This depends largely on context, but you may need to move immediately to the right note or develop a line that passes to the right note. This is where preparation comes in – knowing chord structures, song form, and other instruments’ parts is critical. Combine your musical understanding of the song with the desire to keep the flow of worship undisrupted and you will make sound decisions.
3. When you are at the bridge, the vocalist is at the chorus, and nobody knows where the saxophonist is, you have some decisions to make.
Any time you find yourself in a “where in the world are we?” situation, your ear is your friend, panic is not. Similar to the situation above, you must apply your musicianship and the goal of providing uninterrupted worship together to find your way out of a difficult situation.
There are a few situations in which the band dynamic becomes unstable that we should consider:
- You lose your place: be calm and aware. Open your ears and play simply as you find your center, using your ear training to find chord roots and the basic bass line. Work to find your place by listening for any landmarks (you mapped these out in preparation, right?). Remember to stay in rhythm, rather than flailing wildly in a note search – panic is a groove-robber! Rely on your skills, remain calm, and you will fall back into place.
- One other person in the group loses their place: be a leader and help the other person find their way. If you have a landmark that will help them, put a bit of extra emphasis on it. If simplifying your line for a few bars will pull them back in, do it. Decide how you can continue worship and help your brother or sister at the same time!
- There’s more than one person lost: be a worship bass musician. If you can lead, as with the example where one person is lost, step forward and lead. Understand your situation and be the center and foundation. Dropping to a pedal line to outline the section might be the perfect thing to bring people home. Emphasize your landmarks and keep the groove going.
If someone else takes the clear lead, be willing to follow and support. For example, the worship leader may define the section they want everyone to play. In this case, gracefully move to the new section, keep your ears open, and keep worship flowing.
A quick note about this situation: if you have prepared, know the song inside and out, know the form, and know without a doubt that you should be on section X, but the worship leader or another musician takes the group to section Y, your job is not to be right, it’s to provide worship. An immature worship bass musician needs their ego stroked by being right, a mature worship bass musician knows that the priority is worship, above all else.
4. Post-game review isn’t just for sports locker rooms.
I believe that one of the greatest teachers is a recording of your playing, listened to with a critical ear. When you listen, be willing to be open and honest about your successes and your mistakes. In either situation, ask yourself why they happened and how you can either repeat them (successes) or fix them (mistakes). If you are willing to be really honest about what you hear on the playback, your playing will experience exponential growth when you implement changes based on your observations.
Most of the time, our worship playing isn’t going to be plagued by problems and challenges. Many times we prepare, rehearse, and worship without experiencing difficulty. However, problems can and will arise; when they do, the worship bass musician has a responsibility to be prepared to deal with the situation and to keep worship going!
I would to love to hear your thoughts in the comments below: what situations have your found yourself in? How did you remedy them? What have you learned from the experiences?
Until next time, I hope that your bass playing is blessed and that you can bless others through your bass playing!
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
Gear News
New Gear: Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass
Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass…
Esopus Guitars is proud to announce the new “Tailwater” bass guitar, from legendary bass luthier Stuart Spector. This 32” scale bass is handcrafted by Stuart using the only finest woods and components at the Esopus Guitar workshop located near Woodstock NY in the Catskill Mountains.
From its fully carved spruce top (the top is carved on both its exterior and interior surfaces) with a thumb rest that is elegantly carved into the top, to its custom-made Fishman piezo pickup and super hard Carnauba wax finish, every detail of the Tailwater is part of creating the ultimate playing experience.
The Tailwater bass features a fully chambered spruce over alder body (15.5″ lower body bout width, 2.25″ body thickness measuring from the peak of the carved top) that delivers a super comfortable tonal tool for all your low-end needs.
Each Tailwater bass is hand-signed and numbered on the back of the peghead by Stuart Spector. A very limited number of Tailwater basses are handcrafted each year at the Esopus workshop.
“I am proud to present the Tailwater bass, a bass that I have spent the last three years perfecting. The Tailwater is a culmination of all of my 45 years of experience, knowledge, and passion for bass guitar crafting. I am so eager to hear what fellow musicians create with this exciting new instrument.” -Stuart Spector
Direct Pricing : $4995.00 plus options.
For more information about Esopus Guitars and Stuart Spector’s handcrafted instruments, visit www.EsopusGuitars.com.
Bass Videos
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
Ian Allison Bassist extreme…
Most recently Ian has spent the last seven years touring nationally as part of Eric Hutchinson and The Believers, sharing stages with acts like Kelly Clarkson, Pentatonix, Rachel Platten, Matt Nathanson, Phillip Phillips, and Cory Wong playing venues such as Radio City Music Hall, The Staples Center and The Xcel Center in St. Paul, MN.
I had a chance to meet up with him at the Sellersville Theater in Eastern Pennsylvania to catch up on everything bass. Visit online at ianmartinallison.com/
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Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
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New Album: Avery Sharpe, I Am My Neighbors Keeper
