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Worship Bassist’s Toolkit – Transposition by Steven Gregory
Welcome to the latest installment of the Worship Bassist’s Toolkit series! We have been investigating the tools that worship bassists must have available, maintained, and ready to use in order to create passionate, musical worship. Thus far, we have looked at Fretboard knowledge, Technique Awareness, and Transcription. There are many other tools to explore in the Worship Bassist’s Toolkit; however, I am going to close this series for a bit to explore other topics in this column. Before doing that, one more tool should be included in the initial set: transposition
Simply put, transposition is taking music in one key and moving it to another key. There can be a number of reasons to need a song in another key. Quite often this will happen in the worship setting to accommodate vocal ranges, instrumentation, or set programming. In order to provide a seamless worship experience, it is important to become skilled at transposition.
Let’s look at transposition through an example: “Run” by Hillsong. For these illustrations, I will use the version from the live album “This Is Our God”. Figure 1 shows the bass line for the song’s intro in the original key, F#
Figure 1. Original “Run” Intro – F#
Now, let’s transpose the line down a whole step, to E. This is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. “Run” Intro – E
As you can see, the line was moved, in its entirety, to the new key. In this example, the shift of a whole step is easy to figure out and convenient to see on the fretboard: D# becomes C#, B becomes A, F# becomes E, and G# becomes F#.
Now let’s change again, this time transposing the original line up a major 3rd. We could stay in sharp keys, making this the key of A#; however, to aid in writing and reading I’m going to use the enharmonic key of Bb. (Note: “enharmonic” indicates keys that are equivalent, but “spelled” differently. In this example, A# and Bb are the same keys, but spelled differently.) Figure 3 shows the intro line transposed into Bb.
Figure 3. “Run” intro – Bb
If we stopped here, the basics of transposition would have been covered; however, as bass musicians, we should explore this further.
Figure 4 shows the intro again and then shows the beginning of the 1st verse, in the original key (F#).
Figure 4. “Run” intro and 1st verse figure – F#
Note that the beginning of the first verse moves to the next octave D# to begin, moving the entire line up. On the recording, this is an effective device for separating the 1st verse into two halves – the first half is shown here, the second half moves down an octave.
If we maintain a strict “transpose up” rule, we get Figure 5 when we move to Bb:
Figure 5. “Run” intro and 1st verse figure – Bb
In this transposition, we go much higher in the bass sonic space. This may be fine, depending on your worship team and where other players move on their instruments. However, it is possible for guitars and keyboards to rearrange in such a way that your line will be lost in the mix and the entire experience will sound “thin”. The beginning of the 1st verse, now starting on the high G, is particularly susceptible to instrument clash.
What options do we have? Figure 6 shows 3 options for both the intro and 1st verse figure. Option A for each is the “transposed up” line, Option B is the entire line transposed down, and Option C is a hybrid of A and B.
Figure 6. Options
Here is the fun part (and a major point!) of this column: I can’t tell you which options and combinations might work best for you! In fact, there are other options that may fit your situation. The only way to determine what to play is to keep your ears wide open when playing with your worship team. In addition, the remainder of the song may have movement or changes that will influence your choices. It is important that you don’t destroy the feel and general movement of the line, but rearranging may be necessary when key changes are made. Your real concern is to play the lines that best allow passionate worship to happen. Each of these options might do that, in the right situation! By understanding transposition, practicing it regularly, and then using your ears to make wise choices in rehearsal and performance, you will find the right line for your worship.
Transposition is a tool that all worship bassists should have available, maintained, and ready for use. I would love to hear about your experiences transposing – leave a comment below!
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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www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
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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
