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Worship Bass: Eye-Rolling Dynamics
Hey there, worship low-enders! I hope this column finds you doing great. I thought that I’d share a fun party trick with you, as the basis for the thoughts behind this column.
Here it is: find anyone who has played in a group for which I served in a music director or bandleader capacity. Mention my name and the word “dynamics”. Then, just sit back and enjoy. 99% of the time, eye-rolling will commence; bonus points if they emit a groan and/or make disparaging remarks about me!
I will admit, I harp on the subject of dynamics and allow the non- or misuse of them to be a personal pet peeve. My own obsession aside, I truly do think that it is easy to defend this position. Dynamics can single-handedly and drastically change the presentation of music. Conversely, not employing dynamics can turn great music into meaningless mush.
I have discussed dynamics in this column space before where we investigated the bassist’s role in group dynamics, over a song form. Since writing that column, it has occurred to me that there is a concept worth considering, before becoming concerned with group interaction. Simply put, it is important to understand the available dynamic range of your bass, by itself.
This column requires reader participation, so grab your bass and if amplified, turn your amp to medium-loud and don’t alter your settings for the following exercises. Now, play the softest note you can. Softer. Softer still. On a scale of 0-100, where ‘0’ is not playing at all, we are trying to get a ‘1’. Got it? Great. Now play as loud as you can (don’t alter any amp settings, add any effects, or change to a different attack technique). Go for the ‘100’! Got it? Neighbors not too upset? Even better!
You have just demonstrated the two extremes of your available dynamic range. This means that from not playing at ‘0’, we have 100 “degrees” of dynamics – and we should use all of them!
When I work with a worship bassist who is striving to become more dynamics-aware, I often find they subconsciously consider the following framework:
0: not playing
10: reserved for a very rare, extremely soft moment
45-65: where 99% of playing falls by default, not intention
100: reserved for the last note of the last song of the last set after the massive drum roll.
The result is playing that misses opportunities to be expressive.
The good news is that we can work on becoming effective, dynamic players!
Below is a starter set of exercises to explore the full dynamic range of your bass. For consistency, I’ve marked dynamics above measures in the aforementioned number format (0-100). The only formal music notation that I’ve used is the crescendo (an increase in volume, marked by “<”) and decrescendo (a decrease in volume, marked by “>”). These exercises are only useful if you truly use the entire dynamic range; check frequently to ensure you aren’t making abrupt jumps from one level to another.
Try these exercises out and make up your own. Anything that you can do to explore the full range of the bass is going to be helpful and enlightening.
Outside of practice, it isn’t bad if a situation doesn’t call for the use of your instrument’s entire dynamic range. However, it is important to understand the range that is available so that you can be intentional about the dynamic levels you choose for your playing.
I’d love to hear what you discover as you experiment – please feel free to comment on this column or reach me on Twitter: @sgregorybass. Until next time, happy dynamic playing!
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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