Worship Musician October 2018 | Page 120

BASS

ESSENTIAL GROOVES FOR THE WORSHIP BASSIST ( PART 1 ) | Norm Stockton

Having a wide vocabulary of bass grooves is invaluable , whether playing live or in a studio environment . The term ‘ vocabulary ’ is appropriate as it truly equates to having the broadest range of possible expressions , so that the one that perfectly articulates the moment can be contributed to the musical conversation or worship time . This list of grooves is obviously not all encompassing , but is a good starting point !

When trying to decide what grooves to play in a particular song ’ s various sections , it ’ s important to keep in mind that there are rarely ‘ right vs . wrong ’ musical choices , but much

Drum Set

°

¢

° ¢ . more commonly there are ‘ more effective vs . less effective ’ musical choices . The factors informing those choices include things like the cadence of the vocal in that section , song tempo , overall emotional statement , and desired musical feel , etc . These considerations are usually subjective , but our discerning faculties can be calibrated through regular and critical listening to well-crafted music played by great musicians .

By the way , it should be noted that there are many phrasing options that can dramatically alter the feel . For example , in Groove A , changing the half note on beat three to a

A ( Basic 8th-Note Pop Groove )

? ° ¢ . œ ¿ œ ˙ œ ¿ œ ˙

/

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ œ œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ œ

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ œ œ quarter note , followed by a quarter note rest on beat four , allows room for the snare drum hitting the backbeats and conveys a bit more groove than the exact written part . Experiment with note duration ; it ’ s amazing how something as simple as how long you hold out a note can so profoundly affect the overall feel .

We ’ ll continue with more next time . Happy woodshedding !

Norm Stockton Bassist / clinician / solo artist from Orange County , CA . Following his long tenure as bassist with Lincoln Brewster , Norm has focused on equipping bassists around the world through his instructional site ArtOfGroove . com . Learn about his latest project at GroovesAndSushi . com . His book , The Worship Bass Book , is published by Hal Leonard . www . normstockton . com

Norm Stockton

¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ œ ü . †

ü . †

120 October 2018 WorshipMusician . com