WORSHIP LEADERS
ESSENTIAL LISTENING: SONG DYNAMICS FOR MDS & BASSISTS | Grant Norsworthy
Groove! It’ s the essential, foundational, rhythmic platform for a song. For me, as a Musical Director( MD), I know that the main source of groove is laid down- or at least should be laid down- by the drums and the bass guitar.
Groove is the special sauce that helps the vocal melody and the lyric of any song soar. Having the support of a bassist and a drummer who know how to listen and make good, dynamic, musical choices is essential. With drums and bass both locked into one solid groove, the song’ s invitation to worship God is far more effective.
Yet many of our amateur, volunteer bassists( and drummers) serving local churches are yet to discover the joys of groove. Many are lacking in the areas of critical listening and musical dynamics.
My recent articles have reinforced the value and importance of critical listening and dynamics as prerequisite skills to good musicality. Using Phil Wickham’ s“ Great Things” as the example song in each case, I wrote articles:- Firstly, to encourage better listening by all musicians.
- Secondly, to talk about listening for and reproducing song dynamics in general terms.
- And most recently, with a particular focus on drummers / percussionists to lead well through those dynamic changes.
This article is especially for bassists and the MDs who guide them. The focus is on listening, working with the drummer to find groove, and creating effective dynamic variation. I hope it’ s helpful!
“ Great Things” has groove and is very dynamic. Click this for a timely reminder of Phil’ s original version.
For bassists to groove, they’ ll need to develop as critical listeners! During their personal preparation for any song, they will need to have: 1) Listened critically to a sound recording( probably an original artist’ s version), 2) Heard and taken careful note of the main dynamic rises and falls in the song, and
3) Paid special attention to how the pro drums and bass work together to produce groove.
It should be well understood by the bassist( and all our team members) that we are not required to reproduce every element of the pro recording. Doing so is most likely beyond our abilities anyway! But we should notice the main dynamic variations and be ready to reproduce those in a way that is within our ability.
On Phil Wickham’ s original version of“ Great Things”, the drums and bass work together extremely well to make the rises and falls in dynamic intensity so effective. Our amateur,
volunteer drummers and bassists should be inspired by the pros and should“ steal” as many of the pro’ s great ideas as they can as they arrange their own, specific parts.
As the MD, let me describe the sorts of things that I’ m hoping for from our bassist. While listening to the song- and with one eye on the“ Great Things” Dynamics column graph- read my suggestions below. Each alphabetized point corresponds with a section of the song structure.
A. Pre-Intro: Low dynamic: No bass here. Listen for the fill from the drums. Be ready to launch into the Intro / Interlude with confidence and groove.
B. Intro / Interlude X2: Lock in tight with the drummer’ s high energy“ 4 on the floor” groove. It’ s hard to hear with certainty, but I suspect the pro bassist is playing 16th notes here. That’ s a lot of notes! Works wonderfully well for the pro, but that’ ll be tough to deliver precisely for the rest of us. I suggest using strong, even, 8th notes or( if it makes it easier to be in time) quarter notes throughout. What’ s important here is not the number of notes. It’ s being solid and in time with the drums. That’ s where groove is created!
C. Verse 1: Sudden drop in dynamics. Even though there is a synthetic bass on the recording, I’ d suggest having no bass guitar here. Even when the drums come in for the second half of this verse, hold back.
40 September 2025 Subscribe for Free...