It’s great to read about your experiences guys. I have had similar experiences in my own worship team and alongside occasional frustrations, have certainly developed as a player in this ministry context.
Davo – thank you for an excellent list of tips, with which I agree whole-heartedly. It’s amazing how 10 is so often overlooked…
One thing I would add is that whilst the majority of music used for praise and worship is constructed around a pop format, there are some instances where it isn’t. Some gospel styles for example, often involve extended breaks, impromptu modulations and changes in time signature and as such effective communication by the MD is vital. In my church, we use the Nashville Numbers System as there’s no music and often no rehearsal. This has proven invaluable.
What I’m particularly interested in though, which I didn’t make terribly clear in my original post, was how members of worship teams have experienced the act of worship whilst playing bass. I also lead vocally and find this experience can be more obviously expressive, both as a worshipper and as a leader. Less often, I play guitar as accompaniment or on the worship team. The guitar seems to lend itself to expression (melodically, for example) more readily and thus it too offers a different experience to playing bass. Now I don’t believe that the bass offers anything less as an instrument of worship, in fact quite the opposite, but that perhaps people aren’t always seeing it as such and certainly not talking about that enough. I suppose I just don’t subscribe to the ‘simpler is better (or even essential)’ tagline for Christian bass playing, as per Gelfin’s link. Surely, creative expression should be encouraged, but not at the cost of distracting others. I would be really interested to hear your thoughts…
Tobie