Bass is Best

November 16, 2019

“Bass is best!” I tell that to my students every class. Understand, I’m far from proficient, but teaching only requires me to know more than the students, and so far, I’m ahead of the game. Of course, my students are middle school and just starting out, so part of their education is understanding that the bass is the foundation of the band. “Bass is best!” 

I started about fifteen years ago when our church worship team found themselves without a bass player. I’d fiddled with guitar since I was a teenager and knew the bass is the four lowest of the six strings on a guitar. “From six to four—how hard can that be?” I asked. I found out. I can sing while playing guitar; when playing bass, that’s all I do. The celebrated “bass face” is simply a product of the concentration needed to do the job. Those who can play and sing at the same time are my heroes.

A few years ago when I got the opportunity to take lessons on the double, or string bass, I jumped at it, and have fallen in love with the instrument, wishing I had started playing years ago. I’m not that good at it, but when you’re the only game in town, that doesn’t matter. Like tonight. I had been asked to join the team playing for Holy Hour for the Koinonia weekend. Usually, it’s just acoustic guitars, but not tonight. I bumbled my way through, making mistake after mistake, but had people telling me how wonderful it sounded. That’s the beauty of this instrument; it’s such low frequency that most people only hear the thump that keeps the beat. No one heard the mistakes, or if they did, they’re too polite to say so. They heard the foundation, and it added a solidity to the music. So I am thankful for this instrument and the opportunity to use it to praise God. It’s been a good evening...and bass IS best!