How to Learn Gospel Bass Guitar
The bass guitar usually is used to support the dominant vocal style typical of gospel music. This leads to a style with a very smooth, measured feel to it. Gospel bass does not generally employ some of the exciting, virtuoso techniques more commonly seen in other genres. Despite this, the bass typically plays an important role in the song by creating the groove and rhythm for the other instruments and vocals.
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Instructions
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Practice the two-finger method of plucking the open string. Place the plucking hand thumb on the pickup and alternate between plucking up with the index and middle finger.
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Practice moving from one string to the next using this method. String skipping is not commonly used in most traditional gospel songs.
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3
Use a metronome to develop proper rhythm and timing. You should be able to properly time whole notes (four beats), dotted half notes (three beats), half notes (two beats), whole notes (one beat), and eighth notes (two notes per beat).
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4
Learn to play the major and minor scale. Most gospel songs use one of these scales for the progression. A scale is a group of pitches that have a musical use. A bass scale chart can be referenced in order to do this. Knowledge of music theory and the note locations on the bass neck also works.
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Learn to play these scales in thirds, fourths and fifths. When you play straight through the scale, play the third (two notes higher in the scale), fourth (three notes higher), or fifth (four notes) of each note right after playing it. Gospel progressions typically move in one of these intervals.
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Practice playing through a four-bar gospel progression (such as 1-5-7-4) and drop the last two beats of the fourth bar and play a few notes off the scale. Initially, focus on being able to add a fill and loop back to the beginning of the progression without missing the timing. Fills are short segments of music that are used to catch the listener's attention between phrases of the melody.
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Tips & Warnings
The bass usually plays such an important role in keeping the rhythm that going even slightly off the beat will adversely affect the song. It is important to focus on staying on beat and using the proper progression for the song. Keeping rhythm is a trained skill, not a natural one. Take the time to develop a proper sense of rhythm. While a plectrum can be used, the tone is often too punchy for this style. Hybridized gospel styles may completely change the bass part to fit the style of music hybridized and completely discard the typical gospel bass style. Playing these songs may require learning the techniques and conventions of another style.
References
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