Independent review of our Advanced Bass DVDs in Worship Leader Magazine

Darryl Bryant, writing in this month’s Worship Leader Magazine has reviewed our new Advanced Bass DVDs. Here is what he had to say:

As a keyboard and synthesizer player, understanding how other instruments fit into the mix is vital to providing inspirational and high quality worship that is engaging and Christ focused. And as a closet bass enthusiast, I found the Advanced Bass in Worship by Musicademy with Matt Weeks a creative, challenging journey. The instruction and backing tracks increase in sophistication and complexity sequentially as you progress through the tracks. The song selection ranges from the familiarity of Chris Tomlin’s “How Great Is Our God” to Martin Smith’s “Thank You for Saving Me” to Matt Redman’s “Beautiful News.” The professional grade training, tips on melodic lines, and fret board combine with arpeggios and chromatic gospel lines are applicable right away for both live playing and studio work, making this an invaluable addition to your training repertoire.

Matt Weeks sums up the power and commitment to this seven hour 3 DVD set, “I’ve found it important to see that your own identity and personality is evident in your playing.” Weeks goes on to say that “one should avoid becoming the ‘generic worship bass player’ and that the things you enjoy playing and the style you like playing should be nurtured and not suppressed.”

I know that often times worship musicians and instrumentalists in general can fall into a routine and lose that passion to be unique and express the musical gifts that God has forged in our hearts. In addition to this resource, and as I mentioned in previous reviews of Musicademy tools and resources, the DVDs have a comfortable and technically sound British quality that’s easy to follow. The bonus extra of “O Happy Day” by the late Edwin Hawkins was an unexpected joy that took me back to my musical roots.

Make no mistake about the purpose of this instructional program. It is an advanced learning resource for enhancing technique, timing and will stretch you as a bass player while expanding your knowledge of worship playing strategies. As a sophisticated resource, worship leaders will learn how to better integrate the bassist in the overall mix while encouraging their worship team to look at higher dimensions of instrumentation.

Here’s a link to his review in the magazine – you can also click through and read the other 80 pages. Andy writes a regular column called “Musical Chops”. This month its on using percussion.