4-String vs. 5-String Bass

I tried to upgrade my plan from individual to medium and it failed because of having to get a replacement card. It is stuck in individual plan with a pending charge in 8 months. I want to cancel the upgrade because the need to upgrade is no longer needed.

Do I need to totally cancel everything and give up on Worship Artristy? The sight has great info but the support is bad. I tried contacting support and one of the email contacts but didn't get any response :-(

I'm not expecting any response but hoping.

Last year, I purchased a five string. I had been playing on a four string since high school but it was a rock concert a few years ago in which the bass player for Eowyn was playing on a five. It had got me thinking of what I can do with a five string vs. a four string. I have played on worship teams at various churches and with a praise and worship band. Recently did a worship night with my band and chose to use the five string for Revelation Song. I got the effect that I was hoping for. But here is my dilemma, my four string has active pickups, where my five string doesn't. My volume knobs are all the way up on my five string where my four string is a quarter of the way. I leave everything on my amp set the same. Any suggestions?

"It was good enough for The Police, Motown, and U2." More bass players should know who James Jamerson is!

Thank you Daniel. I really enjoy your work and attitude on WA.

For me the 4 string bass is the right solution because I've only been playing bass a couple of year. With Daniel's fine instruction it would be easy to do the 5 string, but sometimes our team does songs that aren't in the Worship Artistry lessons, or sometimes our drummer just does his own thing. Then you have to fall back your knowledge of the bass itself, and there is a lot more instruction out there on 4 string than their is on 5 string. Learning a 5 string would be great, but for this moment in time -- for me anyway -- learning to get better on 4 string is more important.

I noticed an error in the Holy Ground bass Tab. All the Eb/A's should be Eb/G's.
Video lesson is correct.

Daniel, I know you recommend the D'Addario EXP-160 Coated nickle for the 4 string bass. Was just curious as to what you would recommend for a 5 string? I recently purchased an older Yamaha RAX-5 and am in process of restoring it.
Thanks

I play both 4 and 5 although I spend 90 percent of my time on the 5er. One of the benefits of a 5 that I haven’t seen mentioned is the ability to maintain a consistent finger pattern by moving up 5 frets and down a string.

In spite of being a smaller church, we have quite few musicians and vocalists on the worship team and in rotation. At one point I remember having to play the same song in 4 different keys, in a 30 day window. We don’t have charts, music stands or, tablets on stage so all material is memorized. On a 4 string, the challenge for key changes occurs when you move down through arrangements where the are open string notes. Using a fiver allows you to retain the same finger pattern and easily move it to another key, without rethinking about scales/degrees/position.

The other potential opportunity, especially for bassists on smaller worship teams, is that you can fill some sonic space by playing the same note in a higher position on the neck, ie moving from C - 3rd fret A string, to C 8th fret E string. Depending on the bass, the notes usually sound a bit thicker/warmer.

Some things to think about, anyway.

Great article thanks for posting. I started with a 4 string about 3 years ago and recently added a 5 string. I switch between the two based on the music we are playing (which bass is better for the selected songs) as well as what other instruments are going to play Sunday at the service. It's pretty easy to go back and forth between them and each offers its own challenges.