Learning All Over Again

My fingers are not bleeding. They’re swelling. And over time, I begin noticing how my left hand has grown much stronger and muscular.

It’s one of the side-effect of learning how to play the bass.

The internal side-effect is much more overwhelming, and I realize this is simply a small step in a very long quest of becoming a real bassist.

Sometimes I laugh at myself, “What are you thinking, learning a brand new instrument at the age of 29?”

Why did I pick up the bass anyway?

Because God told me to?

Yeah.

I guess that’s the main reason.

The triggering event was when four of our church’s bassists moved out: two went to college in the big city, and the other two got a job in the capital. They won’t come back in the long run.

So I began thinking what will happen ahead when everybody has got new posts in other places, after graduation, after wedding, after job transfer, and so forth. “Surely God will provide replacements for the empty ministry posts,” I thought to myself.

But what if the replacements don’t come as fast as we need them to?

Then, you fill the post, said a still, small voice.

It took me quite a long time sitting in the silence of the night to take those words in. I felt out of breath, like someone who stood at the brink of a deep ravine, thinking how she could possibly jump and not fall. God simply whispered, “Fly.”

Alright.

“If You bid me fly,” I told Him, quoting John Wesley. “I’ll trust You for the wings.”

And I jumped.

For the last few months, I’ve been learning and practicing the bass – first, with a guitar. Afterward, I borrowed my friend’s electric bass (he’s got three at home) and started practicing for real. The bass is a completely different instrument from the guitar (which I have known since adolescence). It’s got different way of plucking, different range of finger-stretch, and different thickness of strings.

It’s far more laborious!

But I’ve resolved to learn because in the near future, both my husband and I have got to be able to play both the keyboard and the bass, so as to anticipate whenever there are vacuums of posts in church ministry.

Being a good music teacher, my husband taught me everything I needed to know. Aside from finger and rhythm practices, he also showed me books and music videos on bass playing. He introduced me to great bass players and guided me into understanding different styles in bass-playing.

“What’s most important – and far more important than the ability to play well,” he told me. “Is for you to have the character of a bassist.”

I didn’t actually quite catch the meaning of his words as he said them.

Those days, I was so into Jaco Pastorius, the long-gone jazz legend, who was so monumental in the history of jazz music. He set up a new standard and style in bass-playing and even claimed himself as “the greatest bass-player in the world” (which was naturally true).

But as time had gone on, I realized I didn’t find the pure character of a bass-player in Jaco. He truly was the greatest bass-player ever lived, but playing and living the life of a bassist are two different matters.

I was completely stunned when I finally found the real soul of a bass-player in Steve Rodby, producer and bassist of Pat Metheny Group.

When asked about his roles as both a producer and bass-player during an interview in Japan (1995), he explained that the two are quite alike, “It’s sort of what a bass player does: I’m there in the middle of the stage, I’m kind of the one who has to organize a lot of what’s going on. I’m mostly there just to help everybody else sound good. If everybody plays the best, then – really – I’ve done my job, as much as whether I sound good or not.”

It was like a slap on my face! His answer was so genuine, so innocent. There was no slightest trace of selfishness or narcissism, no desire for recognition or respect! It’s not like he’s nobody in the history of American music. As a matter of fact, Steve Rodby is one of the living legends of our time! But as the “leader” of the band (because that’s what a bass-player does: he leads both the rhythm and chords for others to follow) and organizer of the whole team, he chooses not to puff himself up.

And suddenly, I felt so embarrassed of myself.

Didn’t Jesus teach His disciples, “Whoever wants to be great among you must become your servant?”

As it is, leading means serving: to do away with our ego for the sake of others and for the greater good. There is no such thing as self-interest in the dictionary of a leader.

As I returned to the Lord’s feet I realized I just learned one very important lesson. I knew then, that He didn’t want me to learn to become a bassist just to fill in the empty post. He simply wanted me to be a better person, to rid me of my arrogance and narcissism. And that was one very, very precious lesson!