The fruit we bear

                                        The Fruit We Bear

             I was just sitting here thinking about the "fruit" we are to bear and realized, all of a sudden, that the tree does not eat it's own fruit.... John 15 states that Jesus is the true vine and we are the branches and we are supposed to bear fruit as long as we are connected to the vine which is our source! We cannot bear fruit if we disconnect from the vine, no matter the reason why! That same scripture states that if we don't bear fruit, we are cut away/ and cast into the fire to be burned...anything that is separated from it's source will die unless it's reconnected to the source again. The tree that bears the fruit is fulfilled in that its doing it's job bearing that fruit, even though the fruit will not be eaten by the tree that bore it.... That fuit benefits someone else. It is exactly the case with us! The fruit we bear is for the benefit of Someone else...not necessarily for us. The thing we need to learn is that we are here to first of all bring glory to God, and then fulfill the purpose for which we were created, ministering to the needs of a hurting, dying creation.
                When it comes to music, all the practice time, the woodshedding, the disappointments and rejection/ridicule all work together to help us bear food fruit- make good music. Trees go through seasons of cultivation.... fertilizing, pruning and sometimes weathering of storms before they get to a place that they can even begin to bear fruit. Musicians worth their "salt" will NOT skip the process to get to the end result.....you can't anyway.......when we go through the process and deal with all the rough times, the result should be the ability to operate at such a level of proficiency that ANY idea that comes to you should be transferrable to your instrument with little effort....bearing fruit...others then have the opportunity to enjoy what u produce as a musician.
           When we enjoy the fruit form a tree, we can do so without having to partake in the process the tree went through to bear the fruit. People will enjoy the music we produce without having to be in the "shed" with us while we're learning. I guess in short, learn to embrace your process, realizing that the fruit you will bear will be that much sweeter!
            God Bless you till next time.........Bayce3

Rise above offenses

Whas happening brothers and sisters? Just wanted to rehearse this word we heard at God's City over this past weekend, coming from Pastor O'Keefe, Pastor of Kingdom Life Mininstries in Roanoke Va. The word was simply let's learn how to rise above these petty offenses that keep slowing the body of Christ down. We need to focus on building such strong relationships with each other until we KNOW without thinking twice that if there is a confrontation of any type, that I'm coming to you or you're coming to me from a place of love and not malice! We learned that in order to be offended I have to occupy a place of "ego" and I can only be offended if i "allow" myself to be offended! It's amazing that we can spend so much time together and a few little words can destroy literally years of relationship building! We need to get rid of these things or we will never be the effective body that creation is waiting to see manifest in these last days!
Now as it relates to music, a great musician once answered a question about what was the most important thing to him in life.....he responded..."the women children and the rythmn section first!" now obviously as Christians, if you are a believer, God is gonna be before anything else...but as a musician and rythmn section player, I understood exactly what he meant. As a bassist, my relationship with my drummer is THE most important in an ensemble setting. If the rythmn section is weak, so is the rest of the band, because the rythmn section is the "foundation." I have to know him/her and the way they think musically as well as how they respond to life situations! The better I know the person behind the drums, the tighter we are gonna be as a section, then the other instruments have a solid foundation to build on and the music is alive and breathing as a result. I have also been in situations where I have not had the luxury of building that relationship beforehand and had to trust that we would connect musically until we had time to get to know each other. Sometimes we find ourselves in this situation in a non-musical context as well and I need to know that you mean me no harm if you approach me about something that may be hindering you....its all about GROWTH! If I can't say something to you without you getting mad, takin all your "toys" and going home, we won't accomplish very much together....whether musically or otherwise!
Bottom line is I need to know you love me and you know that I love you and mean you no hurt and definitely no offense. I'm just trying to see US grow together and vice versa! God Bless you all, until Next time!. Bayce3

Have the Proper Tools in your belt

Whasup folks! I had an experience recently when asked to assist at one of our sister churches with a worship service. We took 4 Of our guys over to help out...a quick rehearsal 3 hrs before to go over the material...they pass out some charts, I'm cool, my brother's cool too, because we read but the keyboardist doesn't and from the count off, the very first chord, the worship leader picked up right away that it was not what she was used to hearing and we couldn't go any further until the right one was played! She handed him a fresh chart and pointed out the chord, to which he responded, I don't know what you're talking about! He is an excellent player...by ear....and in mostly urban styles and key centers...so I don't wanna take anything away from what he DOES have....BUT.....this is the thing, if music is going to be your "thing" please make sure that you have the proper tools at your disposal when you go in. Most "church musicians" have become satisfied with learning A bunch of "tricks" and the fundamental elements of being a well rounded musician have fallen by the wayside...neglected for the "microwave mentality" of this younger generation. Tools like knowledge and application of scales and modes, basic chord structures, even in triad form are like a foreign language...and these basic elements are what most of today's contemporary music is based on and all of the inversions and reharmonizations that twist up ya face are not needed all the time and don't even sound good in certain contexts!
The ability to read even basic charts is gonna be essential as well! If you get called in to sub, like I have and have to learn 50 songs for a stage show in ONE rehearsal with NO reference CD...you had better know how to navigate a chart man!!! Learning to read even basic charts will enable you to land more work as a musician....get that tool and keep it sharp! There will be times that tricks and fools gold on your instrument won't cut it and the real deal needs to be there. The one element that goes missing or under addressed is the ART of ensemble playing! Knowing what your job is and how you fit in the band is something most players are still trying to figure out....some in vain, because they are so busy trying to show everyone what they can do, till the sound of the band suffers as a result. Check your ego at the door and don't even pick it up when you go back out....it will not serve you well when you're trying to land a job and keep it! Be teachable...and stay teachable!!Get all the tools you need and fill your belt with them to use at your discretion!
Till next time, Blessings to you!!.....Bayce3