What to do, when singers are off beat???

[karendj]

I am a beginner playing for a church. They have a tendency to drag congregational songs and it is constantly throwing me off. I started as a beginner playing the 6th chord (F-A-C-E, C-E-G-A, etc.) in the left hand as a walking bass and I somewhat learned to recover when I went off and left them, but now I have graduated to a full walking bass (F-A-Bb-B-C-D-Eb-E-F) and I just don't know what to do. Do I just hold until I get to a turn or what???

[4hisglory]

You have to work it out in practice.  Let them know exactly what they are doing wrong and take steps to fix it.

[B3Wannabe]

Just yell "REMIXXXXX" into the mic.

[cas10a]

It sounds as if you're asking what else can you do with your walking bass line moving within the chord progression to keep the singers in rhythm with you besides waiting after you hit the ending bass note you've been using?

Listen to other bass players if this is the case as they play through progressions.  Develop key bass in rhythm, sometimes not an easy task.  The piano is a percussion instrument and you have to maintain a tempo just as well as a drummer.   The singers follow your rhythm if there is no other heartbeat (i.e. drums). 

However, I've ran into circumstances where singers continue to sing off rhythm regardless of if I'm playing in rhythm (ie., rhythm of the song)...in those cases I will stop playing altogether and let them maintain whatever rhythm they like.  Better for them to sing in their own rhythm, than both of us trying to blend in 2 different rhythms...makes for a hot mess.

[karendj]

Thanks for your responses!

[betnich]

Am very tempted to say, "Take Stick- Apply!" but then again...do you have a drummer? Maybe they should be the ones to apply their sticks to keep the tempo up. But then again, some draggy drummers might be the problem...

[karendj]

It's only me on the keys!!! Still stuck on this really. I've been working on my devotional songs more than anything and I'm stuck on rhythm. Of course as a beginner everybody thinks its all my fault, but I promise I work on it at home and play it fine, I even get someone to sing and I follow, but I get to service and they drag and I keep leaving them. 

[csedwards2]

Im learning from this guy who plays all hymns at church, and  its just him, but he uses a drum machine. He has a little book with the song title, key, and drum machine pattern banks and tempo. If you  use one, the real beat will be there, so nobody can argue who's right or wrong.