Texas Sized Tone

Deep in the Heart of Texas, Sean Byrd creates music that reflects his passion for God’s presence in his life. With talent and ability as large as the Lone Star State itself, he remains humble, and willing to give the gift of music. I saw this gentleman at a church musical in a small church down in Texas, and he played as if he were in the Madison Square Garden, it’s obvious that it’s not about the size of the stage for this humble musician, and we are thankful that he took time to share with Gospel Bass Lines. As he answered our questions if you’re a musician with blood running through your veins, you can’t help but catch his infectious love for the Lord and Music.

GospelbassLines: Was the bass the first instrument you learned?

Sean Byrd: Actually, the first instrument I learned to play was the piano. I started taking piano lessons when I was 8 years old, along with my elementary school music class. It was my introduction to reading and understanding music.

I have always been around music and musicians. My parents play instruments. Well, My dad still plays trumpet and my mom plays a little piano and played the clarinet when she was a child.

I also heard a lot of music at church. So, I was really introduced to the musical sounds of many instruments from day 1. Although I learned piano first, I really only knew how to read the music. I would try to pick out songs and chords or melodies but I wasn’t getting too far, as soon as I wanted to.

At 11, I started playing the alto saxophone in my middle school band. This was the first instrument in which I was experiencing fast success in comparison to many failed attempts such as the drums and my slow piano progress.

GospelbassLines: So when did you pick up the bass?

Sean Byrd: I didn’t start playing the bass until I was in high school. I had actually even worked on the guitar before the bass. Let’s just say that I was interested in many instruments but I was waiting for the one that would really capture me. I was content with the saxophone. I did well playing it but apparently it wasn’t the instrument that was going to convince me to pursue music as a career because it was just a hobby for me for years.

GospelbassLines: So what lead up to playing the bass?

Sean Byrd: One day while playing at my grandparent’s house with my little cousins, we were looking under a bed upstairs in a guest room or decoration room, as my grandmother would call it, and I found a dusty case and opened it up. It was an old bass guitar that belonged to one of my uncles. He bought it when he was stationed in Germany. He never got around to learning how to play it so he left it at my grandparent’s house. This discovery changed my musical life and not only so but changed my life entirely. I called him while he was stationed in Hawaii and asked him if I could take it home and learn how to play it. He agreed and the rest is history.

GospelbassLines: How did it change your life?

Sean Byrd: I lived and slept with that bass. It consumed countless hours of my day. All I did was practice the bass. It was extremely difficult at first. I couldn’t even play one string without making the other ones ring. I didn’t know how to use my hands to play it at all. I started watching the bass player at my church, Donnie Riles, while I was in the choir pretending to sing. [laughs] I tried every week to memorize what his fingers looked like when he would play. Eventually I started figuring out the notes and started seeing repeated patterns on the fret board. It was a slow but progressive process.

GospelbassLines: What was the pivotal point from the early frustration?

Sean Byrd: One Sunday evening, my grandmother, MeMe is how everyone referred to her, told me to pray and ask God to show me how to play and to anoint me to play. I did just what she said. She was not only my grandmother but she was my pastor.

She would sing songs for me when she came to our house so I could try to hear and follow. The problem I had was that I was used to playing the sax so I would start trying to play the melody. I had to learn how to hear the harmony and chord progression and also hear the rhythms. It was very challenging for me at that time. I was about 14 or 15 years old at the time. I started to practice a lot more and pray even more. About 6 months later I was filling in during church services. I wasn’t doing anything fancy, just getting by, but I was learning a lot real fast. God truly blessed me. I believe it was due to prayer and dedication that he not gifted me because that comes before birth but he anointed me to understand music.

GospelbassLines: Do you have any advice for our readers that will assist them in hearing, the harmony and chord progressions you referred to?

Sean Byrd: Memorizing note relationship is good and it’s not very difficult. If you take a major scale for example, and listen to how all 7 notes (notes 1 and 8 are the same note 1 octave apart) sound in relation to the tonic or root, you will start to memorize intervals. Try this in the key of C. C=1, D=2, E=3 etc. Memorizing common progressions is also good for example, 2- 5-1; 6-2-5-1; 3-6-2-5-1; 7-3-6-2-5-1. If you notice, the distance from each note to the next is what we call in theory, a 4th.

GospelbassLines: I’ve heard a bass player who you’ve influenced say, Learn your pentatonic scales. Once a person learns the pentatonic scales, how does that knowledge transfer to playing gospel/worship music?

Sean Byrd: Understanding the concept of the pentatonic (5 tone) scale gives you a basic foundation for improvising. In a major key, the pentatonic would be 1-2-3-5-6. You will notice that playing the same notes but starting on the 6, will give you the relative minor pentatonic. Ex. C major and A minor.

GospelbassLines: You mentioned Donnie Riles has been influential in your bass playing. Are there any other musicians who influence your style? how?

Sean Byrd: There are too many musicians to name. Everything that produces sound can be and inspiration and stimulate you to try and duplicate it or respond to it through your instrument. Ex. Guitarist can imitate motorcycle sounds and chainsaw sounds with distortion pedals. LOL! I think that’s cool.

GospelbassLines: If you were stranded on a desert Island, and you could only take one song, what would it be and why?

Sean Byrd: I would probably write it on my way to the island. It would go like this I know I’m not about to be stranded on this island I know I’m not about to be stranded on this I just got stranded on an island. LOL! Why I want my last song to be the truth! LOL!

GospelbassLines: Who is in heavy rotation in your CD player right now?

 Sean Byrd: I love praise and worship music. I also like good instrumental music. I really dig XM Radio. I can’t name any specific favorites.

 GospelbassLines: What gear do you own? Basses, Amps, Strings etc.

 Sean Byrd: I am somewhat of a collector. I have a Ken Smith custom bass, a KSD, a Washburn and others. I am currently using 2 4×10 Eden cabs. I have a SWR head. Im using Smith strings on my Smith basses.

 GospelbassLines: What would you consider to be some of the most important technical aspect to playing the bass? Reasons?

 Sean Byrd: Break bad habits early. Practicing with a metronome is good. Proper fingering and finger placement is important. Learning the fret board is also important.

 GospelbassLines: You took theory in college?

 Sean Byrd: When I was in college music theory came easy to me. Learning other instruments made so much sense. I could start to see how they were all related. I thank God and give him all the glory. Yes I would practice for hours and hours but I truly believe that if you pray and believe, God will do more than you ever expected.

 GospelbassLines: What has been most beneficial to your growth as a musician?

 Sean Byrd: Prayer and worship has been the most beneficial factor in my growth to this point. I’ve gotten back to praying and worshiping God more so that I can continue to grow in him. In return, he always increases my understanding of himself and the things he has created, like music.

 GospelbassLines: Do you have any technical factors you can add to that? (to the previous question)

 Sean Byrd: Be persistent in practice. Be disciplined and play with faith. If you believe you are able, you will be.

 GospelbassLines: Also add anything else you would like to see on the interview. Plug your album, any groups you are in… if you wanna talk about people you have played on the same stage with, go right ahead.

 Sean Byrd: Thanks again for doing this.

 Sean is a very talented professional musician, music director, educator, producer and minster of the Gospel. His ability to play multiple instruments is phenominal, yet he remains humble and given to the Lord. You can find out more about Sean Byrd at http://www.myspace.com/seanbyrdmusic