Secrets Of Organ Playing Podcast

This question was sent by Pauline. She writes: Good morning! ​ I’m more or less a self learned pianist & organist. I play in church & function. Congregation says my playing is inspiring because my style is different from the standard pianist which is conventional type. Is it important to use correct figuring to play piano or organ when already get used to our own figuring? Is it compulsory to follow every notes or beats from the music sheet? Can we just be more creative?

This question was sent by Lukasz. He writes: Hi, I suggest You a new subject, with a pinch of salt. Organ playing as a fitness. Yesterday evening I spent more than 1 hour the with Bach trio sonatas. When I've finished, I was completely wet. Maybe You could make a list of pieces that not only builds the skills, but also takes care of the physical form of the organist? ;-) ​ At the beginning of the list of pieces that make me wet I'll put of course Bach trio sonatas. What You will add to this list? What Yours friends from all over the world will add to it? I am very curious to know what Yours experiences are in this matter?

This question was sent by Leon. And, he writes: Dear Vidas: Until today I thought I had made a lot of progress in this. But found out there is still a significant way to go. My organ is in the garage. This winter is not as bad as last, but tonight the low will be -7/8 C. The garage usually gets 5-8 C above that. I have a space heater aimed at the pedal area so it heats fairly well. I have used fingerless wool gloves until now. Today I got some stretch nylon gloves, actually made for women. Perfect: warm, and in order to not slip off the black keys, and even the white keys from moving larger intervals, I have to play even more lightly. As Speedy Gonzales says, Andale, Andale Hariba!

This question was sent by Don and he writes: “Hello Vidas, Would you please provide your ideas on how to "identify a piece of organ literature by level of difficulty" and provide actual titles of pieces so that we, as organists, can make choices on our own when we want to study a new piece of literature. Thank You, Don”

This question was sent by Jay and Jay is on the team who transcribes our Podcast conversations. He wrote: “Yesterday, I played organ for my church services (don't get to do that real often). I had practiced the hymns during the week so I felt comfortable with them. During one of them, I made some mistakes on a couple of verses and it didn't go as I would have liked. By the time I got to the third verse I had recovered and it went well. ​ So there are a couple of issues I continue to work on. 1) Volume pedals/swell and great on this organ. When I try to adjust the levels during playing, I have problems and make mistakes in playing. Working the pedals needs to be practiced, like everything else, I guess. 2) Control. I think everyone makes mistakes while playing, to one degree or another (maybe even Vidas—probably not Ausra though

This question was sent by May and she asks: “Hi Vidas, by deconstructing the mode, do you mean improvising?”

Today, I would like to read a comment from Jeremy and Alan in the conversation, and then Diane later on joined, and Laurie, and Danielle. All of those students are from our Total Organist group. And let’s start with Jeremy. Jeremy writes: Jeremy: Concentrating during preludes and postlude. My congregation (and minister) tend to see this time as social opportunities rather than as part of the service. This morning the minister decided to discuss his week with the lector, who us seated two feet behind me. I opened the swell box at opportune (and musical!) moments until he decided to move on. Petty of me. How do you all focus when that is going on around you?

Today we’d like to review our 2018 year, and let’s see what 2019 might bring.

This question was sent by Nancy, and she writes: Thank you for the information, Vidas. I have followed the suggestions on the link, and I think all is well with my subscription. You asked about my playing now. There are two issues that I am dealing with: (1) The first, and most important, issue is my physical limitations. I have been muddling along as best I can, playing almost exclusively on manuals--not how I like it to be, at all, and certainly not how I learned to play the organ fifty years ago. Unfortunately, there is at least one level of my lumbar spine (at L-4) where the nerve into my right leg is compressed by severe arthritis. Until I have major surgery to release the compressed nerve, I simply can't cope with the pain in my right leg and lower back long enough to return to pedal-playing. The medical testing to locate exactly where the anomalies are, has been ongoing since early this past spring; the neurosurgeon to whom I have entrusted my care is in no hurry to operate. This is a long-sta

This question was sent by Ariane, who is our Total Organist student. And, she writes: I’ve been sight-reading some hymns from Bach‘s Christmas Oratorium. Why are his hymns just so special? They always give me goosebumps.

This question was sent by Ariane, who is our Total Organist student, and she writes: I have just started a new job and I find it extremely challenging to focus on anything else.

This question was sent by Luke and he writes: “Hello, I just enjoyed playing very much your fingered edition of "Variations on Dances" by Samuel Scheidt. I was wondering if you have any other fingered editions of other pieces by north German baroque composers, such as Scheidt, Scheidemann, or Sweelinck, or if you were planning to make any more. My skill level is somewhere between beginner and intermediate, I would think. I am playing a one manual positive with pedal. Thank you! Luke”

This question was sent by Rob. And, he writes: Hi Vidas and Ausra, 1: My dream is to play two or three pieces very well. I’m currently working on Gigout’s Toccata; and, thank you for the excellent fingering. There were a couple of measures that I just couldn’t figure out! 2: a) time, I’m a 45 year old at-home organist with some college organ performance training with a Johannus coupled to Hauptwerk on a mac mini, b) haven’t figured out a good memorization scheme (although I plan to use Dupre’s – again thank you for that information), c) I have played full time in the past but with my current travel schedule, unable to so I play for myself, family and friends. Cheers, Rob

This question was sent by Damian and he writes: ” Thanks for today's podcast, I have to admit that everything you talk about works in my case. ​ As far as memory is concerned, usually, I know the words of the first few verses of hymn, and thanks to that I have a little easier in most hymns. Your comments about the divisibility of attention and "disturbances" from other people are very accurate, exactly how I feel. I will try to switch tenor with alto and "free" my left hand sometimes ;) I think we have to try to make it easier to do many things at once. I've made it easier for myself to switch verses on the display. In my church the screen is operated by a laptop, and the verses are switched with the mouse. Right button forward, left back, you can also use the arrows on the laptop keyboard, but it is very uncomfortable. You also have to reach the mouse quite far, and doing it quickly you can confuse the left button with the right, etc. So I constructed a mini-keyboard with two buttons, mounted und

This question was send by Hanna and she writes: “Dear Vidas, I started with the Virtuoso pedal course. It took me 30 minutes to do the 10 reps each and was very hard for me with my short legs. After struggling for a few months, unfaithful practicing, I decided to switch to this course (Organ Playing Master Course Level 1) because it was easier. Interestingly, the Virtuoso 30 minute exercise had an effect on my brain. It was like my brain had been formatted after I practiced. I am 69 ½ years old, female, struggle with short-term memory loss to some degree. But after this rigorous organ practice in the morning, for the rest of the day I could remember things in order and functioned with much more calmness. Sadly, I don't get this effect from the master class. I am out of state babysitting for my daughter for the next 10 days. But I am resolving to do both when I get back home. Work on this beginner one to get the scales down better in my mind, then challenge myself to do the virtuoso. I might do the easy one

this question was sent by Gena, who is our Total Organist student. And, she wrote in the Basecamp communication channel as a reply to the question, ‘What are you struggling with the most this week?’ And she wrote: Forcing myself to practice slowly to be very accurate

This question was sent by John, and he writes: Hi Vidas, Thanks so much for the podcast and chat today, you are incredibly inspiring! I feel so motivated after that chat. As we discussed, I really want to go to the next level with my organ playing, but you are right this needs to be part of a balanced lifestyle, I have a full time job, I play hockey plus training, and Eliza and two young boys to care for and a new baby on the way, my family is top priority. Could you please discuss this with Ausra, and give me your advice? It could be a podcast discussion if you want, I don’t mind the general questions being discussed publicly. I would like to write up a practice plan for say 60 minutes a day Monday to Friday, and maybe 90 minutes on Saturday & Sunday. To summarise how I feel: I think I’ve hit a wall of being able to self diagnose what I’m doing wrong. I have done well so far to be aware of what I’m doing, and ask you the right questions to get your help, and then correct it. But right now I d

This question was sent by Ariane and she writes: “I have been working on chord progressions in F Major and tried to find the right chords for hymns in the same key. I need to recognize the patterns, so rather than playing the progressions in all sorts of keys I try to stick to one at a time.”

This question was sent by May. And, May writes: I was working on BWV 605 and BWV 613 yesterday. I find it quite challenging to bring out the melody of BWV 613 and other similar compositions by Bach in the Orgelbüchlein (for example, BWV 606, 623, 630 etc).

I’m so delighted to be able to start our 377th episode of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. And, on the other end of the line is John Higgins, from Australia. He’s the organist of Morewell Presbyterian Church in Australia. And he visited Vilnius and our church some months ago, maybe last year in the Spring, I believe in April. And he played a wonderful organ recital in our church. I have to emphasize that John is one of the first online students, and has been with us since, I believe, the beginning of 2012. So thanks so much, John, and welcome to the show. John: Thank you so much, and thanks for your kind words of welcome. V: And today, I have to remind our listeners that John has been a guest on our podcast conversations a number of times, and today we’ll be talking about his newest release of a DVD. He recorded and released a DVD recording, which Ausra and I gladly saw last weekend, and it has been recorded in his church, in Morewell Presbyterian Church. Saint Andrews Church it’s called, right? So wonde