When it comes to organ hymn-playing, everyone has their own style and favorite techniques. What is your favorite way to play hymns? Or perhaps you are looking for the ideas to refresh you service playing? Discover the 24 main techniques in hymn-playing by reading this article. This list is arranged from the easiest to the most difficult. Note that some of the techniques listed below are surprisingly seldom used yet they create a powerful impression on the congregation.1. In octaves on manuals only.2. In two parts with the tune in the soprano.3. In two parts with the tune in the bass.4. In three parts (trio) with the tune in the soprano.5. In three parts with the tune in the tenor played by the left hand.6. In three parts with the tune in the tenor played by the pedals with the 8' stop.7. In three parts with the tune in the bass played by the pedals.8. In four parts with the tune in the soprano on one manual without pedals.9. In four parts on one manual with the tune in the soprano using the pedals for the bass part.10. In four parts on two manuals with the tune in the soprano in the right hand with the solo registration.11. In four parts on two manuals with the tune in the tenor in the left hand with the solo registration.12. In four parts with different harmonization with the tune in the bass played by the pedals.13. In four parts with non chordal notes.14. In four parts with the tune in the alto with double pedals.15. In four parts with the tune in the alto played by the pedals with the 4' stop.16. In five parts with the tune in soprano and a pedal point.17. In five parts with the tune in the soprano.18. In five parts with the tune in the tenor played by the left hand.19. In five parts with double pedal with the tune in the tenor played by the right foot and the left hand simultaneously.20. In five parts with the tune in soprano and descant added.21. In five parts with the tune in the bass.22. In six parts with the tune in the soprano I.23. In six parts with the tune in the tenor.24. In six parts with the tune in the bass.Try one or all of the above techniques today in your hymn playing. Explore them to enhance your service playing. For best results, pick one technique of your choice and practice at least 10 hymns this way. Playing this way will ensure that this technique becomes your own. Note that some techniques are more difficult than others to master so have patience and practice accordingly.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe
organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ
Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
Hymn playing is essential for every church organist. Although generally we use only one technique, very often you can enrich your service playing by using a variety of ways to play hymns. In this article, you will discover the 6 main methods in playing hymns on the organ.
1. Play hymns in octaves with two hands. This is the most simple version of all, very practical if your technique is not strong enough to play with more voices. It is also very useful in introducing any unfamiliar or complicated hymn to your congregation because the tune will be clearly audible and recognizable.
2. Play hymns in two voices. If you are hesitant to use pedals in your hymn playing, you can always choose the two most important outer voices and play the hymn this way to create a bicinium. The melody will be clear in the right hand and the bass will give the harmonic foundation and support.
3. Play hymns in three voices. If your pedal technique allows, it is always possible to create a trio version of the hymn. This texture makes your playing sound transparent and clear. You can place a tune in any part - the right hand, the left hand, or the pedals for more variety.
4. Play hymns in four voices. This is the most widely used method. You can either play the harmonized version from the hymnal or create your own. It order to do this, you will need to know the basic rules of harmony.
5. Play hymns in five voices. Have you tried to add an extra voice to your four-part harmonization? This may be a descant in the right hand on a solo registration. You can also play a tune in the tenor voice while adding a double pedal line. Another option would be to place the tune in the bass and play an alternate harmonization of the tune.
6. Play hymns in six voices. If you want some real challenge both in your pedal playing and harmonization skills, you can play two voices in the right hand, two - in the left hand, and two - in the pedals. The hymn tune could be placed either in the top or the bottom voice to be most prominent.
Try any of the above methods when you prepare for your next church service. If you execute them well, you will be surprised how pleased your congregation will be with your hymn playing. Remember, that some of these methods might take considerable practice time, so plan accordingly and be patient for best results.
A great resource for playing hymns is Art of Hymn Playing by Charles E.Callahan. It has 250 Introductions, Preludes, Free Accompaniments, and Alternate Harmonizations. The pieces range from 2 part voicing to more complex. It is meant as a graded guide to hymn playing.By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
In many churches, in addition to playing the organ organists must also lead the choir. This often happens in smaller congregations were funds are limited to hire a separate choir director. Conducting and leading the choir require very different skills and education than that of an organist. Today I would like to give you some advice on how to lead the choir and play the organ at the same time.
Lead with Your Head
When you play the organ and want to be able to conduct the choir, you can lead with your head. This means that whenever you need to show your choristers the entrances, simply use your head movements. Similarly, your choir members will know from your head when to stop singing. Just imagine that your head is your arm and make small but exact movements. In order to show your choir the entrance, try to move your head downward and at the same instant upward with one crisp motion.
Play Three Voices in the Right Hand
If you play the hymn on the organ and need to conduct your choir, you will need at least one free hand to do that. This means that you should take soprano, alto, and tenor in the right hand (because the hymn tune is in soprano) and play the bass with your feet on the pedals. However, quite often you will find that because of the open chord position, it is not possible to play more than two voices with one hand. If this is the case, another option would be to rearrange the chord position into a close position.
In open position chord, the three upper voices can be more than an interval of the fourth but not more than an octave apart. The simplest means to achieve the close position while maintaining the soprano part intact is by flipping the alto and tenor voices. Imagine a C major chord in an open position, such as c-g-e1-c2. The alto takes the e1 and the tenor – g which requires two hands to play the chord. Now flipping the alto with the tenor you will get c-e1-g1-c2 and you can play the three upper notes with the right hand easily. The entire hymn can be rearranged this way while preserving the original voice leading. This technique takes some practice, of course.
Conduct with the Left Hand
Now when you play with your feet and your right hand only, you can conduct with the left hand. Simply use whatever scheme you need to conduct the meter properly. Use your free hand to show choir entrances and stops also. You can even make some dynamics with your free hand. If your movements are small, your choir will sing softly. To achieve a stronger sound, use wider movements. Make sure that you point to the correct portion of your choir if only a part of it is entering at any particular spot.
Practice Conducting and Playing at the Same Time
If you try to conduct and play at the same time, you will notice right away how tricky it might be. It is very easy to hit the wrong notes or start conducting incorrectly or both. This happens because your hands must accomplish very different tasks. In other words, you need to achieve hand coordination. Perhaps even more importantly, your brain must also do the same. In order to achieve the fluency while conducting and playing at the same time, you will need to practice your movements. Practice your hymns or anthems ahead of time. Repeat the small sections as many times as you need to do them correctly at least three times in a row. Then combine the shorter fragments into longer episodes.
The practical techniques of accompanying the choir with or without a conductor are discussed in Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer which I highly recommend.By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
Performance of 16th-18th century hymns on the organ requires special kind of fingering. This type of fingering helps to achieve the desired articulated legato touch and feel the alternation of strong and weak beats. In order to play the hymns in style it is important for an organist to know what kind of fingering to use. In addition, then the organist will have a strong feeling of meter and pulse which helps to lead the congregational singing. In this article, I will show you how to choose the best fingering for 16th-18th century hymns.
Avoid Placing a Thumb on Sharp Keys
Because performance of early type of hymns has so much in common with the performance of early music on the organ, generally try to avoid placing the thumb on sharp keys. This has something to do with the early type of keyboard which was used in the Renaissance and Baroque organs. These instruments had keys which were both shorter and narrower than our modern day piano or organ keys. Placing a thumb would be very inconvenient on an early style instrument. Many authors who wrote about performance practice in the 16th-18th centuries had their individual approaches to fingering because of their national school and historical period but most of them agreed that thumbs should be avoided on sharp keys as much as possible.
However, sometimes the thumbs are necessary to use because of wider intervals and chords in the left hand part. It is not uncommon to see the position C-G-C in the left hand. The thumbs are OK on the natural keys but if the piece is written in the mode of F or g, very often there is a chord B flat-F-B flat in the left hand. So in this case the thumbs cannot be avoided. The same holds true for an octave B flat-B flat.
Avoid Finger Substitution
Another important point about early fingering in hymn playing is that you should avoid using finger substitution. Finger substitution is a technique, fully developed in the 19th century and helps achieving a perfect legato touch. This technique involves substituting one finger to another while holding one key. Since we need a different type of articulation in early music, finger substitution will create some difficulties of articulating the hymns properly. Very often pianists who come to the organ will have this problem. If we use finger substitution, we have to think about achieving the articulate legato. On the other hand if we use that special type of fingering, we will articulate the notes naturally.
Interval Fingering
In hymn playing, when you play two voices in one hand, you can use interval fingering which has much in common with the finger skipping technique. This rule generally means that every interval in the Baroque or Renaissance period had its precise fingering and succession of similar intervals should be played with the same fingerings. For example, the thirds usually were played using 1-3 or 2-4. So the passage of three consecutive parallel thirds C-E, D-F, and E-G would be performed using 2-4, 2-4, and 2-4. Use 1-4 or 2-5 for the fourths and fifths (sometimes 1-5 for fifths is more convenient on a modern keyboard). Wider intervals, like sixths, sevenths, and octave are played with 1-5. Likewise, for a passage of three consecutive parallel sixths C-A, D-B, and E-C, use 1-5, 1-5, and 1-5.
Write in Fingering
I recommend that you write in the exact fingering that you will be using in your hymn. Do this at least at the beginning stages of your organist career. In doing so, you will prevent from playing your hymns with accidental fingerings which might not help you to achieve the desired precision and articulation. In fact, treat your hymns like normal organ music and practice accordingly. For example, you may find that in some cases playing not the entire 4 part texture but practicing in voice combinations is more beneficial. Or if you have trouble with sight reading your hymn, stop and work on one phrase at a time.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
Although hymn playing might seem as uniform area of organ art, it requires at least several different approaches. In other words, hymns from different historical period should be played differently. Gregorian chant, metric hymns from the Reformation time, 19th century hymns, 20th century spiritual songs all have their individual playing techniques that work best for that particular style. In this article, I would like to show you how to play 16th-18th century hymns on the organ. These are well-known Lutheran chorales, Calvinist psalms, English psalms, Methodist hymns, and several other hymn types.
Articulate Legato for 16th-18th Century Hymns
Because the general traditional touch for keyboard music composed up until the 19th century was the so called Ordinary Touch, it should also be applied for hymn playing of that period as well. Look at the century when the particular hymn tune (melody) was created. I do not mean the date of harmonization, or the date of text creation or translation. Any of these dates might be a product of later times. Only the composition of the hymn tune is important here. If your hymn tune was created in the Reformation time, the Baroque, or the Classical period, then you should play it using the ordinary touch.
The ordinary touch in today’s terms might be referred as articulate legato. It is neither legato, nor non legato. The notes should be neither connected smoothly nor too detached. One good way to describe it is this: you should try playing the melody legato using one finger only. For example, play your hymn tune with your middle finger but try to connect the notes as much as possible in order to achieve the singing tone (cantabile) which many Baroque authors adhered to. After playing it with one finger, now try to imitate the touch using normal fingering.
Feel the Alternation of Strong and Weak Beats
However, achieving the articulate legato in such hymns is not enough. Since one of the most important characteristics of performance practice in early music is meter, try to emphasize the meter. Any meter has a beat which is stronger than the others. It is called the downbeat.
In 2/4 meter, the first beat is the downbeat (stronger) and the second is the upbeat (weaker). In ¾ meter, the first beat is stronger, and the other two are weaker. However, some theorists (Kirnberger) claim that beat 3 in such meter might also be relatively strong. It depends on what kind of chord is on this beat. If there is a new chord on this beat, it might be relatively strong. If there is just the repetition of the previous chord or this chord is in different position or inversion, then this beat is a weak one. In 4/4 meter, beats 2 and 4 are the weak ones. Beat 1 is the strongest and beat 3 is relatively strong.
In hymn playing, try to make the stronger beats more accented. The other beats are weaker and don’t need to be accented. So this alternation of strong and weak beats is very important in correct performance of 16th-18th century style hymns.
Shorten the Weak Beats
Since the organ mechanics does not allow making dynamics with the strength or the softness of your touch, the most common way to achieve metric accents and feel the alternation of strong and weak beats is by shortening the weaker beats and prolonging the down beats a little. In other words, if your hymn tune moves in quarter notes, make rests on the weak beats. These rests depend on the acoustics of the room – the longer the reverberation – the shorter the weak beats might be and the greater the articulation.
However, do not make them shorter than a half of their full duration (an eight note). Usually it is enough to make a sixteenth note rest. Do not lift your fingers off the keyboard and feel the contact with it at all times. That way it will be easier for you to control note releases.
If you would like to know more about hymn playing, I highly recommend studying Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. This method book has separate chapter on hymn playing with many important exercises.
Another great resource is Art of Hymn Playing by Charles E. Callahan. It has 250 Introductions, Preludes, Free Accompaniments, and Alternate Harmonizations. The pieces range from 2 part voicing to more complex. It is meant as a graded guide to hymn playing.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
One of the most common problems people face in hymn playing is the legato touch. Achieving the perfect legato is especially challenging for people with small hands. They often struggle to play the inner voices with the same evenness and articulation as the outer voices. Today I would like to give you my personal recommendations and advice on how to play hymns legato with small hands.
Write in Fingering
If you have difficulties with your hymn playing, I highly recommend that you pencil the best fingering in your hymn score. I think this is important because if you know the exact fingering in any given place, you are more likely to avoid using accidental fingerings. Accidental fingerings might just be the reason why achieving legato is difficult for you. So work out your fingerings in each and every measure, at least until you have more experience. Once you know the best fingerings, stick to them in your practice.
Use Finger Substitution
Finger substitution is a technique which helps achieving legato on the organ. By using this technique, you play one key with one of your fingers and then change to another finger while holding the same key. This technique works for holding two or more notes in the same hand as well. This is called double or triple substitution which is used in more advanced chromatic organ music.
Use Finger Glissando
Finger glissando is a technique in which you slide from one key to another with the same finger. You can employ finger glissando from the sharp to the natural key (the most common and easiest), from natural to natural, or from natural to the sharp key (the most difficult). The thumb glissando is the most often used. However, take care not to use this technique too often. As finger glissando is rather awkward for the beginner organist, in most of the instances you can solve the legato problem with finger substitution.
Use Finger Crossing
The least common legato technique in hymn playing, finger crossing might be achieved by putting a longer finger over the shorter one. In contrast, the shorter finger might be placed under the longer finger. Most often this technique is used in large chords and octaves which are absent in hymn playing.
Treat Your Hymns Like Organ Compositions
Although hymns are deceptively simple and short, the best way of practicing them is the same as in real organ music (at least for the beginner). Practice your hymns in shorter fragments, maybe one phrase at a time. If you have trouble achieving legato, play each of the voices separately. Try to play the phrase at least three times in a row correctly. Then practice playing various two voice and three voice combinations. Make sure your fingering is precise. Only after you are fluent in three voice combinations play all parts together.
For most people, the right hand technique is more developed than the left hand. Therefore I recommend that you take the soprano and alto voices in the right hand and the tenor in the left hand. Take advantage of the pedals in the bass part. Although there may be many options in distribution of parts between the hands and feet, this is the most common disposition in hymn playing. If you can play an interval of an octave with one hand, follow my suggestions and you should have no problems achieving legato in hymn playing.
If you would like to know more about hymn playing, I highly recommend studying Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. This method book has separate chapter on hymn playing with many important exercises.
Another great resource is Art of Hymn Playing by Charles E. Callahan. It has 250 Introductions, Preludes, Free Accompaniments, and Alternate Harmonizations. The pieces range from 2 part voicing to more complex. It is meant as a graded guide to hymn playing.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
This is Part 2 (steps 5 and 6) of the article about how to use hymns which help you to achieve hand independence in your organ playing. You can read Part 1 here (steps 1 through 4).
5. Take the tune in the left hand and use the thirds and the sixths in the right hand and repeat the steps 1 through 4. By now probably you are starting to realize that we are developing your left hand technique while the right hand plays the hymn tune only. This step will teach you how to play faster notes in the right hand as well. Now play the hymn tune in the left hand as written but add an extra voice in the right hand, first note against note as in step 1. You may sometimes use the notes from the bass line in your right hand, but it will not always sound nice.
By the way, the technique when you invert the voices and play the top voice in the bass and vice versa is called invertible counterpoint. Invertible counterpoint is indispensable polyphonic trick to use if you want to create any imitative polyphonic piece, as invention, fughette, or a fugue. As I mentioned before, this technique will not always work with your hymns, because there will be instances when you will find the interval of the fifth between the original bass and the soprano voice which in inversion will become a forbidden fourth (it is not actually forbidden, but its use is greatly limited and specialized).
At any rate, the best way to construct your new soprano line in this step is to use the thirds and the sixths against the bass which always sound nice and sweet. After note against note exercise becomes easy, play two against one, three against one, and finally, four against one as you did in the steps 2 through 4.
6. Alternate motion between the hands. Steps 1 through 5 will develop your hand independence and teach you about a special kind of polyphony – contrasting polyphony - where voices are independent but very different both melodically and rhythmically. However, if you want to move your hand independence and polyphony to the next level, step 6 will do exactly that. It is called imitative polyphony when voices are independent but at the same time they have much in common – they imitate each other either melodically or rhythmically or both.
In order to achieve that, try to alternate movements between the hands. For example, in measure 1 let the soprano move in faster notes, in measure 2, this will be done by the bass part etc. You see, one voice is stationary while the other moves; then they switch roles. After practicing this way for a while, you can alternate the motion every 2 beats and later even every beat. By the way, one hand can play step 2 and the other step 4 as well!
By practicing this way you can create nice choral partitas or variations which will also enhance your service playing. You can use these variations for hymn introductions or preludes. As promised, these steps will help you to develop your hand independence using two voice texture or bicinium, of course, but without knowing, actually, you will be improvising as well. In order to achieve the greatest results, I recommend you choose at least 10 different hymns and work your way through each of the above steps at a slow tempo. Do not proceed to the next step unless you can play slowly (but fluently) the previous step at least three times in a row correctly.
By the way, would you like to know more about any aspect of hymn playing on the organ? Please share them in your comments below and I will do my best to answer your questions.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
Many organists struggle to be able to play challenging polyphonic organ compositions. Music by such great composers, like Bach, Buxtehude and others has many independent voices and very often more than one in one hand. To be able to perform such pieces with precision and confidence requires good hand independence. An organist has to have the skill to play rhythmically and melodically independent parts in different hands. Many people choose to play special exercises from various method books which obviously is a good way to achieve hand independence. However, what they might not realize is that the solution to advance in building this skill is waiting for them in the hymns they play every Sunday. Today I am going to share with you my easy 6 step approach on how to use hymns to develop hand independence.
1. Play soprano and bass parts from the hymnal. Do you have trouble playing the entire four part texture of your hymns? If so, just play the outer parts one in each hand. That should be easy enough for most people. If not, practice one hand at a time until you can play each of the two voices correctly at least three times in a row. When this becomes easy, try playing both voices together. Notice how well the hymn sounds this way. It is because the soprano and the bass are precisely the most important voices in such music. The soprano is the most melodically developed voice and the bass is the foundation of harmony.
2. Play soprano and bass parts 2 against 1. When the step 1 becomes easy, try adding an extra note in the bass line using eighth notes. If you see the repeated notes in the bass, play the lower or upper neighbor tone. If there are notes in stepwise motion, you can play thirds upwards if the melody is ascending or downwards if the line is descending. If the bass has leaps of a third, the easiest way is to play passing tones. As you might already notice, the main rule here is to arrive at the next bass note by step, either from above or from below.
3. Play soprano and bass parts 3 against 1. It this step, you will use eighth note triplets in your bass line. The melodic figures can be quite different, but again, try to arrive at the next bass note by stepwise motion. The nicest melodic lines can be constructed when the bass moves by an interval of a fourth.
4. Play soprano and bass parts 4 against 1. After the previous exercise has become easy, the next step is to add sixteenth notes in the bass against one soprano note. Again, the options for melodic figuration here are many, but try to calculate how many notes you have to play in stepwise motion before the next bass note. Consequently, sometimes the first interval will have to be a leap but the next three will be adjacent notes.
This article continues in Part 2 (steps 5 and 6).
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
For many organists who come to the organ after some years of piano studies, playing hymns poses certain challenges. One of the most obvious problems is being able to play independent tenor part in the left hand. This is because for pianists the left hand very often symbolizes the bass line which on the organ is usually performed in the pedals.
In other words, this skill requires hand and feet coordination which beginning organists naturally have not yet fully developed. Therefore, they may get sometimes frustrated how difficult is to separate the left hand part from the pedals and they start doubling the bass part in the left hand. If you find yourself in this position, this article will show you how to overcome the left hand and tenor problem while playing hymns on the organ.
Never double the bass in the left hand. I understand that this might seem as the easiest fix to this problem. Even some of my colleague organists still play the hymns this way sometimes. They basically play two voices in one hand and two voices in the other plus they add the bass line in the pedals.
Some of them even know that this is incorrect but they claim that it is faster to learn new hymns this way. And of course, if you have reasonable sight-reading skills on the piano but very little or no practice time on the organ, you can even sight-read the easier hymns on the spot. But you have to understand that this kind of playing will not lead you very far.
You see, while practicing playing the tenor part in the left hand and the bass part in the pedals you are developing hand and feet coordination. On the contrary, while practicing doubling the bass line in the left hand part you are developing the skill of doubling which is not useful. The longer you play the bass line both in the left hand and the pedals, the longer it will take you to develop hand and feet coordination in organ playing.
You don’t always have to play the hymns with pedals. This might seem like a strange suggestion coming from the organist but it is true. The hymns sound perfectly fine even without the use of the pedals. Of course, you have to add the correct articulation, interesting registration, and other things that are specific to the organ (I have written an article earlier about hymn playing which you might find useful).
The use of 16’ in the pedals while playing the hymn adds the gravity to the sound. On the other hand, if need more juice you can add 16’ in the manual (if there is such a stop on your organ). So if you feel like you have not enough time to prepare for the service properly, just play all parts on the manual.
Start with just one pedal hymn per service. In the beginning, when you are new to the organ or when it is still hard to coordinate the left hand and pedals for you, prepare just one hymn using pedals. This will save you much of your time. If you can sight-read the hymns reasonably well on the piano, play them through a few times on the organ a week before service without using the pedals.
Then choose one hymn and practice it with the pedals over the course of this week. Gradually, when your skills will become more developed, add a second hymn and prepare it with pedals. With time, you will notice that it gets easier and easier to coordinate the left hand and the pedal part in your organ playing. Then you will be able to sight-read them all using pedals effortlessly.
Practice the hymns as real organ compositions. Although hymns are short and may seem very simple, you should treat them as organ compositions while practicing. You see, even though the texture is straightforward, rhythms are simple, melody is easily recognizable, very often the bass line is the second most developed voice in hymns. This is because the bass part is the foundation of harmony (chords and their relations), just as it is in concert organ pieces.
Therefore, learning the bass line may take the same approach as learning solo organ music. I have written earlier about how to master any organ composition which you can refer to here. In short, I suggest that you subdivide the hymns into fragments according to the lines of the stanza. Practice solo voices separately, then two-voice combinations, later combinations of three voices and only then the entire four-part texture.
If you follow my suggestions and take practicing the hymns seriously, you will notice that you are on the right track. Just be patient, practice regularly, slowly, and wisely, and know that the day when you will find no trouble playing hymns is not very far.
By the way, if you would like to know more about hymn playing, I highly recommend studying Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. This method book has separate chapter on hymn playing with many important exercises.
Another great resource is Art of Hymn Playing by Charles E. Callahan. It has 250 Introductions, Preludes, Free Accompaniments, and Alternate Harmonizations. The pieces range from 2 part voicing to more complex. It is meant as a graded guide to hymn playing.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
The foundation of responsibilities of every church organist is hymn playing. Although solo organ music might be desired and even required during services, the majority of music performed at church is hymns. Hymn playing has its own rules, techniques, and traditions which the organist must know in order to perform them well. In this article, I will give you my advice on how to play hymns on the organ.
--> Choose the right tempo. Because hymn playing involves singing as well, perhaps the most important aspect here is tempo. How well you choose the tempo will determine the success of your performance and congregations’ ability to sing it with energy. Although there are many variables to consider, the general rule of thumb is such: Play a hymn in such a tempo that you could sing each of the lines in one breath loudly and with energy.
--> Play a short introduction. It is the norm to introduce the hymn before singing it. You can construct your introduction in many ways: if the hymn is short, you could play it through once. For longer hymns, you may want to play a few lines (the second half of the hymn; first and last lines, if they fit together; create a short fughette out of the opening line) etc. Whatever you do in your introduction, play it in the same tempo as that of the hymn and choose a different (not necessarily softer) registration.
--> Play hymns in time. Always keep the tempo steady and do not slow down or speed up. Start each line also in time. People will soon get confused if they don’t feel the steady pulse. I suggest that you try always to be aware of the meter and count out loud the beats, if you need to. Maintaining one tempo often also depends on how well you are prepared or how good your sight reading skills are. Remember this and practice accordingly.
--> Do not correct your mistakes. If you make a mistake, never try to correct it during your performance in public. Just keep going at the same tempo and forget the mistake. Otherwise you could make another mistake just because you are thinking about it. Keep your mind focused on the measure you are playing now.
This rule is as valid in concerts as it is in hymn playing. Many people who will be listening to you or singing together do not read music. Therefore, they are not likely to recognize every wrong note (if you hit not too many, of course). However, if you show them your mistakes yourself by correcting them and don’t maintain a steady tempo, then everyone will notice them.
--> Use good articulation. Playing with clear articulation is important because it helps people to appreciate the melody and the harmony of the hymn better. Look at the date of the hymn. If it was created before the 19th century, use articulate legato, or the ordinary touch. Make small rests between each note and feel the strong and weak beats of the measure. Articulate more before the strong beats. Do not make the notes too detached but with a cantabile or singing manner.
On the other hand, if the hymn was created in the 1800s or 1900s, the normal articulation is legato. Shorten the notes by a half only when you see repeated notes and at the end of the lines. However, whether you play legato or with articulation, always try to coordinate the releases – depress and release the chords exactly together.
--> The beginning and the end of the stanzas is important. The end of the stanza should propel people to sing the next one. There should be no confusion about when does the new stanza starts. Make it constant with every stanza. It often sounds best, if you add two extra beats at the end in the 4/4 meter or one full measure in ¾ meter. Note that the last beat should be a rest for taking a breath before singing.
--> Do not double the bass with your left hand, if you use pedals. This suggestion is very important if you want to develop hand and feet independence. For those of us who start playing the organ after some time of piano playing, the left hand naturally tends to play the bass. But if you play hymns in four parts and use pedals for the bass line, play soprano and alto in the right hand and tenor in the left hand. There are other possible dispositions for playing hymns as well but this is most common one.
--> Think about registration. It is wise to change the registration according to the meaning of text of the specific stanza. For certain texts Organo Pleno registration with principal chorus and mixtures works well, for others experiment with reeds or flutes. Gentle, joyful, sad, or energetic texts require adequate registration as well.
If you follow these suggestions, you will be able to play any hymn you want with confidence. Congregation will be much more eager to sing together when you will play the hymns in time, with good articulation, registration etc. People will know when to start new stanzas, if you finish correctly the previous ones. In turn, they will appreciate your organ and hymn playing on a much higher degree.
If you would like to know more about hymn playing, I highly recommend studying Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. This method book has separate chapter on hymn playing with many important exercises.
Another great resource is Art of Hymn Playing by Charles E. Callahan. It has 250 Introductions, Preludes, Free Accompaniments, and Alternate Harmonizations. The pieces range from 2 part voicing to more complex. It is meant as a graded guide to hymn playing.
By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
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