Are you struggling with your pedal technique and have a temptation to look at your feet while playing the organ? It is important that you overcome the need of looking at the pedals and focus your attention to the organ score. If you are experiencing such problems while playing pedals, it means you are at the stage of development as an organist when you don’t know your pedal board well enough. Therefore, you naturally want to look at the pedals. The sooner you get over this challenge, the better your organ technique will become. So, how to look at the score and be able to play the correct notes with your feet?
Play with the inside of your feet and point your knees inward. Very often organists who struggle with their pedal technique place their feet in such a way that the pedals are depressed by the outside of the feet. Such habit is especially common among men. This is because men are normally larger than women and they have different sitting habits. Usually when men sit, they do not keep their knees together. If you sit this way on the organ bench, this simply means, you will depress the pedals with the outside of the feet. However, the precision in pedal playing can be attained if you play with the inside of your feet. So this means, that even men have to try to keep the knees together or at least point their knees inward. Therefore, try to depress the pedals with the inside portion of your feet or with the big toes. If you play this way, gradually your technique will become much more precise, you will get used to the pedal board faster and will not need to look at your feet. Do not use force. It is not uncommon for organists with previous piano experience to use excess power in their playing. They transfer their background from piano to the organ and press the keys in the same manner. On the piano, dynamics can be achieved by using more or less power but on the organ this method is useless because the keyboard does not react to the applied force. We can see the same situation in pedal playing when organists depress the pedals with so much energy that there are unnecessary sounds. Such playing can even damage the pedal action. Is you use too much force when playing with your feet, you might feel some strain and tension in your legs and ankles which might lead to mistakes. So, if you want your pedal technique to become very precise, play the pedals mezzo piano. In other words, use only the amount of energy which is needed to depress the pedals and not more. If you want to achieve the level when you will feel and know your pedal board very well, focus on the organ score, point your knees inward, play with the inside portion of your feet, and do not use unnecessary power. If you are interested in perfecting your pedal technique, an invaluable resource is Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. 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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If you are new to the organ playing, chances are that you naturally try to look down to your feet while playing pedals. This is not a very good approach which will hinder your progress as an organist. However, it is not easy to resist this temptation and to look at the score instead at the pedals. You must know the correct way of practicing which leads to success in pedal playing. In this article, I will give you 3 tips, which will help you to feel the pedal board without looking.
Practice repeatedly in fragments. This advice is very important. Whenever you play a challenging pedal line and make a mistake, try to resist the temptation of going all the way through the composition without stopping. Instead, force yourself to pay attention to details and work in smaller fragments. This is a great way to get used to the pedal board and stop looking at the feet. Practice smaller units, correct your mistakes, and make your pedal playing automatic. Do not lift your feet off the pedal board. As you practice your fragments of pedal lines, make sure that your feet stays in contact with the pedals at all times. When you have to move your feet to the next position, slide them while slightly touching the pedals with the toes. This way of playing is like reading books by touching the pages written in Braille language with the fingertips for the blind people. They can feel the shapes of the special signs which then convert to words in their minds. By the way, there are many blind organists who manage to play the organ successfully because they feel the keyboards. The same applies in pedal playing – feel the pedal board and you will know the right position of particular notes. Stay close to sharp keys when playing naturals and play on the edge of sharp keys. When you play the pedals and stay in contact with the pedal board you can try another technique which will help to make your playing very precise without the need of looking at your feet. If you need to press a natural key, stay close to the sharps. In fact, you can almost touch the sharp keys when you play the naturals. When you play the sharp keys, do not go too deep with your toes, just place your feet on the edge of the keys. This way it will be easier to orient yourself on the pedal board and gradually the need of looking at your feet will diminish. I understand that it may seem like a tiresome way of practicing but I can assure you from personal experience that it is well worth the effort. Just keep your mind focused on your goal and in a few months you will start noticing some tremendous changes in your pedal technique. If you are interested in perfecting your pedal technique, an invaluable resource is Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. 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. Because pedal playing is a new skill for all beginner organists, the vast majority of them have a strong temptation to look down at their feet while playing pedals. However, the looking at the feet should be avoided because it inhibits the technical advancement of the organist. Just as playing with the fingers it is advisable to look at the organ score instead at one’s fingers the same applies when playing the pedals. In this article, I will give you the advice which will help you to play good notes on the pedals without looking down at your feet.
Write in pedaling. In order to avoid confusion and accidental pedaling which leads to mistakes and unnecessary tension, I strongly advice to write in all your pedaling. Pencil in your pedaling with the signs for toes and heels (left or right foot). If you write in your pedaling regularly in your scores, you will start to feel the predictable patterns which will help you make the right choices even without writing down your pedaling. However, pencil in the pedaling at least until you are comfortable playing with correct pedaling the Baroque compositions. For Romantic and modern organ music, it is best to write in the pedaling in every score. Use pedal preparation. This technique will increase your pedal playing abilities enormously. Simply prepare your feet for the next note in advance. For example, as you release the note in the pedal part, slide it instantly into position for the next note. Do not play the next note, of course, but let it rest and wait for its turn. In order to be implemented correctly, this technique must be practiced over and over. By the way, it is a very powerful technique which makes your pedal playing automatic without the need of conscious thinking. This, of course, reduces the chances of mistakes dramatically and you will not need to look at your feet while you are playing. At first, you will find that it is hard to remember the position for the next note. In this case, write in your pedal preparation in parentheses. Later, with the advancement of your pedal technique you will start to feel the next note in advance and will not need to think about the preparation at all. If you use my advice and write in your pedaling and practice pedal preparation regularly in your daily practice, after short few months you will begin to notice that the temptation to look down at your feet gradually lessens. This will happen because you will know your pedal board much better than before. If you are interested in perfecting your pedal technique, an invaluable resource is Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. 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. Have you ever observed the feet of theater organists in performance? They are able to play the notes with their left foot while pushing numerous toe studs for registration changes and swell boxes. All of their pedal technique depends on the left foot. However, if theater organist wants to play classical organ music where both feet technique is required, he or she will find it extremely hard to use both feet in the performance. In this article, I will provide the tips which will help theater organists to develop both feet technique on the organ. Beginners at the organ with no pedal playing experience might also find this
article helpful. First of all, we have to realize that any skill, including pedal playing, must be acquired through regular and patient practice. No matter how good you may be at the theater organ, when it comes to classical pedal playing, it is just plain too complicated in the beginning. Do not despair, however, and understand that you will have to take the same steps as you would in theater organ playing. Majority of music composed for accompanying silent movies on theater organs requires constant registration and color changes to imitate different orchestral instruments and different moods of movie episodes. In performing such music, the organist has to change registration either by pushing pistons with the thumb or use the toe studs with the foot. Most of the time, since both hands are particularly busy, theater organists use the right foot for toe studs and leave only the left foot for pedal playing. As a result, they have a virtuoso left foot technique but underdeveloped right foot. What this means is that whenever such organists want to study classical organ repertoire, they have to start with some easy pedal exercises in order to achieve the same ability with the right foot gradually. Do not start practicing pedal scales from the beginning. Although pedal scales are one of the best ways to develop a perfect pedal technique at the organ, they are obviously too difficult for the beginner organist (and for theater organist as well). Pedal scales are too advanced because you need to use toe-heel technique constantly. As this is too complicated at first, start with some easy exercises which will not involve using heels in the beginning. Choose alternate toe exercises first. The easiest pedal exercises that theater organists could practice are alternate toe exercises. This means that they involve using left and right toes only in alternation. For example, play ascending and descending sequences of thirds. Such exercise might look like this: C E D F E G F A G B A C etc., or C A B G A F G E F D E C D B etc. In addition, play ascending and descending lines of fourths: C F D G E A F B etc., or C G B F A E G D F C etc. Exercises in fifths are also perfect for the beginning: C G D A E B F C etc. or C F B E A D G C etc. Play these exercises legato with alternate toes in a slow tempo. As they become easy, you can choose different exercises using heels as well. Remember, that the development of the correct pedal technique requires regular and patient practice. As everything in organ playing, both feet technique takes time to master but it is well worth the effort because the whole new dimension of organ music will open up in front of you. An invaluable resource for pedal exercises is 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. There are numerous instances in organ music, where the organist has to change position of the feet. Such places might include scale passages, ascending and descending melodic lines, sequences etc. If such passage is played incorrectly for extended periods of time, chances of developing lower back pain are quite high. If you are curious to know how such lines should be performed, this article is for you.
First of all, it is important to maintain the straight position of the upper body, face the music rack, and point your knees to the direction of the feet. However, in playing melodic lines which extend from the right side of the pedal board to the left side (or vice versa) it is not possible to perform such passages with ease and fluency without changing position. In other words, if you play on the right side of the pedal board with your both feet and have to jump suddenly downwards to the left side, you have to switch to different position. Push-Off With the Opposite Foot When Changing Position When suddenly changing direction and position on the pedal board, apply the following trick and you will be able to achieve the precision without pain and strain of the lower back. If you play on the right side of the pedal board and want to switch to the left side, find a suitable note in your music and push-off with your right foot. As you push-off with this foot, move your lower body in a position where your both knees are pointing in the direction of the feet (left in this case). On the contrary, push-off with the left foot, if the melodic line ascends to the right. It is very convenient to change position on the long note of the pedal line. However, if you see only fast-moving notes in such episode, you still can achieve the same effect with correct repetitive practice. Take this fragment, and play it in a slow tempo a few times and try to change position as described above. Practice this fragment until you can play it correctly at least three times in a row. Consult Your Physician If the Pain Persists Note that the above trick applies only in cases when the lower back pain arises from the incorrect playing habit. However, as we all understand, lower back pain might have various different reasons. In such cases and if the pain persists, it is best to consult your physician for medical advice. The correct technique of changing the position is discussed in detail 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. Many organists who try to perfect their pedal technique play pedal exercises on the organ. However, it is not uncommon for them to feel the pain in the lower back area. Although the reasons for this pain might be several, today I am going to write about the pain which arises from incorrect playing technique. If you feel the pain in your lower back when playing pedal exercises on the organ, read on to find out the possible solution.
Keep Your Upper Body Straight In order to avoid back pain, it is best to sit up straight on the organ bench. To achieve that, sometimes it helps to imagine that a string is attached to your head and it extends very far upward. Maintain the erect position and do not slouch. If you hunch and bend your upper body forward with your head down, your posture will not be correct and this situation may be the cause of future problems. On the other hand, if you sit up straight, at once you will start to feel the difference in your breathing as well. Since breath, our posture, and organ technique are so much connected, it is important to observe the above point about the position on the organ bench. Point Your Knees to the Direction of the Feet Now, when your position at the organ console is correct, you can begin to work on the right way to play the pedals which may reduce the lower back pain. As you press any pedal, your knees should be pointing to the direction of your feet. In other words, try to avoid the situation when your knees point outward and the feet – inward. This is especially important, if you play in the extreme edges of the pedal board. Many organists perform such places incorrectly and as a result, they feel awkward. In fact, the lower back pain might arise from the incorrect pedal technique. If you play in the extreme left of the pedal board, keep your upper body straight but your lower body (the legs) should be facing left. On the contrary, in order to play in the extreme right side of the pedal board – switch to the right side with your legs but face the music rack with your upper body. You will be surprised, how much easier it will become for you to play pedal scales and other exercises with your feet this way. An invaluable resource for pedal exercises is 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. Many organists understand the importance of playing pedal scales on the organ. Because they can help to develop flexibility of an ankle, pedal scales is one of the best ways to achieve the perfect pedal technique. However, very often organists hesitate to incorporate them in their daily practice because they do not know how to choose the most efficient pedaling for playing scales. In this article, I will show you the traditional way of playing pedal scales which will help you to move your organ playing to the next level.
Keep the knees and heels together. The traditional way of playing pedals is to keep the knees and heels together. In other words, both your feet should move as one unit. I understand that for some people it will be hard to do so. In this case, at least try to keep the heels together when playing pedal scales. This is necessary because we will choose the most efficient pedaling based on this technique. Play legato. The next important point is to play with legato touch. This means that there should be no breaks between the notes. This is actually not always easy to achieve in pedal playing. I remember how hard I had to try to be able to play the notes evenly and without breaks even at a slow tempo when I was a student. It took me at least a week to master one scale. However don’t be discouraged and don’t give up. Just stick to it. Toe-toe-heel-heel technique. The most efficient way of choosing the pedaling is to use toe-toe-heel-heel technique. This means that we play the first note with the left toe then with the right toe. The third note is played with the left heel and the fourth – with the right heel. After that just start playing with the left toe. For example, in C major scale over 2 octaves, C would be depressed with the left toe, D – with the right toe, E – with the left heel, F – with the right heel, G – with the left toe, A – with the right toe, B – with the left heel, C – with the right heel, D – with the left toe, E – with the right toe, F – with the left heel, G – with the right heel, A – with the left toe, B – with the right toe, and C – with the right heel. Reverse the pedaling for the downward scale. Another way to play this scale is to play B with the left heel (at the end of the first octave) and start the second octave with the left toe and proceed like from the beginning. This technique allows us to keep the heels and knees together and to play with the inside of the feet. By the way, the C major is not exactly the easiest scale to play with pedals because it lacks accidentals. Try E flat major or A major, for example and you will feel how efficient this technique is. Adjust the pedaling when necessary. Sometimes it will be necessary to adjust the pedaling according to the accidentals because we can’t play the sharp keys with our heels. For some keys you will have to start the scale with the heel etc. In these cases, I recommend you start choosing the pedaling from the middle of the scale and then work your way downwards. For keys which have 3 consecutive sharps or flats, such as D flat major or F sharp major, you will have to slide from one sharp to another with the same toe. Take a slow tempo, and master one major and one minor scale a week. Try to achieve a nice legato and see that all notes would sound evenly. Next week add another pair of scales (in the order of ascending number of accidentals) until in about 12 weeks you can play all of them. Then it will be sufficient to play them only once during your daily practice. If you do this regularly, your ankles will become much more flexible and you will start to notice tremendous changes in your pedal technique. By the way, if you want to perfect your pedal technique, check out my Pedal Virtuoso Master Course - a 12 week training program designed to help you develop an unbeatable pedal technique while working only 15 minutes a day practicing pedal scales and arpeggios in all keys. |
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