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Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 655 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ausra, and she writes, "This week I’m struggling with sitting down on the organ bench. At first I didn’t have time and now I don’t have motivation to practice." V: What can I do? A: So since it’s my question, so now you will have to answer it, and I will just listen to your suggestions. V: Okay. I’m like a psychotherapist, and I first will ask you some questions, okay? How do you feel when you have the urge to practice, but you don’t? Do you miss it? A: Well, I have guilty conscious. V: Conscience? A: Conscience. V: So deep down, you would love to practice, but the pain of sitting down on the organ bench is bigger than the pain of actually not practicing, right? A: Yes. V: You have to flip this if you want to ever overcome your situation. The pain of not practicing has to be bigger than the pain of practicing. A: Well, but there are some problems that distract actually me from practicing. Changing to another Hauptwerk setup is one of the problems. Because I sort of started to miss our old Hauptwerk setup. V: Now you have to go to our friend Paulus’ home. He has our old organ setup. A: You know that that’s impossible, and to tell the truth, yes, it’s really hard. Because I never know what you will buy, and when you will buy, and when a new thing will arrive at our home, and what kind of mess I will find. For example, like last Monday I returned after a long and really hard day, because I was teaching half of a day online, and then I went to school to teach live, and stuck in a traffic jam, and I came back home and I found like a strange kid running all over our place, and you know, the organ builder working at something with you, and I just turned around and left. V: We should clarify this situation. That day, that evening that Ausra is talking about, our friend Carpenter brought us our new table for the Hauptwerk setup. Earlier we had a table bought from IKEA, very cheap, but it served us relatively well except it wasn’t stable. It only had two legs, so imagine playing, putting your keyboards on two-legs table. And it would shake with every minute of your pressing the keys. A: But the problem that is that now we have a new table, and we have an old table we don’t know what to do with it, so it just piles up with an other junk. Which is not a trouble for Vidas to live with, but it is really a trouble for me. And plus, we still have another table, new table, that our friend Paulus has to pick up from our home. So right now we have actually three tables. So come up guys, we might give one to you as well. V: (laughs) If you need tables, we have them. A: So all these things, actually you know they demotivate me from playing, and they distract me and they irritate me. Maybe I’m crazy, I don’t know. V: No, you’re not crazy, because it’s, those, these are triggers, you know? They trigger your reaction or kind of frustration. And this frustration can prevent you from doing the thing that you love. A: And that new, for example pedalboard, it irritates me because a couple times when I practice it, the B flat, that one in the middle which is very often used, started sort of shake, to shake. It was really frustrating. Because this was the first time that it happened to me to any pedalboard that I have tried, and I have tried many of them, and I know that I’m playing pedal quite gently and I’m never kicking them. And if this really happened, it means that something isn’t really right with it. And if other pedals will do the same in the future, then it will drive me, drives me crazy. V: You see, you never assembled a pedalboard and you don’t know how it works. Inside of that pedalboard, there are, what’s the term - screws, yes - so the week before that I was assembling that pedalboard, and that B flat that you’re talking about probably loosened up a little bit. So I just took a screwdriver and fastened it a little bit more. So I actually fasten all of them regularly now. Because it’s a new pedalboard, a new basically device, and some sticky keys or some loose keys might appear from time to time. It’s probably normal for a new device to behave like that. Do you remember how our new organ at St. John’s was at first? I was inside of the organ every week, regulating the mechanics. But now it’s not that way, because it’s dry and already regulated, and used to the environment, and well it’s adjusted. A: Well, but what then about the Viscount pedalboard with which we had not a single problem? V: I don’t know what to tell you. I liked it, too. So maybe this pedalboard will also be a good pedalboard. Actually, this is a really soft pedalboard. I like the touch. It’s like a carpet. When you press the key, you don’t even feel the bottom of the key. You have to be like stepping on carpet, so you play, you have to play very gently. But now our friend Paulus can play the Viscount pedalboard and enjoy it. A: I miss it very much. V: So we’ll go to Paulus from time to time. We’ll visit him. (laughs) No, but I actually think that the reason it frustrates you, those changes, arriving new tools, gadgets, tables, Hauptwerk setups, all this mess, the reason it distracts you from your playing is because, let me ask you this question - What was your goal in organ playing before this mess? Did you have a goal for a specific, you know maybe like short term goal, like three month goal. A: Yes, I would usually have some performance planned ahead so I would have to prepare for it. V: Yeah. So one or two or three recitals lined up, yes? So the same could be also in this situation, you could just set up a goal for yourself. And actually we do have a goal for Pentecost, to play a recital of works by Bach and (XXX Composer 9:24) A: I don’t think I will be able to get ready on time. V: No? A: Because I’m not practicing. So you might do that recital on your own. Well you know, I’m really busy at school. I have so much teaching, and exams are approaching so fast, and all that unclarity about how much longer will we teach online, or how often we will have to go to school, and how all the schedules will work. It’s completely messed up. V: I think what you’re experiencing with online teaching is really crazy, and… A: ...and even to tell for example for my 8th and 9th graders if we will have exams online, or at school - I don’t know. You know, students keep asking me every day about all these questions and I don’t know what to answer. V: I know. If I had to teach your load online and fill out all the paperwork grading additionally to teaching, you’re now spending probably twice as much time than before with your teaching online than at school. And it really affects your well-being probably, and your ability to do the things that you would love to do besides school, right? There is no energy left or as we joke, RAM, in computer like memory, internal memory. There is just so much things you can do with your energy, and when school takes up everything, there is nothing left to share with organ playing, let’s say, right? A: Yes. I guess you are right. V: So I don’t think my Hauptwerk setup, mess, tables, all those issues that you were facing with pedalboards is really a problem here, or defining problem. I think the problem is that you don’t have energy left from school. You work too much, you see? You are spent. And probably solution could either be to wait for better times, for vacation, summer vacation, right, when there is more free time… A: Which will be very short, as was the last year. V: One month? A: Because all the exams are postponed for the seniors. V: Right, yeah. Art requires sacrifice, and sometimes that sacrifice is just too much, right? A: True. V: Frankly speaking, I don’t know what I could do if I had to teach that much like you do. Maybe I have a better health condition though - more energy in general - and maybe I would still have enough energy to practice, you know, my own things. Maybe. I’m not sure, but I sort of fantasize here. A: You have never worked so much as I do. V: I would probably not work that much, either. If I had to complete those tasks as you do, I would probably leave them in less perfect shape, you know, those things, and still would take care of my own goals, my own goals would probably need to go first. Because the school would not take care of me. I still have to take care of myself. So maybe that’s my suggestion to you. Don’t do everything at the 100% level at school. And sometimes you take some breaks, like student work piles up and you don’t grade them right away. You sort of let it rest and take a walk in the woods to just relax. This is good I think, too. Correct? A: I don’t know. But still, that work doesn’t disappear, so I still have to come back and do it. V: Or you could give some of them, some of it to me. I could also share, help you grade it. A: No, I wouldn’t do that. Because you know, one time you actually really helped me to do my work, not at school of course, but when we were living with a host family in the United States. V: Yes. A: And Vidas wanted, because it was really tired, to clean the desk for our host, host lady. And actually he did it, but then she would scold me and show me that mess that actually was done. So I never asked Vidas to do anything instead of me. Because he simply can’t. So if you would grade my students’ work like this, it wouldn’t work. V: You think I wouldn’t grade them like you? Maybe it’s not the right comparison, because I understand how to grade dictations and even some harmony exercises. Not maybe at the highest level that you did with 12th graders, but I could do 10th graders, for example, easily. Not sure about 11th graders, though. (both laugh) A: You are funny. V: But you could teach me first, and then I could… A: No no… V: ...grade them. A: It’s too hard to teach. V: I’m a good student, you know. I would listen to you, I would respect you, and I would worship you. A: Yes, you are a very good student. Actually, a couple of times when I was teaching online, Vidas fall asleep during my lectures, and actually he even snored, and I would have to talk really loud to my students that we wouldn’t hear his snoring in the same room! V: I hope your students are not listening to our podcasts right now. A: And I don’t know if I was so boring? Once I was talking about the dominant ninth chord, and I think another time it was about the second scale degree ninth chord. V: No, it wasn’t...it wasn't anything to do with your teaching or the interesting things you taught or not, it was just because I lacked some sleep that night. I needed more sleep, so… A: And you found a perfect time and perfect place to do it. V: Yes, your voice was calming me and letting me into a good dream. A: I’m glad. V: Thank you guys. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: We hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo
Comments
I was very excited to record Part II from Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525 by J.S. Bach today. It was quite challenging process which took me two practice sessions. Hope you will enjoy it!
Score with fingering and pedaling: https://secrets-of-organ-playing.mysh... Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. I was very excited to record Part I from Trio Sonata No. 1in Eb Major, BWV 525 by J.S. Bach today. It was quite challenging process which took me two practice sessions. Hope you will enjoy it!
Score with fingering and pedaling: https://secrets-of-organ-playing.mysh... Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going.
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 646 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Manfred, and he writes: Hi Vidas, I was playing the organ in the church for services only. The requirements are low. Therefore I could train the Pedal in ‘wild’ and fairly uncontrolled way. Because of Corona the congregation must not sing. The organist is asked to prepare a few pieces as a solo. So I started to look for organ pieces that are a little more demanding. Then I was facing severe difficulties with easy or low-medium pieces for organ. Thanks to Youtube I watched the pedaling of good organ players. My style is way off! This led me to you. You have a method, you want to teach it in an internet-based style – so, I gave it a try. Man! The first week told me I was not using certain muscles in the ankle area, I had muscle sore. Now, I see a much higher flexibility in my ankles. I was playing with a sort of tennis shoes. No way! Yesterday I started with organ shoes (dancing shoes actually). Now I can feel the pedal keys and can slide on them. Wonderful! After this first week I do not detect better accuracy. But my feet want to adopt the new pedaling style when playing my organ pieces. This is sometimes confusing, but I am sure in 2-3 weeks the new techniques will make my feet more ‘relaxed’ as they become friends of the pedal. I am eagerly looking forward to the next few weeks! Best regards, Manfred Vidas: So Manfred obviously is taking our “Organ Pedal Virtuoso Master Course.” Ausra: Yes, that’s a very useful course, I think, for everybody. Vidas: And the first weeks are not very easy for him, as for most people who try. But the good thing is that he didn’t give up. Ausra: Yes, and it’s a very good thing that he started to play to their more appropriate shoes, actually, because it’s really necessary if you want to play pedal with great accuracy and will not hurt your legs. Vidas: Exactly. So at first, he would accompany the church congregation singing before the pandemic, probably. But of course now the requirements have changed and he has to play the organ solo more. Ausra: True. I think that’s the case with many organists. Vidas: It’s also a good opportunity for people to explore new skills and build up technique, build up repertoire, learn new pieces, basically. Ausra: Yes, because most of the people have more time during pandemics. Vidas: Except that sometimes the pandemic demands more online work, like for you. Right Ausra? Ausra: Yes, but I don’t need to drive every day back and forth to school. Vidas: I see. So Manfred really can take advantage of the situation. What else can we obviously recommend besides just sticking to the course and learning new pieces? Ausra: To play more repertoire, probably. Vidas: Yeah. This course, “Pedal Virtuoso Master Course” shouldn’t take more time than just a warm up. 15 or 20 minutes… well… maybe at the most, half and hour, probably. And then, when you are warmed up, you could play probably hymns and repertoire—mix them according to your needs. Ausra: Yes, I think that way it will be more comfortable for you and your practice won’t be so tiresome. Vidas: Maybe Manfred also needs to think about hymn playing in a more structured way and treat each hymn as a very short organ piece, and play pedals in a controlled way, like you would in a regular organ piece. Maybe write in some pedaling. Figure out where to put the right-toe, left-toe, right-heel, left-heel, things like that, and probably learn, depending on his sight-reading abilities, learn either separate voices or separate lines, and then combination of voices instead of jumping into four-part texture right away. What do you think, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, I think that’s a very good advice. Vidas: I see just too many people playing hymns in an accidental manner, just from the beginning until the end, hoping they can do it eventually. And eventually, they will be able to do it in a maybe average-organ-playing way, but if you want to excel in it and play with good rhythm and good pulse, your playing and practicing should be according to plan. What about, Ausra, pedal playing? Do you think it’s good to warm up with those pedal scales and arpeggios, or is it a little bit too stressful on your ankles? Ausra: Well, I would say if it’s early morning, then it might be too stressful. But if it’s the middle of the day or evening, then I think it should be okay. Vidas: When I started to play organ at home, I sometimes notice like muscle spasms when my muscles are cold, so that might happen when you would started your practice with pedal playing alone. Right? Very rigorous scales and arpeggios according to this pedal virtuoso master course, but maybe if you warm up a little bit more with easier music, alternate toes first—not toe-heel-toe-heel, but just alternate toes, exercises like that, or access from hymns, maybe play from just the hymn bass line. Right? Ausra: Yes, I think maybe that’s a good suggestion—really useful. Vidas: Okay, so… but the most important thing is obviously to stick to this program and to finish it. And then you will notice real improvements. He says that he doesn’t notice improvements about the accuracy yet. It comes after a month or so, I think. Ausra: Yes, and another thought or idea that came to my mind while reading this remark about accuracy: Maybe he’s practicing just a little bit too fast. That might affect accuracy greatly, so maybe he needs to slow down just a little bit. Vidas: My usual recommendation about the tempo when you practice is, choose the speed in which you can avoid making mistakes. That simple. For some people it’s moderate tempo who are very good in sight-reading. But for most people, it is a very slow tempo, and when they say they practice slow, usually they’re not practicing slow enough! Ausra: Yes, I agree. Vidas: Probably not the metronome should be your guide here, but the accuracy itself. If you can play at this tempo without mistakes, then the tempo is right at this time of your development. If it’s not, then slow down. Ausra: Good advice, Vidas! Vidas: Thank you! Thank you guys, this was Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo Today we had a rather productive Unda Maris organ studio rehearsal. Karolina played Daquin's Noel and Diana - Polonaise in F Major from the Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach. I showed Karolina how to practice the fastest variation so that she could reach the skill of playing 32nd note runs in the left hand. We also discussed the repertoire for our upcoming joint virtual studio recital which will be premiered on Secrets of Organ Playing YouTube channel some time next month.
Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going.  Thank you everyone for participating! You all made us very happy with your entries. We have all selected the following winners. You can congratulate them here. And here are the rules for next week's contest.
8 Steps in Mastering Part III of Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525 | Hauptwerk Obervellach4/25/2021 In this video I will demonstrate you my process of mastering Part III of Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525. I will use Hauptwerk Overvellach sample set by Piotr Grabowski.
Score with fingering and pedaling: https://secrets-of-organ-playing.mysh... Left hand Training: https://secrets-of-organ-playing.mysh... Two Part Training: https://secrets-of-organ-playing.mysh... Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. 8 Steps in Mastering Part II from Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525 | Hauptwerk Obervellach4/24/2021 In this video I will show you 8 steps in mastering Adagio from Bach's Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525. I'm using Obervellach sample set by Piotr Grabowski. Hope you will enjoy it!
Score with fingering and pedaling: https://secrets-of-organ-playing.mysh... Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. 9 Steps in Mastering Part I of Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525 | Hauptwerk Obervellach4/23/2021 I really enjoyed practicing Part I from Bach's Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525 today. Last week I was busy assembling our new Hauptwerk setup and recording process videos but my practice suffered because of that. So today it felt great to sit down on the organ bench again and practice with intent. I hope you will like the sounds of Obervellach sample set by Piotr Grabowski!
Score with fingering and pedaling: https://secrets-of-organ-playing.mysh... Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. Finally I was able to assemble the pedalboard with swell pedals and toe studs and connect it to the keyboard setup. In this video I'm testing it out to see if all the pistons, pedals, studs and keys are operational. I'm using Alessandria sample set by Piotr Grabowski. Hope you will enjoy it!
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Authors
Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Don't have an organ at home? Download paper manuals and pedals, print them out, cut the white spaces, tape the sheets together and you'll be ready to practice anywhere where is a desk and floor. Make sure you have a higher chair. |
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