10 Steps to Make Organ Improvisation More Popular

By Vidas Pinkevicius (get free updates of new posts here)​​​​​​

I wanted to disappear.

I thought the listeners will go out one by one in the middle of the recital.

That's how I felt when I once improvised for a group of German tourists.

It's strange because the previous improvisation recital for French tourists was received exceedingly well.

Let's face it, the majority of people want to listen to masterpieces of well-known masters during organ concerts.

Only a few of them are actually prepared to hear spontaneous music making.

Why?

​Maybe because they don't trust me.

Maybe because improvisation associates with freedom.

And freedom is a scary idea for a lot of people.

Want to make organ improvisation more popular in your circle? Here are some ideas that worked for me in the past:

1. Communicate with people about why you're playing the pieces you're playing
2. Include improvisation between the familiar masterpieces
3. Record your recital
4. Hook people by playing organ repertoire
5. Then ask for their email address in exchange for the gift of the video of your recital
6. Write in your blog your personal experiences as an organist and send them to your email subscribers
7. Once in a while start sending them your short improvisation videos
8. Play another recital
9. Repeat steps 3-8 
​10. In a year you will have a grateful audience that trusts you

I improvised this recital on German National Anthem.

I thought it would be nice for tourists from Germany to hear their beloved melody in an improvisation.

After the event the guide came up to me and said, did you know there were a few people from Switzerland in our group?

I wanted to disappear again.