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One of the main difficulties an organist can encounter is a weak left hand technique. An underdeveloped left hand can lead you into a number of problems when playing organ music. Very often organists have trouble playing more than one voice in the left hand. Additionally, when they encounter fast passages in an organ piece, their playing might lack precision and clarity. Consequently, majority of organ repertoire is inaccessible to them due to the underdeveloped left hand. If this sounds familiar to you, read on to find out how the left hand technique can be improved.
Obviously you can improve your left hand technique by playing special exercises on the piano or the organ. A great resource for the left hand technique is Piano Music for One Hand: A Collection of Studies, Exercises and Pieces It is important to understand that both hands should be developed at a similar level. My favorite collection of daily exercises which develops both hands equally is Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist. This collection contains 60 exercises in three parts. The entire set takes about one hour to play in a concert tempo. In the beginning, it may be enough for you to play just the first part – the basic 20 exercises which last about 20 minutes. Take one new exercise every week and master it. Practice it daily several times. With the following week practice 2 exercises without stopping, later 3, 4, and so on until after about 20 weeks you will know all 20 exercises. After that it will be sufficient to play the entire set of 20 exercises just once. After they become easy, start adding more advanced exercises from the Part 2. I think you get the idea. When you reach the end of Part 2, your left hand technique will already be at the decent level. If you go even further and play the Part 3 (60 exercises total), you will achieve exactly what the title of this collection promises – the level of the virtuoso. I have to admit that these exercises are a bit mechanical and it takes some willpower even to play through the Part 1, but the results are really great. It is a great way to develop your technique by only playing one hour a day. I can testify personally that whenever I have not enough time to practice my organ music, if only I continue to play through the set of Hanon exercises daily, my manual technique is in good shape. I have to add that most of the time I practice them on my organ and not on the piano. Because organ mechanics might be lighter than the piano (at least on a small instrument), it is possible to add a coupler for more resistance. A great thing about practicing Hanon exercises on the organ is that you can turn the power off and play on the silent keyboard. That way you won’t annoy your family but the results will be the same. A word of caution – always pay attention to how you are feeling. Some fatigue is OK but if you start to feel tension in your hands, you should stop at once and take some time to relax your hands and shake off the tension. This is really important if you want to reap the best results and not to hurt yourself. Take a slow tempo at first (60, 50, even 40 beats per minute). Later you naturally start to play a little faster and faster until you reach 120 beats per minute. If you continue practicing the exercises from Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist regularly, I can guarantee that you will see the definite changes in your left hand technique already after a few weeks. Real pianists spend playing etudes and other piano music several hours a day just to maintaining their keyboard technique. With the Hanon exercises you will only need about one hour a day because of the diversity of the exercises. Every imaginable classic piano technique and figure is included in the set, including tremolos, octaves, and scales in double thirds and sixths. You may be thinking that theses exercises are good only for pianists. However, just think how much the legato Romantic organ technique was influenced by the piano technique in the French symphonic organ school (Widor and Vierne, for instance) and you will have no doubt about the benefits of the Hanon exercises for the organists. The good thing about this collection is that at the end of the second part there is a set of exercises devoted to scales and arpeggios. So people who are fond of scales and arpeggios will find benefit from this collection as well. By the way, I play scales and arpeggios on two manuals because compass of the organ manuals is a little too short for some exercises. I recommend playing the exercises from Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist before your regular organ practice because it also serves as a fantastic warm-up. 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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This is the second part of the article How to Achieve Accuracy in Manual Changes When Playing Organ. Make sure you read the first part because will find more useful suggestions.
Practice opposite changes. Because it is likely that you will encounter an organ where the Great is either the first or the second manual, it is also important to practice switching manuals the opposite way. This can be useful also because you will not always know which manual will serve you best in each specific situation. So you have to be prepared to jump upwards or downwards. I personally can testify how tricky it may be, especially if the organ is unfamiliar and you are mentally unprepared to make such adjustments. I remember playing Bach’s D Minor Toccata and Fugue in one concert where the great was the second manual and the positive was the first. I thought I was mentally prepared for it but did not practice the actual manual changes the opposite way. In this concert, I had to jump downwards for echo effects in toccata. The first manual change was like a cold shower to me – I almost missed the manual. Luckily, at the last moment I remembered that this organ had positive in the lower manual and everything went well. Knowing that, I was on my guard for echo effects in the fugue. However, the feeling of having to jump the wrong way was quite strange. Lesson learned – always practice manual changes both ways, unless there is no other way to do that (like in thumbing down technique). If only one manual is available, imitate manual changes. My organ students often ask me if it is really necessary to have a two manual organ at your disposal to practice manual changes. My answer is the definite NO. You can practice majority of organ repertoire on a one manual instrument, even on the piano. When the time comes to make a manual change, just imitate the movement you would do with you hands if you had several manuals. In other words, make a mental note of the change, physically move your hand upward or downward but continue playing on the same manual. This type of practice greatly saves time because it involves a powerful strategy – visualization. Using this technique, we visualize the manual switch and make appropriate movements with the hand but use only one keyboard. Imitate the movements on the table. I explained how manual changes can be practiced on one keyboard but you may be surprised to find out that it could be done on the table as well. Just do all the movements of the hand and pretend you are playing the real organ and jump upwards or downwards for manual changes. This technique is a real time saver. You can practice on the table even during TV commercials. Imagine how much of your precious time that will save. Usually there are at least three commercials during a show or a movie each lasting at least 5 minutes. Practicing your manual changes this way will give you at least 15 minutes (most likely even more). This amount of time is surely more than enough to master at least one difficult manual change in the piece. If you follow my suggestions, your accuracy will improve over time. Try to plan this in advance, practice slowly and repeatedly. When you hit the wrong note when changing manuals, always go back, correct the mistake and practice not until you play it correctly but until you can’t make the same mistake again. In other words, make your manual changes automatic. Take advantage of the piano or the table and the difficult jumps will become easy to you. 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. Much of organ music is written for more than one manual. Quite often manual changes are required within composition which might be challenging to perform accurately. Organist may hit the wrong note accidentally, especially at the beginning stages of organ playing. This is especially dangerous when jumping over two or more manuals. Just like any other skill in organ art, careful planning and practice are needed to achieve accuracy in manual changes. Today I would like to give you some tips which will help you to avoid hitting the wrong notes when changing manuals.
Mark manual changes in the score. Although it might be tempting to have a clean score, it is always best to write in manual changes in your music, however obvious they might be. Mark not only the graphical representation but also write in which manual you will use. For example, if the right hand has to jump from the first manual to the second, write in the exact manual separation by drawing a line. In addition, at the exact place when manual change has to occur, write “II” in your score. This is indeed necessary to avoid confusion when performing the piece in public, at least until you will have more experience in organ playing. Stay close to keyboards when changing manuals. Once you know the place where the switch has to be made, make sure that you only lift your hand or hands as little as possible from the keyboards. The distance between the manuals is about 5 cm (sometimes more) so your hand has to make a rather noticeable movement in order to reach a different manual. This is even more obvious when jumping from the first manual to the third manual or vice versa. For example, the distance between the manuals on my organ is 6.7 cm (when a note on the lower manual is depressed). It is even greater when I have to reach the second manual diagonally – around 10 cm. I remember having a great trouble when practicing the last page of the notorious Motto Ostinato from Sunday Music by Petr Eben (the most important 20th century Czech composer). This particular episode has frequent jumps over three manuals which make an astounding echo effect on the organ. I managed to learn it with accuracy only when staying close to the keyboard. Practice slowly. If there is one single most important point about accuracy in manual changes, it is slow practice. Practicing slowly can make a big difference in a challenging spot. Try to overcome the temptation playing technically difficult pieces in a concert tempo frequently. By applying slow motion in your practice you will be able to control your movements much better. You see, at the beginning stages of organ playing, your hand movements are still not precise and fast or medium tempo does not help here at all. In fact, you should take such practicing tempo that will not allow any or almost any mistakes and you will feel comfortable. It is precisely slow practice which helped me master the abovementioned page of Motto Ostinato. Practice repeatedly. If you managed to play the difficult spot with manual change correctly, do not be satisfied with only one correct attempt. Instead, practice this episode repeatedly 10 or more times until it becomes automatic. Try to achieve the level when you can play correctly with precision and accuracy at least three times in a row. This means that if you play correctly twice and make a mistake on a third attempt, you have to start over and begin counting from one. I know from my personal experience just how frustrating this can be sometimes. Do not get discouraged by your mistakes. They simply mean that you need to take a slower tempo. If you insist upon making manual changes automatic, when the time comes, you will be ready to perform the piece with confidence. This article continues in Part 2. If you found the first part useful, I suggest you read the second part also because you will find even more helpful tips there. 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 organ registration is a very complex topic, it is important for every organist at least to have the basic understanding of it. This is necessary because not every organ piece has registration suggestions printed in the performing edition. Sometimes these suggestions are original composer’s intentions which work on a very specific type of organ. Moreover, it is not uncommon to see the registration terms in a foreign language. Whatever the case might be, we have to be aware of certain underlying basic principles that govern our registration choices. In this article, I would like to give you some of my personal suggestions which will help you to use informed decisions when choosing organ registration.
Change registration when structurally necessary. If there are no original registration suggestions from the composer, I suggest changing the stops only in places which are important structurally. Think about the form of the piece. For example, when playing a prelude and fugue, it is often OK to change registration or at least manuals after a prelude. However, some people change stops during the fugue itself. Although there is no right or wrong decision here, still, think about whether or not the registration change emphasizes the structurally important parts of the piece. I think that adding a stop just for the sake of sound is not as strong as changing the stop when you see the need for it (when the second subject comes in or at the start of a stretto section etc.) Simplicity. In case of doubt, keep it simple. It is always better to play a piece with one registration throughout than to make things over complicated. In other words, if you feel that your prelude and fugue needs changes of registration because the sound of the principal chorus is too harsh on your organ, it is best not to bother with it, unless you are really confident of your decisions. Very often we think that listeners cannot stand this sound for a long time but in reality what is more important is music itself. A fine composition will sound well using several different registration choices. On the other hand, it is hard to make a weak composition more convincing by changing registration (it takes a lot of experience). However, in some cases on certain historical organs, the registration might be perhaps as powerful tool as the music itself. This is why much of early organ music might sound boring on a modern organ. Another example: I know many organists who register the music of Franck in a very complicated manner. They try to achieve the perfect dynamics and add stops every few phrases. This is obviously too much. For music like Franck’s, we still need to clarify the structure of the piece. Practice over theory. This is very important: no matter what the original composer’s indications are, still we make our decisions based on the result. For example, if a French Romantic composer wants an oboe for a particular place, we have to think what kind of oboe was available to him. Then we need to check whether or not the oboe on our organ produces the same effect. Or in another case, if the piece from French Classical organ school has very specific registration indications, such as Voix humaine (a reed stop), we still have to compare the French sounds with our organ. A German Vox humana would not be the same. In many instances, we will have to make compromises in order to achieve the desired result. Use 8’ or 16' as foundation in the manuals. Regardless of what kind of registration you choose, it is the most common to use 8' stop as the lowest sounding stop in the manuals. However, there are also many instances where 16' foundation in the manuals is also advisable, especially in Organo Pleno registration on large instruments. Sometimes mixture stops are constructed on the 16' basis. For example, it is quite common practice to have a low mixture in the Great. By low, I mean it is based on 5 1/3'. In this case, we have to use it always together with a 16' stop. Other mixtures are based on 2 2/3' or higher. In such case, 8' stop as foundation would work just fine. Use 16’ as foundation in the pedals. For majority of music written after 1700s, it is normal to use 16' as foundation in the pedals. If the manuals would be based on 8' level, the pedals would be one octave lower. In other words, if the lowest stop in the manuals is 8', play with 16' in the pedals. Playing without the 16' in the pedals would lack the necessary gravity. Exceptions. As with majority of rules, there always are exceptions. For example, it was a common practice in the Baroque period, especially in the 17th century to play the cantus firmus (the chorale tune) in the pedals, even though it would be notated in the manuals. If the choral would be placed in the tenor voice, you would need to use 8' as the basis in the pedals. If the cantus firmus would be in the alto, you could place it in the pedals with 4' registration. Moreover, choral tune in soprano could be played in the pedals with 2' registration. By the way, you could try to play hymns this way. This would make a fantastic sight-reading exercise. Here you would need to have alto and tenor in the right hand, bass in the left hand with 16' on a different manual, and soprano in the pedals with 2' solo stop. These are my personal suggestions for registering an organ composition. Of course, this is just a generalization and you have to consider many variables, such as historical period, national school, type of organ music, instrument available and many other things. If you would like to know more about organ registration, I highly recommend The Registration of Baroque Organ Music by Barbara Owen. As Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society writes, "In this book, Barbara Owen has created a rich resource of historical information coupled with strategies for interpreting that information on today's instruments." Sixteenth Century Journal also adds that "... Barbara Owen has succeeded admirably in distilling three centuries of organ registration practice into a volume less than three hundred pages long.... Anyone with an interest in the history of the organ and its music... will not want to ignore this book." I personally use this book as a guide for most of my organ recitals. 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. As organists we must acquire the skill of using effective registration in organ pieces, hymns, and choral accompaniments. In order to do so, we have to first get familiar with the four main families of organ stops, the construction of the pipes, their sound, and finally, their use. Today, I would like to share with you some insight into organ stops.
Principals. This is the main stop of the organ. Usually we see the principals in the organ façade, they are visible front pipes. In the large instruments, most of the time the principals are built from metal. However, some organs have wooden principals as well. The façade pipes are mostly built from tin. Inside principals have a large percentage of lead. Although there are a large variety of principals in various organ building traditions, generally the sound of the principal stops is firm and clear. In countries like Spain and Italy principals also had a vocal singing tone quality. The principals are very well suited to accompany congregational singing in hymn playing. It is very common to add several principals of different pitch levels (16’, 8’, 4’, 2’, etc. and mixtures) to form Organo Pleno registration or the Principal Chorus. Such use of principals is a standard way to register Baroque compositions which are not based on pre-existing chorale melody (preludes, fugues, fantasias, toccatas, ciacconas, passacaglias etc.). Many of the chorale-based works can be played with single principals or various combinations of principal stops, as well. Flutes. These stops imitate various instruments of the flute family (recorder, orchestral flute, piccolo etc.). Like principals, they can be built both from metal and wood. The diameter of these pipes is usually wider than that of the principals. Therefore they produce a warmer, rounder sound. Flutes are built of various shapes: open, stopped, chimney flutes, conical, over blowing etc. The shape of the pipe makes a big difference on the sound. Flutes are very well suited for the performance of lyrical organ music. However, pieces of playful character can be effectively played using various flute combinations, even gapped registration, such as 8’ and 2’.Like principals, flutes can be used without the foundation of 8’. Solo flutes of 4’ or even 2’ sound very playful. There is a saying among organists that even the worst organ has at least one interesting stop. Usually it is a 4’ flute. Strings. The string stops imitate string instruments, such as violin, viola, cello, double-bass, or even viola da gamba which was a very popular instrument in the Baroque period. Strings have much narrower diameter than that of a principal. Therefore their sound is soft, narrow, and gentle. The strings are more commonly built out of wood but there might also be metal stops as well. The strings are especially important for the performance of the Romantic slow, meditative, and gentle organ music, such as Adagio, Priere etc. If the organ has several strings stops, such as viola, salicional, gamba and others, all of them work very well together. It is also very common to use the celeste sound together with strings. Because the celeste stops are tuned slightly sharper (sometimes slightly flat as well) they produce an undulating sound in combination with 8’ strings. This sound is similar to the effect of the tremulant. Reeds. This is a very special stop family. They are very different from principals, flutes, and strings in their construction and sound production. They have brass plate called a tongue which vibrates when the air goes into the pipe. The sound is strengthened by the wooden or metal resonators which are placed on top of the pipes. Reeds can be of two kinds: solo reeds and chorus reeds. All of them imitate various kinds of wind instruments, like oboe, clarinet, French horn, krummhorn, dulzian, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, tuba and many others. The solo reeds can be used as a solo stop on a separate manual or division. They are especially well suited for the performance of organ chorales, and other chorale-based compositions. The chorus reeds are generally louder. If they blend well with other stops, we can use them to strengthen the sound of the principal chorus both in the pedals and in the manuals. NOTE: This is by no means a comprehensive treatise about the organ stops and their registration. This article is of course just a very brief and generalized overview of organ stop families to help you get started with organ registration. If you would like to know more about organ registration, I highly recommend The Registration of Baroque Organ Music by Barbara Owen. As Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society writes, "In this book, Barbara Owen has created a rich resource of historical information coupled with strategies for interpreting that information on today's instruments." Sixteenth Century Journal also adds that "... Barbara Owen has succeeded admirably in distilling three centuries of organ registration practice into a volume less than three hundred pages long.... Anyone with an interest in the history of the organ and its music... will not want to ignore this book." I personally use this book as a guide for most of my organ recitals. 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 a long time many of my students have been asking me if I could record a video teaching them how to play Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach on the organ. It took me some time and effort but it was worth doing it. I love this piece and play it very often. People love to hear it especially for weddings, communion and some other quiet occasions. Anyhow, I hope you will find these instructions useful: If you want to learn this piece in 10 days while working only 30 minutes a day, you can download my fully edited instructional 3-part arrangement of this composition from here. It comes with complete fingering, pedaling, articulation, tempo and registration suggestions and detailed step-by-step practice plan.
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. As we all know, Bach's Aria from Orchestral Suite No. 3 is one of top 10 most popular Bach's pieces of all times. It is also commonly called Air on the G String. Arrangments of this immortal composition range from piano to guitar quartet, from flute choir to glass harmonica. Would you like to learn to play this piece on the organ? If so, watch this video, I teach it all step by step here: 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.
Changing organ registration can be a challenging task. Very often an assistant is needed to facilitate this task for an organist, especially on organs with mechanical action. However, organs equipped with solid state system or combination pistons make registration changes a relatively easy task. Such organs have possibility to make changes using thumb pistons with hands or toe studs with feet. An organist can program any desired registration in advance and activate it using a sigle piston or a toe stud. Today I would like to share with you some of my personal recommendations how to use toe studs for registration changes on the organ.
Use rests for registration changes. The best places to change registration using toe studs are the spots with rests in the pedal part. The rest is necessary to press the toe stud with the foot. For example, if the registration change is needed at any specific place and you intend to do it using toe studs, locate the rest and press the toe stud with the left or right toe, whichever is more convenient for you. However, it is better to use combination piston if the rest is in the hand part. Determine which foot to use. If you see an appropriate rest for pressing a toe stud, look on which side this stud is located. If it is located on the right side of the organ, press it with the toe of the right foot. Similarly, if the toe stud is on the left side of the organ, it is better to use the left foot. If the toe stud is around the middle of the organ, you may use left or right foot. However, there might be some cases were it is more appropriate to use the right foot on the left side of the organ. Study the pedal part and you will easily understand which foot is more comfortable to use. Use the free foot in places without rests. If you absolutely must use toe studs and both hands and feet are busy, use the foot which is not playing at the moment. For example, if on the spot where registration change must be done you play with your left toe press the toe stud with the right toe. Similarly, if the right foot is busy, use the left foot. Adjust your pedaling. When you write in pedaling in your score, always take into consideration the use of toe studs, if necessary. It is much better if you plan for it from the beginning. However, sometimes you will need to change the pedaling according to whichever foot is more appropriate to press the toe stud. Do not hesitate to make these changes because they will help you to change registration more smoothly. Prepare in advance. Just like in pedal playing it is best to use pedal preparation, you should prepare for pressing toe studs before the actual spot where registration change is needed. Try to place the foot intended for registration change on the specific toe stud as soon as this foot is free to move. In other words, as you release the pedal with that foot, move it on the stud in an instant. Such preparation will greatly facilitate registration change and you will not have to think about it when the actual moment comes. Practice repeatedly. Any registration change must be practiced over and over until it will become automatic. Take a short fragment, like one measure before and after the change and play it in a slow tempo 10 or more times. Omit the hand part first and practice only the pedal part. Later, play the entire texture in a similar way. Imagine the toe studs and practice. If you intend to perform your composition on an organ with toe stops but only have a small organ available for practice, you can imagine the toe studs on your organ. Pretend that the toe studs are located either on the left side, right side or the middle. Make appropriate movements with your feet regardless whether or not they actually exist. The sound is not important here but your physical movements are, so that when the time comes to perform your piece on the organ with the toe studs, you will be ready. If you follow my suggestions and incorporate registration changes using toe studs in your practice, this task will not be as difficult as it might appear at first. One thing that it is becoming apparent here is that we cannot take the registration changes for granted and hope that when the time comes we will successfully press that toe stud. The skill of changing registration, like hand or feet coordination must be practiced as a drill until it becomes automatic. If you achieve the level of automation, you will have no difficulty changing registration by yourself. If you would like to know more about organ registration, I recommend a treatise by G.A.Audsley "Organ Stops and Their Artistic Registration". 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 addition to hand and feet coordination and articulation, pedal playing is one of the greatest challenges the aspiring organist must overcome. Everyone wants to play those difficult pedal lines with precision and confidence. However, as we all know it is not that easy to achieve it. It is not unusual that a beginner organist might press the wrong note even in technically straightforward episode, not to mention the fast moving passages and scales. In this article, I will show you how to play accurately pedal parts of your organ compositions.
Use pedal preparation. One of the main tricks which help to achieve accuracy in pedal playing is pedal preparation. This technique helps to program the correct notes in advance and is not very difficult to implement. In order to apply pedal preparation, study the pedal of your organ piece and pencil in the next note for each foot in parentheses indicating toe or heel above or beneath the note. Then practice your pedal part in short fragments repeatedly (10 or more times). Move the foot to the next position as soon as the previous note is released. If you wait for the moment to play and move only then, it will be already too late. Just move instantly and let your foot stay there waiting for its turn to play. You will begin to notice that the movements of the feet become automatic and that both feet will have a short moment of resting on the next pedal before actually playing it. Play with the inside of the foot. Try to use the inside of your foot for the depression of the pedal. In other words, play with the big toe or the inside portion of the heel. This technique helps to point the knees inward regardless of the length of your legs. When you play on the outer edges of the pedal board, change the position by pushing off with the opposite leg. Again, at first you will have to think about playing with the inside of the foot. Later it will become automatic because you will form a good playing habit. Write in pedaling and stick to it. I suggest writing in correct and comfortable pedaling for all your pedal parts, easy or difficult, at least in the beginning stages of your organist career. Use pencil and don’t hesitate to change it if you feel any strain or tension. Even more important is that you stick to the pedaling and play the same way every time. Otherwise your feet will get confused and chances to make mistakes will be greater. Feel the position on the pedal board with your toes. Try to keep your feet close to the sharp keys. This technique allows you to feel the exact position on the pedal board with your toes. For example, you know that sharp pedals are arranged in groups of two and three. Try to locate the F by feeling the edge of the F sharp with your toe. Similarly feel the C sharp and play the C. Resist the temptation of looking down to your feet. It is OK to make mistakes while practicing. Just play it over and over until you get it right. In order to make it automatic, play some more times correctly. Look at the music at least when you play not from memory. Keep the feet in contact with the pedal board at all times. When you have to move your feet try not to lift them off the pedal board. Instead, slide the feet to the desired pedal while always touching the surface of the pedal board. In other words, the movements of the feet should be horizontal and not vertical. This technique also helps you to get acquainted with the pedal board and play the correct notes with ease. It is especially important that you pay attention to both feet. Do not forget the foot which is resting – relax and let it touch the pedals slightly without pressing them. Do not use force. Avoid hitting the pedals with unnecessary strength and imagine you play mezzo piano. Depress the pedals with as little power as possible and keep your legs relaxed. In other words, there should not be too much noise when playing the pedals. Of course, on tracker organs some noise cannot be avoided because of the mechanics. This kind of relaxed manner of playing helps to be in control of articulation. Your movements will become very economic and you will feel the fatigue much less. If you follow my suggestions every time you sit down to practice your organ music, you will improve your pedal technique tremendously. The accuracy while playing complex pedal parts will become much better. Of course, practicing wisely requires a strong will and patience but I can assure you from my personal experience that it’s worth the effort. If you are serious about pedal playing, I highly recommend studying Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. This comprehensive method book has separate chapter on pedal playing with many important exercises. 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 the final Part 5 of the series of articles about common mistakes in pedal playing. In order to have a full picture, please read the Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 as well.
Looking at the feet when playing the pedals. This can happen quite often, especially at the beginning stages of organ playing. Since the pedal board is unfamiliar to the beginner organist, there is always a strong temptation to locate the keys by looking at them. However, it is always better to look at the music and try to feel the pedal board with our feet. If we insist on not looking down, then after a very reasonable time we will begin to feel where any specific pedal is. Pedal preparation also helps to achieve that. It is like driving a car. At the beginning you have to think where all the pedals are, how the shift stick works, how to switch on the headlights, how to turn on the windshield wiper etc. But if you use your car long enough, it all becomes automatic to you. Of course, when you have to drive another car, again getting used to it takes some time. However, if you are an experienced driver and had a chance to drive many different cars in your life, the time required to adjust is very insignificant. This is exactly the same situation with organs. But looking at the music and not at the feet is very important and greatly facilitates the progress. Not using the entire leg in early music. In order to depress the pedals we usually use the motion from an ankle which is the correct way to play music written after around 1800s. However, not every organist knows that for early music, and especially on historical instruments or replicas of old organs the depression of the pedals should be done using the entire leg. This theory is debatable whether or not it is applicable to the performance of early music on modern instruments. We should at least try to adhere to it when playing old instruments or instruments that are built in old style. I will explain the reasoning behind this technique. You see, in the Baroque period, the most common practice instrument for organists was clavichord (yes, there were many pedal clavichords built in the 17th and 18th century as well), and not organ. Churches were not heated and organists also needed bellow operators to practice organs in churches. So many of them practiced at home on clavichords and performed on organs during services and other public occasions. Therefore, it was the clavichord technique which became the basis of organ technique (at least in German speaking lands). I don’t want to get into the clavichord technique too much because it is a broad and fascinating topic on its own right. Let’s just say that on the clavichord, if we want to achieve a nice sound, we use the weight of the entire arm (not fingers) and leg (not ankle). So the depression of the pedal keys is achieved mainly using the weight of the leg. Otherwise the string of the clavichord would not make a deep and reverberating sound. In consequence, this technique was applied to the pedal playing on old organs as well. It is really important that you develop the right practicing habits early on in your pedal playing. Being strict with yourself and paying attention whether or not you are making the mistakes in your performance can save much precious time. However, it is never too late to start fixing the mistakes and forming the right playing habits. If you follow my suggestions carefully, you will have more chances to perform difficult organ music with confidence. I have written earlier about the secret to a perfect pedal technique. That's an article about Marcel Dupre's recommendations. You might find his suggestions surprisingly simple yet very powerful. If you would like to know more about pedal playing, I highly recommend studying Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. This method book has separate chapter on pedal playing with many important exercises. 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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