Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas
Ausra: And Ausra Vidas: Let’s start episode 371 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Lorelei, and she writes about Basecamp: I logged onto basecamp. When did that start? I don't understand. How does this help me? I'm not sure how to use it... V: Well, Ausra, for starters, let’s define Basecamp. Basecamp is a project management platform that we’ve been using for the Total Organist community since, I think, last August. And the reason we started to use it, together with our regular training materials, is because it helps people to communicate with each other, and for us to communicate with them, and with this tool, we can all grow together much faster. Do you know what I mean? A: Yes, and it’s easier to communicate in such a way, because if people have questions, problems, or something to share, that’s what we do on Basecamp. V: So, if Lorelei logged onto Basecamp, she probably would see something like the Home dashboard, and she is on the team of Total Organist. We add subscribers to the Total Organist program into this team, and here you will see a Message Board, ToDo list, Schedule, Campfire, Automatic Questions, and Docs and Files—all those lists. So, we use Message Board, we use Campfire, and we use sometimes Docs and Files for other purposes, and Automatic Questions, also. So what Message Board does is we could make announcements. Or other people can make announcements. For example, Mic just wrote about Melodic Dictation videos missing. He didn’t find those videos in the Melodic Dictation course and he wanted to ask us this question. Of course, this kind of question can be asked in the Campfire as a chat, but it doesn’t matter. The Message Board is great, too. For example, on the Message Board, we also put an announcement when we were ready to go to London to play at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, so that everybody in our community would know that for a few days we will be gone, and we will not know if we can respond to their questions on time, very soon. It turned out we had WiFi in the hotel and everything was fine. On the Message Board, you can also see Total Organist Training materials. This file is a sort of a backup from the Total Organist Website. If you log into Total Organist and want to download some score to practice, or subscribe to some training program, you can use the Total Organist Website, but you can also use our Message Board materials for Total Organist training materials as well. It’s like a backup file for those who have trouble, for example, logging into Total Organist. How does it sound so far, Ausra? A: So basically, this platform is created to make things easier for you. Easier to find, easier to connect with us, and easier to communicate between yourselves, because as we have talked before, that sometimes people who are at the beginning or intermediate level might help other people who are at the same level even better than we are. So, sort of a helpful tool for you to communicate between yourselves. V: Exactly. For example, there is this chat….basically column, and you can actually write any type of question or feedback there to me, or to any people there on our community. It’s really great, it’s like instant messaging within our group. Short messages are delivered right away, and you get notified. Concerning notification, you can specify how you would like to receive those notifications, because some students wrote to me that their email inboxes are overflowing with notifications, because people are messaging and giving feedback, asking questions, and everybody is being notified by email. And, I understand that, because SPAM is not okay. And here is the thing… you can adjust when, if, and how you want to be notified in Basecamp under menu item, “Me.” You just find “Me,” your own settings, basically, and you can adjust. For example, I don’t like to be notified right away; I only am notified once a day in my email inbox. But whenever I open the application of Basecamp on my phone, I have those unread messages, also, notified, so that I won’t miss what happened overnight, for example. I hope this helps. Do you think, Ausra, this is helpful? A: I think so, yes. V: Another thing about the Total Organist community on Basecamp is automatic check-in questions. For example, at the end of the day, people get this question: “What did you work on Today?” All the community. And, you can write like a short report. Like, a sentence or two--”what did you achieve?” “What were your struggles?” “What challenges have you overcome?” Basically, anything you worked on either in organ playing, or you can just share your day with us if that’s okay with you, of course. Nothing too personal. Right? Another question that people get asked at the end of the first Wednesday of each month is about the Total Organist! “How do you like Total Organist so far?” Because I need, and we need, with Ausra, people’s feedback! A: Yes, sort of a guidance for us. V: How can we improve, what is good about that, and how we are helping people, basically. On every Saturday in the morning, people get this question: “What have you been struggling with the most in organ playing this week?” Basically, at the end of the week, you get this question about your struggles. It’s a good review, right Ausra? A: Yes. V: And you could share them, and if we find your answers applicable to other people as well, we might be able to discuss them on the podcast, too! For example, people like to read books, right? So on the first Monday of each month, you get the question, “Have you read any good books, lately?” And other people might be enjoying your recommendations of books. Every Monday in the morning, you get the question, “What will you be working on this week?” At the beginning of the week, it sort of sets you on the right path. A: Yes, so it’s sort of you’re making goals on Monday, and then summarizing what you have done… V: On Saturday. A: Yes, on Saturday. At the end of the week. V: Exactly. And then, another question is like, “Seen anything recently that others in our Total Organist community would find inspiring?” And people like to share. You know, various things. Sometimes, I might share my own blog from Steemit, and other people might come across a video or something—a link—that they might share. Various things. It’s really interesting to see. And the whole point is that the Total Organist is like a little community. Right now, we have… how many people in our community… maybe sort of like about 90 people. Around 90 people in our community. That includes people who subscribe directly through paypal, that includes people who are on our transcription team, and that includes people who help us with fingering and pedaling transcriptions from the videos, also. So around 90 people are watching those questions, and reading them. Some people are just reading, some people are responding, you know how it is. Some people are more active than others, but that’s OK, because this is how communities work. A: That’s true. V: And what’s the entire why we are doing this, Ausra? A: To help us to improve this program Total Organist, and to help for you to improve. V: Faster. A: Faster. V: Because, we might have many hobbies. Organ playing is just one of the possibilities, and I had many hobbies in the past, and I still have some today. And, I can notice that whenever I am a part of the community, I can improve and practice regularly—almost daily—this hobby. For example, drawing these comics. We’re sharing this on the Steem blockchain with Ausra, and other people are commenting and giving us feedback, and also it’s a little community there. So we’re not alone, obviously, if we drew those comics for each other, this would in itself before fun. But since other people are also watching, then the results are more apparent. It motivates us to continue. In the past, I had the hobby of learning a language—Swedish—I would love learning Swedish. But, I was alone, and I didn’t continue for too long. A: So I guess feeling that you are not lonely and feeling that there are people who support you, who understand you is very important—having that sense of community. V: Because until last August, the way Total Organist was set up is everybody would get emails with training materials, or they could log into Total Organist website and download something on their own. Which is fine, but again there is no communication, no feedback, and unless they wrote to me directly, they don’t know if they are improving. And this is crucial… to know if your practice leads to some results. And we believe that with the Basecamp communication channel, you can quadruple your results in organ playing. Thank you guys, this was Vidas, A: And Ausra, V: Now we are ready to go to practice, because when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
Comments
Thank you everyone for participating! You all made us very happy with your entries. @laputis and I selected the following winners: 1st Place By @savagirl4: https://steemit.com/secretsoforganplaying/@savagirl4/angelic-songs You have very elegant hands, touch and articulation! Those parallel 3rds are not easy to play. Looks like your piano practice is paying off... 2nd Place By @jhat08:
https://steemit.com/secretsoforganplaying/@jhat08/trumpet-voluntary I love your home organ! These manual changes are NOT easy! Good flow of tempo. We hope to see even more entries next week! Here's a link for Week 3: https://busy.org/@organduo/secrets-of-organ-playing-contest-week-3 And remember, when you practice, miracles happen! Have you ever wanted to start to practice on the organ but found yourself sidetracked after a few days? Apparently your inner motivation wasn't enough.
I know how you feel. I also was stuck many times. What helped me was to find some external motivation as well. In order for you to advance your organ playing skills and help you motivate to practice, my wife Ausra - @laputis and I invite you to join in a contest to submit your organ music and win some Steem. Are you an experienced organist? You can participate easily. Are you a beginner? No problem. This contest is open to every organ music loving Steemian. Rules 1. It's sort of open mic contest for organ music - no limitation to length, level of difficulty, genre etc. 2. It can be any organ piece, any hymn, any improvisation or any organ exercise. 3. It has to be performed by you without editing. 4. Be sure to clearly state Secrets of Organ Playing Contest, the contest week number, your Steem name, and the random contest entry word of the week. This week's word is "opera". 5. Upload your entry to YouTube. 6. Make a post about your entry on Steem. 7. Performance on pipe and electronic organs are valid. 8. Use #secretsoforganplaying as your first tag. 9. Upvote and Resteem this post on Steem. 10. Comment this post on Steem with link to your entry so people can see and listen to it. 11. The contest is open until Monday, January 21, 2019 12:00 PM UTC. Rewards Every participating entry will receive our upvotes. Additionally, 3 winners will be rewarded some STEEM in the following manner: 1st Place: 10 STEEM 2nd Place: 6 STEEM 3rd Place: 4 STEEM Judging @laputis and I will serve as judges. We will pick winners based on what sounded the most interesting and best performed to us. Our goal here is to support the community while motivating you to practice, inspiring to create some amazing music and adding more smiles to everyone's day. Questions, comments, ideas? Please let us know your feedback about this contest. Support our fellow contestants - upvote, resteem and comment their entry to let them know specifically what did you appreciate about their music. Also stay tuned for the post about winners from Week 2! We hope to see even more entries next week! And remember, when you practice, miracles happen!
First of all, I want to remind everyone who is planning to enter our Secrets of Organ Playing Contest Week 2 that less than 24 hours are left to submit your entry.
And now let's go to the podcast for today: Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 376, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Damian. And, he writes: You once asked me what is my biggest challenge in organ playing. I play in a church, and in Poland a church organist must play at the same time (hands and feet of course), sing and switch song lyrics that are displayed on the screen. This is the biggest challenge for me to do all these things at the same time, and to do all of them well. As for the technique itself, I'm not very advanced, but I happen to make mistakes in very easy fragments of songs that I know well, which I've always done correctly and I never know when I will stumble somewhere. Eliminating this is the biggest challenge for me right now. Thank you for all your work! V: And Damian is from Poland, and Poland is our neighbor. A: Yes. Nice to hear from him. And when you were reading Damian’s letter, I just remembered how I started to work at church, and I had the same things to do as he does now. I had to play and to sing, to lead basically congregational singing. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because there were a few elderly ladies from downstairs who would sing too. So I would sing and try to keep the tempo because they would try to drag me down and slow me down, and all the struggles, so I know how he feels. And it would be easy for me to sing the soft verse because the text would be right behind, written right below the melody. But then for the second, the third and other stanzas I would have to look at the bottom of the page… V: Uh-huh. Yes. A: to see what comes next. And this was a hard thing for me, at least at the beginning. V: When did it start to become a little easier? A: Well I guess when I didn’t have to think so much about pedal. V: Hmmm. A: Because I started to work at church on my second year of organ studies. So at that time I was still not that good with pedal playing. V: But in the third year, you were relatively well advanced. A: Yes, that’s true. V: So you struggled for one year. A: Yes. But what helped my life easier and I would suggest Damian made you something similar; I tried to play three voices with my right hand, and bass line with my pedal—with my feet. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And then I would have my left hand free, and it would make life so easy. V: In the hymns. A: Yes. In the hymns. V: But then you have to rearrange the inner voices. A: I know. But it’s not that hard to do sometimes. V: Oh, you switched tenor with alto. A: Yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: So that you would have a close position. V: Mmm-hmm. That’s possible. It’s sort of cheating though. A: Well, but do you think somebody will notice from the church, that you are doing that? V: Angels will notice! A: Well, who cares! V: Angels, care. And, of course, you are the boss. A: Well, another thing that would make life easier; I don’t know which way is easier for Damian;if it’s easier for him to memorize music, or is it easier for him to memorize text... V: Mmm-hmm. A: word text. So if it’s easier for him to memorize music then just memorize the hymn, that you could play it from the memory and look at the text. Or do it vice-versa. V: And it seems to me that this is the struggle that every beginner organist faces in church. And, as you said, it will pass, if you persevere after one year or so. A: Also remember, if you will continue working in church for, let’s say many year, well hymnals of course they are huge, but you will see in time that you will start repeating hymns, and as you come back to hymn next time, and the next time, it will get easier and easier and easier for you. But of course I agree that it’s really hard job to play and to sing at the same time, and do things right, and because it’s important. So it’s like in Lithuania it’s cold in winter time, and it gives, it makes things even harder. V: Right. And Lithuanian system is very similar too. We also have to sing and play at the same time, unless of course there is another choir director and there is a separate choir, but only on festive occasions, maybe on Sundays. A: But sometimes what happens if you have a group of people who are helping singing, you need to conduct them as well during your playing. V: Oh that’s another burden. A: So that’s what happens—that you play, sing and conduct with your head at the same time. That’s very often the case in Lithuania too. V: Uh-huh. Right. So lots of multitasking. Exactly. And he also wrote that he happened to make mistakes in very easy fragments of songs that he knows well, which he is always done correctly. That’s the situation that a lot of people with limited experience, struggle with, right? A: True. Because I think if you can do that hymn very well, but think about mass setting. You need to always to follow what is happening in church, actually. And you need also to think where you will end with certain hymn. So maybe that also takes some of your attention away and… V: Mmm-hmm. A: that’s how you make mistakes. That could be one of the reasons too. V: Exactly. When you are just practicing on this organ bench, nobody is disturbing you, you are focusing on the music and the text. And you can even practice singing at the same time as playing, and it might go well. But in live situation, congregation is downstairs, probably choir members are around you, there is a little bit of noise, and things are happening with the priest, everybody is doing their own business, and you have to be aware as you say, of all these changes, and where to stop and how to play it. And if you don’t have much experience, you’re starting to lose focus and as a consequence, making mistakes. Right? This is normal. This is not Damian’s cause. This is everybody’s situation, I think at first, for the first one, two, maybe three years. A: That’s right. V: So, what I recommend is just to stick with it and in a year or two or three, it will pass, I think. He will start to feel more secure in church. A: Sure. I just could say that he’s doing extremely valuable job. I really respect those church organists so much. From my own experience, how hard it is to do things. V: Mmm-hmm. Right. Of course we’re only talking about playing hymns, not playing real organ music, which adds another layer of complexity. A: That’s right. But I guess that this kind of experience that Damian has and we had in our youth is, it’s unforgettable actually. And I think it’s people, let’s say in the states probably, who have well organized church music, they even don’t understand what we are talking about, I think. V: They even have this title, Director of Music, or Director of Parish Music, right? Parish Music Director. Your title makes you an officer in the church, basically, and you have your own office, heating, your practice… A: Yes. V: instrument, separate from the church instrument. You have separate rooms, right, for choir rehearsals and everything. We don’t have those very often in churches in Lithuania and I presume in Poland too. Mmm-hmm. But people still keep playing, keep practicing and keep perfecting their skills, which is really nice. A: So let’s just wish good luck to Damian and other church organists around the globe. V: Yes. And remember, when you practice... A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 373, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Emese. And, Emese writes: Dear Ausra and Vidas! Today I've played Das Alte Jahr... as well. It's so nice. Have you known that it has 12 measures and 365 notes. The genius of Bach. I started playing the organ aged 53 (earlier I played the viola)—this means 5 years ago, but we had no proper instrument. This year the renewal of our church came to an end and at last I've got a real organ. It's not a big instrument—it has got 8 stops=two manuals and pedal, made for our church. It was ready a week before Pentecost. So a real exercise started then. From September I have less time for exercise—but at least once or twice a week I try in the evenings. In these few months, I've learned mainly Bach works, pedal playing was new for me, but I enjoy practicing it a lot. So I have learned: three Schubler chorales as BWV 645, 646, 649. I am still practicing BWV 655—it's one of my favorites. I can play it already by heart, but there is still a lot of work. My next aim is Cesar Franck—Prelude in h moll op. 18 Instead of a postcard—my beloved organ. Happy New Year! Many thanks for the pieces of advice. Emese V: Ausra, don’t you think that Emese is lucky to have a new organ installed in her church? A: Sure, it’s wonderful. Because although it’s not a big instrument, remember still, it’s a real organ, so it’s very exciting. V: Two manuals and pedals and 8 stops is plenty for a little church, I think, and for practice purposes. A: Sure. Because I think the worse thing is that you have sometimes too large instrument in a given room and then you cannot use more than half of the stops. V: Exactly, and… A: Remember we had that experience at Eastern Michigan University, where we had that large tracker organ in organ loft… V: Studio. A: Studio. But that studio room itself wasn’t large but instrument was good size, three manual instrument. V: It was by Canadian organ builder Gabriel Kney. And did you like by the way, the touch? A; I liked it, yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I liked that instrument but it had to be in a room maybe ten times larger than it was. V: Yeah. It was too loud. A: Sure. V: But it’s a tracker instrument so it’s kind of rare to have trackers in the states. Of course, this situation changes, little by little because people understand that, obvious, probably called this of tracker organs more and more. A: Yes it’s like eating healthy food and eating fast food. V: Mmm-hmm. But of course electro–pneumatical action has it’s own advantages. A: Sure. V: So it’s kind of… You have to choose, I think organist has to choose. A: Well it depends on what kind of repertoire do you like to play. V: Mmm-hmm. A: But of course if you like J.S. Bach then tracker is your first choice. V: So, Emese seems to be very fond of Bach’s works, and Emese studied Schubler Chorales—so far three of them, BWV 645 is "Wachet auf". A: Yes, it’s one of everybody’s favorites, I believe. V: Wonderful choice! It’s not an easy piece to start with but if Emese is practicing five years, since five years ago, so maybe it’s about time to take a trio texture. A: Yes. I think its fascinating that people realize and want to play the organ, to start to learn organ, at such an age. It shows it’s never too late to learn something new. V: Do you think, Ausra, that it’s too late for you to start something new? A: Well, as Emese wrote, the main instrument was viola. V: Mmm-hmm. A: We are so, I guess, maybe I need to start to learn to play viola. I don’t think I would be so successful. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I don’t think I would be so successful. I don’t think I would be able to play something as hard as Schubler chorale in such a short time. V: Right. Organ playing is like a second nature to us now, but it took twenty plus years, twenty five maybe years now. And... A: And don’t forget all that piano background that we had as a children. V: Exactly. We started playing since the year of six or seven, I think. A: Or five. V: Or five, as you. It doesn’t mean that everybody has to start so early or if it’s, if they start at age 53 or later, that it’s too late. It just means that you have to figure out the path for yourself and not compare too much yourself with others, especially prodigies. Sometimes we see on Youtube, children playing virtuoso pieces, not necessarily the organ though… A: Especially Chinese children. V: But piano for example, or violin. A: Like five years old, lad sits at piano and plays Rachmaninoff or Chopin. V: Exactly. A: It really amazes me, all the time. Although I’m not sort of fond of youth like this. V: And then, if you’d ask that kid, ‘what are you playing?’ Probably… A: Probably he or she probably wouldn’t know. V: Wouldn’t know even the composers name. A: That’s right. V: Or what else he has written. But anyway, I think Schubler chorales are very nice because they develop your coordination, hand and feet coordination, very well, because they are written in three parts, and each part is so independent. It’s written in a trio texture. It’s not like a trio sonata, where left hand imitates right hand, and vice-versa. A: Have you played them all? V: I have. Not necessarily in a concert setting but I have. A: I have played three of them. V: But they are good as an introduction to trio sonatas I think, if you would play like Emese did, three or four of them, or entire collection. Then after that, you might pick up a slow movement of trio sonata quite easily. A: Yes, that’s right. And let’s talk a little bit about symbols in Bach’s music because as Emese wrote, there are twelve measures in that chorale, ‘ Das alte Jahr vergangen ist’, and 365 notes, so it resembles a year, entire year. V: So you think it’s a coincidence? A: No! It’s not coincidence, and it’s twelve measures long because the year has twelve months. I believe that there are so many symbols in Bach’s music that we cannot grasp them all. V: Mmm-hmm. A: But I think it meant for people in that time, something more than for us because we simply don’t see these things anymore. V: And it means that this piece was also created as a kind of study, right? If you just play this chorale prelude, first of all, if you just copy it by hand, as his students might have done, and then if you practice it and then play it for your church service as an introduction for example, of the hymn at the end of year service, obviously, you wouldn’t notice any of it while playing. But while writing it out and maybe discovering clues like that, you would get a glimpse into the mind of the great composer. A: That’s right! And just think how many other symbols there are in his music, such as his signature and his name signature and sign of cross, and all those other Baroque time rhetorical figures. Because usually the decision what key to use, already can tell a lot about the music. V: Mmm-hmm. It is said that Bach’s music is like musical sermon—sacred music, I mean cantatas. In some sense also chorale preludes served this purpose as a commentary of the text of the chorales. And since those chorales were sung in Lutheran mass, then it’s really easy to see how composer created the musical commentary, I think for an intelligent audience, or even for himself to elaborate on the meaning of text. A: Yes, that’s what I’m thinking too. But probably his music was intended first of all for himself. Because not everybody, even advanced musicians can comprehend his music so easily. V: Right. And his contemporaries created much more, simpler compositions. Which means they knew the symbols but to some degree, not all of them probably. And, plus if you just add the polyphonic complexities that he’s writing, then this compositional style is well beyond the normal musician of the day. A: I’m just wonder, if such a great mind as Bach’s would have chosen another subject for his research, not music, for example, science, what could he have achieved? V: Well, it’s not a coincidence that Cristoph Wolff compares the great Johann Sebastian Bach with philosophers and scientists of the time, right? A: Because surely, I think his works are equal with those great minds of the world. V: Mmm-mmm. His musical discoveries are equal to those of Sir Isaac Newton, for example. And Bach’s influence for future generations also could be compared to those of great scientists. A: And I guess we all are very lucky that we can touch Bach’s genius through his music. V: And we continue to carry on this tradition to future generations, right? Because this lineage can be traced back to Bach directly, if we count, right? A: So we are all somehow related. V: To Bach. And through Bach to Sweelinck too. Okay, guys. 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!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 375 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Howard and he writes: “Hello Vidas, Happy New Year, and I am wishing you all the best for Total Organist in 2019. I noticed and appreciate the program you did on piston programming for larger modern organs. I have another question inspired by today's topic on "I cannot use someone else's fingerings". This is EXACTLY my problem that is holding me back from becoming a full subscriber to "Total Organist". But my question is more direct and I am hoping you will consider it as a program topic or as a direct answer to me, your choice :-) Basically, as I understand it, the fingerings for Early Music which, to be honest, is 90% of the material that you offer for study, those fingerings are for baroque style keyboards which are much shorter than AGO spec keyboards. I am wondering why the focus on using fingerings inspired by these older keyboards? I'd say that 99% (seriously) of the music that I own does not have fingerings. One of the exceptions is a Kalmus edition of several Mendelssohn works including all six Sonatas. I've spent the most time with Sonata #4 in Bb. The fingerings suggested and the fingerings that make sense to me are not even from the same planet! Especially the 3rd movement. The way the Kalmus editor fingered it, the running figure in the left hand is entirely independent from the right hand. Completely. I've worked very hard on doing it this way but my natural inclination is to pass notes back and forth between the hands and I can do this and still preserve the independence of the polyphony. I know that you have fingered the Widor Toccata and a few other modern works, and I am assuming you use 'modern fingerings' for those, but I can't help but wonder why you don't just make life easier for yourselves and use modern fingering for everything? Is there really something to be gained by using Early Fingering at all in the 21st Century, especially for Bach who, it must be said, transcended his time period. And here is one more idea for a program topic that you may (or not) want to touch ... two years ago on my way to church, I had a hard fall onto my left side. When I got up I realized I had bashed my left hand and my pinky finger was bleeding slightly. I was playing the "Cortege et Litanie" that Sunday. I thought I was just a little sore and could play through it, but ever since then the pinky and ring finger of my left hand refuse to open fully. Only a very, very few people know this. My employers do not know. I can still play most things as before, but the big stretch near the beginning of "Cortege et Litanie" is impossible. Scalic passages that should naturally begin with the left hand pinky or ring finger are extremely hard now and often don't work. To be honest it has affected my typing much more than my organ playing. I used to be a terrific typist but now the left hand keys are impaired. I am terrified of having surgery done because of a.) the potential downtime and impact on work, and b.) the potential for success of such surgery. I did see an occupational therapist and had several weeks of various stretching exercises that produced no results. I have recently heard of a colleague who seems to have a similar injury except his has no known cause. He has stepped down from playing but his church is still paying him to be a Music Director. I have another acquaintance with a similar problem (Dupytrenes Contracture) and has had two unsuccessful hand surgeries. My hand therapist didn't even know what to call my injury. She just say's "its weird". That wasn't encouraging so I stopped going to appointments. I am beginning to wonder about why this has happened because more recently, about 3 months ago, I had someone crush my hand in a handshake. All the fingers of my right hand have recovered fully except the ring finger which is trying to act like the one on the left hand. I knew of musicians who refused to shake hands but I've never thought I was worthy of that kind of concern. My attainments have been so humble. Do you have any experience with occupational injuries and what musicians do about them? There you have it. More than you wanted to know about my travails, but I don't have anyone else I can tell. Anyway, don't think about this too much. I am working. I am not suicidal. I'm just wondering if there is more I could do. Or what someone else might do in the same situation. Be well. Howard” V: That’s a long story Ausra. A: It is. V: Let’s start with occupational hazards and probably a person like Howard should consult many different or several different physicians. A: You know if I would be a very mean person I could make a very bad joke about his question because I could relate the second part with the first part. V: Uh-huh. A: Because when you were reading that first part it just took my breath away and I could tell that all these professional injuries happens because of not playing let’s say baroque music with early fingering. But that’s just a really bad joke. I think there is connection in everything that we do. V: But don’t you think that if his therapist doesn’t even know what to call his injury probably she is not the person to help him. A: Yes, it seems to me that he has to change his doctor. V: And probably go to several different people to check their opinions and sooner or later, maybe sooner than later he will find a person who will know what to do in his situation, what caused this, and how to treat it. A: But in general I think that every person has sort of limitation of the joints and of the fingers and probably there is a limit of movements you can make in your lifetime, maybe for some it’s I don’t know. Hundreds of millions of movements and for somebody maybe it’s less than that. Maybe he is having overused syndrome. V: I wonder if he’s wearing any rings on his fingers. A: I don’t know but rings are bad actually. V: Umm-hmm. A: In most of cases for musicians I wouldn’t wear rings. But if such an action as shaking the hand might hurt his hands, that is really bad. That just shows that something is really wrong with his hands and that he needs serious attention from a good physician. V: Exactly. So talking about the first part it’s a little bit easier, right? A: Well I wouldn’t want to go into those details because I think I have talked about it many times and I think everybody who listened to my talk knows my opinion about how I feel about playing baroque music. Well, I guess if I would live all my life somewhere in the United States where I would not have an access to the historical based instruments although there are places that you can do that in the United States as well, let’s see, in Oberlin, in Omaha at St. Cecelia’s Cathedral and there are other wonderful places where you could go to try those wonderful instruments. I will just try to give one example with the food. Imagine that you have let’s say cheeseburger from MacDonald’s and cola and you wonderful nice French meal with good wine. They both are food, yes? And you would satisfy your hunger maybe with eating both of them, but in terms of quality would you still disagree that French meal is better and has a higher value? V: Umm-hmm. Obviously the answer is very clear. A: And I don’t know but maybe somebody with fast food would still agree with me but… V: In which sense are you comparing modern fingerings with fast food, can you clarify? A: Well I’m just talking that early fingering does not work for late pieces, romantic and later period but that modern fingering doesn’t work for early music and it seems like Howard is not very happy that we deal so much with early music but let’s face it, Bach is the main composer for the organ. I doubt that anybody would argue that so come on, Bach wrote his music in the baroque period. V: I would add that the reason that we are using early fingerings for early music is that it makes sense because it’s early music. You don’t know if you will have a chance to visit an early instrument. A: And even if you don’t have a chance, even if you are playing on American modern instrument you still need to articulate so it still makes sense to use early fingering. V: When you use modern fingering you have to think about articulation mentally and when you are thinking you are missing something probably in the middle voices, in the pedals too. You maybe aware of some significant details but not everything when you on the contrary are using early fingerings it takes care for itself, right? For example, a simple fact that the same intervals as a rule are played by the same fingers. For example, an interval of the sixth can easily be played by the fingers 1 and 5 and if you have parallel sixths you play 1,5, 1,5, 1,5 and so forth. It seems detached and unmusical but we are not advocating for playing unmusically. We are recommending to play those intervals as slurred as possible but not legato. That’s in between of legato and non-legato in a singing manner which Bach would call cantabile manner of playing. Would you agree? A: Yes, because if you are professional you need to notice those subtle things that might not be understood by amateurs and if we would tell you just play whatever and play however you want we wouldn’t be professionals so we teach what we believe in. But it’s up to you to choose believe us or not and you do whatever you want to do. V: And there are people who play early music with modern fingerings and if Howard would rather play early music with modern fingerings then probably he would find more benefits from studying with them, right? A: Sure, of course. V: That’s simple. We are not trying to convert people who do not believe what we say, right? Everybody has their own choices and preferences and people like us tend to stick in our circle, right? A: That’s right. V: People who trust us, right? That’s very simple. So that’s a lot to think about but obviously fingerings are just a simple detail but I worry about Howard’s hands so he should really seek out several physicians and get several opinions of his hands what’s happening. A: But actually nowadays many people get that wrist surgery because of problems similar to Howard’s and not only musicians but also people who work on the computer a lot too. So you are not alone. V: Exactly. Thank you guys, I hope this was useful and please send us more of your questions, we love helping you grow. And remember when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas
Ausra: And Ausra Vidas: Let’s start episode 365 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Neil, and he writes: Hello Vidas, My big problem is confidence but last night it went very well probably because I practiced everything and marked up the service booklet and went through the service in my mind. Neil V: So, Ausra, do you feel confident when you play? Because, sometimes I do not feel that confidence, but I still have to play it, regardless of how I feel. A: Well, I think that each of us are not having confidence every time we play, and the reasons might be various. We might be unprepared, or we might not feel well… V: Or we might just lack experience. A: True. So, there might be different reasons. But, if a person says that he or she has confidence every time, always, then I just think that either the person is insincere, or that something is wrong with him or her. V: Or that person doesn’t challenge himself or herself enough. Right? A: It could be true, yes. V: Playing pieces that are too easy. A: That’s right. V: Then we can feel really confident. A: Yes. But, as was mentioned in the question, I think it’s very important to have that preparation. And both physical preparation and mental preparation for an event. As Neil said, he studied the booklet—he circled the service booklet...important spots. And he went through the service in his mind. I think this is a very important thing. V: So imagine this scenario. You have to play a church service, and usually people just show up and play. Maybe they know the hymns in advance, they practiced them, or prelude and postlude or communion piece, whatever, but other than that, they sit down and try to play the service as it happens in the real time. What sometimes happens, is that there are some changes—unexpected changes, and you don’t know what’s happening. You don’t know how to react. You are sometimes thrown out of the path, and some people are better than others with dealing with uncertainties. And, then, if you feel some stress, you can panic easily. A: Of course! V: And mess up… start to play the wrong hymn, for example, or with the wrong registration, or in the wrong tempo, or in the wrong key. A: Or in the wrong spot. V: Yes. Or just miss an entire hymn. Just miss it entirely. Did you have those experiences, Ausra, missing hymns? A: Of course I had those experiences. But not because of a panic. V: You just missed on purpose? A: No, I was delayed. V: By whom? A: By a postman. V: Oh, tell us! A: I think I told the story that at Eastern Michigan University, not at the university itself, but I was subbing for Vidas during Lent services in the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. And, there was a postman who came in the middle of the service, and since the pastor in front was busy, and at that time I was at the end next to the organ and I was not playing, he came to me, and I had to sign for some kind of parcel, and he looked at my last name and asked to spell it, because obviously it was the first time for this man that he saw such a long last name, and while I did that, I didn’t notice what was happening near the altar, and the postman left, and there was suddenly a strange silence in the church, and then I just noticed the pastor looked at me and said, “And now we will sing hymn number blah...blah...blah.” Then I started to play, but obviously, I was late. V: But he wasn’t mad. A: No. V: Interesting. I messed up my first, very first, church service, when I was just a kid, playing in my local parish, where my mom and I would go when we were on Summer vacations. And it was a wooden church, and the local priest noticed how I played hymns (I was maybe in the 6th or 7th grade), and he asked me to play a service for a wedding anniversary of an elderly couple. And I foolishly agreed, and I missed Sanctus—Holy Holy Holy part. A: Well, I know why, because it’s a tricky…one of the most tricky parts in a Catholic Mass, to know when to play Sanctus. V: So this was fun. The priest was really happy afterwards. He said it’s not a big deal, and he gave me candy! A: Well, I messed up my first Mass. It wasn’t actually my really first Mass, but maybe my 3rd or 4th, and it was held by a Cardinal. V: A Cardinal! Oh! A: Yes. The only one that we have now, in the Holy Cross Church. It was the special service in February. I don’t know what that festival day is called in English. Do you know, Vidas, what I’m talking about? V: Yeah, the day before Lent. Ash Wednesday? A: No, it’s not Ash Wednesday, in Lithuanian, it’s called Grabnyčios. V: It wasn’t Wednesday? A: No, it wasn’t Ash Wednesday, I know what Ash Wednesday is. It’s the day when the candles are put around peoples necks. Do you know this occasion? Because it is believed that it will heal your throat if you have trouble with it. V: Interesting. I think it’s not Lent, right, yet? A: No, it’s not Lent. It’s before that. It’s always in February. V: Baptism of the Lord? No? A: I don’t think so. V: You don’t think so… I’m looking on line… in February. Presentation of the Lord maybe? A: Yes, I think this is what it is, but we never call it like this in Lithuania. V: Mardi Gras, no? No! Mardi Gras is on Tuesday. A: Yes, it was on Tuesday! If it’s always on Tuesday, yes, it might be. V: Užgavėnės! No… A: No… V: Mardi Gras is Užgavėnės… so then, probably it’s this Presentation of the Lord. A: Anyway, so I missed The Lord’s Prayer. It wasn’t fun. V: Right. And was the Cardinal’s name Cornelius? A: No, it’s our bird name from Pinky and Spiky comics. Stop joking about things, because you might be kicked out of the church entirely! V: I see! Ok, so let’s continue our conversation about confidence, right? You had confidence issues and I had confidence issues, and Neil has it sometimes, and probably everyone from time to time experiences confidence… and it’s a good thing, right Ausra? Because it means we are challenging ourselves with things that are a little bit beyond what we are capable of. A: Yes, I think it’s a right thing to have this problem sometimes. V: What Neil does, or did, to combat insecurity like this is he marked up the service booklet and went through the service in his mind in advance. Basically, he visualized the service from the beginning until the end, what comes next… A: Yes, it’s very good. V: It really helps. A: It’s really how it should be. Maybe not always when he will play for services for 20 years, maybe he will not have to do it, but for right now, I think that this is the right way. And in general, I think that it’s very good that he has this good experience with having a service well done! Now I think that he has to stick to this memory, and I think it will give him more confidence next time. V: Right. And for other services, which might be different from time to time, it’s a good idea to also go through it in advance, visualize it at home or on your organ bench, ahead of time, too. So, Ausra, tell us: if you will be playing a service any time soon, will you be confident or not? A: Well, not so much, because it has been a while since I played in a real service, an entire Mass. I would have to refresh some parts of it. V: But it comes back pretty quickly. A: Yes, I think so. V: Like riding a bicycle. A: That’s right. V: Sometimes, when I don’t play a service regularly, I get invited in the Summer for example, to substitute for an ensemble of some sort who is on vacation, I then sometimes forget some words from the prayers—maybe some Sanctus words, so then I have to double check the words—the lyrics. But generally, the order of the service, or the order of Mass is pretty set. But, if we both went to another denomination, like a Lutheran church or a Reformed church, or a Methodist Church, then it would be something new. A: Well, but you know in the Lutheran church, everything is pretty much the same as in the Catholic Church. They have only one thing replaced comparing to the Catholic, so. It’s not a big deal. V: Not a big deal. A: True. V: Good. So it’s good that we have commonalities, because organists many times play for different denominations, right? A: Yes. V: And, they have to change in their minds very quickly what kind of congregation this is. Am I in a Lutheran Church, or am I in an Anglican Church now, for example? A: Or am I in a Christian Scientist Church? V: Did you play for Christian Scientists? A: Yes, for two years! This was my favorite church position. V: Why? A: Well, they paid well, and sort of I played hymns and one solo piece with a soloist, and then I did a few solo pieces by myself. V: You told me that you had much freedom. A: Yes, and they never complained. Whatever, they would appreciate everything that I have played and did, and it was just fun. V: Yes, appreciation and freedom are the two big things. A: And, I was actually very worried when I began to work for them, because I thought maybe they would try to convert me to their beliefs in Science and Health, but they never did it, and it was very nice. V: Nice. A: And, to tell the truth, I wasn’t sick for those two years that I worked for the Christian Scientist Church, so maybe I need to go to the States, and find a Christian Scientist Church and start to work for them! V: Okay, I’ll look for plane tickets now. A: Okay. V: Going to America now. Okay, guys, thank you for sending those wonderful questions. Please keep writing to us; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen! Would you like to master Two Part Invention No.11 in G Minor, BWV 782 by J.S. Bach? I have created this score with the hope that it will help my students who love early music to recreate articulate legato style automatically, almost without thinking. Thanks to Jeremy Owens for his meticulous transcription of fingering from the slow motion video. Basic level. PDF score. 1 page. 50% discount is valid until January 16. Check it out here This score is free for Total Organist students.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 372 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jonathan and he writes: “Reaching a third with left foot when above middle C. Here's an example. In the "10 Day Pedal Playing Challenge" in exercise No 3, the left foot needs to stretch for thirds a number of times in the area above middle C. I can barely reach middle C to the E above; this is with toe on middle C and heel on E above. Any higher combinations (and the exercise wants me to use my left foot as high as F above middle C reaching to A) is impossible for me. I've made sure I've been pivoting to the right. I've tried lowering and raising the bench. I've moved the bench closer and farther away. I've been working on ankle flexibility for the two years I've been studying organ. Perhaps some of us just aren't built that way. (My left leg is shorter than the right. And my upper legs are long and lower legs are short, compared to the average person's build.) Is it okay to reverse the parts of the left foot used - to begin with the heel and end with the toe, when ascending, if I can't do what the pedal notation asks for? Or should I try something else?” V: Ausra first of all I would suggest that any person who feels stress on the ankles or legs would not torture himself or herself. A: Sure. V: This is rather dangerous, right? A: It is and of course I understand the meaning of this exercise, why you sometimes need to play a lot with your left foot even in quite a higher range because a lot of music is created in romantic and later period has this kind of thing that you have to leave your right foot for using of the swell box mainly, that’s very often the case so in terms of learning such music you need to do as much work with your left foot as possible. But of course you don’t have to hurt yourself and if somebody it’s really impossible for you a particular exercise or particular piece you need to know to find other solutions. V: Because in real life for example if the reason you had to use your left foot alone for those intervals of thirds was that the right foot was occupied with the swell box, right? Imagine a piece like that by Cesar Franck for example, and you cannot do it, then you simply would probably avoid using the swell box in this case. A: Yes, I guess so. V: Right? And use both feet in that place. This is acceptable because swell box is just for expression purposes, it’s not life or death situation. Ankle strain might be some complications for your body condition and feeling well. A: Yes, and as Jonathan said in his letter that everybody has a little bit different body construction, and proportion of legs and hands and entire body so you really need to adjust yourself. V: Exactly. A: And if something is very, very uncomfortable for you it means that maybe this particular spot doesn’t work for you in that way and you need to change it because your body sends you a signal that something is probably wrong. V: You know I wrote to Jonathan that technique set ups the person and not the other way around. It’s good to have some virtuosic moves from your ankle and it’s like something to be proud of but it doesn’t replace real music, right? Jonathan is talking about 10 Day Pedal Playing Challenge and those are exercises, not real musical compositions. And again, you have to feel your body and don’t fight with it and if this doesn’t work move on to some other exercise, right? A: That’s right. V: You will still be exercising your ankles. So that’s my recommendation I think Ausra would you agree on this one? A: Definitely, yes. So whatever you do you need to be careful about things. V: Umm-hmm. Other people in general don’t like exercises. They just play organ music and they develop their pedal technique this way. Of course it’s a little bit limited because organ music doesn’t involve all kinds of moves with your ankles and feet and that could be isolated with any particular exercise but that’s what other people like, they like musical challenges, not technical challenges. It’s like comparing with athletics or maybe body strengthening exercises. Some people want to lift weights, isolated exercises, and other people just prefer running or walking. It depends on what your body feels and what your goals are, what your preferences are. That’s why we have all kinds of aspects in organ playing that you could improve including but not limited to improvisation, repertoire playing, music theory and harmony, hymn playing, and repertoire playing and organ technique as well. All kinds of areas put together form a nice total organist. A: That’s right. So you always need to listen to your body and then make a right decision for yourself. V: Umm-hmm. Great. Thank you guys for sending those wonderful questions, we hope this was useful to you and please keep sending us your feedback and challenges because we might be able to help you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen. Thank you everyone for participating! You all made us very happy with your entries. @laputis and I selected the following winners: 1st Place By @pauliakaz https://steemit.com/secretsoforganplaying/@pauliakaz/choral-for-organ-competition It's very brave of him to play the good luck chorale, J.S. Bach's "Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier", BWV 731 from memory. 2nd Place By @savagirl4
https://steemit.com/secretsoforganplaying/@savagirl4/epiphany-organ-prelude @laputis and I enjoyed the harmonies and registration changes which she did so elegantly. Keep it up! Click on the links to see their full posts. Congratulations to the winners! I will send them the prizes soon. We hope to see even more entries next week! Here's a link for Week 2: https://busy.org/@organduo/secrets-of-organ-playing-contest-week-2-is-now-open-for-submissions-entry-word-is-book-club And remember, when you practice, miracles happen! |
DON'T MISS A THING! FREE UPDATES BY EMAIL.Thank you!You have successfully joined our subscriber list. Authors
Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Our Hauptwerk Setup:
Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|