 Today I'd like to share with you the famous Aria, Op. 51 by 20th century Belgian organist and composer Flor Peeters which I recorded on the Alexander Schuke organ at Vilnius Cathedral. Hope you will enjoy it! Organ specification: http://vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_arkikatedra.htm Score: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/aria-op-51-21021997.html?aff_id=454957 We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/ausramotuzaite My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pXxZgiFPMKiqBRYi9rSLT?si=Xe1nTroTSmOGPtv8bP8MSw  Today I'd like to share with you my improvisation on Gregorian chant tune Salve Regina. I recorded it on the great organ at Vilnius University St. John's church which was recently renovated by Janis Kalnins and his team from Latvia. Hope you will enjoy it! You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/VPinkevicius We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-  Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast! Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 715 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ben, and he writes: 1. Goal: To play more complex pieces such as Bach D minor "Dorian" toccata and fugue fluently 2. Obstacle: Advanced age (76) although I did study organ at ages 15-17 and violin from age 9 and have a good knowledge of music theory. Fortunately now being semi-retired I have time to practice, so help to get back to where I was as a teenager and advance beyond that will be useful. Thanks! V: So Ausra, what do you think? It’s a very interesting goal, quite unusual to play Bach’s Dorian Toccata and Fugue. A: Yes, it is. Because most of the people would want to play another D Minor Toccata, because everyone knows that one, even people who have no idea about what the organ is, they definitely have seen maybe a movie by Walt Disney where this music is played. And cell phones also have the melody, one of the choices was also D Minor Toccata. But Dorian Toccata is not as well known. V: It’s probably not as often played, but it’s obviously one of those important pieces in the repertoire as well, in addition to D Major Prelude and Fugue, all the other toccatas, Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, E-flat Major Prelude and Fugue, and a few others. A: Yes, and although it might not be as complex and difficult to play as for example, E Minor Prelude and Fugue (Wedge), or for example G Minor Fantasie and Fugue, but it’s still a major piece by J.S. Bach, and it’s too bad that Ben did not tell us how well he played when he was 17 years old, how advanced he was on the organ. Could he play this toccata well at that age? Because if he was capable of playing it at a young age, then it would not be as hard, probably, for him to regain his skills and to play it. But if he hadn’t had that high level as to play this piece, then it might be more challenging to do it at and achieve this goal. Because, to be honest, with every year probably, our abilities diminish slightly. V: Definitely. It’s with time, with age, of course he’s 76, um, yeah, you have to start slowly and pick up gradually to where you were decades ago. It’s like building a muscle again, although the goal is complex, right, advanced goal, any addition to the Dorian Toccata he could play other advanced pieces if he could play Dorian Toccata. But it would probably be wise to play intermediate pieces before that - even basic pieces before that: chorales from Orgelbüchlein if he is into Bach’s style. Do a few of those before that. Why not play Eight Little Preludes and Fugues? A: Yes, that would be an excellent preparation for this Dorian Toccata and Fugue. V: And after this collection, he could play a few longer preludes and fugues, like 533 for example, or 535. They are a little longer than Little Preludes and Fugues, maybe five pages long, right, but shorter than D Minor Dorian Toccata, and after that, probably he would need to do some easier toccatas, right, like - and Preludes and Fugues, like A Minor 543, or C Minor 546. A: Yes.. V: It’s still a major work, but not as demanding technically and virtuosically as the Dorian Toccata - very, very virtuosic work. A: Yes, because if you will pick up way above your current abilities, it might discourage you from achieving your goal. And if you pick up a piece which is too easy for you to do, then it won’t be challenging enough and you will not improve fast enough. So I say the repertoire, your repertoire always needs to be just a little bit harder than what you are comfortable at that time, and then gradually you could add to that. V: I agree. It’s step by step approach. It’s like building your physical training routine, or a marathon. If you want to train for a marathon, running, you never start with even 5 kilometers or 5 miles or 10. You start with one. Or even half a kilometer, or even walking. Just walking. And alternating walking, running, alternating couple of minutes walking and couple of minutes of running a little bit, adding probably 10% of what you could do every week a little bit more. A: Yes, and it’s good that Ben has a good knowledge of music theory, that might also help him at his goal, achieving his goal. But only good music theory won't move your fingers, but it can help you in a difficult situation. Maybe you can master the musical steps faster, you know how the piece is put together, which key are you playing in, you can see the structure of the piece like cadences, modulations, and all that kind of stuff. So this is useful and helpful. V: Yeah, those patterns would be easier, understandable to a person with a good knowledge of musical theory. But of course, we don’t know what does he mean, “good”? Good is relative to every person. We aren’t sure what does he mean about that. A: Well, but sometimes you know, especially, because I also have a good… V: Me, too! A: …knowledge of music theory. V: That’s the thing. We both have good knowledge of musical theory. A: And I know many of organ pieces that I would want to play and I know them well you know, like really how they are structured and how they sound. And it seems so easy, I will just jump on the organ and play it. But, well my fingers slow me down, because I have to achieve certain level of dexterity to be able to play fluently. So sometimes it might be even disadvantage. Because you might want to sit down at the organ and play it like it’s at concert tempo right away. V: Mm hm. A: Because you know music so well and you know how it’s put together. But you still need to move your fingers, and your fingers need to listen to you. V: Plus, when a person self-evaluates their own grasp of music theory or technique, let’s say, they’re not necessarily very objective about it. As we mentioned before, we both have good grasp of musical theory, right? And question is, is Ben at the same level as we? A: Well, anyway I think that in this case, not the music theory knowledge is the problem but that big big gap of not practicing organ for so many years, and advanced age. That’s the real part of the problem. Because you know even when you are 100 years old, if you don’t have dementia or Alzheimer’s, you can still learn the music theory. It’s easier than to make your fingers move as fast. V: Because it’s music movement, muscle memory also. And at that age, it is much more difficult to do than when people were teenagers, young age. A: And of course be careful. Don’t practice too much, because keep in mind that you might hurt your muscles or your joints, and that wouldn’t be nice, because all the trauma that you would get at older age might not be at a younger age. So don't overuse your hands and your feet. V: So I hope this was useful to Ben and others. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Buy Me a Coffee platform: A: Find out more at https://buymeacoffee.com/organduo  2025 marks 150th anniversary of the greatest artist from Lithuania of all time - composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911). So today I'm continuing to share with you his little preludes from the collection of 15 Little Preludes. They are perfect pieces for beginner organists. I recorded them at Vilnius University St. John's church. Hope you will enjoy Little Preludes Nos. 10-12! 00:00 10. Little Prelude in G Minor, VL 90 00:44 11. Little Prelude in F Major, VL 103 02:26 12. Little Prelude in F Major, VL 90a Score: https://musiclithuania.com/products/mazieji-preliudai-ir-fugetes?_pos=2&_sid=59fd810eb&_ss=r You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/VPinkevicius We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-  Today I'd like to share with you my rendition of Fugue in D Major by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784) who was the eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. I recorded it at Vilnius University St. John's church. Hope you will enjoy it! We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/ausramotuzaite My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pXxZgiFPMKiqBRYi9rSLT?si=Xe1nTroTSmOGPtv8bP8MSw  Welcome to Learn with Vidas series! Today I'm going to teach you how to improvise a three-part fuguette on the hymn tune GROSSER GOTT which could serve as a perfect hymn introduction for your liturgical playing. Don't forget to send me your requests of what you would like to learn next. Hope you will enjoy it! Today's sample set - Sweelinq Lutheran Church, the Hague You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/VPinkevicius We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-  Today I'd like to share with you my rendition of Jubilant Psalm by Phil Lehenbauer. I recorded it on the great organ at Vilnius University St. John's church which was recently renovated by Janis Kalnins and his team from Latvia. Hope you will enjoy it! Score: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/jubilant-psalm-for-manuals-organ-work-by-phil-lehenbauer-22829574.html?aff_id=454957 You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/VPinkevicius We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL  Today I'd like to share with you my rendition of this powerful Moderato in F Major, Op. 22 No. 1 by the Danish Romantic composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890). I performed it as part of the live mini recital on the Alexander Schuke organ at Vilnius Cathedral which was organised by the National Association of Organists in Lithuania. Hope you will enjoy it! Organ specification: http://vargonai.lt/vargonai_vilnius_arkikatedra.htm We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/ausramotuzaite My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pXxZgiFPMKiqBRYi9rSLT?si=Xe1nTroTSmOGPtv8bP8MSw  This piece was created for Palm Beach AGO 2024-2025 composition contest. Although it wasn't chosen as one of the winners, I had much fun creating it. This composition features the tune of St. Theodulphus, often sung to the text of "All Glory, Laud and Honor" mixed with the exciting trumpet tune in Bb major and will be an effective choice for the Palm Sunday. I recorded it using Sweelinq Goch sample set. Hope you will enjoy it! Score: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/processional-on-all-glory-laud-and-honor-op-281-organ-solo-by-vidas-pinkevicius-22945556.html?aff_id=454957 You can support this channel by becoming a member here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO4K3_6QVJI_HlI5PCFQqtg/join If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: https://PayPal.Me/VPinkevicius We support Ukraine: https://www.blue-yellow.lt/en My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: https://www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! https://organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ckKPIvTWucoN3CZwGodCO?si=YWy7_0HqRvaZwBcovL-  Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast! Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 714 of Secrets of Organ Playing podcast. This question was sent by Kathrin, and she writes: “When I first write fingerings in the score, partly it doesn't work anymore, when I play the piece faster. In some pieces it is necessary to play one or two or more notes in the first line in the left hand or vice versa. So both hands have to work together. I can only write fingerings for both hands together. How to study pieces with chords like in the French romantic for instance and with more than one note in every hand? Kind regards, Kathrin” Vidas: So if I understand correctly, if you have a passage of single melodic line in each hand, then for Kathrin, it’s easy to write in fingerings. But if you have more than one voice in each hand, then she has trouble figuring out fingerings. correct? Ausra: What I understood from this letter is that she has trouble when the left hand has to play some notes from the upper staff. Vidas: Yeah, let’s discuss both instances, this migrating voice, this middle voice which migrates between hands, and also an instance of two voices in each hand. Ausra: Because if you have only one voice in the hand then it’s not a problem. You can write down fingers right away. But if you have, let’s say, a middle voice which is shared for both hands, yes, first of all you have to know which hand is playing which note, and you have to make markings in your score, and only then to write the fingering down. Vidas: Yeah, exactly. Not the entire piece will be written this way. Some passages will treat the middle voice for the right hand, and some passages will treat the middle voice for the left hand. So isolate those passages, and then write in fingering separately for those passages, not linearly from the beginning until the end the right-hand part. Right? It’s more difficult this way. But in episodes where the migrating voice starts to migrate to another hand, then you stop and then you complete the fingering for the previous passage. Ausra: Yes, and you know, another thing is that if you have in chords, then I don’t see what is the problem for you with the fingering, because if you, let’s say, are playing French Romantic music, as Kathrin mentions here in the question, then you need to use a lot of finger substitutions. And if the texture is really thick, then what is the problem? You have only five fingers in one hand and five fingers in another hand. And if you have full chords, then you have very limited options what to use. Usually in the right hand, for example, you often substitute the fifth finger with the fourth finger, and it can last pages and pages long, this substitution. Vidas: If you, for example, play a passage in ascending motion and you need to play legato, as Ausra says, you have to substitute the upper voice—substitute fingers four to five, four to five, four to five, in order to have space for the next note. But when going downwards if you have a legato passage, then five to four, five to four, on the top note, and the same is for the left-hand part. Outer notes, bottom notes of the left-hand, and upper notes of the right-hand will be most important to keep it legato. Ausra: Yes, … Vidas: Because they are the best heard. They have the...the outer voices are the most easily heard. Ausra: Yes, and for me, for example, the hardest thing when playing French Romantic music is to shorten by half the repeated notes in the inner voices, which is a really tricky part to do in a thick texture, but you have to do it. Vidas: Yeah, Ausra is referring to this technique of French Romantic and Symphonic music, legato technique, basically, but it has special places where you don’t play legato, like repeated notes. And in those instances, we don’t just play repeated notes not legato, but we actually very carefully shorten the notes exactly in half. Sometimes not in half, but in a third. It depends on the smallest unit rhythmical value of the piece. Let’s say if the smallest, most often used rhythmical value in the piece is an eighth note, so you shorten this repeated note by an eighth note. That was the method that Marcel Dupré taught. But if it’s a triple meter, for example, 6/8, and there’s a dotted note somewhere, so you cannot really shorten it in half, so you still look what is the smallest unit value—the smallest rhythmical value of the piece, and then shorten it by that rhythmic value. Most often it will be an eighth note. For faster passages it could be a sixteenth note, also. Ausra: Another thing, my advice to Kathrin would be, don’t be hasty in writing fingering down. My advice would be to sight-read through the piece a few times and only then write the fingering down. And do it while sitting on the keyboard so that you can check if that really works. That way, you would not work in vain, and you would not have to write your fingers down again. Because you know, if you wrote your fingerings down and then you played it, it did not work, it means that you chose the fingering wrong. Vidas: Probably because theoretically in your head it looked fine, but when you tried it out, it didn’t work anymore. Ausra: And like, you know, anatomically we are all a little bit different. Of course, similar, at the same time, but a little bit different. So what works for one person might not work for another one. Vidas: Some people have smaller hands, some fingers smaller fingers. Some people have a second finger longer than the fourth finger. It also influences the choice of fingering, sometimes. There are some general ideas about fingerings which work for everyone, but then there are some nuances which depend on the physicality of each person. Ausra: The same for the pedaling. For example, comparing me when I was 20 years old and comparing me now, I use completely different pedaling than what I used many years ago, because my joints are getting old, and when you have to sort of do to be gentle for yourself and not to overstretch too much. Vidas: And when we get questions like this from people, sometimes I have a feeling that organists try to play more difficult music than they are currently able to do. So that’s why writing-in fingering or figuring out fingering is very challenging for people like this. Because they want to play… I don’t know… Toccatas and very advanced pieces too soon without having played intermediate stuff. Right? Without having played even basic stuff! So for Kathrin, I would suggest probably choosing French Romantic music, but easier Versets, not symphony movements, let’s say. Right? It doesn’t have to be a famous piece of music, because if it’s a famous piece, a lot of times it will be difficult, and vice versa. If it’s difficult, we have a chance to have heard it. So I suggest maybe like León Boëllmann’s Versets or even pieces by César Franck, but from the L’organiste collection—at first—and do it a few months, and then progress to another level. Do a little bit more difficult music for a while, for a few months also. There are stages for your advancement, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to skip all those stages. Ausra: Yes. You know, good results takes time, and I think, you know, that good organists know patience and time. Without those two, you cannot succeed. Vidas: And if you don’t have patience, you can always look at our suggestions from the Secrets of Organ Playing store. We have hundreds and hundreds of scores with written-in fingering and pedaling for you to save time. So, I hope this was helpful to Kathrin and others who are having similar fingering problems. Please let us know what you think, if you have any other questions and requests. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen! V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Buy Me a Coffee platform: A: Find out more at https://buymeacoffee.com/organduo |
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. 
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