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 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 "Snow". 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, February 11, 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 Ausra 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 5! If you would like to participate but don't have Steem account, let me know your desired username by contacting me on my blog https://www.organduo.lt/contact.html and I will create an account for you very quickly. We hope to see even more entries next week! And remember, when you practice, miracles happen!
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Just a quick reminder that there are less to 24 hours left to submit your entries to our Secrets of Organ Playing Contest Week 5. @laputis and I are looking forward to listening to your organ playing. Here are the details.
https://steemit.com/secretsoforganplaying/@organduo/2nbchr-secrets-of-organ-playing-contest-week-5
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 368 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Nancy, and she writes: Thank you for the information, Vidas. I have followed the suggestions on the link, and I think all is well with my Total Organist subscription. You asked about my playing now. There are two issues that I am dealing with: (1) The first, and most important, issue is my physical limitations. I have been muddling along as best I can, playing almost exclusively on manuals--not how I like it to be, at all, and certainly not how I learned to play the organ fifty years ago. Unfortunately, there is at least one level of my lumbar spine (at L-4) where the nerve into my right leg is compressed by severe arthritis. Until I have major surgery to release the compressed nerve, I simply can't cope with the pain in my right leg and lower back long enough to return to pedal-playing. The medical testing to locate exactly where the anomalies are, has been ongoing since early this past spring; the neurosurgeon to whom I have entrusted my care is in no hurry to operate. This is a long-standing problem that affects not only my organ-playing, but also my ability to carry on the ordinary activities of daily life. (2) The second issue is that this coming Sunday is the last day the congregation of my church will worship in the sanctuary for several months. To save money on heating, for the past ten years we have vacated the sanctuary after the last Sunday in December and moved into a much smaller space in our Vestry, where we have worshiped through Epiphany and most of Lent. Return to the sanctuary is on Palm Sunday. For that period of time, music is provided on the piano (and sometimes via the pastor's MP3 player). Although I have a small portable heater that sits on the organ bench, the sanctuary is simply too cold to allow for realistic practice time. Having the heat in the sanctuary turned on up for practice time is an extravagance the church cannot afford. I effectively cease being an organist during this hiatus. My hope is that both issues might be resolved in the ensuing months, but that may be asking too much. I intend to keep up with my keyboard practice and to do as much with Total Organist as I can, short of actually having a pipe organ to play. As I am expected to provide the music for our winter worship services, the keyboard part can continue to improve. Just not with any registration. Or pedals. I hope this gives you at least a partial picture of the environment in which I work. It has been over thirty years since I have had any instruction, and it is time for me to get serious again--my love for the organ in our sanctuary is a powerful motivator. Thank you for all that you do to encourage those of us who try to be faithful organists while living and working in less-than-ideal circumstances. All the best for the New Year, Nancy V: That’s a long story, but quite a colorful description of Nancy’s situation, right, Ausra? A: Yes, it’s fascinating, and I can only guess how many organists would share the same experience, or similar experience, because if we are talking about a back problem, about a spine problem, I think it’s very common nowadays, not only for organists, but in general for people who are working with their computer every day. I think they have a lot of trouble with their spines. But that’s a serious thing! And all those surgeries, they are quite a risky thing for the back, because it might help, but it might also hurt. V: Do you think that swimming is an activity that might be beneficial in this situation? A: Well, in general, it is thought that swimming is easier and less dangerous for people who have joint problems and back problems. V: So you would say yes, probably? A: I would say yes, but I’m not a physician, so… V: So anything we say here has to be taken just as our understanding, not necessarily an advice, because we are not clinicians. We are not physicians. We are not medical doctors. And therefore, if we advise, for example, to go to the swimming pool from time to time, first of all, Nancy should discuss this with her doctor. A: Anyway, I think some kind of physical exercise is necessary for everybody, and you need to find something that works for you, of course, in consulting your physician. But anyway, if you have to do that back surgery, I would say do it now, and not later, because my mom was struggling with her spine all the time. She had various problems with it. And now, when she almost can’t walk because the damaged nerves will not allow her to use her right leg at all normally. It’s already too late to have a surgery, because her back is so problematic that no surgeon wants to operate on her and to take a risk. V: And this back, spine situation is because of her overworked joints. Not joints, but… A: Not joints… V: But joints too, probably. A: Well, that’s not her main problem. V: Are there any risks while doing operations like that? A: Of course! She might not be able to walk after surgery at all! V: I mean Nancy. A: Well, I’m talking about my mom! But yes, definitely, there is a risk, depending on which part of the spine is operated on. Because, if it’s near your neck, you might get paralyzed completely, full body. And the lower you go, the lower the paralysis might go. Like, let’s say lower than your neck, your spine parts will affect your arms, and then the lower you go, it will affect your legs. V: Yes, it’s a complicated issue, and all we can do is to say how, for example, Ausra’s mom is feeling. But it doesn’t mean that this applies to anybody, or everybody, it’s just her situation. And everybody should consult their own physician and neurosurgeon. A: But still, my mom does exercises every morning, so… V: What kind of exercises? A: Specific exercises that she was taught at the hospital. V: So it’s not like a regular yoga. A: Oh, no, she could not do yoga! V: But, some exercises might be similar to Pilates, right? A: Yes, definitely. V: But with variations, adjusted to her condition. A: Sure. V: So, Pilates might be another set of exercises… A: But anyway, we are talking about what we are talking about, but you need to consult your physician. V: Yes, of course. But we could direct…. A: Don’t pretend that you are a doctor, Vidas, you are a musical doctor, not a physician. V: I know! I know. But we are giving ideas about what to talk about with the doctor. A: That’s right. V: Swimming pool, and, for example, Pilates! A: Now, let’s go back to the organ, shall we? V: The organ! Which is a problem, because it’s cold in the winter, and the vestry is not heated for Nancy, so what would you do in this situation? Would you wear gloves and thick winter coats? A: Well, I don’t think it’s worth doing this, because I think the health is the most important issue for everybody. V: I see. A: And, you don’t need to sacrifice your body just to be able to practice the organ. I wouldn’t do it. Maybe 20 years ago, yes, but not now. And I would not suggest anybody to sacrifice themselves and just be able to play the pipe organ. What I would do is that I would check in the neighborhood to see if there is the possibility to get access to an organ which is in a heated room. V: In another church, maybe? A: Yes. V: With pedals! What about practicing on the keyboard that she’s already doing, but taking advantage of what a keyboard can offer? For example, she’s already our Total Organist student, and we have courses on music theory and harmony! Would that be a good activity during winter months? A: Of course, it will never hurt, knowing more music theory and harmony. V: And especially now, because she is kind of not limited to learning music for church. It’s like a short break from church for several months, and imagine in the warmer times, she would have to prepare hymns and church music for services every week, probably. And then, she wouldn’t have much time to do theory and harmony. But now, there is an isolated period of time where she has access to a keyboard, but not necessarily a deadline to work on hymns or music for church. I mean, that could be a great time to develop her theory and harmony skills. A: Yes, I think so, plus if you have access to the piano, it means you can keep in good shape with your manual technique, and this is also very important. V: Exactly. So, everybody who is with physical limitations or a situation where pedals are not available could find some creative ways to practice, and I think the most important thing is the will to improve. “Where there is a will, there is a way,” they say. A: That’s right. Sometimes even people with great disabilities do great things and create art. V: And maybe there is hope is that those problems and challenges might be temporary. Maybe she will transfer to the warmer environment later on. Maybe that operation will be successful on her back, and she won’t have those physical limitations. This is hope for the future, but in the meantime, she and others could do what they can, and consult their physicians, of course. Thank you guys, this was Vidas! A: And Ausra! V: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
Happy Groundhog Day! Are you eager for winter to end? We sure are...
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 392, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ariane, who is our Total Organist student. And, she writes: I’ve been sight-reading some hymns from Bach‘s Christmas Oratorium. Why are his hymns just so special? They always give me goosebumps. V: She means probably choral harmonizations. A: Yes. I guess that’s what she means. V: And not only from Christmas Oratorium, probably in general, Bach’s choral harmonizations, from the cantatas, are very special. A: True. If I would have to answer such a question, I would say that if you think about Bach’s harmonic language, it’s very sophisticated, because he uses a lot of extra notes. V: Non-choral notes. A: Non-chordal notes. Probably much more than other composers, his contemporary composers, his predecessors. So that’s what I think maybe makes his chorals so not forgettable. V: What do you mean by non-chordal notes? What kind of notes could it be? A: Well, all kinds. He uses all the possible… V: Mmm-hmm. A: Variations. V: Such as? A: Well, now you are making, giving me a hard time because it’s really hard for me to use these all harmonic notes in English. V: Passing tones. A: Passing tones, neighboring tones, escape tones… V: Uh-huh. A: That can be at a… V: Suspensions. A: Of course many suspensions. And not in one voice but sometimes in all the voices he uses suspensions at the same time. V: Uh-huh. Maybe one voice doesn’t have suspension, to have the beat on time, and them the other three could have suspension. A: Yes, and he uses also these chords that gives such a nice color to the harmony, such as Neapolitan six chords, and all that secondary dominant chords. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And double dominant chords. V: So this is advanced harmony. A: Sure. Sure. V: Third year of harmony—in your school. A: Well, I don’t think my students would be able to analyze rightly Bach chorales. V: Mmm-hmm. Probably college level harmony. A: Well, definitely not in Lithuanian Academy of Music, that is not as it is right now. V: Mmm-hmm. A: But yes, college level harmony. V: You know, Bach never wrote a harmony textbook. A: Well, that’s why he left so much wonderful music. Instead of writing books, he composed music. So we can take his musical examples as books and study them. V: It is true that he did write a short guide and rules for harmonizing and playing the thorough base, right? I think maybe ten or twelve precepts, like rules—what to avoid. But it’s very short, like in one leaflet. But in general, nothing very extensive, and only his student Johann Philip Kirnberger together with CPE Bach, I think. A: Carl Philipp Emanuel. V: Yeah, CPE Bach collected his choral harmonizations from most of his cantatas, and published after his death in a volume called 371 Chorales. And this is like a testament of Bach’s mastery, plus we have to remember that most of Bach’s cantatas are gone. A: Not most of them but quite a large portion of them, yes, is gone. V: Mmm-hmm. Yes, so anybody including Ariane who is interested in Bach’s special musical arsenal and harmonic language, would do very well if they would pick up this volume of Bach’s chorals harmonizations and play and study and rewrite and transpose and internalize like that. A: But in general I think that Bach genius exceeded his contemporaries and in general probably, other composers of all generations. I don’t think anybody could compete on the same level as he was. V: Mmm-hmm. A: It would be a real challenge. V: And I wonder if it’s worth it. A: I don’t think so. V: Mmm-hmm. Like one time I submitted my seven choral improvisations for publication with Wayne Leopold, and this was my really beginning of improvisation practice. I mostly memorized those chorals and they became sort of written out pieces which I actually wrote out afterwards and put them, put a few of them on Youtube too (here and here), so people can listen even today. But the point is that I submitted the manuscript of seven choral improvisations. Those are I think almost all of, in trio texture, and I was so proud that I could imitate Bach’s style. But what I did is like, is what came out was like, maybe more of like Kreb’s style not Bach’s style. A: That’s fun. V: And a few months later, Wayne Leopold, the famous editor, wrote back that nobody can compete with Herr Bach, that I better create something original than imitation. And since then I think my view about composition in general and improvisation in particular, changed. I admire people who can imitate other masters, but in a long run, in historical run, fifty years from now, I think, like hundred years from now, what is more important, to leave a legacy of original works, not imitations. A: True. V: It doesn’t mean that I’m right or I’m wrong, and it doesn’t that other people shouldn’t have their own opinions about such matters. This is only demonstrates what I’m thinking at the moment, and I of course reserve the right to change my mind. Lots of things to think about, right?, on this gloomy, snowy Monday in Lithuania. We hope that wherever you are is not as gloomy and not as much snow as we have. Thank you guys for listening, for practicing, recording our suggestions. Please keep sending us your wonderful questions. And remember, when you practice... A: Miracles happen! Would you like to master Two Part Invention No. 7 in E Minor, BWV 778 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 Annabel Brown for her meticulous transcription of fingering from the slow motion video. Basic level. PDF score. 1 page. 50% discount is valid until February 8. Check it out here This score is free for Total Organist students. |
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Our Hauptwerk Setup:
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