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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: Let’s start episode 589 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ruth.  And she writes,

Hi Vidas,

I am in the process of memorizing a piece, based upon what I am learning in this course! I am also trying to keep in touch with members of my church, because we did not meet last week.

V:  Ruth is our Total Organist student, and probably she is writing about the challenges that she’s facing during a quarantine.  First of all, let’s talk about the process of memorizing a piece.  What method do you use, Ausra?

A:  Well, you know, now I am at such a stage of my age and life that I don’t have to memorize music anymore.

V:  It comes naturally to you.

A:  Yes, it comes naturally to me, but I don’t have to perform from memory, which is a big relief, because to be honest, the memorization and playing from memory was always the weakest spot of my entire musical career.  And I still have these nightmares that I come to my piano exam, sit at my instrument, and I’m ready to play, and then I realize that I forgot everything.  Absolutely everything.  And I still have at times this nightmare.  And I realized that never in my life I have started to memorize a piece on time.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  And I was always memorizing things in a hurry, and I was never really well prepared for it.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  So I don’t know how I did all these big exams and all these big programs, how I put them in my head somehow.

V:  Have you used Dupre’s method?

A:  No, because nobody taught me any kind of methods.  When I was at school, I was just, said that I have to memorize, I would say, small episodes, like two measures at a time, and put them all together.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  And then I need to learn a few spots that I would be able to start and to play from them, if something would happen in the middle of my performance.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  So. And I was also advised, if I make a mistake, that I would not go back, but I would go forward.

V:  Oh, jump to the next…part.

A:  Yes, if you repeat from that previous spot, you might make a mistake in the same spot again.  That’s how it works, because those muscles have their own memory.

V:  Yeah, it’s funny, because when you make a mistake, if you try to repeat it, your fingers will play the same thing, unless you consciously know what you were doing wrong.

A:  Yes, and you know, while playing organ, I think that the memorization is basically, all the organists, I think we memorize the music naturally while working on it.  But during recitals, it’s probably not the best thing to play from memory, at least not if you don’t have the organ with the piston setting…

V:  Sequencer.

A:  Yes, sequencer.  Because in most cases in Europe, you have to have assistants to help you, to change your registrations during your performance.  And that we, let’s say at St. John’s church, when we played, for example, Symphonic Poem by Čiurlionis "In the Forrest", we had even two assistants from both sides of the organ.  That we, if we would have to play it from memory, we would have to give the music to our assistants, and we would have to have two music stands.  And it would be really uncomfortable and unnecessary.  So it’s better to have one score in front of organists, and that we two or four people in our case can use it at one time.

V:  Correct.  And of course newer organs, concert organs usually have combination actions and sequencers, even in Europe.

A:  Yes, but unless you have really good to great memory, phenomenal memory, if you are playing all your pieces from memory, I think it narrows down your repertoire list.

V:  Mm hm.  Because it requires you to spend considerable amount of time just to memorizing it.

A:  And then you are just thinking if it is worth or not.

V:  Yes, imagine we’re sitting this, in our living room during the quarantine, and every day we tried to record something and put it on YouTube, most of the days we upload and share with our listeners.  If we had to memorize each piece, I don’t know, maybe we could do only one video per week.

A:  Probably yes.

V:  Now we can do one every day most of the time.  Sometimes the piece is too difficult, though, but yeah.  When you have great sight reading skills, then it takes much less time to prepare, especially if you don’t memorize it.  So Ausra, you don’t advise for folks to memorize the piece, or you do?

A:  Well, I don’t know what is her goal in memorizing it.

V:  Maybe she is taking our Memorization course, that’s why she’s doing it.  I don’t know.

A:  I think it’s anyway, for each musician it is beneficial to memorize a piece once in awhile.  I think it’s good for your brain.  But I wouldn’t memorize every piece that I’m learning.

V:  You know, and memorization is, sometimes it’s a nice substitute to improvisation.  When I was not improvising, I was sometimes memorizing a piece, like a real composition.  And I would memorize it and then play it really fluently, and I would imagine that I am improvising this piece, even though it’s not mine.

A:  That’s funny.  Well, and you know, it’s very difficult you see, because some pieces of music is really easy to memorize, but some are really hard.  I remember when I memorized pieces, piano pieces, it was called Perpetuum Mobile.

V:  Mm hm.  By…

A:  By a French composer, what was his name?

V:  Perpetuum Mobile, you think it’s French?  I thought it was by Weber.

A:  No, no, no, no - it wasn’t Weber, it was French composer.  You know the guy that wrote that big piece for organ and orchestra.

V: (typing) Perpetuum Mobile…

A:  We are really getting old!  But it’s hard to remember all the repertoire that we have done in the past.

V:  Yeah.  It’s hard to find it.

A:  I think it’s Poulenc.

V:  Poulenc, yes!

A:  I think it’s Poulenc, yes.

V:  Let’s double check.  I’m Googling it now.  Poulenc… Yes - on the piano, right?

A:  Yes, yes.

V:  I don’t remember it.

A:  Yes.  I played it and I memorized it, and basically this was the easiest piece to memorize for me from the entire repertoire, because it was so well constructed and so easy form, and very easy structure, and it was really easy to memorize.

V:  You have a great memory, Ausra! I don’t remember anything about it.

A:  Well, but it was very hard for me to remember the name of the composer, but I did it finally. (laughs)

V:  Perpetuum Mobile, or Trois mouvement perpétuel, a 1918 piano composition by Francis Poulenc.  Ha - it’s from 1918 for piano.

A:  So this was the easiest piece for me to memorize out of my entire repertoire.

V:  Three movements, right?

A:  Yes.  But the hardest was actually when I tried to memorize the Messiaen.  And I did one of the pieces from his Cataloque of Birds.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  Alouette lulu I think it was.  Oh, that gave me a really hard time.  It was good hygiene for my brain.

V:  I wonder how to spell this bird, in French?  Or this is Latin, maybe?

A:  No, that’s French I think.

V:  French, right.  Let’s see...  (laughs)  I will double check it later.  So, why was it so hard for you to memorize Messiaen?

A:  Well, because he used the whole range of the keyboard, and there were big jumps and difficult rhythms.  And sort of, it was hard for me to grasp the form of this piece as well.  It’s not like classical piece, not like sonata, where you have this exposition, the themes and then the development of the themes, and then you get the recapitulation at the end.  And it’s really hard when it’s no common tonal structure, too.

V:  You have to get his compositional technique, really.

A:  And actually, I know his compositional techniques fairly well by now, but I don’t think it helps me to memorize his music.

V:  You know from the middle period, from 1930s, 40s, but not from 1950s and 60s.

A:  Yes, and this is really his late work, so.

V:  Mm hm.  Plus bird calls, they are very spontaneous.

A:  True, true.

V:  You don’t really, you can’t really systematize those into modes and Hindu ragas and talas, and those influences.  Or Gregorian chant modes, or Greek rhythms in bird songs.

A:  Well actually, when I was learning this piece from the Bird Catalogue, I had a parrot.  And she would just go crazy while hearing me play Messiaen.

V:  Uh huh.  Somehow she would recognize it.

A:  That’s right.

V:  She would, or he - it was a boy - he would think that you would be teasing him, right?

A:  I think so, yes.  Because he would really get frustrated.

V:  I once had an experiment, and I recorded his song and played him back.  And he went crazy.

A:  Poor bird!

V:  Poor bird!  Yeah, I wonder if he understood what’s happening.

A:  Probably not.

V:  He would love to sit and look at the mirror for hours.

A:  He would be like bipolar.

V:  Bipolar?

A:  Yes, bipolar.  Because one day he would look very gently at that mirror and try to touch it gently, but during the other day he would just go mad and would try to hit it, and….

V:  Yeah, yeah.  Wonderful parrot pet.  So guys, thanks for sending us your questions.  Please apply our tips in your practice.  They really help, they really work.  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 Patreon and get free CD’s.

A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying

​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: Let’s start episode 587 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Maureen.  And she’s our Total Organist student.  And she writes,

Hi Vidas,

The concern with the coronavirus is ratcheting up as you will know.  Scotland is beginning to grow concerned and lockdown is being implemented for next week. I thought it would be a great opportunity to play as often as possible during the time when this happens here in Scotland.

I would like to study the Bach Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 532 and BWV 552 (this is Prelude and Fugue in Eb Major). Is this fingered for purchase by any chance?  I would love to purchase it if it is. Thank you,

Appreciatively,  Maureen

V:  So Ausra, is it available?  Yes (laughs), I know the answer! Both of these scores are available.  And quite a few people like to play D Major Prelude and Fugue, obviously for a single reason probably, because of this amazing D Major scale in the pedal.

A:  Yes.

V:  Have you tried playing it, Ausra?

A:  Yes, I have played it during my master’s studies at EMU.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  In the United States, so, I don’t think this was the most successful of my Preludes and Fugues that I have played by J.S. Bach.  I would have sort of like spasm at the beginning of that opening scale.

V:  Yeah, that’s, this is tricky.  Do you remember the pedaling that you used?

A:  Well, yes, I sort of recall it.

V:  Mm hm.  Because when people ask about pedaling this particular passage, for me, of course I use only toes, but I use alternate toes.  Strong beat playing with the left foot, and weak beat playing with the right foot, and alternating.  But the beginning note is an upbeat, D, right?

A:  Mm hm.

V:  So I play it with the left foot as well.  Left, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, right.  And I finish with the right, because it’s the last one.

A:  For me, it was really hard to hit the D note with my left foot, because it was already quite high, so, and I have short legs, so…

V:  Mm hm.  I wonder if you would play, or try playing this piece on our MIDI keyboard - pedalboard, I mean - Viscount 30 note MIDI pedalboard.  Do you find it elegant and practical and easy to play?

A:  Well…

V:  Because I do!

A:  Well, it’s quite comfortable, but, well, it’s really not suited for old music, for baroque music, so…

V:  But to me, it is a little bit, I think, narrower than our house organ pedalboard, right? Or no?

A:  But I find our house organ keyboard/pedalboard more comfortable for me at least.

V:  But the thing...I mean, what’s different about it?

A:  Well, the touch is very different.

V:  Touch is of course different.

A:  And that’s, I think the most important thing.

V:  But reach, I mean, it’s smaller with MIDI pedalboard.

A:  Since I still have short legs, I, it’s not that narrower that I would benefit out of it.

V:  You don’t notice it that much?

A:  Well, not so much.

V:  But when you are playing, let’s say Buxtehude, is it comfortable enough for you, or should I buy another pedalboard, just for your legs?

A:  I wish that would be, you know, get that organ bench that we are waiting for, and I could practice my tracker organ.

V:  Let’s have two pedalboards - one for you, one for me!

A:  We have two.  We have two organs, two pedalboards.  But we have only one organ bench yet.

V:  Yes - Viscount organ bench hasn’t arrived yet, even though I have ordered it, what, two months ago?  Yeah.

A:  More than that.

V:  More than.  It’s stuck maybe somewhere in Poland.

A:  Why would Poles need your organ bench?

V:  (laughs)  I don’t know.  There was an incident of Polish, at the Polish border, they held masks…

A:  Masks.

V:  And gloves, probably, protective gloves.

A:  At the beginning of the quarantine, so.

V:  Yeah.  Maybe they fight Corona with our pedal, organ bench.

A:  Who knows?  New method.

V:  Yes, and of course Maureen is looking into BWV 552, this is E flat major Prelude and Fugue.  What would you have to say about that?

A:  Oh, You mean this Toccata?

V:  No, E flat major Prelude.

A:  Oh, E flat major.

V:  552.

A:  I thought about E major, you know, that you are working now.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  Well, this is really elegant piece of music.  It’s my favorite, probably.

V:   No surprise.  Can you tell us why?  Because of that E flat deep note in the second page?

A:  Not only because of that.  I find the form, musical form of the Prelude just fascinating.  And that triple fugue is also really wonderful.  You can see all the composition methods in one fugue, used by Bach.

V:  I agree.  This prelude has a perfect form: ritornello concerto form.  It has three themes, A, B, and C, and they alternate with each other in a very interesting way:  A,B,A,C,A,B,C,A.  Once I understood that, I started to think maybe I could write a piece of my own based on this form.  And I did - I just added introduction and the ending, like a coda, and had my own Opus 3 Veni Creator piece.

A:  Nice!

V:  Yes.  So good luck to Maureen, right?

A:  Yes.  These are two big pieces, but if quarantine will last for awhile, she will be able to learn them both very well.

V:  Yes.  And of course, since she’s practicing at home and probably cannot play for concerts, it’s nice to share your work virtually, on YouTube, let’s say, and this way, your work will spread.  Of course, Maureen could learn this piece and submit to our weekly Secrets of Organ Playing Contest, don’t you think, Ausra?

A:  Well, yes.  But maybe we have even more music to listen and to judge.

V:  Last week, we had, what?

A:  Ten.

V:  Ten - amazing record number.

A:  I know.

V:  One week, I think we will catch up to Pinky and Spiky Drawing Contest, and we will have more organ contestants.  Do you believe that?

A:  That’s possible.  I guess now people have more time to practice organ.

V:  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.

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 Patreon and get free CD’s.

A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying