Are you struggling in learning one of the best known organ works by Felix Mendelssohn, Sonata No. 6 in D Minor, Op. 65? In this article, I will give you 5 tips which will help you learn this composition.
1. Repeated notes. One of the most important elements in the performance of the Romantic organ music is the issue of the repeated notes. Whenever you see the repeated notes in this composition, you have to shorten them by the unit value. For example, if the most common rhythmic value (the unit value) in the last movement is an eight note, try to shorten the repeated notes exactly by an eighth note. If the eighth notes are repeated, it is best to shorten them by half and playing a sixteenth note with a sixteenth note rest. 2. Registration. Mendelssohn wrote in the preface of his 6 sonatas that for him fortissimo means a full organ, pianissimo - soft 8' stop alone, forte - great organ without some of the loudest stops, piano - several soft 8' stops combined and so forth. In the pedal you should always use 16' and 8' stops together unless indicated otherwise. 3. Tempo in the toccata (the last variation of movement I). Although many organists love to play this toccata very fast, I recommend avoiding extremes in tempo. This is because in such a tempo you will lose the important details in articulation, phrasing and so on. When you practice this toccata, take a slow and comfortable tempo which would allow you to avoid mistakes. If you make a mistake, go back a few measures and play that episode several times in a row correctly. 4. Practice in fragments, in separate parts and in combinations. For best results, I recommend you practice in shorter fragments of about 4 measures each. Then you will be able to correct your mistakes very quickly. As you start making progress in your playing, you can make the fragments longer. It is also a good idea not to play both hands and feet together right from the beginning. Instead, practice right hand alone, left hand alone, and pedals alone. Then take both hands together, right hand and pedals, and left hand and pedals. Only then master all parts together. 5. Practice on the piano. Since the basis of the Romantic legato organ technique is based on the piano technique, you will improve your keyboard technique by practicing this composition on the piano extensively. If you want, you can play the pedals on the floor while sitting on the higher chair. However, be very careful not to play this piece on the piano using the piano touch with intense dynamics and lifting your fingers high up in the air. Instead, play everything mezzo piano with an even sound and try to keep your fingers in contact with the keys at all times. Playing this way will ensure you will get the most benefit out of the piano practice. Use these tips as you practice the Sonata No. 6 in D Minor, Op. 65 by Mendelssohn on the organ today. If you are precise and consistent in your practice, in time you will learn to play it well. By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my FREE Organ Practice Guide. Or if you really want to learn to play any organ composition at sight fluently and without mistakes while working only 15 minutes a day, check out my systematic master course in Organ Sight-Reading.
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Many organists who come to the organ from having played piano for some years find it difficult to get rid of the piano touch. This is important because piano and organ actions are inherently different so they require different approaches on how to play each instrument. If you struggle with avoiding piano touch when playing the organ, I recommend you apply these 4 tips.
1. Keep the fingers in contact with the keys at all times. Try to force yourself to remember this tip constantly because it is very important not only for getting rid of piano touch but also for accuracy in playing. You see, when you play piano, you lift the fingers high to prepare for crisp motion downwards. On the organ you have to use completely different approach - you must not allow yourself to lift the fingers off the keyboard. 2. Play mezzo piano. How many times I see organists play the organ like they would play the piano. When they want to increase dynamics, they use more force. When they want the organ sound loud, they play it as piano with lots of force. This is an incorrect approach which not only makes your playing look like pianist's but also you will find it extremely difficult to coordinate the releases this way. So use only as much force as is needed to press the key and not more. Dynamics on the organ are made by changing stops and/or opening and closing the swell box and not through the touch. 3. Keep the upper body straight. When you play piano, it is quite common to move your upper body when you feel the rising tension in the music. On the organ it is quite the opposite. The calmer you sit on the bench, the better you will be in control of your hand and feet movements. You have to feel like conductor who is only giving directions to his/her orchestra. You see, the best conductors make their body movements very minimal because it is not them but the members of the orchestra who have to do the job of playing. The same is with organ playing - you have to let your fingers and feet do the job. You just give them directions what to do. Therefore, there is no need to move your upper body like you would in playing the piano. 4. Coordinate the releases. One of the major differences between piano and organ playing is that pianists usually only pay attention to how the key is depressed but not how it is released. This is because piano sound fades very quickly and organ sound can last indefinitely. So people who come to the organ with some piano experience also forget to focus on the releases. However, this is a vital point to remember. Since much of the organ music is polyphonic, you have to be precise at how you release the keys. When the note values indicate that the notes should be of the same length, release all of the keys exactly together. But when some notes should sound longer while others - shorter, be very precise in holding these notes. Use these tips in your organ practice today. If you are conscious about them every time you sit down to play, with time you will notice how your organ technique improves and your touch becomes organistic. By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my FREE Organ Practice Guide. Or if you really want to learn to play any organ composition at sight fluently and without mistakes while working only 15 minutes a day, check out my systematic master course in Organ Sight-Reading. Many organists need to regulate pedal couplers when they are practicing. Unregulated coupler will either not work at all or will cause ciphers which make your practice quite challenging. In this article, I will give my advice on how to regulate the pedal coupler on the mechanical action instrument.
1. Engage the coupler. Usually the couplers on the mechanical action organs are located next to the pedal board. Depress the coupler pedal and leave it in the fixed position. 2. Find the note that is sticking or isn't working properly. You either will hear the cipher right away or you will need to play every single pedal note one by one to check if it needs regulation. 3. Locate the tracker of the problematic note. In order to do this, you will need to open the panel above the pedal board. Check if you need a key to get inside of the organ. Once you have taken out the panel, try playing several times the desired note and locate the coupler mechanism of this particular pedal. 4. Take a screwdriver and try to regulate the tracker of the coupler. To make the mechanics of the coupler easier to understand, try playing the neighboring pedals and see how it works. Then adjust the tracker of the problematic coupler. On some instruments you will not need to use any screwdriver. Instead, they have special screws which can be adjusted by hand. 5. After the adjustment, try how it sounds and feels when you play it. You see, in the process of regulation, you might make it a bit too tense or too loose. It is best to check how it works when you play this pedal. If you need more adjustment, go back to step 4. Remember to use these steps next time you sit down to practice organ and discover that the pedal couplers need adjustment. Note that in order not to cause any damage to the instrument, you have to be very sure of what you are doing, otherwise consult your organ technician or organ builder who takes care of your organ. By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my FREE Organ Practice Guide. Or if you really want to learn to play any organ composition at sight fluently and without mistakes while working only 15 minutes a day, check out my systematic master course in Organ Sight-Reading. Are you struggling in achieving success as an organist? Or perhaps you are frustrated when trying to market yourself as an organist. In this article, I will explain how consistency in marketing will effect your results.
Think of marketing as growing a plant. You wouldn't water your tree just once and forget it, would you? Instead you would give your tree all your attention regularly and consistently. The same applies in marketing yourself as an organist. For example, if you want to do video marketing and post your organ videos on YouTube, try to be consistent in your efforts. You can start by making one new video each week. After some time, when you get better at producing videos, start posting more frequently. However, the most important thing to remember is that you need to consistently produce new content to spread awareness about you and your work. In my experience, producing one new video each week is not that difficult. You don't need to learn and record the most difficult and lengthy pieces every week. Instead, what you need is to post something every week. It can be a "how to" video in which you explain how to solve some problem in organ music. It could also be a short 2-5 minute piece which is easy to learn or even to sight-read. Take one marketing technique and fully master it. Instead of jumping around and trying new methods of marketing every week, focus on just one particular technique. It could be video marketing which I mentioned earlier, audio marketing when you put your recordings on iTunes. You could even write articles, like this one and post them on your blog or submit them to article directories, like EzineArticles. Whatever method you choose, stick with it until you start seeing some measurable results. I remember how difficult it was for me in the beginning to stick to one technique. You see, like most people, I made a common mistake - I expected fast results. So I produced a few videos and after seeing no satisfactory results, wrote a few blog posts and so on. However, I had to learn from experience that marketing takes time and long-term commitment. Consider the above insights when you spread the word about yourself and your work. If you are consistent in marketing efforts, you will have many more chances to be successful as organist than if you would try new marketing approaches every week. By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my FREE Organ Practice Guide. Or if you really want to learn to play any organ composition at sight fluently and without mistakes while working only 15 minutes a day, check out my systematic master course in Organ Sight-Reading. Isn't it frustrating when you sit down on the organ bench for practice just to find out that some of the notes are sounding all the time or ciphering? If the organ has mechanical action, this problem usually is quite easy to fix. In this article, I will show you how to fix sticky notes and ciphers on the mechanical organ.
1. Locate the tracker which is sticking. In order to do this you will have to get inside of the organ. Check if you need a key to get inside. If there is a second person nearby, ask him/her to press several times this key which is sounding so that you can locate the particular tracker. If you have to do this step by yourself, engage some quiet stop from this manual and try to locate this tracker on the rollerboard by pulling several trackers and checking until the sound co-insides with the sticking note. 2. If the key itself is lower or higher than others, check and adjust the mechanics on the other side of the keyboard. This means that the tracker does not need adjustment, and only one particular key needs some regulation. This usually happens during autumn and spring because of the humidity changes in the room. 3. If the key position is normal, but there is a constant sounding pipe, check and adjust the mechanics higher (possibly bellow the wind chest). In this case, the key itself is fine but the valves might be too tense. You just need to relax them a little. 4. Be careful to do only very minor adjustments as the screws are very sensitive. If you are not precise in your movements and make large-scale regulations, the results might be quite shocking. The key might be quite noticeable out of place so you have to regulate in fine movements only. Use these steps next time you discover ciphers on your organ. Usually locating the particular tracker of the sticking note takes longer than the entire process of adjustment. Remember, that in order not to cause any damage to the instrument, you have to be very sure of what you are doing, otherwise, consult your organ technician or organ builder who is taking care of your organ. By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my FREE Organ Practice Guide. Or if you really want to learn to play any organ composition at sight fluently and without mistakes while working only 15 minutes a day, check out my systematic master course in Organ Sight-Reading. Do you want to achieve success as an organist? Besides being a great performer you need as many people as possible to know about you in order to be successful. I have some tips for your marketing in this article.
The advantage of the age of the Internet is that information can spread very quickly online. You can take advantage of online marketing for yourself. Earlier, perhaps the only way you could advertize yourself as an organist was a banner advertisement in specialized journals and magazine. You could put your ad in a magazine, like "The American Organist" or "the Diapason" and run your ad campaign for a year to start seeing the results which get more concert engagements for your. Now this is no longer the only way to promote yourself. Much cheaper way to market yourself is online through content marketing. Content marketing is publishing of any informative content you want in forms of video, audio, and text or all of them together. For video marketing, posting your organ videos to YouTube is perhaps the most widely widespread. You can make one new video once a week for starters and put it on YouTube. For audio marketing, you can do the same with iTunes. As you become more experienced with video and/or audio marketing, try posting more often. By far the most significant way of marketing to me is article marketing. You can do it too, by writing an article on any topic you like about the organ music and publish it in the article directory, like EzineArticles. You can record your articles as videos and post them on YouTube as well. The more content you have out there, the better impact you will have. By the way, you can post your articles on your blog, as well. You can also supercharge your marketing by using social media channels to achieve a wider web present. For example, post you videos and articles to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. However, be careful of not to spam. Only send links to your posts to people who are interested in you otherwise you'll get flagged for spamming. Engage in discussions about topics on organ music with other people. Use the above tips in marketing yourself as an organist today. They cost you little or nothing besides your time and energy. If you are consistent, in time your efforts will pay off and you will become a respected and successful expert. By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my FREE Organ Practice Guide. Or if you really want to learn to play any organ composition at sight fluently and without mistakes while working only 15 minutes a day, check out my systematic master course in Organ Sight-Reading. |
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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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