 Dear friends, Here's what we found worth sharing with you this week: 1. SOPP738: Did the Soviets allow sacred music? 2. Vidas and Ausra Go to Tartu, Estonia 🇪🇪 - Travel Vlog (2025) 3. Organ Recital "Baltic Reverie" | St. Paul's Church, Tartu, Estonia | 2025-07-24 4. Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene - Prayer to the Sun, Op. 26 | Bodø Cathedral, Norway 5. Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene - Meditation on Christe Sanctorum, Op. 33 6. Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene - Simple Recessional, Op. 37 | St. Paul and Peter's Churh in Vilnius 7. Learn with Vidas - Improvising Cantabile , Part 1 | 2025-07-27 8. Live Organ Music - On the Bench with Vidas No. 53 | 2025-07-26 9. Vidas Pinkevicius - Recessional in C Major, Op. 357 | VU St. John's Church 10. Vidas Pinkevicius - Moments of Grace (Organ Improvisation) | St. Paul's Church, Tartu, Estonia 11. Vidas Pinkevicius - Processional in C Major, Op. 356 | VU St. John's Church 12. Vidas Pinkevicius - Final Flourish, Op. 355 | VU St. John's Church 13. Vidas Pinkevicius - March of Blessing, Op. 354 | VU St. John's Church Thanks for reading! This newsletter is free but not cheap. If you like our work and want to support it, you can buy us coffee or forward it to someone who’d like it. If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. And remember, when you practice, miracles happen! Vidas and Ausra www.organduo.lt  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 786 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jeovane, and he asks: Did the Soviets allow sacred music? This question reminds me of Arvo Part’s Credo, banned for "political provocation". V: It’s a broad question, right Ausra? A: Yes, it’s very broad and… V: Where shall be start? A: Well, they’re already independent for a few decades now, so it’s not so pleasant to look back at the past. V: But there was this time, for example, where organists, we had to promise the authorities not to work at the church, not to play masses for example. They were raised to be concert organists only, not liturgical organists. A: Yes, but you know, we haven’t experienced the worst of the regime, because when we were teenagers, Lithuania regained independence thanks to Iceland, so… V: What do you mean? A: Because it was the first country to recognize our independence de facto. Not like United States or other big countries. So we will eternally be grateful to Iceland for that. But yes, it was a hard time for church music, of course. V: We were growing up in the time of, just before independence, right? We were, regained independence in 1990, so we were teenagers at the time. So what we remember from the late Soviet time was already the end of the regime, or drawing close to the end of the regime I think. A: Yes, because we were born, Brezhnev was the Secretary of the Soviet Union, first Secretary of the Soviet Union. It was a period of great stagnation, economy was dropping down, then shortly we had, what, Andropov and Chernenko, and later on Gorbachev came to power, and he started his glasnost and perestroika, and things started to change. But yeah. You know, it's a really hard topic. V: You know, the reason Soviets banned sacred music was that they wanted to have an atheist society obviously. A: Well because where would you have performed like sacred music? Most of the churches were closed. Like some insignificant small ones were open, like in villages, but other churches were closed. Like the church of St. John’s for example was the Museum of Science, then church of St. Casimir in Vilnius was Museum of Atheism. And the cathedral in Vilnius was the art gallery at that time. So, but it had an organ, concert organ, and it had organ concerts. V: Yes, and going to those concerts weekly, I think signified to people, like a resistance to the regime. They sometimes probably were even imagining that they were going to the church, not the museum. A: Yes. But right now it’s really hard to talk about this, because all of this can come back, and even in a worse shape. So, if you guys are living far from East Europe, then it’s probably hard for you to understand what the Baltic countries are experiencing now. Looking and watching and observing what is happening in Ukraine on a daily basis. It’s really, let’s say now not the sacred music that concerns me the most, but how to stay safe. V: So, to stay safe, we need Ukraine to win this terrible war, basically. Good? A: Yes. There is that famous saying, do you remember that, about the muse? V: “Muses are silent when the guns are sounding.” A: Yeah. So, guns are not sounding yet in Lithuania, but who knows? V: On the other hand, muses need to be activated even during troubled times, because people need hope. A: Well, well, you know. V: Look about Ukraine. When the war, the full scale invasion in 2022 happened, there was a big big interest for Ukrainian music in the world, right? And Ukrainian musicians tried to spread the word about Ukrainian music in the world, not only as cultural communication with the outside world, but also as a political statement, too. So this is important to keep that in mind, that in times of crisis, artists are, artists have responsibility to speak up. A: Yes, if you would be taken to an army to fight, I would see what kind of art would you create. And some resisted that, doing that. And fighting, especially for the beliefs that you did not believe. For example, Hugo Distler. He resisted to go to the Nazi’s army and committed suicide. So… V: Yeah. And of course, Arvo Pӓrt immigrated to Germany. A: Sure, he escaped from the Soviet Union, so he was able to freely compose music that he wanted to compose. Sacred music. V: Composers who stayed had to conform to the rules of the regime, not creating anything sacred publicly… A: And not creating anything, you know… V: …criticizing the regime. A: Yeah. V: Sometimes patriotic music could be allowed, but only if they would depict fights with the Germans, right? Like opera "Pilėnai" by Vytautas Klova. A: Yes, yes, but when you are talking about fights with the Germans, probably people imagine the fights with Nazis, but it was time that was… V: 100 years before that. A: Yes. V: But for Soviets? A: We were fighting with Crusades. V: Crusaders, yeah. Teutonic knights. A Because although we were already baptized, the Crusades would still cover from Germanic countries and would fight us. V: Yes, and for Soviets, that was OK, because you see the connection between Crusaders and Germans and they would use that toward their propaganda. So. But yeah, lots of people had to conform. Some of them who didn’t conform had to emigrate. And some who didn’t conform and didn’t emigrate probably stopped creating. A: Well basically, most of our intelligence… V: Intellectuals. A: Intellectuals, yes, were sent to Siberia and those who had money, so that’s the Bourgeois, they emigrated. And most of what stayed were just like middle and lower class people who had neither very good education nor lots of money. So mediocrity basically. Of course with some exceptions. V: And even with people who stayed, even though they, the most intelligent people were sent to Siberia, right, we still regained somehow independence and…we were never… A: Well, because you know the best, the worst part of the Soviet time was when Stalin was still alive. That time was really scary and really precious and… V: Brutal. A: Very brutal time really. But then Stalin died and Kruschev came to power it became a little bit lighter because amnesty was… V: …issued for political prisoners. A: Issued for, yes, and quite a few of them actually came back home, who were still alive, obviously. Because many of them died simply because of very hard life conditions. But yes, then it started to be somewhat lighter. But still not a good time for sacred music. V: So for our parents, they who were born after the World War II, post war times… A: Or during the war… V: ..they were the hardest probably. A: Yes. V: And for our grandparents, they were even able to live in the independent Lithuania time between the wars, between 1918 and between 1940 there was a period when Lithuania was again independent, and they still remembered that time. But then of course the war came, occupation, 50 years, and some of our grandparents didn’t even live long enough to see the independence again. A: Yes. Only one of my grandmas, out of four grandparents, saw the independence. V: My mom’s, my grandmother from my mom’s side didn’t live long enough. A: Yeah. V: So let’s just hope these times will never come again, come back again, and let’s appreciate what we have, freedoms what we have, that we can talk freely on camera for you guys. A: And compose whatever music we want. V: Yes. A: Yes, yes. For church, and to worship what we want. V: Because it was not always like this. A: Yes, and of course you could attend actually church, in Soviet time. But if you would do that, then you definitely would be either kicked out from school or university, or could never apply for a good job, and, well… V: Your career would be over. A: Yes, and you could also end up in a mental institution, because this was also one of the torture tools for the Soviets, actually to pick up the human being and for the resistance, to put him or her into the mental hospital, start pump her or him with the medicine, and basically to make him or her mad. V: Right. Okay guys. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow as an organist. 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 and get early access: A: Find out more at https://buymeacoffee.com/organduo  Let's start episode 737 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Kathrin and she writes: Do you also compose for others, after their wishes? Do you get such requests sometimes? For what instruments do you compose beside the organ or piano? Hope you will enjoy the conversation!  Dear friends, Today we're traveling to Estonia - July 24 we will be playing in Tartu Paulus Church organ festival. On the program - Baltic Reverie - music from around the Baltic Sea. If any of our organ friends are in the area - welcome! Here's what we found worth sharing with you this week: 1. Learn with Vidas - Figured Bass, Part 3 | 2025-07-20 2. Live Organ Music - On the Bench with Vidas No. 52 | 2025-07-18 3. Vidas Pinkevicius - 10 Accessible Processionals and Recessionals for Organ 4. Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene - Simple Processional, Op. 36 | St. Anne's Church 5. Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene - Salve Mater Misericordiae, Op. 19 | St. Anne's Church 6. Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene - Simple Recessional, Op. 37 | St. Paul and Peter's Church, Vilnius 7. SOPP737: Do you also compose for others, after their wishes? 8. Johann Sebastian Bach - Piece d'Orgue, BWV 572 | VU St. John's Church 9. Tim Knight - Pilning Pictures (Organ Solo Manuals Only) 10. Vidas Pinkevicius - 6 Sacred Preludes | VU St. John's Church 11. Vidas Pinkevicius - Rejoicing in Victory, Op. 353 | VU St. John's Church 12. Vidas Pinkevicius - Solemn Splendor, Op. 352 | VU St. John' Church 13. Vidas Pinkevicius - Triumphant Farewell, Op. 351 | VU St. John's Church 14. Vidas Pinkevicius - Jubilant Procession, Op. 350 | VU St. John's Church 15. Vidas Pinkevicius - March of Blessing, Op. 354 | VU St. John's Church Thanks for reading! This newsletter is free but not cheap. If you like our work and want to support it, you can buy us coffee or forward it to someone who’d like it. If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. And remember, when you practice, miracles happen! Vidas and Ausra www.organduo.lt   Dear friends, Next week we're coming to Estonia! July 24 we will be playing in Tartu Paulus Church organ festival. On the program - Baltic Reverie - music from around the Baltic Sea. Here's what we found worth sharing with you this week: 1. SOPP736: Advice about my situation as a passionate organist with health problems 2. Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene - Pavane and Galliard, Op. 38 | Folding Reed Organ Henrietta 3. Trying Out the Organ at St Anne's Church in Vilnius 4. Trying out the Organ at St. Peter and Paul's Church in Vilnius 5. Dieterich Buxtehude - Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist, BuxWV 209 | St. John's Centre in Gdansk 6. Live Organ Music - On the Bench with Vidas No. 51 | 2025-07-11 7. Learn with Vidas - Figured Bass, Part 2 | 2025-07-13 8. Vidas Pinkevicius - Ceremonial Blaze, Op. 349 | VU St. John's Church 9. Vidas Pinkevicius - Exultation March, Op. 348 | VU St. John's Church 10. Vidas Pinkevicius - Jubilate Deo, Op. 346 | VU St. John's Church 11. Vidas Pinkevicius - Glorious March, Op. 345 | VU St. John's Church 12. Vidas Pinkevicius - Meditation on Adoro te devote, Op. 221 | VU St. John's Church 13. Vidas Pinkevicius - Postlude on Lauda Sion Salvatorem, Op. 344 | VU St. John's Church Thanks for reading! This newsletter is free but not cheap. If you like our work and want to support it, you can buy us coffee or forward it to someone who’d like it. If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. And remember, when you practice, miracles happen! Vidas and Ausra www.organduo.lt  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 736 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Alesandro, and he writes: I am writing to you to ask for advice about my situation as a passionate organist with health problems. I suffer from diabetes, therefore I have problems with the pedalboard to find the notes due to the decrease of the sense of position, typical of the disease. I also have vision problems with difficulty reading the three staves at the same time. I had built in the past, a good repertoire, even done some recitals. Now I feel like I have lost everything. I was already a slow learner, now it takes me a long time to study a piece. In a month I would like to show a friend the first movement of the Eb major Trio Sonata, and the Dorian Toccata by Bach, but the effort and the mistakes are so many, and, if I think that I mastered these pieces, I get discouraged and go days without practicing. I would almost like to start studying (or revising) the organ from scratch because I really like it a lot. I wanted to ask you if you have any advice or any of your courses to propose to me, that would help me rebuild a repertoire gradually and with confidence. (Years ago I completed your course about first sight reading). Thank you for your attention. Greetings, Alessandro. V: So, Alessandro is in a difficult situation Ausra, right? A: Yes, because of his health problems. But you know, I know it that won’t make Alessandro’s life or anybody’s life much easier, but I can tell you that with years, we all experience more and more health issues and health problems, and we have to deal with them. Because if you really love the organ you need to find a way how to continue playing it. V: It doesn’t mean that you have to play the pieces that you originally set out to do, and it doesn’t mean you have to play in a strict time line, learn as fast as you were able to do in the past, but you could take step by step approach and take on easy pieces. Not necessarily Eb Major Trio Sonata. A: …or Dorian Toccata. These two are major Bach pieces, and they are really technically and mentally demanding. Well, what about that pedal sensitivity, because he loses it in his feet due to diabetes. What do you suggest that? V: Yeah, I think that most importantly is to decrease technical demands. Reduce technical demands from your repertoire and simply enjoy playing. If you enjoy playing Bach, which I think you do, you could simply play easier, shorter pieces, maybe chorale preludes by Bach, and not necessarily think about doing everything by a deadline, right Ausra? A: Yes, and especially if diabetes also affects his vision, then maybe really easier repertoire would help, and maybe try to do some improvisation. That way you could save your vision actually. V: Right, because there are and have been in the past for example, a number of blind organists, organists who primarily play improvised music, sometimes with big exceptions, notable exceptions, like Helmut Walcha, who recorded complete works of Bach. But he had a system of memorizing Bach’s music, and of course he had help in doing so. So in Alessandro’s situation, I would think easy improvisation would be nice to think what he likes, what he enjoys. Free improvisation or chorale-based improvisation. And go from there. A: True. Maybe if the problem is reading music from 3-staff notation, maybe do more pieces for manuals. That way you would avoid - it will be easier for your eyes and you won’t need the pedal. V: That’s right, that’s right. Maybe harpsichord pieces, right… A: Yes, yes… V: …on the organ. A: You could play some Pachelbel’s music, nice. V: Bach’s 2-part inventions A: Yes. V: Yes, as Ausra says, Pachelbel is a great choice. A: Play Franck’s L’Organiste - it’s all without pedals. V: Exactly. A: And some of the pieces sound very nice, and actually not easy at all. V: Yeah, just expand your musical horizons. Don’t limit yourself on the major Bach works. I think a lot of organists that we get messages from tend to stick to the standard repertoire and stop exploring limitless possibilities of unknown composers, r forgotten composers of the past. Of even contemporary composers, right? Seems to me that a lot of composers only can become playable if they’re dead. A: Yes, it’s so sad. V: And yes, improvisation would be a great help for you if your vision is deteriorating further because of diabetes for example. Then you have to think ahead, think about the future: how can you make music with decreasing vision, right? And obviously, improvisation here would play a major role. A: Yes, that could be a solution. V: The most important thing is not to feel discouraged, and not to feel like you have lost everything. There is always something more to lose, right? A: Definitely. And if you think that your situation is bad, then know that there are so many people who are in a worse situation than you are. V: Yes. A: Of course, there are people without any health issues, but that’s not often the case. V: And just find a way, as Ausra says. Find a way, adjust, and probably evolution is not survival of the fittest, not the strongest are surviving throughout the millions of years, but those who can adapt, like cockroaches, right? A: Yeah. V: They say… A: Nobody can kill them. V: Yes. They're definitely not the most terrifying predators of all time, but they can adapt, they can survive major catastrophes, and dinosaurs - biggest hunters of that time - couldn’t. A: Yes. So just be smart and don’t be too hard for yourself. Just love yourself and enjoy what you are doing. V: Yes, small insects have very small demands on food, right, on seeking food. And big predators like dinosaurs had huge demands on finding food, and therefore they couldn’t keep up, right? So the same is with music. When your health deteriorates, you can’t keep up with your previous expectations. So then reduce your expectations and maybe still make music and enjoy. A: Because definitely there is a lot of repertoire which is still very beautiful and really nice and easily managed. V: And your friend would absolutely enjoy easy pieces as much as he, as much as they would enjoy big Bach works, I think. A: Definitely. V: Because the most important thing is to keep trying, keep practicing, and not think about what you cannot do, but think about what you can do. Hopefully this was helpful to you and others. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: 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 and get early access: A: Find out more at https://buymeacoffee.com/organduo  Dear friends, Here's what we found worth sharing with you this week: 1. SOPP735: Ausra, is your technique for composing the same as Vidas? 2. Learn with Vidas - Figured Bass, Part 1 | 2025-07-06 3. Live Organ Music - On the Bench with Vidas No. 50 | 2025-07-05 4. Dieterich Buxtehude - Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist, BuxWV 208 | St. John's Centre, Gdansk, Poland 5. Georg Böhm - Vater unser | St. John's Centre in Gdansk, Poland 6. Marc-Antoine Charpentier - Prelude from Te Deum (Organ Processional) 7. The Wave of Ciurlionis Songs - Vilnius St. Catherine's Church | 2025-07-04 (Audio) 8. Vidas Pinkevicius - Postlude on "In dir ist Freude", Op. 203 | VU St. John's Church 9. Vidas Pinkevicius - Meditation on Amazing Grace, Op. 148 | VU St. John's Church 10. Lithuanian National Anthem - VU St. John's Church 11. Vidas Pinkevicius - Final Blaze, Op. 343 | VU St. John's Church 12. Vidas Pinkevicius - The Grand Procession, Op. 342 | VU St. John's Church 13. Vidas Pinkevicius - Song of Triumph, Op. 341 | VU St. John's Church Thanks for reading! This newsletter is free but not cheap. If you like our work and want to support it, you can buy us coffee or forward it to someone who’d like it. If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe here. And remember, when you practice, miracles happen! Vidas and Ausra www.organduo.lt  Let's start episode 735 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Dawn and she asks: Ausra, is your technique for composing the same as Vidas? Hope you will enjoy this conversation!  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 734 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Kathrin, and she writes: That's a really interesting topic. Can I add a few questions? - Level 1 - 2 - 3 method sounds plausible. But for me, when a piece really looks like level 1, after practicing for a while, it turns out, it's at least level 2. I never found level 1 pieces. What would you suggest? V: So that was the first question. And the second… - First I have to prepare my services. It costs me a lot of time to remember pre- and postludes. When I don't play a piece for a few weeks, I have forgotten it. So I don't have much time to learn new pieces. Do you have a method not to forget pieces anymore? V: These are related questions, but also a little separate, right, Ausra? A: Yes. V: Want to talk a little bit about Level 1-2-3? A: Yes, well you know, Kathrin says that when she starts to practice Level 1 piece, after a while it turns out it’s not Level 1 for her. So I think maybe she picks out pieces that are too difficult for her. V: Mm hm. Basically, we sometimes misjudge our sightreading skills, and we have to remember that in Kathrin’s case, she has to play it in public for church service, and it’s not the same as practicing a piece of music on your own, in your music room, in your practice room, when nobody else is hearing you, listening to you. You get a little more tension, more nerves, nervous, and usually it takes more time to practice than at home. Maybe twice as long, I would say. It’s the same as our students, with our Unda Maris students - be prepared before concerts one month ahead of time. And it’s still not enough time for them sometimes. A: Yeah, but you know for me, Level 1 piece is a piece of music that I can sit and sightread. And it doesn’t matter whether I would sightread it either at home or in public. That’s Level 1 piece for me. V: Mm, yeah. Could be. A: And you know, what I do with such pieces, of course I will never just record out of the first time, although I could do it, but it might sound not as well as I wish that it will sound. Because I need to play maybe 2 or 3 times, because I get more acquainted even with the simple stuff, and I could add more phrasing… V: More nuances. A: Yes, and it basically sounds more natural. Because if I would just sightread it once and record it or play it in public, it might sound like very metronomic and very boring and very unmusical. That’s why I need just to play it a few more times. So for Kathrin, I would also suggest that she would do Level 1 pieces, pieces that she can sightread easily. Maybe with one or two mistakes. V: For everyone their own, because what you could sightread might take others a week, or a month to learn. And vice versa - what you can learn in a month, for some genius organist can take a few minutes just so he can get familiar with. I believe there are people like that, who can sightread extraordinary difficult pieces. And there are legends about Bach himself, Johann Sebastian Bach, going to some musician friend’s house and sitting down at the harpsichord and trying out unfamiliar piece, and usually that was his habit actually, going to some friends first to try out his instruments and the pieces that are on the music rack. And usually he would do this without any problem. But just once I think he got stuck in one difficult spot, he started that page again, and got stuck in the same spot again, and maybe he did it even third time just to make sure he can go through it, but even then he couldn’t, and said - what did he say, do you remember? A: No, I don’t remember. V: It was something along the lines that, “Know you can’t master in everything” basically. You can’t really sightread everything. So that was in Bach’s time when the music was less varied, he was probably playing contemporary music in his friend’s house - music that was created in his time, or maybe a decade earlier - Baroque music generally. But today we have so much variety of music from various centuries, and it takes probably much more varied skill to play Level 1 pieces today. So yeah, expand your sightreading abilities, Kathrin, and think about this way - that if you do this regularly - you have to of course sightread music every week, every few days, every probably few practice sessions, make a habit out of this. The more the better. And after a few months, you will notice that you will get better with this, note reading and sightreading, score reading. And what will happen, that what is now Level 2 for you might become Level 1 in 3 months or 4 or 5 or 6 months, right Ausra? A: Yes, but let’s go back to the second part of the question where, what to do that you would not forget music that you have learned. I think that’s almost impossible, because it all depends on how well you have learned that piece. Because if you really have learned it well enough in and out, you know how the piece is put together and you always play the same fingering, and you perform the piece a few times in public, I would say it’s almost impossible to completely forget this piece. For some types of music, it might take longer time to recover the things, but for some pieces you can maybe play it once or two and go and play public. That this is so hard for you to remember what you have played before and performed already, played in public, it means you haven’t learned it well enough. Maybe you haven’t got your fingering down, you know, something really, really really did not work. Maybe you just thought that you know the piece well, but you haven’t really. V: It actually resonates with the first part of the question about Level 1 and Level 2 pieces, the second part, because what is plausible that Kathrin prepares hard for the music that she has to perform at the service next Sunday. She has a few days to do it, and if she takes Level 2 pieces, and Level 2 is one week difficult piece, the piece that you can prepare in a week or a few weeks, actually, not even one week. So if she barely can prepare it for that week, she will have difficulty on Sunday I think. It’s just too hard. A: Sure, and you know my suggestion would be when you learned piece and you played it in public, then you need to make sort of order in your mind and in your schedule, you need to think what you will do with that piece next. Are you willing to perform it in the future, will it be useful for you or not? If not, then just forget about that piece. But if you know that you will need to play it sometime in the future, then don’t let it just simply stay without playing. Play it maybe once a week or twice a week, but really find time to go over that piece, that it would still keep under your fingers. Then you don’t have to learn it again after maybe a few months or half a year or after one year. V: Yes, you’re right. I would say that you have to create a plan for your practice. If you’re playing week after week new music, it’s obviously not enough, one week, to prepare prelude and postlude for each service, a new one every week. So what happens, and that relates to my, for example, Fridays livestreams “On the Bench with Vidas,” when I have to prepare every week new music. Sometimes I sightread, sometimes I improvise, but sometimes, some music I prepare well in advance. And I know the pieces that I’m going to perform ahead of time, ahead of maybe a few weeks, even 4 weeks. So my suggestion is work on a few weeks' repertoire simultaneously. Let’s say week 1 you have two pieces, week 2 two pieces, week 3 two pieces, and week 4 two pieces. So at any given moment, you should be working let’s say on 8 pieces. It doesn’t mean you have to spend two hours on each piece, but just practice them couple of times a month before. Imagine that - that it will get better and better and better. The next, you have to just make a plan and write down the number of pieces that you want to play, title of pieces, composers, and put them in a separate folder and start rotating the ones that you have performed, take out of the folder, and put another pair of pieces into the folder and start playing it. A: And you know, the more repertoire you have, the more flexible you will become, because you can repeat pieces that you have played for a few months ago. And maybe you played the piece as a prelude, maybe the next time you will do it as postlude. Because you know prelude and postlude music can be overall very general, because you have solemn feasts for church, and you have just a simple time, yes, without any big occasions. So then for those not-such-a-solemn occasions, you can play just generic preludes and postludes. V: Mm hm. Correct. So, hope this was useful to Kathrin and others who are preparing music to play every week. And please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: 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. 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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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