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If you have several organ pieces in your practice list or if you are preparing for a recital, you naturally have to face a question about what is the best way to practice them. In other words, if you have a due date, do you work on one piece at a time until you master it and only then take another composition? Or perhaps is it better to practice several pieces every day. Whatever the case might be, it is important you are ready for your performance of all the pieces on time. In this article, I will give you my take on this subject.
First of all, we have to understand what practice is. An old saying teaches that a practice is like a boiling water - without heat it cools down. In other words, you have to constantly add some effort which facilitates the progress in whatever it is you are trying to excel. In the case of organ practice, you have to practice regularly. Your organ piece will become much better over time if you practice regularly and wisely. Now let's return to the question if you have several pieces to prepare. Many people practice sporadically and without a system. In other words, they just play the pieces on their list from the beginning until the end. However, they are never sure if they will prepare them by the due date. This type of practice will not lead you very far in organ playing. Let's pretend you have 2 hours a day set aside for practicing. I recommend you approach practicing systematically and methodically in one of the following ways: 1. Treat all the pieces on your list as one long piece. In one practice session, learn several lines or a page for 2 hours in a slow tempo. Then the next day repeat the previously learned material and learn several new lines of music. It is best if you learn one short fragment (up to 1 line of music) at a time. This way you will eventually approach the last page of the last composition on your list while practicing for 2 hours daily. Remember to reinforce the pieces that you have mastered so far regularly. If learning new music would require you to repeat a certain passage up to 10 times, it is enough to repeat the previously mastered music 3 times. 2. Practice several pieces every day for 2 hours. With this approach, you will have to alternate the pieces on your list every other day. For example, take one half of your program and practice it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then take another half of your program and practice it on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Again, when learning new organ music, repeat each fragment 10 times slowly in separate parts, combinations of 2 voices, 3 voices, and finally all parts together. When you repeat the music that you already know, repeat all parts together 3 times in a slow tempo. Whether you choose the first or the second approach, for best results, make sure your fingering, pedaling, notes, rhythms, articulation, and ornamentation are correct in each repetition. Do not forget to take a break every 30 minutes or so, stretch and relax for 5-10 minutes. 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. If you want to learn to improvise on the organ, you inevitably have to face certain challenges. Without overcoming them, it will be very difficult to succeed. In this article, I will share with you what is the biggest challenge you should overcome as an improviser.
I believe the thing that many people struggle the most when it comes to improvisation is having to many wishes. Organ music is so wonderful and the repertoire is so vast, spanning almost seven centuries. Therefore, it is only natural that you like certain historical styles, composers, national schools of organ composition, or genres more than others. If you do, then you might wish to learn to improvise like many various composers have done so in the past. In other words, you might want to imitate many different musical styles or genres. While this is a very positive sign in itself, I believe that at the beginning of your process in becoming a good improviser, having too many wishes can actually slow down your progress. I will explain why it is so in a moment. Let's pretend you have a limited time during your day for improvisation practice. Let's say, you have 1 hour. You see, if you have only 60 minutes which you should spend on developing your improvisation skills, you should focus and practice in a way that allows you to progress the fastest. If you love the music of 10 different organ composers and would like to imitate their styles in your improvisations, you only have 6 minutes for each of the composer, style, or genre. What can you achieve as an improviser in 6 minutes? Can you learn many interesting tricks or techniques that way? As a matter of fact, in 6 minutes, you will not be able to master even 1 sequence or a cadence. By "master" I mean that you should be able to memorize it, and transpose it to 24 different keys at least 3 times in a row without mistakes. You will need much more time to do that. It will take at least 30 minutes or even longer, for most people. And remember, that you have 9 other techniques, or tricks to learn and master. There is no way, you can do it in 1 hour. So I hope you see the inherent problem here. In learning organ improvisation, you must learn to focus on the task at hand, finish it, and only then go on to the next task. If you like many different organ composers and genres, it is better to fully focus on only one or two techniques in one practice session. In order to have the fastest progress in improvisation, the next day when you sit down on the organ bench, I recommend, you repeat the previously mastered material very briefly and only then learn something new. Perhaps learning this way, you will learn to improvise only 1 piece or genre in a week or so but you will know that you gave your best focus. Even better, I suggest you choose one genre and work on it for a full month. We will call it "a genre of the month". Then the next month you go on to another technique or genre and practice it for a full month. Use these tips in your practice to have the fastest progress in organ improvisation. This way you will overcome the biggest challenge of having too many wishes when learning to improvise. By the way, do you want to learn to improvise in the style of Bach? If so, I suggest you check out my 9 day mini course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation. Or if 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 video Organ Practice Guide. Are you preparing for an audition for the position in your local church? Before you start the preparation process, it is important you know the requirements for such audition. Knowing what to expect during the interview and audition will save you a lot of time and energy. In this article, I will share with you some of the most usual requirements for a church organist position.
Although the requirements for church organist position may vary from church to church and from denomination to denomination, they may require you to play some or all of these things: 1. Sight-read a hymn from the hymnal. Usually the standard way of playing is enough here: soprano and alto in the right hand, tenor in the left hand and bass in the pedals. If you want, you can choose some more advanced dispositions for more variety as well. 2. Sight-read a passage of organ music. It could be written in 2 or 3 staves with or without manual changes. 3. Transpose a hymn from sight. This transposition usually is no more than major third apart. 4. Sometimes they can ask you to harmonize a hymn in four parts. Observe proper voice leading, avoid parallel fifths and octaves, and choose the chords according to the principles of functional harmony. 5. Sight-read an accompaniment part of the choral anthem on the piano or the organ. It will usually be notated on two staves. 6. Sight-read a psalm accompaniment. They provide you with the psalm book. 7. Play one or more solo organ pieces suitable for prelude, offertory, communion, postlude, weddings, and funerals. All of them can be prepared in advance. 8. In major organist positions, they may require you to improvise variations, a chorale prelude, a piece in ternary ABA form etc. During interview part sometimes they also ask you about your personal faith, your education, and professional experience so be prepared to answer these questions. Things to remember: 1. You will have to play a hymn as you would in the service with proper registration and with all the different verses. In some cases, you may be required to sing a hymn while playing as well. 2. They also may require you to submit a professional CV or a resume, one or two letters of recommendation, and your diploma. 3. It is better if you don't ask about the salary right away. Let them make a proposition for you. These are the general things that you might be required to perform. If you want to know the specific requirements for your situation, just ask your prospective church officials. Remember that the more fluent you are in each category, the more successful you will be. Treat this audition as a competition because there might be other applicants for the same position. You will have to outrank them in each category in order to be successful. 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. This is the third and last article in our Prelude Improvisation Formula series. I hope you have read the first two articles about 9 deadly mistakes new organ improvisers make and a proven and tested system for long term improvisation success. These two instructional articles really set the stage for what I consider the most important article in this series. So in this last article, I would like to give you some down-to earth strategic advice and 5 steps for creating a plan which will lead you to your success in organ improvisation regardless of what kind of musical style or genre you will be improvising. In order to get the most of this article, make sure you read the parts where I share with you some real-life examples of how this system works. It should be especially fascinating to read the original citations from historical authentic treatises about improvisation so make sure you read them all as well. Right now you are probably wondering what those 5 steps are, so I’m giving them to you now: Step 1 – Select the Best Model Piece for Easy Copying. This is the beginning of the system. It’s all about knowing which compositions will be the right for you to copy. Step 2 – Identify the Musical Elements from this Model Fast. Of course, I’m talking about taking notes of various figures, cadences, and sequences you found this piece. And I’m going to show you how to do it very quickly. Step 3 – Internalize the Elements from This Model. Once you know what elements will work for your improvisations, you have to make them your own and so automated that you could re-create them in the middle of the night. Step 4 – Put the Elements Together and Start Creating Your Own Music. This is actually the first step were you will be improvising and I’ll show you some strategies for doing that. Step 5 – Maximize Your Success. In this step, you will learn some advanced techniques which will be necessary for making your improvisations stronger, longer, and more creative. After I’ve showed you what those 5 steps for learning to improvise successfully are, we will discuss each of the steps in detail. And I hope you will be taking notes because this is really practical down-to-earth information. Step 1: Select the Best Model Piece for Easy Copying Let’s go into the first step right now. How do you go about selecting the best model for your improvisations? Well, I want you to think about these questions which will help you to find the right model to use for learning to improvise. Does a model have enough quality musical substance? This is a crucial point. If this composition doesn’t seem like a genuine work of art, it may not worth your attention. You see, life is short and you want to select models which are of the highest quality. The next question is this: can you play the model with precision and clarity? Your model can sound quite sophisticated and be worth of in depth study but if it put too many technical demands on your technique, it will be very difficult for you to improvise successfully a piece based on that model. In other words, if this piece has many jumps, double trills, advanced polyphonic texture, or pedal parts which you can’t really play right now without mistakes, the same mistakes are going to show up in your improvisations. That’s why it is better to choose a piece which is currently within your reach. In fact, it is even better if the piece is easier than you can play at the moment. Last but not least you should ask yourself if you are passionate about it? If you have a wonderful piece which is technically not too challenging but you are not exactly passionate about it, then you will have a hard time imitating it. You will have to choose wisely because remember, you are going to spend a great deal of time studying this piece, analyzing it and improvising your composition based on the material from it. Therefore, your model should be of interest to you. If you found the model piece which you like and it consists of quality musical material and the technical level is within your current abilities, you are ready to go to Step 2. Step 2 – Identify the Musical Elements from this Model Fast Here is how I do it very quickly. Once I have my model in place, I play it through once or twice and circle the places that I especially like with pencil. For example, if I see a nice sounding cadence which I think might serve for my improvisations, I mark this place in the score. The same is with sequences. Somehow descending sequences are more common in music, but ascending sequences create a nice tension and drive. If a piece is constructed using several figures (melodic, rhythmic, or harmonic) I also might make a note of them because they will be very useful in my improvisations later on. If I see an episode where the composer adds imitation between the voices (dialogues), I try to find out how these imitations work. Usually they are based on harmonic structures. What I mean here is that these passages in separate voices which are repeated exactly or in part in some other voice normally have a basis in chords that are used at that moment. Since imitations greatly enhance any polyphonic composition, I recommend taking notes of them as well. A special note on the form of the piece. A form is also one of the 7 important elements which constitute a composition. So when I look at the model, not only do I try to analyze the cadences, figures, or sequences but also I try to find out what is the form of the piece. In other words, here it’s necessary to see how the piece is put together. Repetition of the thematic material helps to identify the form. Even if you don’t know the proper term for such form simply mark letter A for the first theme or episode that is present in the score. Then if you see something new, mark letter B and so on. If the theme is repeated exactly, mark A again, if repetition is with some alteration put A1 etc. Once you go over your model and mark all the thematic material, you will have a very clear picture of how the piece is put together and you can use this plan for your own improvisation. When we talk about identifying various musical elements, compositions in a modern French style deserve a special attention. You see, typically pieces by modern French organ composers, such as Messiaen, Tournemire, Langlais, Dupre, Durufle, Alain and others have a very colorful harmonic language. We call it a modal style. Here the term „mode“ is used because we don‘t normally meet major and minor key systems in such works. Instead, what stands out is the mode – a term sort of similar to tonality or a key, but has a broader meaning as well. A mode can be described as a whole of musical sounds used in a composition or in some part of it. So in other words, if we want to know what notes constitute the mode of this episode, we have to count all the notes in such measure or two. The beautiful thing about the modes is that once you know what kind of modes does your modern piece have (Lydian, Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian-Myxolydian, or Octatonic, Whole-Tone or many others) you can master them and re-create them in your own improvisations. And that‘s how you will get a modern French style. By the way, you can listen to one of my compositions which is written in the style of Jean Langlais. It is a piece for communion from the Mass for the Second Sunday in Lent. So anyhow, once you have your model in place, look deep into the piece and take notes of various compositional elements that are used to create this piece. Once you do that, you are ready to go to Step 3. Step 3 – Internalize the Elements from This Model. It goes without saying that if you only mark the musical elements that you like in the score or if you just write out all of them on the separate sheet but without mastering them, you are not going to be able to use them in practice. In other words, it’s like reading a text in a foreign language. If you translate the unfamiliar words and write them down in your own notebook, you will also need to remember them. While in the process of learning the language memorization and repetition are the most important techniques which help to internalize the words and expressions in the foreign language, in a musical world, we also have memorization. In addition to memorization, transposition helps to achieve fluency in many different keys. In other words, it is not enough for you to be able to play a cadence or a sequence by hearth in the original key or in C major. In order to reap all the benefits that go with it, you will need to transpose it to many different keys. There are a couple of ways you can approach transposition exercises. First, you can transpose them using a system of circle of fifths. This means that you play the exercise in different keys which are arranged in ascending fifths. In order to return to the original key you have to have a closed circle, so at the point of 5, 6, or 7 sharps you must switch enharmonically to the flat key. For example, going from C major the next key would be G-D-A-E-B-F#=G flat-D flat-A flat-E flat-B flat-F-C. The second option in transposition would be to play the exercises in keys arranged in ascending order of accidentals. For example, after playing in the key with 0 accidentals, play in keys with 1 sharp and flat, 2 sharps and flats, 3 sharps and flats and so on. Continue transposing until you reach 7 sharps and flats. Using the first method the exercises start easy, then get more difficult and gradually return to the easy keys. The second method allows you to transpose by progressing in a step-by-step manner until you reach the most difficult keys. In you master exercises in any of these two ways from memory without mistakes at least 3 times, you will achieve a complete fluency in your chosen musical elements. Incidentally, the power of memorization and transposition was known even in the 16th century when the famous Spanish composer and theoretician Thomas de Santa Maria wrote in his treatise “The Art of Playing the Fantasia”: "The third thing is to note all the kinds of cadences used in the pieces, to understand them completely, and to hold them in memory in order to use similar ones in the [improvised] fantasy. … And observe also what melodic progressions are pleasing in each voice, and commit these thoroughly to memory in order to form various fugal subjects from them, for this is of great benefit toward achieving richness and abundance in the fantasy. …In order for beginners to progress in the fantasy, they must practice repeatedly with the subjects they know, so that through usage art is made a habit, and thereby they will easily play other subjects. It is also a very useful thing to transpose the same subject to all the pitch signs on which it can be formed, but with the warning that wherever it is transposed it must retain the same melodic line. So that all the foregoing may be fruitful and beneficial in the fantasy, one must practice it many times each day with great perseverance, never losing confidence but holding to the certainty that continual work and practice will prevail in all things and make the master, as experience shows us at every step. And therefore a wise man has said that the stone is not carved out by the water drop that falls one time or two, but continuously“. (Taken from Thomas de Sancta Maria, The Art of Playing the Fantasia, Book I , translated by Almonte C. Howell, Jr. and Warren E. Hultberg (Pittsburgh, PA : Latin American Literary Review Press, 1991), 155-56). Notice how Santa Maria stresses the importance of great perseverance and repetition in the process of gaining a true fluency. If we take the analogy of learning a new language, it is so true because the scientists have proved that you have to repeat one word or expression at least 80 times before it is recorded in our long-term memory. That’s exactly what happens if you memorize and transpose the musical elements in all of the keys at least 3 times in a row without mistakes. After you have achieved fluency in your musical elements by memorizing and transposing them in different keys, you are now ready to advance to Step 4. Step 4 – Put the Elements Together and Start Creating Your Own Music. In this step, this is where a true improvisation actually begins. Up until now you only had separate musical elements, mastered them to a complete fluency and now you can mix them in any order you want to create your own music. The way I usually do this step is this: Because I analyzed my model piece and know what kind of figures, cadences, and sequences can be useful in my improvisations, I can also copy the structure or form of this work. By form I mean not only the order the thematic material but also the tonal design. In other words, I can use in my improvised piece the same keys that the composer of my model uses. This way I can be sure that my tonalities are chosen in a logical order because it has been done before by a master composer. Now, perhaps you are thinking: “if I take the musical elements AND a form AND a tonal plan from the same piece, will my improvisation sound original?” That’s a very good question because you don’t want to replicate the compositional material your composer uses just to create a piece which is an exact replica of it. Instead, you want your improvisation to be BASED on this material, be similar to the original piece but also unique. To put it in another way, you want your improvisation to be a new piece and you want your listeners to think: “Oh, this must be some piece by Bach that I’m not familiar with yet” (if you are improvising in the Bach style, of course). In order for your improvisation to really sound unique and original, the best way is not to use the same elements with the same form and tonal plan. Instead, you can take the elements from one piece but the form and tonal plan would be from completely different piece. Or you can just invent your own form and tonal plan. Either way, your improvisation will sound very original but at the same time based on the specific style of this composer. Read how an English author Roger North from the 17th century describes this process of putting all the elements together in improvising a voluntary which was an English form of a prelude (NOTE: the language is original, so don’t be surprised to see many old words here): „It is not to be expected that a master invents all he plays in that manner. No, he doth but play over those passages that are in his memory and habituall to him. But the choice, application, and connexion are his, and so is the measure, either grave, buisy, or precipitate; as also the severall keys to use as he pleaseth…Then for connection, these passages which a voluntiere serves himself of are (by transitions of his owne) so interwoven as to make one style, and appear as a new work of a good composer, of whom the best…useth the methods of a volunteire, and more or less borrows ayre from those who went before him, and such as he hath bin most conversant with. (This is exemplified in the game of chess, of which they say he that hath most gabetts hath the advantage, which gambetts are pre-contrived stratagems, which are put forward as occasion is given by the walk of the adversary. So he that hath most musicall passages drawne off from the musick of others and in most variety to be put together with extempory connection, is the best furnished for voluntary). But as I sayd, the connexion, handling, and setting forth is his owne; for no one man is an absolute inventor of the art, but comonly takes up and adds to the inventions of predecessors“. (Taken from Roger North, Roger North on Music: Being a Selection from his Essays Written During the Years c. 1695-1728, edited by John Wilson (London: Novello and Company Ltd, 1959), 141-142.) Notice how Roger North creates an interesting analogy between improvisation and the game of chess and stresses the importance of having many opening strategies in order to dominate the game. Likewise, an improviser must strive to be fluent in as many different pieces as possible for truly extemporaneous performance. By the way, in the video below you can see how I mixed the various elements in order to create a chorale prelude “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You” which is based on the famous “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” by J.S.Bach. I improvised this chorale during a live recital by using the form, texture, and the tonal design of the model piece with a different thematic material. So now after you have improvised your piece with different musical elements mixed together, you are ready to progress to Step 5. Step 5 – Maximize Your Success. In this step we aim for taking your improvisations to the next level where they no longer will sound like exercises but as true works of art. In other words, at this level you will strive for a mature style, techniques, and application. A famous 19th century composer Carl Czerny gives us a terrific plan of action for achieving a high level in improvisation when he writes on similarities between an orator and improviser: “Just as the orator must be completely accomplished as much with his tongue as with his speech in order never to be at a loss for a word or turn of expression, the performer’s fingers must likewise have the instrument completely in their power and be at the disposal of every difficulty and mechanical skill. Just as the orator must combine extensive reading of a general nature and fundamental knowledge in all branches of his field of scholarship, it is similarly the responsibility of the keyboardist, in addition to studying basic principles of harmony and becoming acquainted with many works of varying degrees of value by the masters of all periods, to have memorized a large assortment of interesting ideas from that literature and also to have at his command the current musical novelties, the favorite themes from operatic melodies, and so on.” (Taken from Karl Czerny, A Systematic Introduction to Improvisation on the Pianoforte, translated and edited by Alice L. Mitchell. New York: Longman Inc., 1983: 42). Notice, how Czerny sees a huge similarity between an improviser and an orator by suggesting that both of them should be fluent in as many different fields of study, genres, and styles. It is only in this manner that a freshness and spontaneity of execution and breadth of ideas can come into play. So I encourage you to go and find as many different works that you like as possible and repeat the previous 4 steps with them so you can become a true master at expressing you musical ideas on the organ. OK, let’s bring it all together. Here is your first challenge: 1. Go ahead and find a model for your improvisations. This is very simple and easy step. 2. Then master your first 10 musical elements. Once you’ve done that, you have a foundation and you can build from there. 3. You can mix those elements together in various ways and create your first improvisations. All right, I hope you got so much value from this article. Moreover, I hope you’re going to take this information and actually go and take action now. That’s what this is all about. You can read and learn as much as you want but if you won’t take action – you’re not going to succeed in organ improvisation. You must remember that information alone does not produce results – a practical application of this information does. Are you an action-taker? I certainly hope you are. Later in the week I will be opening the doors for the Prelude Improvisation Formula, a 16-week coaching program which teaches the art of improvising keyboard preludes in the Bach style, so if you like these series of articles and my free mini course in improvisation, then this is the program for you. Did you find value in this article? If so, leave a comment below. A few days ago I wrote an article about 9 deadly mistakes new organ improvisers make and how to avoid them which is the first instructional article from the 3-part series of articles of how to master prelude improvisation in the style of Bach. This is a must read if you are interested in developing your improvisational skills, so if you haven’t done so, go ahead and read it now. These 3 articles are part of the opening celebration for Prelude Improvisation Formula, a 16-week training program which teaches the art of improvising keyboard preludes in the Bach style. So in this article, I would like to tell you how I personally came up with proven and tested system for long term improvisation success and how I learned improvising preludes in the Bach style. Make sure you read this article all the way to the end not just because I’ll be sharing some awesome information with you here but also because at the end of it, just as a way of saying thanks to you for taking the time to read this article, I’ll give you a free gift which will help you solidify your goals in organ improvisation. But before I tell you about my system of improvisation and how it works, let me share with you some of my personal current interests in the field of improvisation. As I’m writing this, I’m very interested in exploring advanced ideas of French modern improvisation style. I’m studying the works of Messiaen, Tournemire, Langlais, Dupre, Durufle, Alain and some other composers so that I can better understand the techniques that they used in their works. While looking deep into these pieces, I also need to internalize these techniques so that they become my own. This way not only can I improvise pieces in the French style but also it helps me in the compositional process as I compose new organ music on paper. (By the way, you can watch some of my new compositions performed live by me during an organ recital on the largest pipe organ in Lithuania (Vilnius University St. John's church): But before I started learning improvisation, I was just a regular student organist at the Lithuanian Academy of Music in Vilnius. And one day back in the spring of 2000, I noticed a brochure about the upcoming International Organ Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden. I started communicating with the organizers of this Academy and felt a strong desire to go there. In that Academy I met a few brilliant improvisers, most notably William Porter, Edoardo Bellotti and Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, all of whom left a deep impact on me of what could be achieved in this field. As a result of this Academy, I went on to study with Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra at Eastern Michigan University for my second Master’s degree. I was so fortunate that she introduced me to the art of improvisation in the Bach style. She was so passionate about the art of improvisation in historical styles that her teachings were full of inspiration. My studies in this field continued also at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as part of my DMA program, with two legendary Bach experts – Quentin Faulkner and George Ritchie. All of the professors mentioned above contributed greatly to what I was able to achieve today. I was so fascinated with the works of Bach that I wondered if I could study his compositions and incorporate his techniques in my improvisations. When I looked at the works of Bach and decided that I want to assimilate his style so that I could create something of my own which would be similar to his compositions, at first it was very overwhelming. What I saw initially in Bach’s pieces was an incredible amount of creative variety in his compositions. In other words, because of his creative genius he had composed so much of musical material, I just saw it impossible to start learning from it. This was my initial struggle in learning to improvise – the incredible wealth of musical material and the necessity to limit it for the instructional purposes in creating a system. But I had to start somewhere. As I’m looking back now at all these years of trial and error, all these experiments that I had done with myself in search for a perfect system, I understand that it takes a very specific mindset to learning improvisation without which it would be very difficult to succeed. It takes a mentality of not giving up when you don’t feel the results. You just have to stick to your plan and not let yourself be distracted when a new technique, a new style, or a better system is on the horizon. We call it “a shiny object syndrome”. You have to persevere with your efforts if you want to achieve something. You have to try not to make any excuses and just do the steps which have to be done. But you know what is truly inspirational in all this quest? It’s knowing that so many people have achieved this fluency in improvisation. An that’s not a myth. It’s a reality. We have so many great examples of living organists who are experts improvisers and we had even more famous composers in the past (Handel, Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Franck, Dupre to name just a few) who were equally renowned for their improvisations. To know that somebody has taken the same steps as yourself in the past is truly an inspiration and motivation to never give up. So anyway, determined that there was a way to de-construct Bach's pieces so that I could re-discover his creative process, I started to look for some systematic collection that would suit my purpose. And that's when I came across this wonderful collection of keyboard pieces called Notebook for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (in German - Clavierbüchlein für W.F.Bach). This collection was put together by Johann Sebastian Bach with the intent to teach his 9-year old son not only the principles of keyboard playing but also the basics of composition and improvisation. In this collection, we can find not only preludes, but also early versions of many preludes from the Well-Tempered Clavier along with the 15 2-part inventions, 3-part sinfonias and some other pieces. However, Bach called the inventions as Praeambules and sinfonias as Fantasias. At any rate, when I looked at these pieces, especially the preludes, a number of things became apparent to me. 1. In any given piece there are only a few melodic, rhythmic or harmonic ideas (I call them figures) that dominate the piece. By the way, if you have completed the free 9 day Keyboard Prelude Improvisation Mini Course, you learned to improvise a prelude based on just one figure. 2. Additionally, there are several significant places in each composition where the musical idea comes to an end. We call them cadences. Some cadences are particularly fit for the beginning of the piece, some - for the middle of it, and some are best used to end the composition. 3. Finally, most of the time one of the main compositional procedures that Bach uses to connect different musical ideas is a sequence. Basically, this is an ascending or descending group of notes or chords moving in the predetermined manner that either stays in the same key or modulates to another key. When I came to understand this, I also needed a way to systematize all the musical material that I wanted to learn which would allow me to internalize those creative processes. In other words, those figures, cadences, and sequences had to become my own. Speaking in musical terms, there are 2 techniques which can help you to assimilate the musical material: memorization, and transposition. So I selected all of the preludes as models for my improvisations out of this Notebook for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and made notes of the various figures, sequences, and cadences from this collection. In order not to become confused with the great number of musical elements, I labeled them and numbered them in the specific order. Then I committed every figure, cadence, and sequence I could find in this collection to memory. It took many repetitions of each musical detail but it the first step. In addition, I transposed them to all of the 24 keys (from memory) which gradually helped me to master them completely. In other words, they had become my own. And then something wonderful happened. Because I internalized these musical elements, it is now possible for me to re-arrange them and use in completely different order. I can mix them together and can recollect any given one at any moment and improvise the preludes in any key which greatly enhances the music. These improvisations no longer sound like the exact Bach compositions but rather like pieces in the Bach style. Does is make sense? It's exactly in agreement with what many renowned authors and composers from the previous eras had wrote that although the elements are taken from the actual works, the ordering, arrangement, and application is the choice of the improviser. And that's when a true fantasia or prelude is born. When you have this moment of a true fluency of musical expression, it feels really great. It feels like you are on the right path toward your success in the art of improvisation. But the journey doesn’t end here. There is always so much new to learn and so much new to discover, and if you master one genre, you can always go search for another. If you learn how to improvise a prelude, you can start improvising chorale prelude. If you are thoroughly familiar with a style of one composer, you can always start imitating some other style. Actually, the more styles can you improvise in, the more unique your own improvisational and compositional style will become. If I hadn’t created a reliable system of learning improvisation, I certainly would not have achieved all these things in this art. I would have probably just stuck in trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I would have stuck in learning to improvise my third prelude, that’s for sure. But more than likely, I would have given up practicing improvisation altogether. And if there is just one tip, I could give to people who want to learn improvisation on the organ, I would say “get help”. Find an experienced teacher or a mentor you can trust and follow his or her advice. This will save you time, energy, and money because it will eliminate the trial and error in this process. That’s exactly what happened to me in the past. There were times when I was pursuing some technique or idea which led to nowhere and I was set back for several months or more. Occasionally I still do these mistakes nowadays but the results are inconsequential. Of course, there will be always some things that you have to experiment with and decide if they will suit you. Things, like whether you should use this sequence or that, whether you should choose this cadence or that, but at least the advice that your instructor will give you will cut out all the unimportant parts of your learning process and give you the things that work and that you need the most. And if you ever feel stuck, you can always ask your teacher to help you out. So you see how this process leads to a great fluency of expression of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic ideas. I hope this information was valuable to you and that this article helped to clarify the question of how this system works. As I promised in the beginning of this article, here is my gift to you which will help you solidify your goals in organ improvisation. I call it Improvisation Goal Setting Form and I suggest you download this form, save it on your computer, print it out, fill out the necessary fields and keep it in a place where you normally practice improvisation. By filling out the fields in this form, you will start thinking of what do you want to achieve as an improviser. This form will also give you a clear path, a vision and help you to stay on track with your goals for the beginning, intermediate, and advanced stages in improvisation. Here is the form which you can download now: 
In the third article, I’ll show you a practical step-by-step plan for getting started with your improvisations. Be on the look out for this article in a few days and the course opening for a limited time later this week.
Did you find value in this article? Share your thoughts in a comment section below. Today I‘m very excited to announce the first article from the 3-part series of articles of how to master prelude improvisation in the style of Bach.
These articles are part of the opening celebration for Prelude Improvisation Formula, a 16-week training program which teaches the art of improvising keyboard preludes in the Bach style. In these articles you are going to learn... 1. 9 deadly mistakes new organ improvisers make and how to avoid them 2. A proven and tested system for long term improvisation success 3. A practical step-by-step plan for getting started with your improvisations So today in the first article, let me explain to you what those deadly mistakes are so that you can avoid them and become successful as an improviser. You see, not every organist who sets out to learn improvisation masters this art and achieves a high level. Many fail to stick with it for a long time and quit before they even start to see the results of their practice. This can happen because they fall into one or more pitfalls that slow down their progress. Avoiding these mistakes can save you much precious time and energy. Here are the 9 common mistakes in organ improvisation: Mistake 1. Having too many wishes. Because so much of the organ music is so beautiful, sometimes people cannot decide which style is the most important to them to learn to imitate for the moment. They watch videos or listen to recordings, find a piece or a composer that they like and decide they want to create similar music. However, the next day they might find another piece and another composer and the same will happen. And so they have just too many styles and genres to improvise for one practice session. Only the very best organists with much experience can do that. So limit your wishes to just one style and one musical genre and let others wait for their turn in the future. Mistake 2. Not doing the steps which lead to success. Let's face it, many people avoid taking action to learn to improvise on the organ. Although this can be changed, they spent most of the time wishing they could be practicing and dreaming of how to become skilled in the art of improvisation instead of just sitting down on the organ bench and start practicing. If you are serious about improvisation, never let a day pass without some practicing. Even if the full practice time is unavailable to you, you can spend some 20 minutes just repeating what has been learned the day before. Remember, there is a saying, if you miss one day of practice, only you will notice it. If you miss two days, your teacher and your friends will notice it. If you spend three days without practice, everyone will notice it. Actually, there is another great saying that a practice is like a boiling water – without constant heat it returns to its primal state. Mistake 3. Lack of prioritizing. The reason many organists do not practice improvisation regularly is due to their poor ability to prioritize. If they have other responsibilities besides learning to improvise, they need to set firm priorities that are most important to accomplish each and every day. I suggest doing the tasks which are urgent first, then the important tasks, and only then the tasks that can wait. If you don't have or don't follow your priorities during the daily tasks and do only the things that you love first, then the urgent tasks still need to be done. Spending the day this way can mean that you will not have enough time to practice improvisation. Mistake 4. Letting your fingers play before your mind orders them to play. Some people sit on the organ bench and just go through the motions. They may try improvising something but in reality they don’t know which direction or course to take, they don’t know how they will finish the piece, they don’t know what keys they will modulate to and so forth. In improvisation, the mind must go ahead of the fingers. Not for a moment should the mind allow the fingers to lead the way. If this should happen, the impression will be that the performer is merely stumbling along without having anything to say. The mind has to become disciplined to be completely focused until the end of improvisation. This requires slow and patient practice. Only constant repetition of short fragments will yield mastery and fluency. Mistake 5. Not having attention to detail. A lot of people in improvisation as well as in organ playing have little interest in keeping the right posture, playing with the right fingering, pedaling, rhythms, articulation and other technical elements that constitute a good performance. Ask yourself the following questions regularly. Was the posture, hand and foot position correct? Did I play the notes in this episode correctly? Were the fingering and pedaling without mistakes? Did I play the rhythm correctly? Was the articulation precise? If the answer to any of these questions was "NO", then go back and do it correctly a few times. If you are aware of these goals constantly while practicing, your performance and improvisation level will improve dramatically over time. Mistake 6. Not having an experienced mentor. Having a mentor, a teacher or a coach is crucial to your advancement. Although there are manuals, textbooks, and tutorials from which you can learn many things about organ improvisation, having a person whom you can trust is even more important. There is one specific issue that I want to point out here: a good mentor will hold you accountable for your actions. He or she will not listen to any excuses. The mentor will push a little further each time you say "I can't". This is because the mentor truly wants to see you succeed, he or she was in your shoes before, mastered something, and can share this skill with others. Also whenever you get stuck in some situation and want some answers, you can just ask your mentor for help. Getting help is much more difficult if you are studying from the books only. Mistake 7. Not listening to the mentor you trust. What happens if you have a good mentor but you don't follow his or her advice? Of course, your progress in improvisation will be much slower. What happens if your mentor tells you to practice for an hour a day, and you only practice for 10 minutes twice a week? What if your mentor asks you to memorize and transpose the various compositional elements into various keys and you only can do them in the key of C major? I think you get the picture. Mentors are supposed to be strict. Only then the real progress can be seen. But remember, only you are responsible whether or not you accomplish the task that your mentor asked you to do. So trust your mentor, forget about the excuses, and take action doing the steps that need to be done. Mistake 8. Habit of not finishing tasks. Some people choose a model, practice improvising according to that model a few times but never really master it. Long before they internalized the compositional procedures of this model, they take another one. This approach will not get them very far. I say this way people can eventually quit practicing improvisation altogether. We have to finish what we start unless the model piece is really too difficult for us for the moment. If this is the case, ask your mentor for advice. Mistake 9. Not having a proven system that works. If you practice improvisation without a systematic approach, your practice tends to be accidental and confused in nature and won‘t lead you very far in improvisation. Having a system that already has worked for others, greatly facilitates the progress of an improviser because you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Instead you just follow practical daily steps somebody else has also taken successfully which eventually will lead to the mastery of this art. Realizing these common mistakes, that beginner improvisers often do and consciously avoiding them will help you to become a better improviser. Be serious about your progress and you will reap great results. I hope this information was valuable to you and in the next article I’ll show you my personal system that worked so well for me in mastering the art of prelude improvisation. Look out for the second article in a few days and the course opening for a limited time later this week. Did you find value in this article? Share your thoughts in a comment section below. Many of my organ students are struggling with regaining focus in their organ practice. They find themselves searching for shortcuts, doing meaningless tasks, or just playing the pieces without the necessary attention to detail.
They might also skip practice for a few days, which in turn slows down progress but creates an urgency to see the results faster. So they play the easy spots only without mastering the difficult place. In the end, results can be very disappointing and even dangerous in the long run. If you find yourself in a similar situation, you need to refocus your organ practice. 1. Identify your goal in organ practice. Let's say you want to learn to play some particular piece fluently and without mistakes. 2. Think about what's holding you back from achieving your goal. It might be that you are having difficulty finding practice time each day. Another common challenge is the difficult spots in your music. 3. Think about what results will you get from practicing the wrong way. Just think what would happen if you continue to practice the way you are used to. Perhaps skipping some days without practice or playing only the easy spots in your music. Would you think the results will be great or not? 4. Think about what's need to be changed in order for you to reach this goal. If your challenge is practicing every day, then obviously you have to find a way to practice every day, even as little as 20-30 minutes. Perhaps you should limit your distractions which are not essential? Think also how you can force yourself to play and master the difficult spots in your music? Yes, you just need to show some will power and play the challenging episodes first. 5. Think about how you will feel when you overcome this challenge. Will you be proud of yourself? Will you be able to play this piece for your friends or family? What would they say to you? I bet they also will be proud of your achievement. But most importantly, you will develop correct practice habits which will set you on the right course for the future. 6. Think about what it would mean for your to overcome your challenge. Are the benefits of the final result will be worth to you to push yourself one step further each time? 7. Take action - just practice the correct way. If you did all the previous steps in your mind, now it is time for action. Reading this article won't give you the results you want. Practicing the right way will. Use these steps to refocus your organ practice today. Show some persistence and perseverance and you will succeed. 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. Preparing for Organ Recitals: How To Be Ready For Your Concert Performance By A Certain Date?8/1/2012 Do you have a due date when you will play your organ recital? Are you feeling some stress and anxiety and you are not sure if you will learn the pieces in your program on time? The only way you will be able to master all of your compositions on time is if you have a very specific plan for practice.
Follow these steps in preparing for your organ recital: 1. Count the lines of all the music scores you want to master by your recital date. For example, if you have 10 pieces with 5 pages each, and each page has 5 lines, then the total amount of lines you have to master is 250. 2. Count the days you have from now until one month before your recital. Yes, you have to be ready one month before the recital, trust me on this. For example, if your recital is 4 months from now, you have approximately 90 days for learning the pieces. 3. Divide the number of lines by the number of days - this will give you the exact amount of lines you have to learn each day. For example, if you divide 250 by 90, you will get 2.7. Master 3 lines each day and you will be ready on time. 4. Do the steps which are necessary to master these lines every day (repeat each step 10 times). In order for you to learn each line, practice it in a slow tempo in solo voices, 2 voice combinations, 3 voice combinations, and finally all parts together. 5. Repeat the previously mastered material each day (repeat 3 times each line). Remember that every day you will have to not only learn 3 new lines but play 3 times the lines you have already learned. 6. When you finish learning the last line of some particular piece, next day start playing 2 lines without stopping (3 repetitions). That's the time you begin to make your fragments longer because on the day of your recital you will have to play all the pieces in your program without stopping. 7. Next day play each piece you have mastered so far by stopping every 4 lines (3 repetitions). 8. Next day repeat the previous step by stopping every 8 lines (3 repetitions). 9. Play your pieces by stopping every 16 lines (3 repetitions). 10. Finally, play the pieces you already mastered without stopping (3 repetitions). Note: steps 6-10 have to be done while learning new music every day. Make sure your fingering, pedaling, notes, rhythms, articulation and ornaments are correct in each step. Go now, take action and make your plan for preparing for organ recital. Then each day take the exact steps which are necessary to reach your goal. 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. 
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