Become that person

By Vidas Pinkevicius

Remember the day when you first fell in love with the organ? Perhaps somebody showed you inside of the instrument? Perhaps you even heard an organ recital that day?

What happened after that? Did you start practicing the organ right away? Did you use the momentum you received from your inspiration, got your organ shoes, found some music scores and began your organ journey?

Or perhaps you waited many years for the right opportunity? Maybe your family and work obligations prevented you from taking up organ playing when the desire inside of you was burning. Maybe the first time you started pounding those keys and pedals was just very recently, when you retired?

I'll tell you another scenario: Some people start organ playing early in life, play for their teen years, maybe even go to college and get a degree in organ performance but end up doing something completely different to pay the bills. And they don't even have the time to make organ playing their hobby.

Is this you?

Whatever the case might be, the fact that you're reading these lines proves to me you're spending some time each week on the organ bench trying to improve your craft.

Here is the thing - I bet this idea crossed your mind more than once:

Is it enough to only practice playing the organ in your room without actually letting anyone to enjoy your music making?

No, it is not. You need to get out there and play for someone. The more people the better.

Play in a church service. Play in a recital.

If you've never played in public before, your life will never be the same after that. Trust me. You need to inspire people with your playing. You need people to come up to you after the recital and say you changed their lives for the better. Just like someone inspired you to begin practicing in the first place.

​Become for someone that person.