Becoming a world-class organist

Can you become a world-class organist, if you lack enough sheet music, enough guidance, and organ practice videos, and you live in a country where Internet access has only 16.2% of the population but rising (2013 data)?

This question clearly comes from a person who basically faces one big challenge - he or she is starting an entire culture (internal or external) in a place where there is no support for it (yet). Being the first is scary and costly but being the last is scarier still and costs even more.

It's a scale issue - you can't become great doing great things without first becoming great at doing small things.

Therefore, when you face such challenge you've got to start small. If you do small and succeed, repeatedly, you get the privilege to do medium. Do enough medium successfully and you can't help but go big.

What's remarkable about the developing countries is that despite all the hardships they face, people there aren't afraid to dream big.

But for starters start small. How small? How about perfecting those 4 measures the way the world-class organist would do today? In 3/4 meter, 4 measures have 12 beats. Can you focus on those 12 beats only without worrying about long-term challenges?

That's the first step. Complete this step, and you'll get the privilege to take the next one and the one after that.

[HT to Robert]

Next: Slaying inner dragons

Sight-reading:
Kyrie IV (p. 6) from the Mass for the Parishes by François Couperin (1668-1733), one of the most influential French Classical composers and organists.

Hymn playing:
God the Father Be Our Stay