By Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene (get free updates of new posts here)
Have you noticed that some organists make their staccato sound too short, almost comical? I'm not sure they're even aware of this but the pipes don't have enough time to speak, especially in the bass. I guess this habit comes from playing the piano for years: it sounds good to shorten the notes on the piano quite a bit and it doesn't seem to hurt. But on the organ, the rule is to shorten the staccato notes by exactly half value. So if you see a staccato sign on the eighth note, make it a sixteenth note and add a sixteenth note rest, but not more. This habit and keeping the fingers on the keys at all times will make your playing more organistic. Of course, this implies you are very conscious not only of the attack but also the precise releases, but that's part of the fun of playing the organ anyway. By Vidas Pinkevicius
What does the typical articulation of an average organist look like? Soprano is more pronounced, with more space between the notes while others - especially the middle parts sound more or less legato. More or less? Probably more. It's not that middle parts need more articulation. They need more attention without which they can all sound easily muddled like a painting standing in a dark room. If you can't articulate clearly and evenly all the voices, your listeners will have a hard time to appreciate the intricacies of the musical texture you're producing. If they can't understand the piece, chances of them getting the most of it are slim. But if you do the homework of showing the ornate palace of polyphony by making sure your articulation in the alto, tenor, and bass is on par with soprano, then some of your listeners might come to you after the performance and tell you how deeply moved they were with your playing. Big clarity, big impact. Articulate legato traditionally was called the Ordinary Touch in the Baroque period. Composers seldom wrote in articulation marks in the scores. Instead, everyone knew how to perform - all the notes should be slightly separated unless notated otherwise. The distance should not be wide, just enough to hear the articulation. Bach referred to such manner of playing as Cantabile style. It's like playing a violin - we don't hear the rests between the notes but the bow is moved up and down. Wind instruments also have this tonguing technique - a silent "tee" is made when the tongue strikes the reed or roof of the mouth causing a slight breach in the air flow through the instrument. That's why we use articulate legato when playing early music on the organ. Ausra's Harmony Exercise: Chromatic Sequence in F Major: I-V64-I6 When a pianist plays an organ, often the touch or articulation has one of two problems:
1. The rhythmic values arte too short (staccato). 2. The rhythmic values are too long (legato). Today I'll talk about the staccato touch. When you play staccato on the piano, sometimes the touch is very short - shorter than half the value of the note. Because the sound fades quickly on this instrument, such short touch sounds fine. But when you see the staccato on the organ score, it means that we cannot make the notes shorter than half of the value. In fact, to play the exact staccato in the organ piece composed after about 1800s, you need to shorten the note by the unit value (this is the shortest most commonly found rhythmic value of the piece). Often it means that you need to make the note shorter by a half exactly (e.g. instead of a quarter note, play an eighth note and an eighth note rest). Pianists who try to play organ often simply transfer their pianistic touch to the organ which makes the staccato sound too short, even comical because the pipes get not enough time to speak. I know it's difficult to remember this when you first start playing the organ - the old habits are slow to disappear. Here are 3 things that can really help control the staccato on the organ: 1. Listen not only to the beginnings of the sound but also to the endings (releases). 2. Do not lift the fingers and feet off the keyboard and pedalboard. 3. Use less force - play mezzo piano. Remember this regularly for a few months and you will begin to notice how you start turning from a pianist into an organist. When we play early music (composed approximately up until 1800s) on the organ or on any other keyboard instrument, the general articulation is articulate legato or the Ordinary Touch as it was called in some treatises back in the day. Some people take it to the extreme and begin to play more like non legato. The result is not quite what they would want but sometimes they don't know what the problem is.
It turns out that too detached articulation makes a negative impact on the flow of music. The piece begins to sound as if we play counting from beat to beat or worse, from note to note. There is one way to find an ideal articulate legato (even in the middle voices) which Dr. George Ritchie talks about in his Organ Technique method book - play a passage of music using one finger only (2 or 3) of either hand but as connected as possible. In other words, try to play legato with one finger. It's not glissando, though. Bach would call it the Cantabile (singing) style of playing. When you listen to this passage, repeat it using a normal fingering but keeping the same style of articulation. Another way to find an ideal articulation is this: when you play a passage, aim to connect it into a musical idea, not separate notes, but really a passage which lead somewhere. Most of the time, it leads to cadence. So you can find the closest cadence and as you play the passage, your mind should concentrate on that cadence and don't allow you to make any stops in the flow before it. The third way is this: think about the pulse and the beats in the measure. Make stronger beats longer and weaker beats - shorter. The side effect of this method would be gentle accents on most important beats and they actually will sound louder. If you apply the above 3 tips in your practice, not only your articulation will be much more Cantabile, but also there would be a flow of music in your performance. It wouldn't be boring to listen to. This kind of playing would fix the attention of your listeners to your performance (provided if you use the Ordinary Touch in all the voices). When you play a slow organ piece from the Baroque period and it sounds boring to the listener and lacks a sense of direction, sometimes it means that your tempo is too slow.
But what if your tempo is just right and the music still sounds boring? There are 2 things you can do here: 1. Shorten the weak beats of the measure. 2. Start counting the beats out loud. When you shorten the last beat of the measure, it naturally connects with the next measure and the music begins to flow (even in the slow tempo). When you count the beats out loud, you are aware of the meter and pulse - very important components of the piece which you should never forget. I know, it's exceedingly difficult to count out loud while performing but stick with it for a while and this trick will help the music come alive. For some people Articulate Legato touch (the articulation we generally use for music composed before the 1800s) is a little difficult to understand and even more difficult to apply (I fall into this category of people when I first started playing the organ).
In order to facilitate the appreciation and application of this concept, I recorded a short video with actual demonstration of this type of articulation on my organ. I hope you will find it useful. Organists who are conscious of historically informed performance practice know that the early music composed before about 1800 should generally be performed using the touch called articulate legato or Ordinary Touch as it was often called back in those days. Of course, some compositions have special legato signs and we must pay attention to them if they are original.
However, if you are following this articulate legato principle honestly in every voice (even in the middle parts), then there is an inherent danger to go with articulation too far. One of the possible pitfalls is to play everything too detached which can make you pieces sound too choppy or even comical. Another danger is playing with some good articulation but articulating too much at the end of musical figure (a triplet or a group of sixteenths etc). This kind of playing prevents your music from natural flow. It seems like you are hesitating because of lack of practice when, in fact you might know the piece fairly well to play it fluently. But this very pronounced articulation makes your musical line stop and the general feeling non musician listener would have is a sense of boredom. So what you can do about it? I believe this is not so difficult to fix because all you need to do it pretend you are playing legato but using one finger only. In fact, you can even check a specific spot in your music while playing with one finger but aim the musical line to sound as legato as possible. Then attempt to recreate the same articulation using your normal fingering. Bach would call it cantabile manner of playing. Cantabile means singing or singable style. Actually try to really sing along when you are practicing your piece. "Sing each line", my professor Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra used to say. Of course, don't play some of the notes legato and some with articulation. Be very systematic. Also don't make the last note of the group of notes too short because it will create a larger break which in turn prevent your playing to have a natural sense of flow and direction. 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 video Organ Practice Guide. Do you know what is the difference between a good performance and an exceptionally outstanding performance? Furthermore, do you know how to achieve the level of an exceptionally outstanding performance? In this article, I will give you 8 tips on how to strengthen the quality of your organ playing so you can advance to the next level.
1) Fingering. When you open your new organ score and want to start practicing a new composition, don't play it right away from the beginning until the end. I mean, you could play it through once just to get familiar with it but then the real practice begins. Write in your fingering in every difficult spot of the piece. How to find out if the passage is difficult and needs fingering? You could play it once and see if you made a mistake. If you did, stop playing, go back, figure out and write in the most efficient fingering for it. 2) Pedaling. I suggest you write in pedaling on every note in the pedal line. This is very important because unlike manual playing, pedal playing usually is a completely new skill that organists must learn. 3) Notes. When you have fingering and pedaling in place, you can now start practicing it. Observe that every single note is correct. Sometimes you can hit the wrong note accidentally but in most cases, it is better to go back and play this spot with correct notes at least 3 times in a row. 4) Rhythms. In every measure, make sure that your rhythmical values are also correct. This is usually not so difficult in places with straightforward rhythms. But when you see any complications, such as syncopations, dotted notes, duplets, triplets, irregular rhythms, meter changes and so on, you have to be very careful about playing with correct rhythms. It is best that you subdivide the beats of each measure and count out loud while playing. 5) Articulation. Do not play every note legato. For people who come to the organ from piano playing, this is especially difficult to understand at first. You see, you have to look at the historical period that this piece was created in. If you are playing a piece by a composer from Renaissance, Baroque or Classical period, play with gently detached articulation (articulate legato) unless it is indicated otherwise by the composer. If the piece is from the Romantic or modern period, usually composers indicate articulation very precisely. So pay close attention to each slur, dot or dash under or above the notes and try to execute them in the exact way. 6) Phrasing. If you want your organ performance to become natural, try to incorporate phrasing in your playing. This helps to achieve a feeling that you breathe together with music. In fact, you should breathe slowly, deeply and consciously while playing. Look for cadences in your music which reveal perfect places for phrasing. 7) Tempo. While performing, choose a concert tempo very carefully. Evaluate the mechanics and the size of the organ. In addition, assess the room in which you play and the reverberation of the space. While practicing, usually take a much slower tempo which will allow you to avoid mistakes in your playing. 8) Practice. When you practice your piece, be very systematic about how you learn new music. It is best to practice in short fragments of about 4 measures each and later combine them together. Also for polyphonic music try to master each voice separately, then combinations of 2 voices, 3 voices and only then - the entire 4 part texture. Strengthen the quality of your organ playing by concentrating on the above details and making the details concentrated. This approach will help you to achieve the level of exceptionally outstanding performance. 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. Organ Playing: 7 Tips for the Best Articulation in Prelude and Fugue in B Flat Major, BWV 5606/12/2012 One of the most important aspects of stylistically correct performance of Prelude and Fugue in B flat Major, BWV 560 is articulation. It is precisely articulation which makes the playing of this piece sound in style as it was intended in Bach's times. In order to achieve that you should use a special kind of touch plus many other nuances of the right articulation. In this article, I will give you 7 tips in playing this prelude and fugue with the correct articulation.
1) Articulate legato. Since it is a piece written in the Baroque period, the basic articulation is articulate legato. The original term for this type of articulation used in the 17th and 18th centuries was the Ordinary Touch. 2) Small spaces. This touch means that you should leave small spaces between each note unless indicated otherwise by the composer. Since there are no special articulation indications in the original score, the notes should be detached. 3) Cantabile manner. Try to achieve the singing or the cantabile manner of playing. This term was used by Bach himself. For the best results try to play some passages from this piece using one finger only but as connected as possible. Then try to re-create the same articulation using the normal fingering. 4) Not too detached. Do not make the music sound too choppy. The best articulation will be if the listeners can't perceive the articulation but all the notes are clearly audible. 5) Strong beats. Try to emphasize the strong beats in each measure. This is possible to achieve in one of the 3 ways: 1) by making the weak beats a little shorter, 2) by making the downbeats longer, and 3) by coming in later on some more important downbeats, such as in cadences. 6) Inner voices. Articulate the inner voices in the fugue. While it is relatively easy to achieve the desired articulation for the outer voices (soprano and bass), the middle voices (alto and tenor) require your special attention. Therefore, it is very useful to practice the inner voices alone and in combinations with other voices. 7) Acoustics. The correct articulation also depends on the acoustics of the space. For example, if you are practicing at home, the spaces between the notes should be much less audible than in a vast acoustics of the cathedral or a church. The articulation in the concert hall should be somewhere in between the other two extremes. As you can see, the organist has to be prepared to adjust the articulation to the acoustics. Use these tips in your practice of this piece today. If you are precise in executing every detail, you will be surprised how natural and stylistically correct your organ playing will become. By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my FREE Organ Practice Guide. Or if you really want to learn to play any organ composition at sight fluently and without mistakes while working only 15 minutes a day, check out my systematic master course in Organ Sight-Reading. |
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Our Hauptwerk Setup:
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