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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 652 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by James, and he writes that he is struggling with: “Sitting down and learning a new repertoire. With all the performances and recitals I’ve been doing, it’s hard to set aside time to learn new things.” Vidas: So, James is our friend on YouTube, and he plays very frequently, both recitals and new videos, records new videos. Do you know what I’m talking about, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, of course I know. He’s very prolific. Vidas: Yes, and we’ve been chatting with him, and he wrote this question especially when he was playing a lot of live recitals both in his church and on YouTube as collaborations and solos. At that time, he was struggling to learn something new, because all the pieces on his programs, or most of the pieces on his programs were repeat things. Right, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, I guess so. Vidas: So, do you think a lot of prolific concert organists struggle with this? Ausra: Probably yes, but I think you still have to find time to do it; maybe to perform publicly less and instead of that to learn something new. It depends what is more important for you, but you know, after a while if you will play only the old repertoire, probably you will not improve as much as you would if you would learn also a new repertoire. Vidas: For me it was the opposite, actually. I would learn a lot of new things, but struggled to put all of them in a recital. I remember at the moment when he wrote this question, I was thinking it’s quite the opposite for me, because I wasn’t playing many recitals at the moment, but recording a lot. Ausra: So basically, the truth lies somewhere in between these two extremes. Vidas: Well, probably you are right, and it’s interesting. What is your take on this? Do you struggle more with gathering programs for recitals or learning new things? Ausra: Basically I’m struggling most at finding time to sit at the organ bench and play something, especially now when the spring came. Vidas: What’s so special about the Spring? Ausra: Because I have extra work to do at school, as always, but I hope that when the June will start I will still have work, but I will have more time to practice and to learn something or to finish some pieces that I have started learning. Vidas: Such as? Ausra: Such as C Minor Bach’s Prelude and Fugue, which I have actually played more than twenty years ago, so it’s like a new piece for me. Vidas: BWV 546. Ausra: Yes. And then to learn six pieces of Jeanne Demessieux. Vidas: Oh, Six “Chorale Preludes” from the cycle of 12. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: And who will play the rest of this? Ausra: Of course, you will! But you know, I’ll give you advice, for you and for James, both of you! Because if you know you don’t have enough time for whatever reason like to learn new repertoire or to perform more, I would suggest you to chat less with each other! I think you would have plenty of time! Vidas: You’re referring to our friendly chats in the morning? Ausra: Yes, of course! Vidas: But you see why it is important? He is my colleague, you know? Not only friend but colleague in the way that we both are doing similar things, and… Ausra: Internet organists, you mean? Vidas: Yes, virtual organists. And we could add to the bunch crypto-organists as well, because he is also very active in the crypto currency world. So, if I’m just sitting down and playing alone and preparing for my repertoire and recitals, it’s kind of lonely. You know? There are not so many people to talk to, because regular organists are different from us. Ausra: Okay, Okay, you don’t have to defend yourself against me, I’m supporting you anyway. Actually I really like when you talk and chat with James. Vidas: Why? I know why! Because then I leave you alone, right? Ausra: No! It’s just good for me to know that you have a good friend. Vidas: Ah! Ausra: That way you talk less with me about crypto and all those other things. Vidas: That’s what I meant! Well... Ausra: I wish Australia were closer to Lithuania. Vidas: I wish they would open their borders, first! There is no possibility to ever go to Australia if they keep their borders closed. Ausra: Well, you know, with the pandemic developing like that, I don’t think it will be very soon when they will open their borders, what now is happening in India, for example. Vidas: I hope all our subscribers and listeners are keeping themselves and their families safe! Ausra: Yes, I hope so, too. Vidas: Staying indoors and practicing. That’s why having an instrument at home is so important right now. Ausra: Yes, this pandemic showed yes, it’s crucial. Vidas: Imagine we didn’t have Hauptwerk, for example. Yes, we have a pipe organ, little two manual, two rank practice organ at home, but of course if we wanted to record on this, and I was recording previously, of course, but then everything sounds so similar with those two flutes… Ausra: Yes, but at least you could simply practice, learn new repertoire to keep in good shape! Vidas: Yes. Ausra: I think it’s still much more than many people can afford to have at their homes. Vidas: Oh, that’s totally true, because all of our organist friends from Lithuania, or most of them, they need to go to church to practice, and churches were closed for a long time. I guess now you could go to a church, but you still have to travel to church, and that’s a risk, too. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: I know only a few organists from Lithuania who have organs at home. Very few! I think it’s more popular abroad. Ausra: Yes, for example in The United States. Vidas: So, going back to James’s question about learning new things, also my advice is to keep a good balance. Maybe schedule your recitals with programs that you’re currently learning. Right? For example, you could learn a new piece every day, or a part of a piece every day, and this piece could be recorded, let’s say, every day or whenever you feel comfortable, but then your repertoire grows and in a few weeks, you will be ready to play a small recital. Ausra: Well, you know, that recording every day I don’t think is such a great idea, because it doesn’t help you to learn major pieces, because what can you learn in one day. But I think that what I would suggest is that you always would be working on at least one major piece of organ composer. Vidas: In addition to… Ausra: Yes! And I think in the long run you will still learn it some day. Maybe not in a week or two or three, but maybe in a month or two. Vidas: Right. This week I was struggling actually with “Trio Sonata No. 1” by Bach, and of course this is a major piece, and I would never dream to learn all three movements in one day and record it, but it’s part of my upcoming recital program with you! Right? Where you will be playing C Minor by Bach and Demessieux, and I will be playing this “Trio Sonata” and the rest of the Demessieux Preludes. So, I was struggling because even the first movement is a long one, and quite complex, virtuosic, three part writing, polyphonic style. And even though I made a video of mastering this piece in eight steps, obviously I was not able to master this piece in one sitting. I needed, I think, three days to record it. The first day, I did a video, and the second day I attempted to record it, but was not entirely successful, and the third day I was finally successful with the first movement. So it took only three tries—three sessions—long sessions for me. So every three days I would record, probably, a “Trio Sonata” movement. That’s good, right? Ausra: Yes, very good. Too good, actually. Vidas: But that’s, I don’t know if that’s sustainable, but there are only eighteen movements total, six Sonatas. So… but it’s a good project, but very very strenuous, like a marathon. So you have to find something that works for yourself, obviously. Right Ausra? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: With your life obligations, life and work balance… and if organ playing is not your main job, it’s a hobby! Right? Or for example if you are a full time church organist but learning new repertoire is not really required! You know, you could get by with a simple Prelude or Postlude or improvisation even, with very little preparation, and a bunch of hymns which you could actually sight-read, so then if you do this for a long time, you will not learn anything new. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: So, keep in perspective your long-term goals then. Thank you guys, we hope this was useful. This was Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: Please send us your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: 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
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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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 653 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jeremy. He’s our member of Total Organist Community, and helps us with fingering and pedaling scores. And he writes, Today I did a variety of different things on the organ. The past couple of weeks I have been working through the New Oxford Organ Method just to see what it did (I really am enjoying it). It acts kind of like an organ teacher for those who have basic piano skills. It walks you through how to break the piece down into technical and musical bits. So I recorded the last piece in the "ordinary touch" section of the book today--Rising Passacaglia by Frederick Stocken, and practiced the next piece in the book (which is evading my memory at the moment). I began week three of the Pedal Virtuoso course and was inspired by Vidas to start the first Trio of J.S. Bach (learned four measures of the notes). Then I started working on Walther’s Komm Der Heilige Geist and made sure Buxtehude's Lobt Gott ihr Christen Allzugleich was still in my fingers. Practiced BWV 536 (which is Prelude and Fugue in A Major) for Sunday's service and worked on Hindemith second sonata, first movement. Here's the Stocken: https://youtu.be/eJYeQ-BJh_k V: It’s very nice that Jeremy was practicing from my Pedal Virtuoso Course. I wonder if he was inspired by my Trio Sonata recording? A: Yes, that’s what I thought as I read. V: Yeah, it’s good to know that other people watch these videos too. But today I want to talk about his work through the New Oxford Organ Method and specifically about the touch in the Rising Passacaglia, the ordinary touch. Should we remind, Ausra, to our listeners what the ordinary touch means? A: Yes, I think that would be very helpful. V: Go ahead. A: Why me? V: Because I’ve been talking too much. A: (laughs) But I got my second shot of AstraZeneca yesterday, so I need to be careful not to overstrain myself. V: Not to use your, not to move your left arm. A: Sure. Well but okay, the ordinary touch was known as Baroque articulation style. Basically, all the music written in the Baroque style had to be played with articulate legato, or every note has to be detached. V: Mm hm. A: Unless it’s indicated otherwise. V: Yeah, it’s sort of detached but not too much, not too choppy. A: Sure, and that’s usually a mistake made by many beginners, that when you tell them detach each note, they start sort of to play staccato almost. V: And I asked Jeremy in this conversation, “Does it say why Rising Passacaglia is listed in the ordinary touch section?” And he answered probably that the reasoning is that the ordinary touch helps provide clarity and can be used in music of later times, especially in music inspired by Baroque models. Would you agree, Ausra? A: Well yes, but not 100%. It depends on the complete piece, I would say. V: You mean specific piece? A: Yes, specific piece. V: Probably it’s interesting to look at what organists of other countries do with modern pieces. And sometimes they do play with ordinary touch. I’ve heard Sietze de Vries from the Netherlands improvise in modern styles, or even play a piece by Mendelssohn, right - this is legato sort of style - but he would articulate. And a few other of his Dutch colleagues would do that. And I was always wondering why. A: Yes, and I don’t think that’s approach that I really like. I’m not talking about contemporary music, about modern music. Usually with modern music, if not the guidance is included how to play it, I guess you could do whatever you want with it, because it’s so eclectic and... V: Don’t you mean composer? A: Yes, yes, yes. V: Composer can do whatever they want. A: Well no. I mean if composer haven’t included specific performance instruction for his or her piece, then I think you could do whatever you want with it. But if we are talking about Romantic period, like Mendelssohn, Liszt, Reger, and all these wonderful composers, I’m even not talking about French composers but in general about the Romantic period could find many many pieces that have titles like Passacaglia for example - I’m talking about Max Reger… V: Mm hm. A: It really doesn’t mean that you need to do it and to play it with ordinary touch. I think that’s a big mistake. V: If it’s very very chromatic you mean. A: Yes. V: If it’s very late Romantic style. A: Yes. But even in Mendelssohn and Liszt, I think you should play legato unless there are other performance suggestions. V: What if composer imitates old style? Then you could probably use ordinary touch, right? A: Are you talking about composers that lived in 19th century? V: No...well, in a sense sometimes yes. Grieg for example, would write neo-classical style too. A: But then he would indicate specific articulation marks. V: Would he? A: Yeah! V: And that will be probably arrangements for organ, not original. A: That’s right. V: Mm hm. A: But otherwise really I wouldn’t suggest to use the ordinary touch in Mendelssohn. Of course, like your god Sietze de Vries does that, but I mean it’s up to him. Of course I respect his opinion and his way of playing, but I wouldn’t do that myself. And if I were to teach organ, I wouldn’t suggest my students to do that. V: But it helps to understand his reasoning, you know? He is probably doing this out of some deeper understanding, not just incidental. A: But still, you know, we need to talk then on what type of instrument he had performed that piece. V: Exactly. I was going to… A: Well, and if we are talking about historical performance practice it’s better, it’s really better not like a general rule for 100%, but if you perform Romantic music on instruments built in Romantic period. I think you would agree on that. V: Of course. And these instruments differ from country to country. A: Sure. For example, recently I tried so many of them, all kinds of sample sets made by Piotr Grabowski. It mainly featured organs built in Poland. And many of them, most of them I would say were built in the Romantic period. V: Yes. A: Or Post-Romantic period, but still holds that great Romantic tradition. And basically, if I would start to articulate on instruments like that, it would really sound like a big mistake. V: And this is probably because those instruments, most of them, are not tracker action. Right? A: Yes, of course. V: And what happens in the Netherlands, look, even in the middle of the 19th century they still had those Baroque stop handles, and everything drawn by hand. So it was fully tracker, slider chest organs. And I would suspect that Sietze de Vries uses that touch for later music because he plays that type of instrument. And if he had an opportunity to play a different type of instrument, let’s say a pneumatic instrument, Sauer organ from late 19th century or beginning of 20th century, he would probably adjust his touch as well. A: I think so because he is a great musician, and he knows what to do and how to do. But I just think it would be bad if some inexperienced organist listened to his recordings and started to imitate his playing on different type of instrument. Then it wouldn’t sound really good. V: Yeah, there is so much to these things to consider. So much depth and it requires so much knowledge. And little bit of knowledge is actually dangerous, right? Because you only see the surface and not entire thing, entire context. A: That’s right. So I think the deep knowledge is always good. V: So. A: But of course, if you are, or if we are talking about early Romantics, then I think more articulation is appropriate. And in general, you need to look at the structure of the piece. You need to listen what works and what not. Because of course if you will play everything just complete legato, then of course it will be a real mess too. Even on great Romantic instruments. Because you still need to look at the phrases, at the structure of entire composition. V: And repeated notes? A: Of course. That gives so much pain while playing Franck, for example. V: Yeah, and playing Franck’s music is not the same as Mendelssohn’s music. A: Sure. V: That’s the big difference. All right guys, we hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. 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
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! Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas! Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: Let’s start episode 650 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jay, and he writes: “Vidas: I think I’ve seen that you use ForScore on an iPad for reading music. I was wondering what size iPad do you use? Have you had experience with more than the one size you use regularly? I’d really like to do that but I’m not sure which size would work best for me. I think the iPad 12.9” is likely optimal but so expensive. Perhaps the 11” model would be adequate, being a bit less expensive. Any thoughts you would care to share here or on your podcasts would be helpful. Thank you! Jay” Ausra: Well, since it is your expertise, you need to talk and to explain everything. Vidas: What will you do when I talk? Ausra: I will listen. Vidas: Okay, but don’t fall asleep just yet, because I might ask a question, too. Ausra: Okay, I’ll try. Vidas: Remember last Spring when our Hauptwerk gear was starting to arrive? Ausra: Of course I remember that. How could I forget? Vidas: I also bought an iPad which was recommended by my friend James Flores, and the reason I did that was because James, at the time, was using iPad as a touch screen with the Duet app connected to Hauptwerk so he could change the stops by tapping on the iPad screen. So, I liked that idea and decided to buy it at the same time as Hauptwerk. But then, I found out about the ForScore app, which is a really great application which allows you to read any type of pdf files and actually turn pages by the click of the button if you have a special device, a Bluetooth page turner for example. So I’ve been using this for some of my organ playing. You notice that, surely, right? Ausra: Yes, of course I have noticed. And I use a little bit of that myself, too! Vidas: What was your experience. Can you tell us? Ausra: Well, since our music rack is so far away, I found out that the music score is a little bit too far from me, because the iPad screen is not that wide and not that big. So, if there is a possibility, I prefer to play from the paper score. Vidas: The iPad is 10.2” screen, so it’s not the biggest one. I would say the bigger, the better, I think. The larger the screen, the better for your eyes. Ausra: Definitely. Vidas: And if Jay likes the idea of playing from a device like this, then it would be worth it to save a little bit more money for this, because your eyes will thank you for the bigger screen. Ausra: Yes. And our iPads I use sometimes, for example, if I’m playing a piece with a page turn, and I don’t want to do that page turn, you know, it’s uncomfortable, then I would do two pages from the paper score, and then the last page from the iPad. Vidas: Yeah, to avoid photocopying. Right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: If you the original score and a piece is not very long but still has a page turn, like three pages long. Ausra: Yes, that’s often the case, and it’s really annoying. Vidas: And usually, you can record... practice and record a piece like that in one sitting. Right? Three pages. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: It takes maybe, I don’t know, an hour, maybe sometimes less, depending on the texture, but it’s possible, so it’s kind of an optimal size. It’s liturgically very appropriate. Three pages. Right? Under three minutes. Ausra: Yes, it’s a very common length of compositions. Vidas: Right. But still, sometimes you have pages turns, so what we have, of course, is the original score and then a one-page photocopy…. A photo of one page on the iPad. It’s a little bit smaller than the original, obviously, but still, you get comfortable because you don’t need to turn the page. But I use the page turner app… not app, but page turner device… Bluetooth page turner… I turn with my feet. What do you think about that. Have you tried it? Ausra: Yes, I’ve tried it, but somehow for me it’s not that easy to do, because that device is… sometimes I simply kick it off from the pedal board. Vidas: At first I bought one type of device with smaller buttons, so then it was really difficult to press with my feet at the right spot where the button is. It didn’t really make sense, so I bought another one with large buttons, and then it’s very comfortable right now, except, as you say, this device needs to be positioned so that it wouldn’t interfere with your feet when you rest, or the swell pedal, or we have another pedal for the toe pistons. These are sometimes confusing to find with your toes while playing. Ausra: Plus sometimes when I try to press that button it doesn’t work so easily. Maybe I don’t press it hard enough, I don’t know. So it’s sort of a little bit risky for me. Vidas: Yes, for organists using iPad and ForScore app, it’s a good deal, except you need to think about how you will turn the pages. Right? If you invest in another device, like this, like we do, blue tooth page turner, smaller/larger doesn’t matter, but the idea is the same. You can turn it either with the right foot or left foot, depending on which one is free, or depending on where you put it on the pedal board, too. Ausra: Because, anyway, if you will get the iPad for the music score, you will have to do a lot of page turning, because there is only one single page per screen. Vidas: I’ve seen people using some kind of device in their mouth, and they could turn the pages by biting that device. Ausra: Jesus! Vidas: Yes, Aarnoud... Ausra: It’s really scary. Could you by chance swallow it and you know… Vidas: No, it looks like a rubber band. You put it in your teeth, and it’s Bluetooth generated, of course, bluetooth powered, and once you press it, it turns the page on your iPad. So your hands are free and your feet are free. You see? Ausra: Yeah. Maybe you should try it someday. Vidas: I don’t know how Aarnoud de Groen uses it, from the Netherlands, but I’ve seen him do that, and he actually uses two iPads! Left and right! One is bigger and the other is smaller for him. But ideally, you could have two iPads, and therefore both could be connected, and you don’t need to turn the pages as often as with just one. Ausra: But it’s very expensive. In general, the productions of Apple are so much more expensive than Android. Vidas: Correct. But their screens are well worth the investment, I think, because it’s really good for the eyes. I mean not good for the eyes, but at least not bad for the eyes. Ausra: Yes, I could confirm that, because now for one full year I’m grading my students’ papers actually looking at my iPad, because it has a touch screen, so I can correct their mistakes, for example, in the harmonic exercises or ear training exercises, so I don’t know how I would live without it. Vidas: So are you slowly turning into an Apple person? Ausra: Well, very slowly. Vidas: Very slowly. That’s because for school, you really can’t use Apple products completely. Ausra: Sure, because my teacher’s diary that I have to fill out every day to put in all the grades and put in all assignments, actually, and the subjects that they’re learning on, actually, cannot be filled out by Apple. And it frustrates me greatly. Vidas: It works only with Windows. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Maybe in the future they will create an app for Mac. Ausra: I guess not so many teachers in Lithuania can afford buying Apple computers, so they don’t bother to improve on that subject. Vidas: Right. So, we hope this was useful to Jay and other people who are thinking about playing from a tablet. Of course the ForScore app works with any, I think, any device. Not only iPad, but iPhone, I think, too, if you have iOS. And I have to double-check if it works with Android. If it does, then you could effectively use Android based tablets like Samsung or others. But I’m not sure. It might be just Apple. IOS app. At least for now. Alright, thank you guys for listening, for sending these questions. We hope this was useful to you, and please keep sending new questions for us; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: 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
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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 657 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by John, and he writes, Dear Vidas, wow this is so beautiful! I hear from respected organists that these trio sonatas are some of the most difficult music to play, and you executed it perfectly! Thank you for such an enjoyable experience, and also for setting such a great example for me, your student! Take care, John V: John from Australia is our Total Organist student, and he writes about my video of the third part from Trio Sonata no. 1 by Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 525. Have you heard me practice, Ausra? A: Sure, of course! Because you are practicing at our home, so I have no way to avoid hearing your practice. V: Sometimes, well just a second. Do you hear, Ausra, what’s happening? A: Yes, I hear. I hope people won’t think that I’m licking you. It’s our dog! Actually my brother’s dog. V: Yes, her name is Yoshke, and she’s sitting on our lap now. I wish we would record video because it’s so funny. She’s licking my finger now. She wants to be part of our team. (laughs) A: Yes. Maybe she should transcribe some podcasts, or do something other than... V: To help out Laurie and David. A: Yes. V: (laughs) Excellent. So can you wait, Yoshke, while we finish? A: No, she loves you too much. She cannot wait. V: All right guys. I wish you could see us. All right, keep her in place Ausra please and I will continue talking. A: Okay, I’ll try but I can’t promise. V: Okay. So John is basically commenting on my video of third part from Trio Sonata No. 1, and his comment is about how difficult these trio sonatas are, some of the most difficult music to play basically. Do you agree, Ausra? A: Yes, I agree. But since Wilhelm Friedemann played all six of these trio sonatas at a very young age, I think it’s manageable to do it. V: Recently I heard a famous YouTube organist, Balint Karosi, play all six of them in a practice session for I think three and a half hours on his pedal clavichord from home. So I was very intrigued how a person can play six of them in one session. And it sounded almost like a concert, except he would stop and comment himself what he did, what he didn’t do. He was obviously already at a high level when he was playing that. So then I got envious and started practicing trio sonatas on my own too. A: Out of thin air? V: Yeah. A: Good. V: I wanted to become Lithuanian Balint Karosi. A: Well, you might someday, although I doubt it. V: And trio sonatas always give me trouble. Whenever I would play them I would never be able to play them cleanly like in a recording. Except now, so maybe I’m improving. A: So you’re making progress. And you know, for me actually, I never found it hard to play trio sonatas. Because they have only three voices and usually whom I’m struggling is with thick texture. V: Mm hm. A: And when they have only three voices, I’m perfectly able to control them. V: Oh, we have Yoshke again. (laughs) She’s very sweet dog. A: She’s thinking that we’re talking with her now. V: Yes, because we are actually using our voices the same kind of tone we use to calm her, and we’re petting her, so yeah, that would be fun, to see you play trio sonatas, Ausra. Would you like one day to play...what’s your favorite Trio Sonata? A: I don’t know. I have played three out of them: the G major, C major, and E minor. And I think I did well on C major and G major, and E minor wasn’t so successful at that time. But if we are talking about trio textures, these six sonatas are not the only pieces by J.S. Bach that are written in trio style. There are many of chorale works that are written in the trio style as well. For example, Allein Gott in G major from the third part of Clavierübung, and also Allein Gott in A Major from miscellaneous chorale works. V: From Leipzig. A: Yes, from Leipzig, and from Leipzig there is another famous trio in G Major, I believe it’s... V: Which is, is it in three or four parts, with cantus firmus, ornamented cantus firmus in the tenor? A: Well, you know it has been awhile since I played it, but I did it on one of my doctoral recitals. V: Maybe four, four voice texture. A: I think so. V: But a lot of other baroque composers wrote a lot of trios, easier that Johann Sebastian Bach obviously. And the thing with J.S. Bach is because he writes like three different instruments basically: violin, flute, and cello. A: And actually, that’s what I’m always thinking when I’m playing trio sonatas by J.S. Bach. I think it’s good to imagine that you are playing three different instruments at the same time. It might help you with registration as well. Because you know, sometimes people omit 16 foot stop in the pedal, and I think it’s a mistake, because if you won’t add the 16 foot stop in the pedal, you won’t get that cello effect. V: If you omit it. A: Yes, if you omit it. V: So in reality, it’s like four instruments - cello and the violone, 16 foot range. A: Yes, because you know the lower range never projects as well as for example the treble range. So I think we need to reinforce a little bit the pedal part. V: With other composers, usually they make dialogues and duets between two other parts, and leave the bass sort of less intricate, less obbligato. And with Bach, all three parts can really be interchangeable, and imitate each other. So basically, soprano melody can become the bass. And therefore, that’s what makes it much more complex. Do you have advice Ausra, for people who want to learn trio sonatas? A: Well, I should advise for you to start with the number 1, because it’s the easiest one. V: But not start with the first movement - start with the second movement. It’s slow movement, therefore it’s easier. A: Well, but you won’t get the real feeling of the trio really well playing just the second movement, because it’s slow. V: This week I’m struggling with the second trio sonata. And actually I recorded the second movement first. Because it’s easier than the first or the third movement. So I think, I think I did well. But I would have spent a lot of time struggling with the first movement, let’s say. Now I can concentrate on the first movement without worrying about the second movement because it’s already done. Right, Yoshke? Right? A: Yes, she shakes her head for everything.... V: Everything… A: ...that we say. V: I wonder why. She wants maybe a cookie? A: Maybe. V: Cookie. Or some salami. (laughs) A: Yes, she is very spoiled dog. If she eats cheese, it’s only bleu cheese; if it’s the sausage, it should be the Spanish sausage. So… V: Wonderful. Would you agree, Ausra, with my recommendations? A: Sure. I would definitely agree. But yes, if you want to prove that you are capable of playing organ, I think playing trios is very important. V: (laughs). Now I wanted to take a photo of us. Of us three. A: And Yoshke left. She just escaped. V: Escaped, okay. A: She doesn’t like pictures to be taken. V: Okay. So guys, try out your hands and feet (squeaking sound) on trio sonatas. Now Yoshke wants to play with her toy. Rubber toy. Rubber ball, which makes squeaking sound. A: She is so funny. V: Okay. A: But definitely learning the trios is a very important part for professional organists, so if you want to become a professional you definitely have to play trios. V: But maybe not trio sonata at first. Maybe practice chorale preludes in trio texture, like Ausra said before. Those are easier. A: Do you think those are easier? I don’t think so. V: A little bit easier. Because one part might have a cantus firmus. A: Yes. True. V: And if you have a cantus firmus, then it is slower than the rest. And that makes it easier. If you feel that trio sonatas are too difficult for you, you can check out my left hand training or two part training. Because they are based on trio sonatas. So like a preparation exercises in all of the major and minor keys. They are wonderful way of grow yourself into the skill required to play trio sonatas. And of course, check out the Trio Sonata No. 1 practice score with fingering and pedaling if you want to play it too. All of this is available of course, without additional cost, for our Total Organist students. Agreed? Yoshke? Yes? A: She asked you to play with her, so… V: Okay, so we better play. Okay, thank you guys for listening. We hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. 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 join our community on BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at buymeacoffee.com/organduo
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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 648 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Joe, and he writes: “Vidas, Hope all is well with you. I am making much headway on Widor's Toccata, even though I have had limited time to practice. The score that I purchased from you certainly has helped expedite the learning process - MUCH THANKS! Since the score did not include registration suggestions, I was curious if you know of scores that do include registration. My organ has the following Stops:” Pedal Organ Diapason 16' Bourdon 16' Quintaten (Sw) 16' Octave 8' Gedackt 8' Choralbass 4' Mixture iii Posaune 16' Trompette (SW) 8' Swell Organ Quintaten 16' Gedackt 8' Violas II 8' Spitzprinzipal 4' Koppelflote 4' Nasat 2-2/3' Blockflote 2' Terz 1-3/5' Mixture III Basson 16' Trompette 8' Clairon 4' Great Organ Quintaten (Sw) 16' Principal 8' Rohrflote 8' Violas II (Sw) 8' Octave 4' Spitzflote 4' super Octave 2' Waldflote 2' Mixture IV Krummhorn 8' Vidas: He has three divisions: Pedal, Swell, and Great, and each has around 10 stops, maybe more. He writes further: “I also have a Floating Division that can be applied to Pedal, Swell, and Great. This includes over 100 stops but cannot be mixed (i.e. only one per Pedal, one for Swell, one for Great). Please let me know if you have any suggestions for registration based on my Stops List. If you believe something is missing that is critical, I may have it in my Floating Division. Your expertise would be greatly appreciated. Much Thanks, Joe Mark” Vidas: Here’s what I wrote to him: “Thanks Joe! Unfortunately all Widor marks on the score is FFF, FF, F etc. As I haven't made a video of this piece I can't really demonstrate it for you right now. Since you have only 2 manual instrument, try to experiment with adding or omitting the reeds on both divisions one by one. FFF would be Tutti. FF would be without Clairon, F - without Basson, MF - without Trompette, PP - without Krummhorn. Manuals coupled. Pedals need to be reduced accordingly too. Hope this helps for now (until I prepare a proper video course). Vidas” Vidas: Ausra, what do you think? Ausra: Yes, I think that’s an adequate proposition. Vidas: Basically, this organ, obviously, is much too small for Widor’s Toccata, right, for Widor’s Symphony. But, obviously, we have limited resources at home, and people still want to play most famous organ pieces ever written. Ausra: I think it’s, though, a good size instrument! Vidas: What we have here in the pedal is three 16’ stops, two 8’ stops, one 4’ stop, Mixture, Posaune, and Tropette taken from the swell division like an extension. On the Swell, we have one Quintaten 16’, then two stops from the 8’ level, two from the 4’ level, Quinte, then Blockflöte 2’, Terz, Mixture, Basson, Trompette, Clairon. That’s the Swell. And on the Great, we have one 16’ stop, Principle and Rhorflöte, that’s 8’ stops, and then Viola from the second manual—from the Swell, and then Octave and Spitzflöte 4’, super Octave and Waldflötte 2’, Mixture and Krummhorn. Yeah, every manual seems to have a decent Reed selection, except it’s a little bit strange. Why would you have Krummhorn on the Great without any stronger reeds. Ausra; Yes, that’s what I was wondering about, too, because it seems like the Swell division everything is fine with it and as well fine with the Pedal, but I guess if he has a floating division, maybe he could add a more powerful Reed to the Great. Vidas: Exactly. Probably not even a Reed. I would add a 16’ Principal to the Great. I would also add the Trompette 8’, Bombarde 16’, and Clairon 16’. That would work. Ausra: Yes, I think so, too. Vidas: Maybe even Chamade if there is one. Right? Ausra: Sure! Vidas: But generally, you still need to adjust the dynamic level by omitting some of the loudest Reed, and maybe Swell pedals if you have one. Ausra: Yes, I guess the Swell pedal might be a great help in playing French music in general. Vidas: Correct. Swell should be very dynamic and open very wide in Cavaile-Coll's organs. And so, if you can imitate that on your instrument, that’s very good. Wouldn’t it be nice, Ausra, to hear a recording or a video of this piece by Joe? Ausra: Yes, it would be very interesting. Vidas: So, if you master this piece, Joe, or even if you haven’t mastered it but are just practicing it, go ahead and upload your practice to YouTube and send us a link; we could share it with our subscribers, too. Ausra: Yes, it would be really interesting to know how the things are going. Vidas: And what kind of sound we are talking about. You know, maybe we are theoretically only imagining based on specification, but when you have a real instrument it might be a little bit different, or it might be a lot different sound. Ausra: Yes, because the voicing of the all the pipes might be various from one instrument to another one, and then if it’s an electric instrument, the… Vidas: ...touch? Ausra: Not touch, but I’m talking about sound; we don’t know how loud it might get or how soft it is. Vidas: Right, because you have the speakers. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Internal speakers or external speakers, and how many speakers you have, and how… it depends. Okay guys, we hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: 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 Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo
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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 655 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ausra, and she writes, "This week I’m struggling with sitting down on the organ bench. At first I didn’t have time and now I don’t have motivation to practice." V: What can I do? A: So since it’s my question, so now you will have to answer it, and I will just listen to your suggestions. V: Okay. I’m like a psychotherapist, and I first will ask you some questions, okay? How do you feel when you have the urge to practice, but you don’t? Do you miss it? A: Well, I have guilty conscious. V: Conscience? A: Conscience. V: So deep down, you would love to practice, but the pain of sitting down on the organ bench is bigger than the pain of actually not practicing, right? A: Yes. V: You have to flip this if you want to ever overcome your situation. The pain of not practicing has to be bigger than the pain of practicing. A: Well, but there are some problems that distract actually me from practicing. Changing to another Hauptwerk setup is one of the problems. Because I sort of started to miss our old Hauptwerk setup. V: Now you have to go to our friend Paulus’ home. He has our old organ setup. A: You know that that’s impossible, and to tell the truth, yes, it’s really hard. Because I never know what you will buy, and when you will buy, and when a new thing will arrive at our home, and what kind of mess I will find. For example, like last Monday I returned after a long and really hard day, because I was teaching half of a day online, and then I went to school to teach live, and stuck in a traffic jam, and I came back home and I found like a strange kid running all over our place, and you know, the organ builder working at something with you, and I just turned around and left. V: We should clarify this situation. That day, that evening that Ausra is talking about, our friend Carpenter brought us our new table for the Hauptwerk setup. Earlier we had a table bought from IKEA, very cheap, but it served us relatively well except it wasn’t stable. It only had two legs, so imagine playing, putting your keyboards on two-legs table. And it would shake with every minute of your pressing the keys. A: But the problem that is that now we have a new table, and we have an old table we don’t know what to do with it, so it just piles up with an other junk. Which is not a trouble for Vidas to live with, but it is really a trouble for me. And plus, we still have another table, new table, that our friend Paulus has to pick up from our home. So right now we have actually three tables. So come up guys, we might give one to you as well. V: (laughs) If you need tables, we have them. A: So all these things, actually you know they demotivate me from playing, and they distract me and they irritate me. Maybe I’m crazy, I don’t know. V: No, you’re not crazy, because it’s, those, these are triggers, you know? They trigger your reaction or kind of frustration. And this frustration can prevent you from doing the thing that you love. A: And that new, for example pedalboard, it irritates me because a couple times when I practice it, the B flat, that one in the middle which is very often used, started sort of shake, to shake. It was really frustrating. Because this was the first time that it happened to me to any pedalboard that I have tried, and I have tried many of them, and I know that I’m playing pedal quite gently and I’m never kicking them. And if this really happened, it means that something isn’t really right with it. And if other pedals will do the same in the future, then it will drive me, drives me crazy. V: You see, you never assembled a pedalboard and you don’t know how it works. Inside of that pedalboard, there are, what’s the term - screws, yes - so the week before that I was assembling that pedalboard, and that B flat that you’re talking about probably loosened up a little bit. So I just took a screwdriver and fastened it a little bit more. So I actually fasten all of them regularly now. Because it’s a new pedalboard, a new basically device, and some sticky keys or some loose keys might appear from time to time. It’s probably normal for a new device to behave like that. Do you remember how our new organ at St. John’s was at first? I was inside of the organ every week, regulating the mechanics. But now it’s not that way, because it’s dry and already regulated, and used to the environment, and well it’s adjusted. A: Well, but what then about the Viscount pedalboard with which we had not a single problem? V: I don’t know what to tell you. I liked it, too. So maybe this pedalboard will also be a good pedalboard. Actually, this is a really soft pedalboard. I like the touch. It’s like a carpet. When you press the key, you don’t even feel the bottom of the key. You have to be like stepping on carpet, so you play, you have to play very gently. But now our friend Paulus can play the Viscount pedalboard and enjoy it. A: I miss it very much. V: So we’ll go to Paulus from time to time. We’ll visit him. (laughs) No, but I actually think that the reason it frustrates you, those changes, arriving new tools, gadgets, tables, Hauptwerk setups, all this mess, the reason it distracts you from your playing is because, let me ask you this question - What was your goal in organ playing before this mess? Did you have a goal for a specific, you know maybe like short term goal, like three month goal. A: Yes, I would usually have some performance planned ahead so I would have to prepare for it. V: Yeah. So one or two or three recitals lined up, yes? So the same could be also in this situation, you could just set up a goal for yourself. And actually we do have a goal for Pentecost, to play a recital of works by Bach and (XXX Composer 9:24) A: I don’t think I will be able to get ready on time. V: No? A: Because I’m not practicing. So you might do that recital on your own. Well you know, I’m really busy at school. I have so much teaching, and exams are approaching so fast, and all that unclarity about how much longer will we teach online, or how often we will have to go to school, and how all the schedules will work. It’s completely messed up. V: I think what you’re experiencing with online teaching is really crazy, and… A: ...and even to tell for example for my 8th and 9th graders if we will have exams online, or at school - I don’t know. You know, students keep asking me every day about all these questions and I don’t know what to answer. V: I know. If I had to teach your load online and fill out all the paperwork grading additionally to teaching, you’re now spending probably twice as much time than before with your teaching online than at school. And it really affects your well-being probably, and your ability to do the things that you would love to do besides school, right? There is no energy left or as we joke, RAM, in computer like memory, internal memory. There is just so much things you can do with your energy, and when school takes up everything, there is nothing left to share with organ playing, let’s say, right? A: Yes. I guess you are right. V: So I don’t think my Hauptwerk setup, mess, tables, all those issues that you were facing with pedalboards is really a problem here, or defining problem. I think the problem is that you don’t have energy left from school. You work too much, you see? You are spent. And probably solution could either be to wait for better times, for vacation, summer vacation, right, when there is more free time… A: Which will be very short, as was the last year. V: One month? A: Because all the exams are postponed for the seniors. V: Right, yeah. Art requires sacrifice, and sometimes that sacrifice is just too much, right? A: True. V: Frankly speaking, I don’t know what I could do if I had to teach that much like you do. Maybe I have a better health condition though - more energy in general - and maybe I would still have enough energy to practice, you know, my own things. Maybe. I’m not sure, but I sort of fantasize here. A: You have never worked so much as I do. V: I would probably not work that much, either. If I had to complete those tasks as you do, I would probably leave them in less perfect shape, you know, those things, and still would take care of my own goals, my own goals would probably need to go first. Because the school would not take care of me. I still have to take care of myself. So maybe that’s my suggestion to you. Don’t do everything at the 100% level at school. And sometimes you take some breaks, like student work piles up and you don’t grade them right away. You sort of let it rest and take a walk in the woods to just relax. This is good I think, too. Correct? A: I don’t know. But still, that work doesn’t disappear, so I still have to come back and do it. V: Or you could give some of them, some of it to me. I could also share, help you grade it. A: No, I wouldn’t do that. Because you know, one time you actually really helped me to do my work, not at school of course, but when we were living with a host family in the United States. V: Yes. A: And Vidas wanted, because it was really tired, to clean the desk for our host, host lady. And actually he did it, but then she would scold me and show me that mess that actually was done. So I never asked Vidas to do anything instead of me. Because he simply can’t. So if you would grade my students’ work like this, it wouldn’t work. V: You think I wouldn’t grade them like you? Maybe it’s not the right comparison, because I understand how to grade dictations and even some harmony exercises. Not maybe at the highest level that you did with 12th graders, but I could do 10th graders, for example, easily. Not sure about 11th graders, though. (both laugh) A: You are funny. V: But you could teach me first, and then I could… A: No no… V: ...grade them. A: It’s too hard to teach. V: I’m a good student, you know. I would listen to you, I would respect you, and I would worship you. A: Yes, you are a very good student. Actually, a couple of times when I was teaching online, Vidas fall asleep during my lectures, and actually he even snored, and I would have to talk really loud to my students that we wouldn’t hear his snoring in the same room! V: I hope your students are not listening to our podcasts right now. A: And I don’t know if I was so boring? Once I was talking about the dominant ninth chord, and I think another time it was about the second scale degree ninth chord. V: No, it wasn’t...it wasn't anything to do with your teaching or the interesting things you taught or not, it was just because I lacked some sleep that night. I needed more sleep, so… A: And you found a perfect time and perfect place to do it. V: Yes, your voice was calming me and letting me into a good dream. A: I’m glad. V: Thank you guys. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: We hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. 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 Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo
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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 646 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Manfred, and he writes: Hi Vidas, I was playing the organ in the church for services only. The requirements are low. Therefore I could train the Pedal in ‘wild’ and fairly uncontrolled way. Because of Corona the congregation must not sing. The organist is asked to prepare a few pieces as a solo. So I started to look for organ pieces that are a little more demanding. Then I was facing severe difficulties with easy or low-medium pieces for organ. Thanks to Youtube I watched the pedaling of good organ players. My style is way off! This led me to you. You have a method, you want to teach it in an internet-based style – so, I gave it a try. Man! The first week told me I was not using certain muscles in the ankle area, I had muscle sore. Now, I see a much higher flexibility in my ankles. I was playing with a sort of tennis shoes. No way! Yesterday I started with organ shoes (dancing shoes actually). Now I can feel the pedal keys and can slide on them. Wonderful! After this first week I do not detect better accuracy. But my feet want to adopt the new pedaling style when playing my organ pieces. This is sometimes confusing, but I am sure in 2-3 weeks the new techniques will make my feet more ‘relaxed’ as they become friends of the pedal. I am eagerly looking forward to the next few weeks! Best regards, Manfred Vidas: So Manfred obviously is taking our “Organ Pedal Virtuoso Master Course.” Ausra: Yes, that’s a very useful course, I think, for everybody. Vidas: And the first weeks are not very easy for him, as for most people who try. But the good thing is that he didn’t give up. Ausra: Yes, and it’s a very good thing that he started to play to their more appropriate shoes, actually, because it’s really necessary if you want to play pedal with great accuracy and will not hurt your legs. Vidas: Exactly. So at first, he would accompany the church congregation singing before the pandemic, probably. But of course now the requirements have changed and he has to play the organ solo more. Ausra: True. I think that’s the case with many organists. Vidas: It’s also a good opportunity for people to explore new skills and build up technique, build up repertoire, learn new pieces, basically. Ausra: Yes, because most of the people have more time during pandemics. Vidas: Except that sometimes the pandemic demands more online work, like for you. Right Ausra? Ausra: Yes, but I don’t need to drive every day back and forth to school. Vidas: I see. So Manfred really can take advantage of the situation. What else can we obviously recommend besides just sticking to the course and learning new pieces? Ausra: To play more repertoire, probably. Vidas: Yeah. This course, “Pedal Virtuoso Master Course” shouldn’t take more time than just a warm up. 15 or 20 minutes… well… maybe at the most, half and hour, probably. And then, when you are warmed up, you could play probably hymns and repertoire—mix them according to your needs. Ausra: Yes, I think that way it will be more comfortable for you and your practice won’t be so tiresome. Vidas: Maybe Manfred also needs to think about hymn playing in a more structured way and treat each hymn as a very short organ piece, and play pedals in a controlled way, like you would in a regular organ piece. Maybe write in some pedaling. Figure out where to put the right-toe, left-toe, right-heel, left-heel, things like that, and probably learn, depending on his sight-reading abilities, learn either separate voices or separate lines, and then combination of voices instead of jumping into four-part texture right away. What do you think, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, I think that’s a very good advice. Vidas: I see just too many people playing hymns in an accidental manner, just from the beginning until the end, hoping they can do it eventually. And eventually, they will be able to do it in a maybe average-organ-playing way, but if you want to excel in it and play with good rhythm and good pulse, your playing and practicing should be according to plan. What about, Ausra, pedal playing? Do you think it’s good to warm up with those pedal scales and arpeggios, or is it a little bit too stressful on your ankles? Ausra: Well, I would say if it’s early morning, then it might be too stressful. But if it’s the middle of the day or evening, then I think it should be okay. Vidas: When I started to play organ at home, I sometimes notice like muscle spasms when my muscles are cold, so that might happen when you would started your practice with pedal playing alone. Right? Very rigorous scales and arpeggios according to this pedal virtuoso master course, but maybe if you warm up a little bit more with easier music, alternate toes first—not toe-heel-toe-heel, but just alternate toes, exercises like that, or access from hymns, maybe play from just the hymn bass line. Right? Ausra: Yes, I think maybe that’s a good suggestion—really useful. Vidas: Okay, so… but the most important thing is obviously to stick to this program and to finish it. And then you will notice real improvements. He says that he doesn’t notice improvements about the accuracy yet. It comes after a month or so, I think. Ausra: Yes, and another thought or idea that came to my mind while reading this remark about accuracy: Maybe he’s practicing just a little bit too fast. That might affect accuracy greatly, so maybe he needs to slow down just a little bit. Vidas: My usual recommendation about the tempo when you practice is, choose the speed in which you can avoid making mistakes. That simple. For some people it’s moderate tempo who are very good in sight-reading. But for most people, it is a very slow tempo, and when they say they practice slow, usually they’re not practicing slow enough! Ausra: Yes, I agree. Vidas: Probably not the metronome should be your guide here, but the accuracy itself. If you can play at this tempo without mistakes, then the tempo is right at this time of your development. If it’s not, then slow down. Ausra: Good advice, Vidas! Vidas: Thank you! Thank you guys, this was Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: 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 Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo
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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 649 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Bob, and he’s taking our Melodic Dictation Course Level 1. He writes, "Vidas, I have a question about 4 kl. 280 in Melodic Dictation Week 9. I thought that if there is a pickup measure in a song that the last measure of the song and the first measure should add up to one measure. But in this case there is a rest contained in the last measure, so the two measures do not add up to one measure. How do I decide whether I should add the rest or not? Or is it one of those times that it does not matter? Thanks. Bob"
V: Well, first of all, this is not a song, because song has to have either words or to be a vocal piece.
A: Sure. V: So it’s an exercise then. A: That’s right. V: More correct word. But you see what he means, there is a pickup and a full measure in the… A: Well, I get these kind of questions from my students all the time. And because that’s how we teach them how the pickup is. And we say that if there is a pickup, then with the last measure it should be one whole measure. But it’s not always the case, and as it is in this case, it’s not. And it’s okay. It’s perfectly normal. It would be perfectly normal even if in this last measure there would be a half step - half note - yes? And there would still be a pickup of eighth note at the beginning. It’s fine. You could find it both ways in music. It’s perfectly normal. V: Yes. A: Actually no - and that last note, if it’s like quarter, dotted quarter note, or it would be a half note, it wouldn’t matter so much, because in general if we are talking about piano, and I believe you probably played this dictation on the piano, the sound dies while holding it, so. But often you cannot tell precisely how long the last note actually was because of that specification of the piano sound dying. It’s not like the organ. V: You are correct, and also we have to keep in mind that this basically foundational understanding - that if you have a pickup, then the last measure should not be complete - is only taught basically in the first grade so that kindergarten or very early schoolchildren should understand this concept: pickup is part of the last measure. But then when you get to real pieces, real musical compositions or longer exercises, you get all kinds of things. For example, just before we started recording this conversation, I was downloading my own video, “Nine Steps in Mastering Schumann’s Canon in B Major, Opus 56, No. 6.” And I have this long, an hour-long video, and I wanted to cut the last part, the last step basically, and make it a complete short video demonstration of this wonderful canon. And guess what? This canon does have a pickup of a beat, one quarter note in the beginning. And while we were talking right here, I looked up the score, and the last measure, look - this is a complete measure, not two - one half note and a final barline, but dotted half note like ¾ meter complete measure. A: Yes, that’s often the case. So it’s not an exception actually, it’s quite normal. V: Yes. But as Ausra said, when you play it on the piano, it’s difficult to understand when exactly the sound ends, especially at the end, when the last note is sounding. If you had like 3-note or 4-note chord playing with both hands, it’s easier, because more sounds are depressed all sounding at the same time, right? And you then can pick up the ending of the sound more easily. A: Well if I would be a teacher that would have to grade this dictation, I would find it correctly if it would be written half note at the end, or as is given in this case where it’s a quarter note with a dot and then the rest of eighth, and even if it would be only dotted quarter note, it would be fine with me. V: Mmhm. I see. You could say that this measure could be complete, incomplete - either way is fine, right? A: Yes. V: I agree. I guess Bob can find many more exercises like this in this Melodic Dictation Course, and he seems to enjoy writing those dictations. Do your students enjoy writing dictations, Ausra? A: Some of them do, but most of them don’t. V: Why not? A: Well, they can’t do it very well. V: Can’t or can? A: Can’t. V: So they don’t want to improve? A: Sure. Especially now when we have online teaching. You know, just like two days ago I asked them if they could tell me which way they like my dictations more, because I was using two different programs. One, at the beginning I was actually using the Rode Mic, and was recording them with my phone. Later I switched to recording through OBS Studio and was using our new mic, very powerful one; and later I switched to Piano Tech program. And then I asked them if they could tell the difference between Piano Tech and the earlier recordings with the mic. Only one of my students could tell me why she liked Piano Tech more, that the recording is better quality and she might do it as loud as she wishes. Everybody else couldn’t tell the difference. So I realized they would just keep rewriting these dictations from somebody else. V: They’re not listening to your dictations. A: Sure. V: That’s terrible. A: And all this effort that I put in and all those hours that I spent recording those dictations they are just going nowhere. V: Except when you’re telling it. Now maybe if somebody from our subscribers can go to your channel on YouTube and start writing these dictations, yes? A: Sure. Yes, there are multiple choices, because I have big list starting from last spring. There are dictations that I listed like A, B, C, D, E Levels dictations, A being the easiest, one voice dictations, B and C two voice dictations, and then D and E being the three-part dictations, so, and there was also a section of ear training on my YouTube channel, where you can also find various types of dictations. V: So you just have to find a playlist called “Ear Training,” right? A: Yes. V: And obviously, for obvious reasons, there is no music, score on the screen for people to look at while they are writing dictations so that they only use their ear, but if you would like to write dictations and then have answer key, then check out my Melodic Dictation Master Course, Level 1. The one that Bob is taking. And then you will have not only all your files, but also answer keys with scores. A: Yes. V: All right guys, this was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. 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 Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo
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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 649 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Doug, and he answered my question, What is your goal in organ playing, and what are some challenges that he faces when he tries to reach this goal. So the goal is to become a church organist, and basically advanced in hymn playing. And the challenges are three:
It’s interesting, right? Shall we talk about the goal, or about challenges first? A: Well, it’s up to you. V: All right, let’s talk a little bit about the goal: To become a church organist and excel in hymn playing. Obviously it’s a good goal if people want to apply their skills in a church setting. A: Sure, it’s actually a very common goal. V: And obviously hymn playing would be the bulk of what you do in church. A: Sure, especially if you are like in the Protestant congregation. V: Yes. Some other denominations require psalm playing, anthems, accompaniments. If you have a choir then even you have to direct the choir, lead the choir, accompaniments like that are also sometimes important. And it wouldn’t hurt to play some organ pieces, liturgical organ pieces for prelude and postlude at least. A: Sure. V: If not for communion or offertory. But I guess hymn playing can substitute those things, too. But congregation would thank you I think if you played a short piece at the beginning of the service and at the end of the service as well. A: But definitely leading the congregational singing and hymn accompanying is probably the most important tool for church organist. V: Yes. Once you can play hymns, you can advance a little bit further in real organ playing, solo organ playing too. Talk about pedal techniques, I don’t know what he means. What do you think he means with challenge in pedal techniques? A: Well, since most of us come to organ bench after having some piano background, usually the pedal is the most scary part of playing the organ. V: So maybe it’s safe to say that he, in general, struggles to play pedals, right? A: Yes. V: So what can we recommend? Probably recommending Pedal Virtuoso Master Course could be a little bit too advanced for him. If you only want to be church organist, maybe you don’t need pedal scales and arpeggios for that. But we have another smaller course, Pedal Playing, I think Workshop it’s called or Mini Course - 10 days I think Workshop basically, where you play for 10 days basic pedal exercises, and can afterwards, I think, play bass lines of any hymn without much difficulty. A: That might be very useful. V: So that’s one recommendation. Another challenge he faces is that he wants to take a hymnal, and his hymnal only has soprano line if I understand correctly, and then he needs to convert or harmonize it in four parts, swell, great, and pedals. First of all, you don’t need to play on two manuals, hymns. A: Definitely not. You could do that with accompaniment sometimes but really not always. V: Yes. Just one manual is fairly sufficient. A: Because most often you play on one manual you do like soprano and alto voice with your right hand, and then tenor voice with your left hand, and bass line with the pedal. V: Exactly. So for this, obviously we are talking about the skill in harmonization. Well, if, you are obviously an advanced harmony teacher, what would you recommend? A: Well, I don’t know how well he knows music theory in general, but definitely that’s a challenge. If you are uneducated in music, haven’t had any music theory lessons, then I wouldn’t recommend for you to harmonize hymns for yourself. Because there are so many hymnals. Maybe you could use the harmonization for a particular hymn from the other hymnal that has all the four parts written in. V: Well exactly. Let’s say you need to play four or five hymns that week. Your pastor or priest selected hymns for you, and you need to figure out the accompaniment. If you are proficient in harmonization, you could supply alto, tenor and bass parts yourself, but if not you could look up that kind of the same hymn setting, let’s say online. Just Google. Cyber Hymnal I think is one of those sources you could find a lot of useful hymns and different harmonizations too. So you just print it out and play what’s written over there. A: Sure, because if you look at any given hymnal, you could find hymns written in, composed in various styles. And being able to harmonize them yourself, you really need to understand the difference between the styles. Because if it’s four-part hymn let’s say from 17th century Germany, it would be harmonized in one style, but if the melody is based on Gregorian chant, then completely different rules of harmonization would apply. So basically, it’s always a challenge, and if let’s say the melody of the hymn is composed at the end of the 19th century, then definitely your harmonization will have more advanced and more chromatic. So it’s a challenge really, even for professionals. V: And we can’t forget contemporary melodies, right? Which work well with let’s say, jazz style chords or pop-oriented music chords. That’s also a different style, right? A: So I guess the best suggestion would be really try to obtain those hymns that would be harmonized for you already and you wouldn’t have to worry about it. Because learning to harmonize them yourself, it’s a long process. V: Yes, but if you really want to learn to harmonize, don’t jump into our I think Organists, Harmony for Organists Level 1 Course straight away if you don’t know basic chords yet. If you don’t know three-, four-note chords and their inversions and how they are resolved into tonic chords and the rules for resolution, then you need to take Basic Chord Workshop first, where I teach those chords in one hand setting, basically all those chords could be played with one hand, not two hands like in four part setting. In closed position basically. So that’s the preliminary skill you need to master, foundations of those course, and then you can move on to Harmony for Organists Level 1. A: Yes. It’s very, it’s a long process, but it’s worth trying, because you will get really useful skill for your future. V: And the last thing he struggles is to find Grand Orgue or Hauptwerk conversion for home organ to practice on. Obviously it’s very nice to have virtual organ, either Grand Orgue or Hauptwerk for home use, because you can listen and hear the sounds of real instruments produced virtually. Each pipe has been recorded, not generated synthetically like a synthesizer, but organ samples have produced and went to the church, recorded each and every pipe in several different ways: short, medium length, long length of each pipe and then created a sample set, which obviously encompasses the acoustics of the church as well. If it has reverberation, you would get the same feeling as being in the church while playing that sample set. So that’s what Hauptwerk or Grand Orgue uses today. Except Grand Orgue is no longer developed. The basic version of Grand Orgue was developed at first, it was like the first version of Hauptwerk I think, which was made open source, free of charge right now. And then it stopped being developed because it’s free. There’s no incentive for developers’ work on the software if you don’t get any reimbursement. A: Well, but if you don’t want to play repertoire, perform recitals at home, only to learn hymns, then I think it’s quite sufficient. V: Yeah, at least for starters. You don’t know what you will need five years from now, all right? So maybe if you start with free software like Grand Orgue, it doesn’t hurt right now. So you could look up at our tools what we use for Hauptwerk setup on our website we have: organduo.lt/tools and you will see how we have set up Hauptwerk at our home, maybe you will get some ideas for yourself. A: Yes, why not? V: Thank you guys, this was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. 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 Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
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. Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 644 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Paje, and this is the answer to my question, “What is the goal in organ playing, and what are some challenges that get in the way of this goal. So: “1. Dream to serve as an organist and lead the choir in my Church Organisation. 2. Lack of consistent mentorship, lack of accountability, lack of clarity on what to focus on first as a beginner.” Vidas: Okay, so I think we need to discuss the challenges, probably. Right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: The most apparent ones. Ausra: Yes Vidas: Because the dream to serve as an organist and lead the choir in the church is very common. Ausra: Yes, that’s a very common wish for many church organists. Vidas: So if someone lacks a consistent mentorship, what does it mean? Does it mean that they don’t have a teacher? Ausra: Well, yes and maybe not, because mentorship is not the same as a teacher! The mentor and the teacher… Vidas: And what might be the differences or similarities maybe. Because sometimes people call me teacher, sometimes they call me mentor, and I am confused. Ausra: Well, I would make a difference between mentor and teacher. The teacher is actually somebody who gives us actual lessons on something. And mentorship is probably a person whom you respect, whom you esteem, from whom you get your ideas, and who keeps you going. That’s what I see as the difference between teacher and mentor. Vidas: I see. So lack of mentorship means that they don’t have a person whom they esteem, whom they look up to. Right? So that’s where we come in, probably. If they asked us for advice and write emails, probably we can be examples to them. Ausra: I hope so! Vidas: Yeah, we hope so, too. So just follow our advice, follow our lead, and you will get, of course, leadership and mentorship this way. Look at what we are doing on line and listen to our videos, teachings, apply them in your practice, and you will start growing as an organist. What about lack of accountability, Ausra? Accountability probably means that if you have a goal and you want to achieve that goal and you are not sure if you’re progressing in the right direction. Right? Somebody else needs to tell you if you are doing right or wrong. Correct? Ausra: Might be. Yes. Vidas: So that’s like a teacher. They need a teacher or they need the examples from their peers! Maybe other students who are on the same path of becoming an organist in the church and leading the choir, and they are striving to do the same, and together they can hold themselves accountable, like a group. Ausra: Sure. But you know, I… Well, this thing about accountability, I think probably it’s not very fair and not honest with him- or herself. Because I don’t know if anybody wouldn’t feel that he or she is doing progress or not… either is improving or not. Don’t you think so? Vidas: Can you elaborate a little bit what you mean? Ausra: Well wouldn’t you feel that you are doing progress or not? Vidas: Right now, yes. I am educated enough to see if I’m progressing. What if I’m a beginner? Ausra: Well, anyway, but even when I was in first grade, I would feel if I’m playing the piece already well enough or not, or if I’m still struggling with it. And if you are a church organist, you might measure your progress on how fast, for example, you can learn a hymn. Is it giving you as much trouble as it gave you a month ago? Still, there are some kind of measures how you can look at yourself and measure your progress. Vidas: And for children it is different because they are not always very conscious of their goals. Parents set their goals for them, and therefore they need somebody else external outside of themselves to hold them accountable. But if you are an adult and you have a goal, you keep yourself accountable. Ausra: Yes, that’s what I’m thinking, that the most important reason to be accountable is how you treat yourself. Vidas: Lack of clarity. The next item on his or her list is lack of clarity on what to focus as a beginner. Ausra: Well, I believe that in this case, you know, you just need, you know, to focus on what you need the most at the church. What is your church and what are your congregation’s needs. Do you have, for example, to play more solos or more accompany the choir, or congregational singing. Then you have to focus on what is the most important. Vidas: I would add that they need to bring the church hymnal at home, the same hymnal that is used in their church, and start learning these hymns for the specific liturgical Sunday. If today is Lent, so you start learning hymns for Lent. Right? You might not necessarily be proficient in all of the Lenten hymns, but several, yes. Or if you want to start learning hymns for the future, for Easter say, you can do that, too, so that in a few weeks from now, you can be prepared to play a couple of Easter hymns. Correct? Ausra: Yes, and not only hymns, because I don’t know exactly what denomination it is, but it also depends. You might need to play, for example, even the parts of Mass, like Kyrie, Gloria, and others, or whatever the congregation, denomination you are. Vidas: Well, correct. You just need to ask either the pastor or priest what kind of music do they need, or you might know already, because they want to lead the choir in “my church organization,” so they already have this church denomination or congregation that they want to serve. So just, they probably know already what to play. Ausra: Sure, and if somebody hires you, I guess you receive some sort of requests from your employer. Vidas: Yes. And if in doubt, always consult your pastor or priest. That’s what will give you focus as a beginner. Ausra: Yes, and if you are a music director, then of course you can set up your rules. Vidas: Yes, but music directors probably will not be beginners in this case. Correct? Ausra: Yes! Vidas: So. Okay! We hope this was useful to you guys. Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember. When you practice, Ausra: 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 Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo |
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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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