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. V: Let’s start episode 676 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Nick, and he answers my question, “What is your dream in organ playing in the next 3-6 months, and what are some challenges along the way?” So he writes, 1. To be able to play a wide selection of easy to moderate standard organ pieces suitable for service use. V: and challenges would be 2. Sight reading, sight reading and sight reading! V: Why do you think he writes “sight reading” three times? A: Because it’s his main challenge. V: Oh. A: But you know, I think that this sight reading is very important for him to achieve, that his first goal to have a wide selection of easy to moderate standard organ repertoire suitable for service use. I remember when I played at church in the United States. Well of course, because I was always working on the big repertoire for my degree recitals, I was looking for easy church music to play, basically the pieces I could maybe sight read once or twice and then play for the services. So basically it was really important to find suitable music. And then after doing that for awhile, the sight reading just became so easy. V: Mm hm. Did you prefer to play, sight read for service purposes, music of composers who lived in previous periods or contemporary music? A: Actually, mainly Baroque music, some Romantic music. A little bit of Dupre, but not so much of living composers. V: Mm hm. Nowadays there are some publishing houses, especially in the United States which specializes for service music for organists, accessible music basically. Accessible may be quality music too. A: Yes, but it costs, and at that time I didn’t have any money, any extra money, additional money to get new scores, so I just had to pick up something that is accessible to me. V: Mm hm. A: So I really loved Dover’s publications because they were cheap and they had a large collection of music. I remember buying like Pachelbel, and I played it - almost entire collection - sight read for services. V: If you had good improvisation skills at that time, would you rather have improvised than sight read? A: Yes, probably because it’s so convenient when working at church. V: Let’s say your pastor would select hymns, right, or some other music director select hymns for you. And then you could improvise preludes and postludes and interludes, right? A: True, true, that would be very useful skill. V: That’s exactly what contemporary composers do. Maybe they’re not improvising newly written repertoire, but they’re creating music based on those seasonal hymns, right? Mostly. So that an organist could go to their catalog and order something suitable for that Sunday, particular Sunday. And there are publishing houses like Lorenz or Wayne Leupold Editions. I suspect there are many others too, but those two came to my attention just recently. For example, Wayne Leupold Editions have periodical. You can subscribe to, how it’s called… The Organist…Organ Companion I think. Yes, Organ Companion. We have two archival issues of this periodical, about 30 pages long, so maybe like nine or ten pieces in each issue. Issued bi-monthly, every two months, and for any particular season in that period. And one third of that consists of pieces of Baroque, 17th and 18th century music, one third of Romantic and early 20th century music, and one third of contemporary composers, specifically created for that purpose. What do you think about that? A: You know, there was a time when I really thought, I had a very high opinion about Wayne Leupold’s Editions, in general on the music, because they were really good collections in terms of historical approach and performance practices. They had extensive articles about what they are publishing. V: Yes, I will interrupt you, because in that Organist’s Companion, there are commentaries about each piece and extensive historical documentation too. A: But if we would look at the prices, what he offers, I think they are just enormously high. V: To add to this, maybe nowadays he offers alternative publications also, like PDFs. Much much cheaper you can subscribe to PDFs every two months, and they are quite affordable. You get constant flow of new repertoire. A: And in general, I remember listening to his presentation, live presentation back in the United States, I realized that he is more like businessman, not as musician, because he really knows how to sell his product very well. He reminded me actually of that turtle from the Ice Age movie, remember? V: Yes. A: Who could sell anything! Right before the flood coming. So that reminded me a little of Wayne Leupold. I hope he will not be offended of my comparison. V: But on the other hand, musicians also should be able to sell their art, don’t you think? A: Yes, that’s true. V: Otherwise you will end up in the drawer. A: Yes. Except that you know the auditorium of musicians are never rich basically, and your products cannot be… V: Expensive? A: Expensive, yeah. V: But… A: …or so expensive, because our income is really low. V: …if you work at a large church, for example, sometimes your employer buys things for you. A: That’s maybe only in United States and a few places in United States. But I don’t think that’s true in Europe. Not in Lithuania, anyway. V: These purchases could be tax deductible, you know. A: Yeah. V: It’s still not free, but it’s a good support I think. A: Yeah. V: For professional material. A: But anyway, if you love to read and you like a historical approach, then yes, Wayne Leupold is a good place for new scores. V: Another place I found is Lorenz Publications from United States. Carson Cooman, our colleague on YouTube, organist and composer, he is an editor there in Lorenz, and he manages those subscriptions also. They have this subscription, monthly subscription, you pay a fee for a certain number of download credits. And let’s say five or ten credits, you can select your own choices, or you can trust what the editor suggests for each season. They send you like a subscription-based newsletter every month. A: That’s very good if you lack your own ideas, then you can be advised what to do and what to select. It’s very handy. V: And it’s very affordable. And if you’re not satisfied with what the editor suggests, you can go online to their catalog online and pick your own things from their publishing house of course. And they specialize on affordable - accessible maybe - accessible contemporary organ repertoire for church use. A: Yes. V: So that’s two things to think about if you are not willing to improvise during services, right? And if you need…of course, you still need sight reading skills for that, if you are constantly playing… A: But I think if you are having the church position, like regular church position, I think that sight reading skills will come to you. V: Sooner or later. A: Sooner or later, yes. Because you will be forced to sight read every day. Maybe you will have no time to prepare for each service, then what else can you do? Just sight read. V: Yes, excellent. So I hope this was useful to our listeners. These ideas. And 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. 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
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: Let’s start episode 630 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Andrei, and he writes: “Hi Vidas and Ausra! I have a question for you: If in a church there is a need for an organist, and the only two keyboardists are a professional concert pianist and a mediocre/intermediate organist, who do you think would be better to play on the organ?” Vidas: That’s an interesting question, right Ausra? Ausra: Yes, but if I would have to choose, I would choose the mediocre intermediate organist, because you can be a perfect professional concert pianist, but that doesn’t mean you will be even a mediocre on the organ if you don’t know how to play it. Vidas: Because let’s face it; piano and organ have similarities, only certain similarities, like the keyboards are the same, right? Sometimes reverse color, but basically the keys are in the same order. What else, Ausra? Ausra: And that’s pretty much all they have in common. Everything else is different. Even the sound is produced by a different principle. Vidas: Yes. On the piano, they produce the sound with the help of the hammers and the strings, hitting the strings, and as soon as the hammer hits the strings, the sound starts to fade. What’s different about the organ, Ausra? Ausra: Organ basically is a wind instrument, because it consists of pipes, and it has bellows, so basically it’s a different kind of instrument comparing to the piano, and the approach to it is very different. Of course, if you have a good piano technique, it never hurts for you, and it would help for you on the organ, but still, it’s not the only thing. Vidas: What if you really are a professional concert pianist and want to play the organ? Is it possible to get used to the new techniques? Ausra: Sure, but I guess you will still have to have some, at least some, organ lessons that will teach you the basic approach to the instrument, because it has pedals, because if you will only play the manual part or accompany hymns on the manuals, it wouldn’t do any good because playing pedal is a crucial part of any organists routine. Vidas: What about if the situation were reversed, and you needed to play professionally the piano and there are a mediocre pianist and then world class concert organist? What’s then? Ausra: Well let’s not bother to turn our heads about that, because this is not our question; not what Andrei is asking. Vidas: But, hypothetically, this situation might arise in some churches if they only have like a piano, and two choices: very poor pianist, poor sight-reading pianist with poor technique, and very good organist. The organist probably would do it. Right? On the piano… Ausra: Yes, I think that’s the easier way than another one. Vidas: So probably organists are in more demand than pianist, right Ausra, because of this? Ausra: Yes, because piano doesn’t require such a good coordination as does the organ. Let’s face it, it’s thinking in sort of steps while playing the organ, and while playing the piano you have only one keyboard, of course it’s much wider, but still, you don’t have to coordinate so much. You just have to coordinate between your right and left hand, but with an organ you also have plus two feet, two manage, too. Vidas: And we’re not talking about the most advanced piano repertoire. We are talking about general basic piano repertoire that could be played in a church setting, liturgical setting. Of course, the organist will have an easier time adapting, but what’s different with the organist is the organist will then have to learn how to use the sustain pedal—the right pedal—from scratch. Right? But usually, organists play piano before starting to play the organ. Right? Ausra: Yes, so I don’t think that’s a real problem. I think it’s harder to go to play the organ if you only took piano before. It takes a while. It takes a while to find the right touch and to manage to coordinate everything. Well, because, you know, just don’t think that if you are a good piano player that you will sit on the organ bench, you will do exactly the same thing that you did on the piano and that it will work. No! It will not! Definitely it will not! Vidas: So you need some basics, basic foundation techniques to learn about the organ, get used to it, maybe observe a real organist working on the organ for starters, and then a little bit later, ask permission to play a short piece here and there with the guidance from a real organist. Ausra: You know, I have happened to observe a few times in my life as the good pianist comes to the organ, for example, to accompany a choir. That’s a very common situation. And he or she sits down at the organ and starts to play and starts doing all these twists and elbows motion, and using your shoulders, and basically it’s so different from the organ, and they try to force it as they do on the piano to make the sound deeper or louder, and it’s just not how it works. Instead of that, you just have a slower tempo and a really big mess! Vidas: Yeah, one of the most crucial differences on the organ from the piano is that you have to control your releases very much—the endings of the chords. When you release both hands together or not together, it’s really audible on the organ, much more so than on the piano. Ausra: Definitely. That’s because the sound doesn’t die on the organ. Vidas: Right. But that’s a good question. Sometimes really churches have to pick which one they would find more usable in a liturgical setting—professional concert pianist or a mediocre organist. Ausra: Well, though in Lithuania, usually the church organists don’t get paid well enough, so I think even to have a mediocre or intermediate organist is too good for the salary that usually organists in Lithuania get, so… Vidas: Yeah, the salary that they pay is usually only for showing up. Right? If you showed up, I think that’s good enough for that salary. But if you want to play something in a Western society, it would be just not enough to survive. Ausra: Yes, but let’s say if that professional concert pianist is young and is willing to learn, I’m quite sure that with time, he or she could adjust and become an excellent organist, as well. And if that organist, let’s say, is older in age and is only mediocre and intermediate level and doesn’t want to improve, then I think it would be harder to achieve a higher level. So it depends on the situation, and of course it depends on what the church needs, actually, what kind of music they need to support their liturgy. Vidas: Yes, whether they need more organ music or keyboard music. That’s the big big difference. Right? If they need the piano music more than the organ, then… you know. Ausra: But if they do a lot of congregational singing and value the hymns, then I would say that an intermediate organist works better than a pianist. Vidas: Agree. So 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 get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying In this video you will hear liturgical music that I performed for Lithuanian Mass at St Joseph's Church in Vilnius (2020-09-30).
Last Sunday I went to St Joseph's church here in Vilnius to help my friend Paulius Grigonis at the Mass. The Polish choir sang the famous Jezusa ukrytego hymn during Communion and I added some improvisations in the accompaniment. I tested out Velesovo sample by Sonus Paradisi and Hauptwerk VPO software on Johannus Studio 150 organ. Let me know what do you think!
Last Sunday I went to St Joseph's church here in Vilnius to help my friend Paulius Grigonis at the Mass. During the Polish Mass we sang the Polish Agnus Dei (Baranku Boży) by O. Józef Ścibor C.CsR. I tested out Velesovo sample by Sonus Paradisi and Hauptwerk VPO software on Johannus Studio 150 organ. Let me know what do you think!
Some time ago I attended two masses at St Joseph church here in Vilnius where my friend Paulius Grigonis is an organist. He let me observe his work and play a few pieces. I improvised this postlude on Chlebie najcichszy hymn at the end of the Polish mass on their Johannus Studio 150 model. Hope you will enjoy it!
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: Let’s start episode 605 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Klāvs, and he writes, Hi Vidas, There are answers to your questions. 1. My dream for playing organ is to play in church services and in concerts. I have played in church services some times. 2. My 3 important things that are holding me back from realizing my dream is:
V: So Klāvs, I’m not sure where he’s from, but the name looks Latvian, right? A: Seems like that, but it could be anywhere, actually. V: Mm hm. A: I’m not an expert on names. V: If he is from Latvia, then he is our neighbor. Next door neighbor. Wonderful. So Klāvs wants to play the organ in church services and in concerts, which is pretty, pretty versatile way of looking at organ training, right Ausra? A: Yes, and probably this is the most often heard wish as from I read in our listeners’ letters. V: Talking about his equipment - he doesn’t have an organ at home and he has to go to church, right? And there is an organ with two manuals and pedal, which is not bad. A: Yes, it is. And if he can access that instrument whenever he wants, it just means that he has to go to church to practice every day. V: Yes. That’s what we did in our earlier days when we were students and working at churches. We would practice at the church, too, besides practicing, of course, at the music academy. A: True. But, well, if you want to become a good organist, you always need to sacrifice something. V: For example? A: Well, for example, night sleep. Remember as we were students at the Academy of Music what good times we would get to practice, like at 6 a.m.? V: 6? And not 7, you mean? A: Well, yes. There was one year when we practiced from 6 a.m., at the Academy, we are talking, at 6 a.m, we would start practicing at 6 a.m. And it would close at 11 p.m. and we would practice until then, too. And sometimes you would practice in the evening until 11 p.m. and you would start practicing next day at 6 a.m. Such a life of being organists! V: When there are only five practice organs in that academy, and let’s say 20 students, right, and then also professors, four or five, so yeah, we had to sacrifice some sleep, at least for awhile. But I don’t think that Klāvs needs to go to his church at 6 a.m. in the morning. A: Let’s hope that he does not. But you know, if he doesn't like to go to church to practice every day, then he needs to acquire instrument of his own, on his own. V: Yeah. And there are many choices, right? He can buy second hand organ, used organ. He can order a new one, both electronic or pipe organ. He can set up Hauptwerk in his home. Hauptwerk probably would be the most affordable because you can fit your needs, from the most expensive set-up and most real situation like organs, resembling pipe organs pretty well in layout and feeling, to the most affordable ways of playing just MIDI keyboard and simple pedal, digital pedalboard, which could be fit into any room. A: Yes. And he mentions also that he needs quiet place where he can learn. That might be a problem, because if you are practicing at church, basically you might not be alone at any time. Which actually shouldn’t bother you, because that’s the life of an organist. But if you would get, like, MIDI keyboards, let’s say at home, then you could practice with your headphones. V: Yes, like we do sometimes. A: And that way you would be really, you know, alone - and you make your own quiet place by headphones. And neither you bother others nor others would bother you. V: Yeah. Those noise-canceling headphones reproduce sounds pretty well, but also they block outside noise as well, pretty well. So it’s like win-win situation. A: True. And about knowledge of playing technique, because he doesn't have organ teacher yet. Well, there are two possibilities: either to get an organ teacher, or to teach yourself, or look for online sources. Like for example, we have taught already quite a few organists how to play the organ, and help them to learn. V: We’ve been doing this for 10 years, right, Ausra? A: Yes. V: Maybe less. Since 2011. So 9 years now. A: Well, yes, because nowadays there is so much sources and so much information available as it wasn’t before. V: Yes. Just keep in mind that this is podcast number 605. So over 600 teaching material publicly available for free, is on our website, organduo.lt. Plus if you want to go deeper into training and learn faster than on your own, you could join our Total Organist program together with our other students. You would be part of that very intense community which support each other on Basecamp, and who have accountability and really grow much faster. A: Yes, because I think it’s much easier to do it when you’re not on your own, and then you have people around yourself who will support you and help you. V: Yeah, we have weekly organ contest, and people have been submitting videos there. Imagine you have a weekly goal to prepare one piece, upload to YouTube and then submit to our contest. This goal becomes your learning foundation, right, Ausra? A: Yes, it really helps. V: And pretty soon, you will learn enough pieces to play in a short recital. Like if you learn for starters, just one piece per week of let’s say two minutes long - couple of pages, right? So for a short recital, you would need probably 20 minutes long, 20 pages. So maybe after 10 weeks, you would have enough material to play this short recital, either from your home, online, or in your church. A: Yes, and I think if you really want to learn, you will always find a solution. V: Yes. And we’re here to help you grow. Right, Ausra? A: Yes. V: So please send us more of your questions. 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: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 577 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Steven, and he writes: “Hi Vidas, Not long ago Vidas it was my job to serve at the organ to lead a congregation of mostly untrained singers in a meeting outside a worship service with the singing of a closing song with which most of them were unfamiliar. The tune was St. Clement, a traditional hymn not especially easy for a trained voice to sing that's better known to members of the Anglican faith and perhaps a Methodist or two in the audience but completely unfamiliar to everyone else. This number does not appear in any of the newer hymnals -- I have only found it included in a couple of very old editions of hymn books which have been out of print for a very long time. People singing this tune on YouTube videos are doing so at a tempo Moderato about half the time and the other half of the time they sing at something close to an Adagio. Three stanzas of this closing song were to be sung, the words were provided to the audience, and I began with a short introduction and took the first stanza at an Andante (slow walk tempo) thinking that this pace would keep everyone together and the organ would lead. I was wrong. Instead of the organ leading them, the Anglicans in the audience who were used to hearing it sung at a still slower tempo ignored the organ and sang it at the tempo they remember from their worship services -- some of them even lagged behind a few others. The result was that they all trailed behind the organ through the whole first stanza and were late to the finish line at the point where the organ paused between stanzas. They were still trudging through the words of the first stanza at that point, and, as I began the second stanza to avoid the awkward silence a senior officer stopped the whole thing and a member of the audience was then asked to conduct the congregation (and the organ) beginning at the top with the slow tempo, through all three stanzas, with everyone including me brought back to the starting line and subject to the baton. We managed to get through it this way, but not without considerable embarrassment. Up until then I used to believe that "not every day is a good one for the organist" was an observation that tended to fade into oblivion with the onset of crow's feet, gray hair, more pill bottles, and the use of a cane. I was wrong about that, too ! Even though I was well prepared and the instrument gave sufficient support for the singing, I never anticipated that the singers would drag through it with such perfunctory indifference to the tempo set by the organ. This wasn't the typical dragging that an organist can encounter in a singing congregation from time to time -- it was a complete mismatch in tempo from the get-go. When any congregation sings, the organ MUST lead, but this time that didn't seem to matter.. Afterwards, since the same closing song is prescribed for the organization's regular meetings, I was asked to chair a committee to come up with a solution to keep this kind of calamity from happening again, even to the point of recommending a different song be prescribed, if need be. My feeling is, the problem isn't with the song although it isn't particularly easy to sing, and I really don't think it needs to be changed. It's a beautiful song -- the singers just need to get in sync with the organ and stay that way, pay attention to the tempo taken by the organ, and not go their merry way with blinders on their ears. The fact that so many of the singers in the audience preferred such a slow tempo was only learned by this organist, sad to say, after everything crash landed and not before. The organist wasn't fired over it, the situation wasn't that dire, nobody lost their life over it, no blood was drawn, but it occurred to me that the question of how to best move forward from here would benefit other organists as well as myself. Any suggestions you or Ausra may have from your personal experiences or circle of acquaintances that could be shared with your subscribers, including myself, about possible steps to take would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, as always, Steve” V: So, that’s a very colorful question, very extended description. I hope Steven wrote a blog post out of it. A: It’s very entertaining. I kept laughing inside of me while you kept reading it, because actually, we have talked about rehearsing the congregation before the service if you know that hymns are unfamiliar or putting your choir member downstairs, mixing them among the congregation members so that they could lead the congregational singing, but obviously there are sometimes ways when you just have to adjust to your congregation and you have to adapt. Because if a minister has to stop service and to start that hymn over again, that’s not a good sign. It shouldn’t be like this. And, in some cases, I think what you can do is actually just to adapt to them or just to quit the church. It reminded me about that situation that we had many years ago in Lithuania when we were just organ students for the Academy of Music and Vidas and I were sharing one position of organist in a small church in the center of Vilnius, and basically old ladies were so unhappy about how we played organ, and it was a problem of us playing hymns too fast for them. And since I played a little bit slower, they preferred me over Vidas, and I remember one little old lady chasing Vidas for maybe one kilometer behind after a service until she finally caught him and started to teach him how to play, that he needs to take a slow tempo because elderly people are in the congregation, and so on and so forth. But basically, right at that moment I understood that it’s basically a good time to quit. We didn’t at that moment, but actually we were both fired without any explanations maybe a few months later. So I guess sometimes these things are simply hopeless. V: That’s right, Ausra. I guess another solution would be to sing more new hymns that people don’t know, and they don’t have any prejudice. A: Yes, that way, you know, they could listen more to what the organ is doing. V: But this situation shows that this congregation is not willing to adapt. It’s simply the fact of life. Right? And I wonder if they sing loudly enough or actively. I presume that they are sort of lethargically sleeping with their eyes open and moving through the motions, not actively participating in the service. A: Well, I’m not sure about that, but anyway, you could either play the Organo Pleno and try to ignore what is happening downstairs, or you could maybe have your own microphone and sing like solo very loudly above them all. But basically, I think in these cases like this, it’s useless to fight. V: Yes, because one or two or five people will start complaining, and those people, maybe they are in a minority, they will be a loud minority! A: And you know, like in our old story, I think what happened is that old lady and her friends started complaining to the priest day after day after day after day, and he didn’t have another solution, only to get rid of us. V: It was easier for him to get rid of us than to get rid of those ladies! A: But what I found out later, is that actually instead of us, her son started to play the organ in that church! V: The old lady’s son? A: Yes, so that was a corruption, a little bit… so…. V: Ah, maybe she had some plans! A: Yes! V: Evil plans! A: She definitely did, because these sort of pretenders to be very faithful in the Catholic churches that are there day and night, they are not doing really good things to their church, although they think they are the most holy and they know the things right, and… V: Aren’t you glad that we are no longer working in this church? A: Yes, I am. I really am! V: So, you always have to choose sometimes the less obvious way. And do what feels right for your heart. Yes? A: That’s right. V: Thank you 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! |
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Authors
Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. 
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