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Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 512 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Alex, and he writes: “Hello Vidas, My dream as a long-time pianist/harpsichordist and new organist is to be an excellent performer of early music and hymnody. The three biggest obstacles: 1) Pedal technique 2) Lack of practice time due to graduate school (in choral conducting) 3) Physical limitations in my neck, back, and arms which keep me from being able to practice more than about 90 minutes per day. Thank you for receiving feedback. I absolutely love all the content on your wonderful website. God’s blessings on your excellent musical endeavors!” So, Ausra, Alex wants to be an excellent performer of early music and hymnody! A: Well, that’s a nice dream. V: But, so far, he lacks pedal technique, A: Which is natural, because he played piano and harpsichord before now, so he’s a new organist, so that’s natural. V: Two, lack of practice time, because he is in school, A: Well, I think we all need more practice time, and we all lack time in general. V: And then, he can’t practice for a longer period of time over 90 minutes. A: Well, since his dream is to become an excellent performer of only early music, I would say that 90 minutes is plenty of time to practice on a regular basis, if you play only organ. But of course, if you have to divide this 90 minutes between all three of these instruments that he has, it’s not enough. V: Piano, harpsichord, and organ. A: Yes. V: Out of these three obstacles, I think pedal technique is the least important. Don’t you think? A: Why do you think so? V: Because, if you keep practicing, you will advance in your pedal technique with time. A: True, if you will practice, which is the most important thing. V: And, the physical limitation in his body prevents him from practicing for a longer period, but as you say, it’s quite enough for early music to practice that much, with breaks, probably, too. A: Yes! And, you know, if you have some sort of physical limitations, it means that you need to find time some how to improve your body’s state. V: Yes. A: And maybe to strengthen your muscles, which, in the long term, would allow you to practice for longer periods of time. V: Why do you think people lack practice time while they are in school? Because being in school is one of the best times in life, I would think. A: Well, I don’t know what his position is, what else he does, if he only studies, or he has a part time job somewhere, or he works on campus, so it’s hard to tell, but yes, I remember my study years, and I haven’t practiced so much now as I had during my studies. V: Me, too, because when you graduate, all kinds of life things get in the way, and not only things, but problems, challenges… you have to think about feeding yourself and your family, perhaps, so you have to find a stream of revenue—preferably several—in order to feel secure, and this occupies a lot of brain space. A lot of thinking goes into this, and a lot of energy. A: So, I guess while being a student is an excellent opportunity to build up good organ technique. You will appreciate it later. V: Yes, whatever you build up right now will become the foundation for you later on. Can you advance after school? A: Yes, you can, but you will need to double your efforts to achieve that. V: Because school is designed to help people stay motivated and keep on track with deadlines and due dates and exams. Basically, all the thinking is done for you—all the curriculum—so you just have to follow the path. It’s not the most realistic path, of course, in life. When you graduate, you become sort of on your own. You no longer have the support of professors and other students. You might have support, but you have to seek it out actively in other ways. A: And the worse thing is that so many people nowadays work in something else, not in the field of expertise. V: Yes. So their profession becomes like a hobby to them. A: I know! Like for example, how my parents hired one man who did some work at their house V: With metal? A: With metal, yes. And he actually graduated...his major is architecture. But he doesn’t do anything like that, because he wasn’t able to find a job according to his profession. I hear many cases like his. V: Right. I think just yesterday, I was in my church in the morning, preparing to record a sample with experiments in organ sound, how two Timpani pipes sound, and how the organ sound is disappearing when you turn off the organ blower while still holding the chord. We were doing this together with one artist from the art academy—it’s part of our collaboration between the university and the art academy—and I asked her, she’s an instructor at the art academy, and I asked her, “What about other students at the academy? Are they building their portfolios while they are still in school, or are they waiting to get their diploma?” What I’m referring to is, of course, if they are putting their work online, where people can find them, therefore their reputation would grow over time if they kept posting and uploading. You know what I mean, right Ausra? A: Yes. V: And it appears that this instructor, this artist, says that most of them are waiting! Just maybe 1% of them are doing something with their work, and putting them online, outside of what is required. You know? A: They are waiting for a miracle after studies. I remember when we came back from the United States and wrote to our professors, Quentin Faulkner and George Ritchie, that we only received a position teaching at Čiurlionis National School of Arts in the Music Theory department, that Quentin Faulkner wrote us back that it would be a dream job for most Americans who graduated from the university in Fine and Performing Arts, and at that moment, I thought, “Wow, I have a Doctoral Degree in Organ Performance, and I have to satisfy myself with teaching basically in the arts school, which is not even at the university level, it’s more like at the high school level, a specialized school. But now, after teaching there for 14 years, I understand what he meant. And seeing life around myself and meeting other people who work doing, let’s say, not what they have studied, I feel that I’m really lucky. V: Me, too. Even though I no longer teach at school. Maybe that’s why I’m lucky. Alright guys, please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen.
Today's question was posted by Sandra, our Total Organist student and she asks if she should only double the voice part in the Kyrie, Sanctus and other chants.
As we understand she wants to accompany them on the organ and she is wandering about whether or not she should add other parts besides the soprano on the keyboard. We also talk about some of the basic rules of how to accompany Gregorian chant on the organ. Listen to the full answer at #AskVidasAndAusra If you want us to answer your questions, post them as comments to this post and use a hashtag #AskVidasAndAusra so that we would be able to find them. And remember... When you practice, miracles happen. Vidas and Ausra (Get free updates of new posts here) TRANSCRIPT Vidas: Hello guys. This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: And we're starting #AskVidasAndAusra podcast episode number 10. And today's question was sent by Sandra, and she asks this question: "Should I only double the voice part in the Kyrie, Sanctus, etc.?" So, it's a little bit tricky to understand this type of question. We've been talking and wondering with Ausra, what does she mean? Do you think, Ausra, that Sandra means that she has to accompany Gregorian chant, and she wants us to advise her if she has to double the chant melody or just to add something else like a harmony, four part chords? It could be this type of question. Ausra: Could be, I guess. That's the closest guess I have. Vidas: Yeah. So what do you think, if it's okay to just double the melody, or should she add harmony? Ausra: Definitely think she has to add the harmony. Otherwise, I don't know how it would sound to have only that one melody voice. Vidas: To have a single voice for the hymn, it's only possible when the hymn is very, very new, right? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: If you want to play in octaves, let's say- Ausra: Yes. Vidas: -right hand and left hand, one octave apart, and your congregation doesn't know your hymn at all- Ausra: Sure. Vidas: -and you can play just one verse like this. Maybe like an introduction, not entire verse, but just introduction, without people singing. That would be possible, right? Ausra: Yes, I think so. Vidas: But to have a harmony is always better than to have a single voice, right? Ausra: Sure, definitely. Vidas: I think that explains how she should do. Gregorian chants sometimes might be left unaccompanied, right? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Because that's how it originally was sung. Ausra: Yes, that's true. And for this reason, it's always very hard to harmonize it, to do it in four parts in her accompaniment. Vidas: What are some of the tips you could give to people who are trying to accompany Gregorian chanting? How it's different from tonal harmony? Ausra: Well, basically, it's very different. It's a modal harmony, so you have to avoid some of those rules that you are using in classical harmony, common style harmony, common style period harmony. Vidas: And you probably mean that when you look at the music, let's say Kyrie, of Gregorian chant, you have to mentally know what kind of mode it is written. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: You have to play all the notes of the chant and try to put it into a scale, into a mode. Ascending, basically, mode. And then you will see the lowest note and the highest note, which will be an octave apart, and you will maybe think, "Oh, it's like the mode in D, but without accidentals." Ausra: Sure. Vidas: That would be like a Dorian mode- Ausra: Dorian mode, yes. Vidas: -in modern terms. So, do this first. What else should people do? Ausra: So, the best you could do actually to add as little chords as you can. Just choose a few chords that suits this mode and use them. Vidas: For example, always, you could use three chords- Ausra: Sure. Vidas: -tonic, subdominant, and dominant, but make sure you don't add any additional accidentals. Ausra: Sure, that does not belong to that mode. Vidas: For example, in D Dorian, you would not add B flat. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: And you would not add C sharp. Ausra: Yes. Not like in regular D minor. Vidas: So your dominant will be minor, and your subdominant will be? Ausra: Major. Vidas: Major, yes. Very, very different from tonal thinking. Those three chords would be just enough to get you started in harmonizing a majority of chants, and that would be a good way of thinking in general. Don't add any foreign accidentals to the mode, and you will be in a good style, I think. Okay, guys, this was Vidas- Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: -and send us your corrections either by comments and use #AskVidasAndAusra or maybe you could send it as a reply to an email, send us an email message and we will be glad to try to answer. We are not promising that we know everything, but we certainly try to help you grow as an organist. Okay, and Ausra, if they want to get a deeper involvement with us, maybe subscribe for a daily dose of inspiration, what should they do? Ausra: Well, they need to subscribe to our Total Organist program. Vidas: Yeah, we have right now a 30-day trial period and a lot of people are joining and we're very happy to be communicating with them. And they are asking other questions; it's like a small community-within-community, like an inner circle. So if you want that extra help and support, and of course you will get all the downloads and practical advice and exercises and training programs and coaching, inside of the membership area. Right now, I've been working and dumping all of our previous programs that people would get in weekly installments, one piece a week, one exercise a week ... I thought maybe people want to pick and choose which ones to get, so we've been doing this, putting everything that we are creating on Total Organist. And people can download and sign up for any coaching program, any training that they want right now. They don't have to wait for weeks and months, when their week comes. They can choose what they want to practice right now. So Total Organist right now has free trial for 30 days, so you can really take advantage of this. Thanks, guys, this was Vidas- Ausra: -and Ausra. Vidas: And remember, when you practice- Ausra: -miracles happen. Performance of 16th-18th century hymns on the organ requires special kind of fingering. This type of fingering helps to achieve the desired articulated legato touch and feel the alternation of strong and weak beats. In order to play the hymns in style it is important for an organist to know what kind of fingering to use. In addition, then the organist will have a strong feeling of meter and pulse which helps to lead the congregational singing. In this article, I will show you how to choose the best fingering for 16th-18th century hymns.
Avoid Placing a Thumb on Sharp Keys Because performance of early type of hymns has so much in common with the performance of early music on the organ, generally try to avoid placing the thumb on sharp keys. This has something to do with the early type of keyboard which was used in the Renaissance and Baroque organs. These instruments had keys which were both shorter and narrower than our modern day piano or organ keys. Placing a thumb would be very inconvenient on an early style instrument. Many authors who wrote about performance practice in the 16th-18th centuries had their individual approaches to fingering because of their national school and historical period but most of them agreed that thumbs should be avoided on sharp keys as much as possible. However, sometimes the thumbs are necessary to use because of wider intervals and chords in the left hand part. It is not uncommon to see the position C-G-C in the left hand. The thumbs are OK on the natural keys but if the piece is written in the mode of F or g, very often there is a chord B flat-F-B flat in the left hand. So in this case the thumbs cannot be avoided. The same holds true for an octave B flat-B flat. Avoid Finger Substitution Another important point about early fingering in hymn playing is that you should avoid using finger substitution. Finger substitution is a technique, fully developed in the 19th century and helps achieving a perfect legato touch. This technique involves substituting one finger to another while holding one key. Since we need a different type of articulation in early music, finger substitution will create some difficulties of articulating the hymns properly. Very often pianists who come to the organ will have this problem. If we use finger substitution, we have to think about achieving the articulate legato. On the other hand if we use that special type of fingering, we will articulate the notes naturally. Interval Fingering In hymn playing, when you play two voices in one hand, you can use interval fingering which has much in common with the finger skipping technique. This rule generally means that every interval in the Baroque or Renaissance period had its precise fingering and succession of similar intervals should be played with the same fingerings. For example, the thirds usually were played using 1-3 or 2-4. So the passage of three consecutive parallel thirds C-E, D-F, and E-G would be performed using 2-4, 2-4, and 2-4. Use 1-4 or 2-5 for the fourths and fifths (sometimes 1-5 for fifths is more convenient on a modern keyboard). Wider intervals, like sixths, sevenths, and octave are played with 1-5. Likewise, for a passage of three consecutive parallel sixths C-A, D-B, and E-C, use 1-5, 1-5, and 1-5. Write in Fingering I recommend that you write in the exact fingering that you will be using in your hymn. Do this at least at the beginning stages of your organist career. In doing so, you will prevent from playing your hymns with accidental fingerings which might not help you to achieve the desired precision and articulation. In fact, treat your hymns like normal organ music and practice accordingly. For example, you may find that in some cases playing not the entire 4 part texture but practicing in voice combinations is more beneficial. Or if you have trouble with sight reading your hymn, stop and work on one phrase at a time. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. Although hymn playing might seem as uniform area of organ art, it requires at least several different approaches. In other words, hymns from different historical period should be played differently. Gregorian chant, metric hymns from the Reformation time, 19th century hymns, 20th century spiritual songs all have their individual playing techniques that work best for that particular style. In this article, I would like to show you how to play 16th-18th century hymns on the organ. These are well-known Lutheran chorales, Calvinist psalms, English psalms, Methodist hymns, and several other hymn types.
Articulate Legato for 16th-18th Century Hymns Because the general traditional touch for keyboard music composed up until the 19th century was the so called Ordinary Touch, it should also be applied for hymn playing of that period as well. Look at the century when the particular hymn tune (melody) was created. I do not mean the date of harmonization, or the date of text creation or translation. Any of these dates might be a product of later times. Only the composition of the hymn tune is important here. If your hymn tune was created in the Reformation time, the Baroque, or the Classical period, then you should play it using the ordinary touch. The ordinary touch in today’s terms might be referred as articulate legato. It is neither legato, nor non legato. The notes should be neither connected smoothly nor too detached. One good way to describe it is this: you should try playing the melody legato using one finger only. For example, play your hymn tune with your middle finger but try to connect the notes as much as possible in order to achieve the singing tone (cantabile) which many Baroque authors adhered to. After playing it with one finger, now try to imitate the touch using normal fingering. Feel the Alternation of Strong and Weak Beats However, achieving the articulate legato in such hymns is not enough. Since one of the most important characteristics of performance practice in early music is meter, try to emphasize the meter. Any meter has a beat which is stronger than the others. It is called the downbeat. In 2/4 meter, the first beat is the downbeat (stronger) and the second is the upbeat (weaker). In ¾ meter, the first beat is stronger, and the other two are weaker. However, some theorists (Kirnberger) claim that beat 3 in such meter might also be relatively strong. It depends on what kind of chord is on this beat. If there is a new chord on this beat, it might be relatively strong. If there is just the repetition of the previous chord or this chord is in different position or inversion, then this beat is a weak one. In 4/4 meter, beats 2 and 4 are the weak ones. Beat 1 is the strongest and beat 3 is relatively strong. In hymn playing, try to make the stronger beats more accented. The other beats are weaker and don’t need to be accented. So this alternation of strong and weak beats is very important in correct performance of 16th-18th century style hymns. Shorten the Weak Beats Since the organ mechanics does not allow making dynamics with the strength or the softness of your touch, the most common way to achieve metric accents and feel the alternation of strong and weak beats is by shortening the weaker beats and prolonging the down beats a little. In other words, if your hymn tune moves in quarter notes, make rests on the weak beats. These rests depend on the acoustics of the room – the longer the reverberation – the shorter the weak beats might be and the greater the articulation. However, do not make them shorter than a half of their full duration (an eight note). Usually it is enough to make a sixteenth note rest. Do not lift your fingers off the keyboard and feel the contact with it at all times. That way it will be easier for you to control note releases. If you would like to know more about hymn playing, I highly recommend studying Organ Technique: Modern and Early by George Ritchie and George Stauffer. This method book has separate chapter on hymn playing with many important exercises. Another great resource is Art of Hymn Playing by Charles E. Callahan. It has 250 Introductions, Preludes, Free Accompaniments, and Alternate Harmonizations. The pieces range from 2 part voicing to more complex. It is meant as a graded guide to hymn playing. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. |
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. 
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