In this video I'm going to share with you the beginning process of learning to improvise a fugue on the melody of Psalm 26 from the Genevan Psalter. We'll cover a two-part counterpoint. Hope you will enjoy it! I'm using the Sauer organ sample set from Chemnitz by Sonus Paradisi and Hauptwerk VPO software.

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 597 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Bill.  And he writes,

I put in 15-30 minutes a day working on the sight reading course. I've been working on BWV 543 Bach Prelude & Fugue in A Minor mostly beyond that. Two things that frustrate me are it takes me about 3 months to learn these big fugues (practicing about 1.5 hours/day) and the playing the strings of 32nd notes evenly at high tempo. Any suggestions to speed up learning and play better at high tempos would be appreciated. I do like the sight reading course, it certainly has me reading better!

Regards,  Bill

V:  So, Ausra, do you wonder why Bill is struggling with BWV 543 so much?

A:  Well, you know, it’s one of the major pieces by J.S. Bach, and my suggestion would be, if it takes for you 3 months to learn such a piece and you still struggle playing 32nds in the fast tempo right, it means that actually this piece is actually too hard for you, for right now.  If I would be you, I would go back to an easier repertoire.  Make sure you have played all 2 part and 3 part inventions, you have done some of the Well Tempered Clavier, you have played all 8 Preludes, Small, Little Preludes and Fugues by J.S. Bach, and even then, after starting working on a major prelude and fugue by J.S. Bach, A Minor is probably not the easiest out of them.  Definitely there are easier ones.

V:  I should also add that you have to define what kind of level you should be when you take the new piece.  I have to say, what kind of, you have to master the piece, and what does it mean, right?  You have to be able to perform it for others, and then go to the next piece.

A: That’s right.

V:  If you don’t want to share your work online with strangers, that’s fine.  But please play it at least for your friends and family.  You learn a piece, and you show them what you’ve learned.

A:  Because, you know, for the piece like this A Minor, I guess if you are at the right level to play such kind of difficulty of piece, you need to be able to do text of it, roughly in a month.  If it takes you longer, it means that this piece is still too hard for you.

V:  You say you learned entire Clavierübung III by Bach, in a month.

A:  Yes.  That’s what I did. But it was when I was in good shape, at the full potential of my capacity, so…

V:  Capacity.

A:  Capacity, yes.

V:  Was your professor George Ritchie surprised?

A:  Yes.

V:  He wouldn’t learn so fast?

A:  Well, I don’t know.  Maybe he would learn it, I don’t know, but really I think I was getting to him sometimes at my learning tempos.

V:  Mm hm.  Yeah, that’s right.  Did you have good sight reading abilities at the time?

A:  Yes I did have.  But you know...it’s...usually people take it for granted - if you are a good sight reader, you can learn music fast.  It’s not true.  I was always a really good sight reader.  But usually when I play the same piece the second time or the third time, I would make more mistakes than just sight reading it.

V:  I can see why, because you lose concentration, yes?

A:  Yes.

V:  The first time might be the best.

A:  Yes, that’s how it works for me.

V:  Mm hm.  Maybe you should try sight reading short recital!

A:  (laughs)  Maybe not.

V:  Like easier pieces, and see how it goes.  I did that once with 8 Little Preludes and Fugues, BWV 553-560 and it went okay.  It went without major mistakes.  But the feeling for me wasn’t very nice.  I wasn’t relaxed.

A:  Well, it wasn’t true sight reading.  Because you had played those pieces many, many years ago.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  And then you sort of re-sight read them again.

V:  Exactly, yes.

A:  So it’s not the same.  I’m talking about…

V:  Completely…

A:  Completely new.

V:  I see.  When you learned to sight read on the organ, did you use my sight reading master course?

A:  No.

V:  Of course not.

A:  It wasn’t ready at that time.

V:  It’s a dumb question, right?

A:  Yes, it is.

V:  And I mean that, you learned, you taught yourself just by playing repertoire.

A:  Yes, that’s right.

V:  Much repertoire.  The more, the better.  So I think Bill will also get better at sight reading with our sight reading course, this will be more systematic than just simply sight reading whatever you want.  But Ausra says very wise suggestion: to take and learn easier repertoire first.  There is on American Guild of Organist website a list of graded repertoire.  For Bach music, for Langlais music, for Messiaen, for music composed after Bach in Germany.  And you can see which level A Minor Prelude and Fugue belongs to.  It certainly is not at the beginning and probably not even in the middle.  This graded repertoire list has 10 levels.  So it might be maybe level 10 or 9 or 8, something like that.  So pick something from earlier levels first, right?

A:  Yes.  Because I think that playing music, any kind of music, has to give you some kind, some sort of pleasure.  And if you are playing too hard pieces that are too hard for you at that moment,  you might get frustrated and disappointed.

V:  That’s right.  And take the time to learn each piece really well. I recommend recording yourself, even if you don't show it to anybody else.  Because this, knowing that you only have one chance to play through a piece without any stops.  Because you know that the recording is going makes you focus much better.

A:  True. And you know why I'm not arguing for you to, not encouraging you to play too hard pieces. Because I know for myself, when I was at the second grade at the academy for music, at the beginning of my second year of playing organ at all, my teacher gave me to play the B Minor Prelude and Fugue, BWV 544 by J.S. Bach.  And as you well know, it is one of the most complex Preludes and fugues by J.S. Bach.

V:  Which level, which year was that?

A:  Beginning of the second year.

V:  Wow.

A:  Of playing the organ.  And…

V:  And you wonder why my teacher gave me the A Minor at the 12th grade?

A:  I struggled so much just to learn that music, you know?  And I did it like in 2 months, but it took me such a pain, and so many hours.  I put so much effort into it. I finally played it for an exam, but it never gave me any pleasure, and I never went back to this piece.  Never in my life.  And probably will never will.  And even now, when I now listen to other organists playing this piece, I’m having this very sort of uneasy, unpleasant feeling.  So basically, that teacher just ruined me this B minor piece forever.

V:  Young teachers are like this. They imagine things much more differently than experienced teacher would, right? But I guarantee that if you took up this piece right now, it wouldn't be a problem for you at all right now, probably. You would just slowly sight read it very comfortably.

A:  Yes, but I’m not willing to do it.

V:  Yeah.  So guys, please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow.  This was Vidas.

A:  And Ausra.

V:  And remember, when you practice

A:  Miracles happen.

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By the time you guys read this, Ausra and I should have traveled to the French Alps - to play an organ duet recital in Alpe d'Huez at Notre Dame des Neiges on the organ designed by the late Jean Guillou (the notorious palm-shaped organ facade) next Thursday.

We are flying from Vilnius to Lyon and going by bus to Grenoble and from there to Alpe d'Huez. This place is a famous ski resort which has organ concert series all year round every Thursday. We will try to report from the location how we are doing 1880 meters above sea level...

By the way, support might be limited until next Saturday because we don't know what kind of Internet connection we will get in the mountains...

 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
 
Ausra: And Ausra!
 
V: Let’s start episode 414 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jeremy, and he is on the team who transcribes our fingering and pedaling videos. So, he writes:
 
I have been struggling with the Bach Dorian Fugue.  The notes for the most part are there at half speed, but getting it up to speed has been… difficult.  This being said, I did have a bright moment today that I will verify tomorrow by phone. I am learning the Dorian's Toccata and fugue for the AAGO exam in June.  As I filled out the paperwork for I thought today, I realized only the Toccata is on the list of pieces. Huzzah! I can almost play that part of it up to speed already!

V: So Ausra, I wrote to Jeremy that even though the fugue is not required for the Associates AGO exam, I hope he will still be practicing it, and he said yes, he fell in love with the fugue, and he will be trying to master it in time.
 
A: Actually, I also like the Fugue of this Dorian Toccata, even better than the Toccata itself.
 
V: I agree. Somehow, this fugue is so polyphonically complex, that it could be like a compendium of Bach’s canonic techniques. It has all kinds of subject entrances in all kinds of intervals, and especially canonic subjects, where one subject is following another at certain distances—at a certain interval—and these intervals and distances, they vary between each other, and that’s the most beautiful part of it.
 
A: So, it’s a very good example to study if you want to  explore a fugue, and how might be composed. What do you think about Toccata?
 
V:  Well, Toccata… it’s a tricky piece to play, actually, because of the motoric motion. You have to have a decent finger technique, and quite a good coordination between hands and feet.
 
A: Well, true, but don’t you think that that motoric motion throughout the piece makes it a little bit boring comparing to others of Bach’s Toccatas for organ? Because none of the other toccatas are so mechanically even.
 
V: I know what you mean, and this Dorian Toccata might be one of the earlier examples of modern toccatas, where we have examples of Widor Toccata or Böelmann Toccata, or Gigout Toccata, or Dubois Toccata, where the same pattern is repeated over and over again. Having said that, Dorian Toccata is still composed from a couple of different episodes, which are presented interchangeably in different keys. But as you say, 16th notes, those rhythms dominate the piece.
 
A: True, and of course, all toccatas have some mechanical motion. That’s what it is for, but I think in this toccata, it’s the most prominent.
 
V: Do you remember the origins of the toccata with the Italians?
 
A: Yes, I remember it. It comes from the Italian word “toccare,” which means “to touch.”
 
V: And it doesn’t say to touch fast, or motorically, or virtuosically at all. Right? In those days, if we talk about Frescobaldi or earlier composers such as Diruta, Merula, they wrote sectional toccatas, sort of like ricercars, but maybe more passages and runs throughout the piece, I would say, but they really resemble the ricercare in nature.
 
A: True! So, I think that Italian toccatas, especially, are well suited for church services, because they are sectional.
 
V: And why do people need sectional toccatas today?
 
A: Well, because sometimes in the liturgy, you don’t know how long you will have to play, so if you know the piece is sectional, you can finish at the end of any section, basically, or you could repeat some of the sections if you need more music.
 
V: I think Frescobaldi wrote, in his “Fiori Musicali,” that this is the reason he created sectional pieces—for various Mass parts, that organists could stop at the end of any episode.
 
A: Well, and that’s especially true with the Catholic churches, because you never know how much attendance you will have, and how long it will last—one or another section of the Mass.
 
V: Right, and for this reason, of course, improvisation is very useful—in earlier days, and today as well, because you can end on your own timing.
 
A: True, but if you don’t want to improvise, then play Italian music.
 
V: So guys, we hope this was useful to you. If you are studying pieces like Dorian Toccata and Fugue, don’t give up just yet, and work on gradually expanding your fragments. I found this technique very beneficial in reaching the concert tempo. And remember, when you practice,
 
A: Miracles happen.

Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.

Ausra: And Ausra.
 
V: Let’s start episode 409, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jeremy, who is on the team of transcribing fingering and pedaling for us. So he writes:
 
Finished transcribing fingering for BWV 541. Normal practice routine. Am getting a little frustrated with the Bach Dorian Fugue. The Toccata is in good shape, with two transitions requiring some attention, but the fugue is simply being difficult. Trying to speed it up: working on two pages a day, starting at half speed, and then working it up. There are moments that aren't a problem, but there are an equal number of sections that I am having getting up to speed. Will try again tomorrow. Just venting.
 
V: I’m happy that Jeremy doesn’t give up after a few unsuccessful attempts with the Dorian Fugue, don’t you think?
 
A: Yes. He’s very brave, and I think we all should be. It’s natural to struggle with fugues. They are usually much more difficult and much more complex than preludes. And why do you think it is so, Vidas?
 
V: Thank you, for this thoughtful question. I think fugues are polyphonically much more complex because even though preludes might have polyphonic sections within the prelude, but fugue is contrapuntal throughout, which means that each voice imitates other voices—takes up a theme, and this theme is presented in different shapes and ways, in different voices and keys. And your mind has to notice all of that. All the while other voices are playing something else sometimes—even more complex things. Four part polyphony, like in the Dorian Fugue—I’m not sure, maybe it’s even five part, five parts polyphony. Could be. It’s really complex for your feet and hand, and your mind especially to grasp. And because this is alla breve meter, not 4/4, but 2/2, basically two half notes per measure. It is much faster tempo and you have to adjust to that.
 
A: Well, then what do you think about speeding things up? Do you think it’s worth to push or somehow you need to keep working in a slow tempo, and tempo will speed up by itself?
 
V: Yes, and no. Yes means that if you are not ready to speed up, then working in a faster tempo will just damage the texture, probably. But if you are ready to start pushing it up, upwards, then maybe working in smaller fragments in a really fast tempo—in a concert tempo, and stopping at the end of the fragment, and then continuing in a fast tempo and then stopping again—would be a good way to go. Maybe stopping at each half note first, and then at each measure, at each, every two measures, every four measures, and so on, always doubling the fragment.
 
A: Yes! I think that would be very helpful.
 
V: But if this doesn’t help; sometimes people write me that ‘I tried this, but still, it’s a struggle’. You need to understand that each, let’s say, step, right? When you’re playing this with stops, you have to do repeatedly, not just once. So if you’re only playing a fugue, or any piece of music just once in your practice, and playing another piece, it doesn’t count as complete practice. You need to work several days like that—stopping on the smallest beat. And only when you’re feeling that you’re playing without mistakes like that, then you go to the second step—doubling the fragment. For some people, it’s as long as one week, for one combination.
 
A: True! Do you think that knowing the structure of the fugue will help? Analyzing complete fugue, would help to learn it easier.
 
V: Mmm-hmm. Of course, this fugue which Bach wrote, is a canonic fugue. It has many canons. And various kinds of canons. I mean, sometimes in inversion, sometimes in different intervals too. So when you’re playing slowly first, you write down what you see. You write which voices playing the subject, you write the key of that subject. What else? You write the number of subject appearance, one, two, three, four five, etc. And you could also write, you could write the counterpoint, if it is counterpoint one, two, three sometimes. They are interchangeable in some fugues. You notate everything, and you notice, especially—it’s important to notice when you’re practice—what you have notated, what you have analyzed. Would that help, Ausra?
 
A: Yes, because I think you know what voice does what. You will play differently. Because when subject appears, it’s important to show it off for people, and to hear it yourself, because if you will not hear it, nobody will hear it. And it’s very important. So I think understanding the structure will help you to learn faster, and to know what you are doing, and to play it with more success.
 
V: I would just add, with fugues, because they have constant number of voices, it’s also very beneficial to sing one voice and play the others. Of course it would be too difficult to play three voices and sing one, but maybe start with singing one voice, play and singing solo voice, any voice you choose. And then add one voice of accompaniment—one hand or pedals. And then do all the combinations. And then maybe three voices, meaning you sing one and play two. And after while you will be ready to do voices—sing one and play four. What benefit you see in this practice, Ausra?
 
A: Well, it’s very complex in benefit, because will develop your pitch, and you will develop your coordination, and you will definitely deepen your knowledge of music in general.
 
V: It’s basically the same practice that you do with kids at school in ear training classes.
 
A: True! And I’m trying to convince them that they need to sing when they are practicing piano. I don’t know if they are doing that but this is one of the best ways to make better your pitch.
 
V: Mmm-hmm. Improve.
 
A: Improve, your pitch, yes.
 
V: But always sing what you are not playing—never double the voice and the instrument.
 
A: Well, I don’t think it’s that important. You might want to play all and sing one voice.
 
V: At first.
 
A: At first, yes because otherwise it might be too difficult for the beginner.
 
V: Mmm.
 
A: Plus because of the singing, it might change things too. But that yes, the wise technique is that you won’t play that voice which you are singing.
 
V: Excellent.
 
A: And this is very helpful technique if you are playing on the piano, organ piece. Then you can sing pedal parts. That way you will have entire texture.
 
V: Exactly. Good advice! I hope will be helpful to people. So please keep sending us your wonderful questions. We love helping you grow. And remember; when you practice...
 
V: Miracles happen!

Would you like to master Fugue in C Minor, BWV 575 by J.S. Bach?

I have created this score with the hope that it will help my students who love early music to recreate articulate legato style automatically, almost without thinking.

Thanks to David Poole for meticulous transcription of fingering from the slow motion video.

Intermediate level. PDF score. 5 pages. 50% discount is valid until June 20.

This score is free for Total Organist students.
​
Bellow is my practice video in slow motion (for manuals only):

A few days ago I have received a request from Christian-Angel to provide a score of BWV 579 with fingering and pedaling. That's Johann Sebastian Bach's Fugue in B minor on the Theme by Corelli.

Today I finally finished this project which any of our students can now take advantage of. It will save you many hours of struggle and help you to master this beautiful fugue easier and quicker. It's a PDF score with 5 pages.

A few tips on learning this piece:

For Christian-Angel the most difficult part is the final Stretto - the last 3 systems. This is not surprising because in any Stretto composer develops the theme canonically. This means that a few voices have the same melody played but not at the same time - the parts enter before the previous one has finished.

In this fugue it's so important to practice ALL 15 combinations separately: S, A, T, B, SA, ST, SB, AT, AB, TB, SAT, SAB, STB, ATB and SATB. Make sure you don't skip any of the steps and try not to rush - extremely slow tempo works best for practice purposes.

Don't forget that you don't have to work on the fugue on its entirety, practice of small episodes of about 1 line works best. Start and finish each episode on the downbeat. This helps to connect the fragments between themselves.

In my experience, I had to repeat each step at least 3 times without mistakes in a row before I was ready to go on to the next combination.

And if you apply my fingering, you will achieve articulate legato naturally, almost without thinking. 50 % discount is valid until November 15.

Enjoy and let me know how your practice goes.
​
This score is free for Total Organist students.

Vidas:    Let's start episode 43 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. And this question was sent by Lilla, and she writes, “Dear Vidas, if you could accept my question, here it is. What practice methods do you suggest for simple fugal improvisation? It might be a good idea to practice it in your writing as well. A good source material method would be tremendous help and would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for all your work. Sincerely, Lilla.”

Interesting question right?

Ausra:    Yes.

Vidas:    Not many people ask us question about the improvising fugues.

Ausra:    Sure, because not many organists improvise them.

Vidas:    Not many people are brave enough even to try.

Ausra:    Yes, sure. But as Lilla mentions in her question, that's a good way would be to write it down first of all, or basically start to analyzing other composer's fugues, just to know how they are constructed, then try to write some of them down, and then just go to the practical work.

Vidas:    Yeah, exactly. What Ausra is mentioning is, before you had any treatises, before you had any method books, and exercise books, what did composers do? They studied other works, they studied a compositions of previous masters, who lived before them.

And they, of course, analyzed them and copied them note by note, and maybe arranged them for organ, for other instruments. Like, Johann Sebastian Bach arranged for harpsichord, I think Hortus Musicus by Johann Adam Reincken, these were for string quartets, also contrapuntal works and Bach studied this way. So, before somebody even wrote a treatise on the fugue, or even on contrapuntal imitation, improvisation, they worked practically, analyzing things and writing them down.

Ausra:    Sure, and you know later you could take Weimar Tabulature by Johann Pachelbel, (not to be confused with Weimar Organ Tabulature) that's an excellent source for improvising. Easy fugues, fuguettes I would say. And then the next step would be, probably to take the Handel's book.

Vidas:    Exactly, Continuo Exercises According to George Frideric Handel.

Ausra:    At the beginning, he gives the number to exercises of basso continuo, and later on he gets to the fugues, to improvising fugues based on the basso continuo.

Vidas:    What do you mean probably is like partimento fugue.

Ausra:    Yes.

Vidas:    Where you only have the bass line, and the entrance of the subject notated in the bass clef. Sometimes the clefs change, but they also notate which voice has to enter and according to the principals of polyphonic imitation you add other voices, based on intervals.

Ausra:    Actually, yes. And after Handel you could proceed to the Langloz Manuscript. And actually this is much harder, much more complex than Handel's book. But after Handel you definitely can try to do it.

Vidas:    It's a very interesting collection of contrapuntal fugues, which are also simplified in notation, just like Buxtehude would write in his organ praeludiums and toccatas. Those intricate fugal sections, but you could write them in one line, in bass line, they're very lively, fast moving instrumental type of fugues, just like Buxtehude and his friends. Therefore, they're more difficult to play than Handel's.

Ausra:    Definitely. I remember doing them and that's very hard.

Vidas:    Yeah.

Ausra:    Very hard.

Vidas:    But if you practice them diligently (it's a big collection), if you do all of them, one by one, it gets easier.

Ausra:    Yes, definitely, just don't practice them all in a given row. You just pick up the easiest first.

Vidas:    Yeah, with slower note values.

Ausra:    Yes, definitely.

Vidas:    And also, these are primary sources, right?

Ausra:    Yes.

Vidas:    Composer's at the day, in the 18th century wrote them as exercises for their students.

What about a little bit later collections and exercises that people could practice? You know there's a student of Bach, Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg I think wrote-

Ausra:    A big treatise, yes, I remember that.

Vidas:    Treatise on the Fugue.

Ausra:    Yes.

Vidas:    That’s in English and in German it's Abhandlung von die Fuge. It is like an analysis of many, many, Bach's fugues, basically Well Tempered Clavier and even Art of Fugue contrapuntal pieces, it's like a predecessor of modern Treatise on the Fugue, and many modern Treatises on the Fugue method books, are based on this, right?

Ausra:    They are based on Marpurg. And because Bach hasn't left any written sources, Marpurg's book is actually about Bach's legacy.

Vidas:    Now based on Marpurg is a collection of exercises, which were practiced at the Paris Conservatory in the 19th Century and into 20th century too by Andre Gedalge. It's called Treatise on the Fugue, it has 11 or 12 chapters, and each chapter is based on one particular aspect of the fugue. Like the theme, the counter subject, an answer, episodes, stretto, things like that. It's indispensable for any serious student of fugal improvisation.

Ausra:    Yes, and good luck with that.

Vidas:    Now, do you think that people could benefit from practicing Marcel Dupre's Treatise on Improvisation Vol. 2, where he has an entire chapter on the Fugue?

Ausra:    Definitely, yes.

Vidas:    But it's for later, because Marcel Dupre himself advises people to go back to Andre Gedalge’s Treatise on the Fugue first, and write down exercises, on the paper with pencil first, and only then try to improvise on the organ from Dupre's treatise.

Ausra:    So basically, there are three steps. Analyze other composer's work, then try to write Fuges down by yourself. You can compose your own subject or you can pick up some subjects from real fugues and then try to improvise it.
​
Vidas:    Three steps. Very good, Ausra, I hope people can take advantage of this, and let us know what specific step is your favorite from this podcast conversation, what would you apply this week, and let us know how it works.

And please send us more of your questions, and you can do this easily by subscribing to our blog at www.organduo.lt and replying to any of our messages, we'll be glad to help you out.

This was Vidas.

Ausra:    And Ausra.

Vidas:    And remember, when you practice - 

Ausra:    Miracles happen.

PS Our first e-book "Is It Possible to Learn to Play the Organ When You Are 56 Years Old" is available here  for a low introductory price of $2.99 until August 9. If you have already read it, please leave a rating and review.

By Vidas Pinkevicius

​There are folks who think that fugue is boring. They are terrified of the wonders that polyphony offers.

They prefer to play and listen to flashy toccatas. Loud and fast is their motto.

Which is fine with me. But the fugue has something in it that no other genre has. It only requires a certain state of mind to appreciate. A willingness to analyze intellectually.

​The best way to appreciate a fugue is to count the number that subjects appear. Noting which voice it is played in is worth too. If you're advanced enough theoretically, you can note the keys of the subjects also.

My friend Jan Karman has spent the last 8 years writing fugues on the melodies of the Genevan psalter. He's just released the first 30 fugues in a separate collection. I spoke with him last summer on the podcast about his passion in writing fugues where he takes us behind the scenes of his method of composition.

Jan's relentless efforts to perfect his craft remind me a certain professor of Fugue at the Paris Conservatory who started his every day by writing a fugue for more than 20 years.

What do you do every day before breakfast?