Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 535 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by James, and he writes: “Thank you for your podcast, it has been a great help. I have played the piano for 25 years and the organ at my church for 17, but was only able to take organ lessons for the first 2 years, the rest has been essentially self-taught. Your podcasts have been very informative. 1. my dream for organ playing: I know I will never be a concert organist, but I would like to be able to really make my church organ sound great, and select unique registrations throughout the Mass. 2. The 3 most important things holding me back: a. over the years, I have basically settled for just a handful of different basic registrations for hymns, etc. without much variety b. my church has a relatively small, 22-rank, 2-manual Zimmer pipe organ, installed in 1999, which is almost completely enclosed inside an alcove, and doesn't "sing" very well. The church is the size of a cathedral, but I'm afraid the organ is too small for the space. c. I have never had formal instruction in the theory of organ registration, other than what I have learned on my own. I know the basics of building a principal chorus, understanding overtones and harmonics, etc., but my registrations are still very "boring" in my opinion. Again, thank you for your podcast and teaching, and I look forward to any advice you can give me. -James” V: So, Ausra, James has a problem with registration. He wants to make his organ sound great, and his registrations to be unique, so to say. A: Well, don’t we all want to do something beautiful, and to register nicely. But the problem is that I think that when you are asking about registrations and about how to register a certain piece, or in general how to select the best registration, actually, you need to give us the specification list of your organ. Because otherwise, you know, we might be talking about different things, because it’s sort of hard to suggest something without seeing the actual stops. And even when having the list of stops, you still might need to adjust something, because you really need to listen to the organ in the real situation. But, I guess if his church is the size of a cathedral and he has only 22 stops, it might be too small for such a room. Another thing, you know, when you register, you also need to think about reverberation—if the room is reverberate or not. It also means a lot. But I thought about his asking how to increase sound of the organ, so basically what you could do, either to add the manual couplers, or in some cases, you would probably need to play things an octave lower. That also might help sometimes, because, for example, we have so many organs built in Orgelbewegung style, that have these screamy, ugly, sound mixtures… not all of them, of course, but most of them actually have them. So it sounds nice when you play things an octave lower when it has more of a sort of a round and nice sound. V: Yeah, I’m not sure if this applies to him, because we don’t know the specification. We don’t even know the composition of the mixture—if it’s a low mixture or if it’s a high mixture. But in general, what he can do is to thicken the texture a little bit. Play with… I don’t know how his organ technique is—well advanced or not—but he could play in more than four-part texture. More parts per chord. Right? Is that necessary? A: That’s a possibility, but it doesn’t always work. But, you know, he thinks that he sort of registers pieces the same all the time, like hymns. But I think it’s not a bad idea. You know? Because, I think when you are working as a church organist, you develop some sort of routine, and this is good. Maybe you don’t want to experiment every time, and you need to be ready in advance. But of course, what you could do, and we have talked about it, actually in our previous podcasts, that you could project, let’s say, the Cantus firmus, on one manual, and play other voices on another manual. And your Cantus firmus could be either in the Soprano, as most hymns are written, but you could also play it in the tenor voice, and even in the bass sometimes works, too. That would be also a possibility to do something different. V: Yes, not only his registration should change, but maybe the manner of playing! A: True. V: Spice things up. Make it more colorful and interesting. Maybe add some non-chordal notes, like passing tones and neighbor tones, suspensions, re-harmonize. A: Yes! V: I don’t know if he has some skill in that or not, but that could certainly be a possibility, and a 22 rank 2 manual organ might sound like eight stops per manual plus additional stops in the pedals. So, if you have something like 8 stops in the manual, this could be something like 8’ Principal, 8’ Flute, maybe a Gamba, maybe 4’ Principal like Octave, maybe a 4’ Flute, then maybe a 2’ Principal, probably (a Super Octave), Mixture, and a Trumpet, probably. What else… maybe instead of a string stop, he might have a fifth stop (2 2/3’) instead of that on the first manual. I’m just guessing, of course. A: Yes, this is just a hypothetical thought, because we don’t see the specification lists. What else could he do, because he wants to find new registrations? Sometimes you might use only 4’ Flute alone in some soft interludes, for example. It works nicely if you have some sort of canzona-like piece, which is a little bit polyphonic, and it has a joyful character—a joyful, sweet character. You might try the 4’ flute alone. V: Or 4’ Principal. A: Yes. Or sometimes 4’ and 2’ stops, if they are soft enough—if the 2’ is not too screamy. V: If it has a Trumpet, you could play the harmony with the Trumpet, as well, in a festive situation. A: Yes. V: Or, if you have a Cantus firmus in the soprano, you could solo it out, take it on another manual with a reed stop, or a Cornet stop would work on the second manual, for example, in general, taking it on two manuals, not on one, gives more colorful options. Then, of course, your solo stop could be played in the tenor range, with the left hand. A: That’s right. And we don’t know if he has a 16’ stop on the manual, but if he does, he might play some music also on two manuals, and he could accompany with his left hand, with the 16’ and 8’, and then add some higher pitched stops on the other manual for solo voice. V: Or even re-harmonize the four voices or three voices, soprano alto and bass, and play the pedal with the reed, if he has an 8’ Trumpet, and in the tenor range, not in the base range. A: And in general, if he has some assistance, it would be really nice if he could go to listen to his organ from the side. V: Record himself. A: Or yes, if he doesn’t have help, he might record himself, and to listen to those various combinations, and then he might decide what works, and what does not, and in general, if he has a big hall during Mass, for example, then of course, he needs to consider that he needs to use more stops than if playing in church alone, because people will just eat up the sound. V: Right. He doesn’t say that he wants to be a concert organist, but it doesn’t hurt to play pieces that could be supplemental to the liturgy in addition. That could be part of the concert repertoire, but that could be liturgical chorales, or chorale preludes. And with these, you could experiment with even more colorful registrations. A: That’s right. So, I think that a 22 rank instrument is fairly enough for experiments. V: Yes. Hopefully, he can take advantage of this, and share his music with the congregation, and hopefully get feedback—nice feedback. A: I know, but also, you don’t have to do experiments like play with mixture stops alone. That definitely wouldn’t work. V: No. People hearing it will scream. A: So, I guess the organ in general is quite a conservative instrument, so you need to apply certain rules, and not experiment too much. V: Alright 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.
Comments
Yesterday I had my 3rd harmony class for church organists where I taught people how to add a middle voice to the hymn tune. Previously the homework for them was to supply only the bass line but now the texture sounds much fuller.
Three-part harmonization is very useful when you have church choir without tenors. This is very often the case in a lot of church choirs in Lithuania. Men voices in general are more rare than women's voices but tenors are twice as rare. So the way the two-part harmonization works is only to employ intervals which sound sweet or pure - major or minor 3rds, major or minor 6ths and perfect 8ves and perfect 5ths. However, people had to avoid parallel 5ths and 8ves by writing as much contrary motion as possible - if the melody goes up - the bass goes down and vice versa. Two classes in a row we worked on this arrangements of voices and actually it already sounds nice, if played with a full Principal chorus with mixtures. For some students this is easier than for others, of course. It depends on their talent, skill level and experience. While adding a middle part, people were free to imagine it as an alto or as a tenor or a combination of both - writing it either in the upper or the lower stave. The rules are basically the same as before - no parallel 5ths and 8ves and no hidden 5ths and 8ths either - when jumping into a 5th or an 8ve from the same direction. Only opposite motion here is OK. No dissonances (2nds and 7ths). Most importantly, in every chord use either all 3 chordal notes (like C-E-G), or if you must skip something, skip a 5th (G in C-E-G chord), but leave a 3rd of the chord (E in this case). I plan to have one more class with three-part harmonization before moving into a full SATB texture. Try it out if you're curious how it works on any melody you like.
Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 507. This question was sent by Dan. And he writes: Hi Vidas and Ausra, Hard to believe that you guys are almost up to 500 episodes already. Seems just like yesterday that you started the podcast. I’ve been a listener right from day one. To comment on this episode, another thing that an organist could do during service, if playing a hymn that’s less familiar, is to solo out the melody on a second manual, with a prominent reed stop, a couple of principals, or a suitable combination on that second manual, so that the melody could be heard. I’ve observed over the years that this is a technique that I’ve heard organist use, to assist congregations with new material. Our organist that we had when I’d first started going to the church I’m going to, back in 2000, if there was an unfamiliar hymn, before the service, he’d take maybe 10 minutes and go over it. Then during service, for the first verse, he’d solo out the melody, on the festival trumpet on the choir division of the organ there. I think in the service, soloing out the melody of a hymn, is a good technique to assist the congregation right from the organ. A: Well, it is a good technique, and I think it might work in many cases, but in Lithuania, for example, we have many, many churches where an organ has only one manual, one single manual, so that technique simply wouldn’t work. And in that case, I would suggest if you want to really make a melody very prominent, you need to play it in octaves on that single manual. V: No other chords? A: No other chords, yes. No supporting harmony. Mainly to play the hymn melody in the pedal, and then to do it in octaves with your hands. V: So for example, if the starting note of the hymn is, let’s say, treble C, your left hand would play tenor C, and pedal would play bass C, the lowest note. A: That’s right. V: In three octaves, basically. A: Yes. V: Mm hm. A: Because, this is like a dream, when Dan talks about Festive Trumpet. How many organs in Lithuania have a Festive Trumpet that is in shape good enough to be able to play it? V: Yeah. First of all, reeds need to be tuned regularly. A: True, true. But of course, you know, we are living in a different world. And each time when Vidas and I go abroad to give recitals, the most amazing thing for me is how well organs abroad are taken care of. Because, whenever you go to France or to Scandinavian countries, organs are in the best shape, although some of them stand in unheated churches, and still everything is right in tune. V: Well, it’s very simple actually. Organist takes care of regular maintenance that you need to work on, for example, tuning the reed or a flute or two if it’s out of tune a little bit. But less often. Reeds are more often, right? Most often, organist has to have an assistant helping him or her. So just one person has to press the keys on the organ console. The organist has to go into the pipes and tune those reeds. Sometimes reeds are not far away. They can reach, he can reach it from the organ bench or from the ground floor, too. But, if organist takes care of regular reeds maintenance, then he or she has to have a good training in this. It’s not for everyone, right? A: True. And in Lithuania, we lack that sort of training. Most of organists just have no idea what is inside of the instrument, and have no idea how to maintain it. V: And no interest in it. A: True. V: Basically no interest in finding out even how the organ functions. A: And this is jsut too bad because we have so many beautiful churches. Especially in Vilnius, most of them are built in the Baroque style, and we have wonderful acoustics. But organs aren’t in good shape, many of them. V: And for example, organists write their registration without any regard of what stops they’re using, right? They would write down numbers. A: That’s right. V: But they don’t know what those numbers mean. When they go to another organ, they have to start their registration process all over again. Because number 5 or number 18 doesn’t tell them anything. A: That’s right. V: So that’s one thing. They’re not interested into technicalities of the instrument. And another thing is that a church has to have a contract with an organ building firm. A: Well, you need to have an organ building firm. Do you remember when we tried to get hold of some organ firm that would take care of our organ at St. John’s so that we wouldn’t have to do it regularly? V: Nobody wanted it. A: Nobody wanted it, nobody took that position. So we do everything ourselves. V: Mm hm. A: Basically, it’s because we don’t have many organ building shops in Lithuania anymore. V: Only about two, I would say, are left. A: Yes. It’s not enough. V: There is some sign that one or two younger people are more interested in this, and in the future might open their practice. A: Well, but you know, how will you make a living? It’s very hard. They would not receive many new contracts, and only take care of old instruments. Who will pay you for doing that work? Usually, you know, church doesn’t want to pay for it. V: If you travel around the country just doing maintenance, let’s say on weekdays, right? Five days a week, you can travel to five organs. A: True. And I think that what makes this all issue, is that so many people don’t understand about organ at all. And even well-educated people don’t. Because I remember maybe ten or more years back, we had this question risen in Vilnius, because of St. John’s church organ. I think the rector asked, “So, we built an instrument, we paid so much money, and now it needs tuning, it needs maintenance?” He couldn’t believe it. So, it’s just such a narrow-mindedness, I would call it. V: Yeah. Organists have to do more education. Educating activities, showing for the general audiences how their organ works, how much is needed to maintain it, right? And even organ builders who are left here still active in the country need to open their shops for the society. For the general audience, once in a while. And invite and give tours to show how the pipes are constructed, how they work on new organs or restorations of old instruments. That would be very interesting. A: Yes, it would be. V: Excellent. So we started this conversation with a question from Dan, right? A: And finished it very differently. But anyway, it’s so nice that Dan has listened to our podcasts since the first episode, and that he now wonders about us doing 500 already. V: Yes, this is number 507. So we already passed number 500. By the time you will hear this, guys, we might be recording 520 perhaps. A: Yes, that’s a possibility. But anyway, I think Dan’s idea about soloing out the melody is very appropriate. And if you have larger organ and have possibility to do it, then please do it, because it really works. Of course, the hymn has to be in sort of festival character. It shouldn’t be, you wouldn’t use solo trumpet for, let’s say hymn that is in a soft character V: Yes, because… A: ...or a sorrowful character, because reeds provide festive mood, festive atmosphere. V: Yeah. If you need to solo out a melody on a gentle hymn, then maybe use some kind of principal combination. A: Yes. V: Or maybe flute combination with flutes 8, 4, maybe Tierce or a 5th, or like a cornet. A: Yes. I thought about cornet if you don’t have a trumpet, for example, you can use cornet instead of it. It will sound probably more gentile than trumpet, but would still work really well. V: You mean gentle. A: Yes, gentle. V: Good. 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.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 492 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ruth, who is our Total Organist student. She wrote: “I wonder what are the best ways for teaching new hymns. I am also the pastor. So, I have had some choice in the hymns. I wonder, though, how others teach new hymns. And, which ones have been loved by your congregations? Have some choices been a surprise?” I guess it would be wonderful for our community to jump in and leave some feedback about hymns; how they teach new hymns, and what the communities/congregations love the most. A: I think this is, in general, a very important question, and I think it touches many church musicians, because it’s a number one issue, about how to choose hymns, how to sing hymns, how to teach new hymns. V: I had an experience in teaching new hymns at our St. John’s Church, but a long time ago, when we were both regular organists. You would play the organ… A. True. And you would conduct the congregation from downstairs. V: It’s a two person work, then, like a teamwork. A: But, if you know you don’t have such a large church building as ours and as St. Johns’, and maybe you have some sort of keyboard downstairs. You could use it. I think that would be an idea. Maybe your organ is upstairs, but maybe your piano is downstairs. V: Yes. And the piano, maybe, is in the visible place where people could see you. Some places you could even move the piano closer to the center during the rehearsal. I just had this podcast conversation with Andreas Spahn, organist from Germany. He is a church musician. But, as I understood, he has these organ or choir rehearsals with the congregation, but they’re not long. They are just three or five minutes long, before the service starts. I thought, “Why is he doing them so short? Why not 15 minutes, like we would do.” It appears that people are gathering at the church at the last moment, and there are not many people 15 minutes before the service. A: Sure, time is money, so… everybody is counting. V: Everybody is making money on Sunday morning. A: Well… V: Yeah… well, hopefully, this approach is really applicable for a lot of situations. Not only for new hymns, but maybe old hymns that have been forgotten and need to be resurrected. How would you, Ausra, conduct this rehearsal, if you had to choose. A: Well, I would just go through each line. V: How many hymns? A: Well, I think for such a rehearsal you may do only one thing. So, basically, if you are leading a service, I wouldn’t choose all new hymns. You can only introduce one new hymn per service. V: Why not two? A: It might be too difficult—too much new information. V: You’re right. Does it matter where this new hymn comes in the service? In the beginning? Middle? End? A: I don’t think it’s so important. But, of course, if you just rehearse before the rehearsal, then it really would be an opening hymn, right from the rehearsal to performance. V: Is it okay if I did a rehearsal when I first sang the first verse, and then asked them to repeat phrase by phrase, line by line? A: Yes, I think it’s nice. It should work. But, I think it’s also important that you would sing all verses that you are intending to sing during the service, because for me, the biggest problem is to do the second, the third and the other verses. Because usually, what you have in some hymnals, at least in Lithuania, is that you have the first verse written underneath the score, and it’s very convenient, because you see the music and the words together. But other verses, they are written below the page after the score is finished. So, it’s not so comfortable to do it, because you have to still look at the music, especially if you are accompanying yourself, and then to be able to follow the words. V: You’re right. I think in Western hymnals, they have three or four verses written under the notes. A: But still, it’s not as comfortable to see them, to follow them as the first verse. V: Yeah. That’s right. So, basically, go through each verse, and then this melody will sing by itself, probably, into their memory. A: True! Plus, I think a lot of success also depends on the meter of the hymn. If it has a regular meter, strong beats in every measure, then it makes life easier. But if you choose something based on Gregorian chant, or sort of modal, also based on modes, that might not be as easy to sing for a congregation, because I think rhythm is crucial for congregational singing. So I would suggest maybe just to avoid such hymns. V: I think this might work, too. A: You also need to include your choir into your rehearsals. That might be a big help for you and for your congregation. And I remember that what else you could do, of course, the choir might show an example of that unfamiliar hymn for a congregation, but later on during the service, you might spread your choir throughout your congregation. Let’s say you have 20 choir members, and you have a hundred rows in the church. You might divide your choir members between those rows, that you might help your congregation to sing better. I think this might work, too. V: This is really a clever idea, and it has been done before, and usually the congregation feels more confident when there are people around them singing with confidence. A: So you might try that, as well. V: Do choir members have to be dressed like civilians or in robes? A: I don’t think it’s important. It’s up to the tradition, so… V: Concealed! They have to conceal themselves. A: Not necessarily, I think. V: If they are members of the congregation, people will recognize them, anyway. A: But anyway, I think it’s a wise solution to listen to the service from downstairs, even for an organist or music director, because that way, you might notice and listen to members of your congregation who sing very well, and that might be a possibility to choose new members of the choir. So, anyway… V: Good idea. Ok 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.
Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 480 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ruth. And she writes: Today I will be going over hymns not familiar to my congregation. The reason is that I would like to select several for them to learn, but only one at a time. V: I thought of including this question in the podcast because I think it relates to the challenge of selecting repertoire and hymns that are not familiar to the congregation, and lots of people are in this situation. Not only Ruth, I think. A: Yes, especially if you don’t have a choir that leads congregational singing. Then it might be hard to introduce new hymns into a service. V: It’s maybe a different situation for Ruth, because she is an ordained minister, and she selects hymns. And for example, a lot of organists just follow their ministers’ lead, and they work with what they have. But sometimes, organists select hymns, too. A: True. V: If you are a music director. A: Yes, appropriate for an occasion. V: Or you work maybe with a minister together, right? And sometimes, a minister might choose readings from the scripture that talk about certain things, and a sermon appropriate too, and the music director would choose some hymns appropriate to these texts. But then the question is either to sing a familiar hymn about these topics or unfamiliar one? A: Well, I guess it’s probably a wise idea that during one service you will have only one unfamiliar hymn. Because if you would put all the unfamiliar hymns, I don’t think it would work. And another idea that popped into my mind when I was reading Ruth’s question was that it might be a good idea to do rehearsals with the congregation. Like really short, brief rehearsals. Probably before the service. V: Yeah, music director or organist could come forth in front of the congregation and sing one or two hymns. A: Yes, and maybe do one line solo, one verse, and then to sing with everybody. That’s a good practice. We did it actually, many years back, you remember? V: In Vilnius? A: Yes. V: Have we done this in Lincoln? A: I don’t think so. Everybody just sang so well, so we didn’t have to do it in Lincoln. V: Yeah. If you start to teach something before the service starts, people are really attentive in that moment, and they appreciate the care that you're providing, right, they know that organist is doing more than it’s required. It’s not required from you, it’s not in your job description to lead those rehearsals. But obviously, it’s a nice gesture, I think, and people would appreciate it. A: True. V. Maybe not for everybody, and not maybe right away, but if you do this week by week, you will get this tradition of better singing. A: That’s right. V: Which means a lot. All right, guys. We hope this was useful to you. Do you think Ausra, this was useful for people who work in churches. A: Yes, I think so. Rehearsals with the congregation, I think it’s a good idea. V: And choosing hymns that are not familiar for congregation, but not all of them right away, but just one or two at a time. A: True. V: And please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 464, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by James, in response to my email where I ask him ‘what is his dream in organ playing, and what are some obstacles that are challenging for him’, and he wrote: 1* to play hymns with a very clean and clear technique, and with spiritually inspiring embellishment and improvisation. To come out of “Ordinary organist”. 2a * accurate counting. (Naturally and effortlessly) 2b * natural and easy interpretation of embellishments 2c * self concept. (“I am just an ordinary organist, and won’t reach the top”). ........................................................................ I play digital electronic 2 manual organ with full AGO pedalboard. Rodgers C505. In the past I neglected to develop a firm technique for counting, metre and beat sub division. Theory is good. Organ understanding, pretty fair to good: Roger Davis Manual. Practice habits, fair to good. I had a 15 year gap not playing, restarted in 2017. ...... Thanks VP and A. Blessings! V: Alright! So, I think James wants to learn hymns and play them with improvisation and embellishment which will help him to come out of, what he calls ‘ordinary organist’. What’s wrong with being ordinary organist, Ausra? A: Well, don’t think there is anything wrong with this. But I don’t think that we are ordinary. I think each of us is a little bit extraordinary. V: In which way? A: That each of us is unique, I think. V: Mmm. Interesting. Could you develop this idea a little further? A: Well, for example let’s say, you are better improviser than I am, but I might be better in another field… V: Mmm-hmm. A: of organ playing. V: I see. So you’re saying that James has to find his strength. A: Yes, I guess so. V: Not comparing himself with others, but find his uniqueness. Do you think sometimes our strengths lie where our wishes are, or not always? A: I think most of the time, yes. But I think we feel our strengths and I think people tend to improve these strengths not their weaknesses, in many of case. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And that’s probably not a good thing when we are talking about practicing. V: Why? A: Well, because if you want sort of to really improve, I think you need to work on the weaknesses too, that they would become your strengths. I don’t know if that makes sense. V: What is my weakness? A: I don’t know. I’m not an analyst. V: But from the side you could see easier. A: I think your lack of constant work. V: What do you mean constant work? Working day and night? A: No, I mean that you start one project and then you drop it and you jump to another. V: Consistency maybe. A: Yes. Consistency. That’s right. You are like this type of enthusiasts. V: I’m a squirrel. A: Yes, and you are very enthusiastic about planning something but not so much about executing it. V: Uh-huh, so if I worked on this weakness, I would flip it and make it into my strength. A: I think so. V: Do you think it’s realistic for me? A: Well, probably not, but … V: Knowing me for twenty or more years. A: Probably not. I think everything is easier when you are younger and it gets a little bit harder with years to change yourself. Sometimes it’s almost impossible. But what I like really about this letter that he says things so clearly and sort of really knows what he wants to achieve. Don’t you think so? V: Mmm-hmm. I think he has a good analytical mind. A: True. And that might be very helpful too, in his practice. V: If he assesses himself well, right? A: Yes. Because I really doubt it that many organists could make a list of what we really need to improve. V: Mmm-mmm. A: What [our] weaknesses are. so that’s a really good thing. V: So in the past, he writes, he neglected to develop a firm technique for counting meter and beats subdivision. A: Yes. This is actually a crucial technique for any musician. V: I see sometimes people in our studio, Unda Maris studio, playing either faster or slower without any sense of pulse. And in difficult spots slowing down, and easier spots a little bit faster. Sounds very musical, right? A: True. It’s like in that Bach’s Prelude in A minor—remember, that there was a time at the Academy of Music when a few students at the same time, played that prelude and fugue. And beginning is quite easy… V: Mmm-mmm. A: because sort of like a recitative… V: Mmm-mmm. A: at the beginning but then it gets harder and harder. And I remember one student starting quite fast and then just slowing down. So at the beginning of the first page at the end of it the tempo was completely different. V: Right. A: So I guess there are two things when talking about counting and keeping meter and tempo. You really need to choose your tempo really wisely. You need to choose accordingly the harder spot, not according to the beginning. And then of course you need to count, but then another thing, you need to listen what you are playing to because I believe that if you cannot keep steady tempo, either you have really technical challenges, and this piece might be too hard for you… V: Mmm-hmm. A: yet, or you simply don’t listen what you are playing. V: Oh. So, you mean that people who played at the academy in the past, students, they didn’t record themselves. A: Well, that’s true. Because if you would listen to yourself from the side, you get another impression about your performance. V: Mmm-hmm. I’m recording myself everyday. Actually I’m live-streaming my performances. A: But are you listening back to what you have recorded? I somehow doubt it. V: But my question is ‘am I playing with constant pulse, or not’? A: Yes, I think so. V: So maybe that does help. A: Well… V: Even though I don’t… A: Anyway when you are playing Gaudeamus each time, what ten times a day? V: Yes. A: Or even more. V: Mmm-hmm. Pomp and Circumstance now. A: True. Is it pomp or is it pump? V: Pomp. But pronounced like pump. A: So, okay. V: Alright. So Roger Davis Manual—we have this red book, right? A: True. I play some pieces from it occasionally. Well, I don’t like this edition too much about the… V: Early music. A: Yes... V: Mmm-hmm. A: about the early music, but, well it’s a handbook. V: If James applies early techniques in this collection, and ignores, for example, slurs, legato indications or heel, for example in the pedals, then I think it is a very strong collection. Yes. Okay. So, let’s wish James good luck on the organ bench, and for other students who are listening this, please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 448 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Christianna, and Christianna writes: “My dream for organ playing is to be able to play, at very least hymns and sightread intermediate organ music. The three inhibitors at the moment I think, would be: 1. Lack of a teacher, 2. Having to drive fifteen minutes to play on an organ and, having to deal with the fact that it's not available on weekends, 3. None of the music stores in my area carry any sort of organ method or scale book. I think that might help at first as I work on figuring out the foot pedals and stops, even though my organ only has four stops for each manual.” V: So, Christianna wants to be reasonably good at intermediate organ music and playing hymns. That’s a very decent goal, I think. A: Yes, for a church organist, it is. V: And I think her problems or challenges can be overcome, right? Lack of teacher. What would you suggest? A: Well, nowadays, there are so many sources on the Internet! V: And, isn’t that the reason why we started our podcast and blog and training courses? A: Sure! I think you can find lots of material in our resources that would help for you to become at least an intermediate organist. V: Yeah, no doubt about that. And, of course, this question that Christianna is answering is sent to her after about two weeks of being here in our community, so she’s kind of new. She needs to explore a little bit more what’s available—what free materials are available, what courses are available—and definitely, she will find something for her. The second, obviously, challenge is with the organ itself. A: But she only has to drive 15 minutes. Do you consider 15 minutes to be a long way to find an organ to practice? I find it a funny distance, 15 minutes. V: 15 minutes? It’s a reasonable distance. If, for example, you are living in a city, then it’s really not that far. It’s like going to a gym, basically, right? A: Well, it takes us longer to go to a gym from the place where we live. V: And it takes longer for us to go to the church from where we live. A: Definitely. So I think nowadays, when people are driving really long distances, for example, to work every day, 15 minutes doesn’t seem a long time. And if you don’t want to waste those 15 minutes, you may listen to some useful stuff while you’re driving. V: For example…. A: Well, you can learn learn languages. V: Or listen to Maltese music. A: Well…...yes…. V: I need to tell the background of this joke for people to understand. When I went to Malta to play there for 200 tourists from Paris, “Le Figaro” newspaper, I saw one person playing a mandolin in 60 languages, and I asked for him to play something and sing something Lithuanian, and he did one of our most well-known songs, and obviously, I bought a CD from him with his music, Maltese music, where he played mandolin. So that’s the origin of this joke. Obviously, you could listen to books on tape, or podcasts, or as Ausra says, organ music… A: But anyway, 15 minutes of drive is not a long distance. I wouldn’t consider it a problem. V: A little bit of a problem would be if she cannot practice on that organ on weekends. Right? The organ is not available, she says. So on those weekends, maybe practicing at home on the table would help, if she doesn’t have any other instruments, like a keyboard. What else? A: True! That might help. V: Definitely. A: Because, I think if you have a goal, and if it’s important for you to reach the goal, you will always find possibilities to do it, and if you don’t maybe that goal wasn’t so important for you. V: And if it’s important to you, maybe with time, start saving some money, investing some money for a keyboard to have at home. A: True! V: Number 3 would be, “None of the music stores in my area carry any sort of organ method,” which is also related to the first question, lack of teacher. A: True, but today, if she can use the Internet, it means that she can order things online. V: Obviously, yes. A: And there are so many things you can get on the Internet. V: And, if she just looked around, we have so many courses, and practice courses for fingering and pedaling, it’s a good starting point, I think. A: I guess nowadays, it’s not so hard to find the information that you need, material that you need, as I think it’s hard to decide which one to buy! V: Oh, it’s called, “information overload.” A: That’s what I think is more common nowadays. V: When you have 50 sources to compare, and you don’t know which one is better, then you basically are stuck, and freeze in your mind. I think the best way to start is wherever you are—whatever is in front of you. It might not be the best method, or the most comprehensive method that you wish for, but it’s a good starting point, and it will lead you someplace, and after you reach that intermediate goal, you can go to the next level. A: Sure. Do you think the Hymn Playing Workshop would be helpful for her, from our teaching materials? V: Yes, we have those hymn playing workshop videos and hymn scores in that, so yes, it will give her a foundation on how to master those hymns, and after those videos, she will have the knowledge to apply it to any other hymn, which is good. A: And because it has videos, it sort of replaces the real teacher. V: Yes! The real teacher would also be, maybe, more strict with her, giving external motivation, because she would be maybe embarrassed to show up unprepared. With videos in our courses, there is a different motivation, which is basically inner motivation. That’s what we value the most. Right Ausra? A: True, and I think that inner motivation is the most important, because look; even if you go go to college or to university or academy of music, or a conservatory to study music, your studies won’t last forever. Eventually, you will graduate from the institution and you will be left on your own! So if you won’t have that inner motivation, then what can you do? You will start practicing! V: And we’re seeing people quitting playing after a while, because they lack motivation. So, I think it’s good to find some sort of external motivation in the form of public performance opportunities, maybe in the same church that she would practice, she could give public performances during services, maybe—preludes, postludes, communions, offertories—or if she is really good, later on she could prepare a post service appearance. A: And Christianna also says that her organ where she practices is probably not a large one. It has two manual, each having four stops. I think it’s a reasonable size organ for practicing. It’s more than enough, I think, to become an intermediate organist. V: We have two stops at our home organ. Yes. A: True. V: That’s enough, I think. Whatever more that you need, you can pretend you have. If you need a swell box, you can pretend you’re using it with your right foot. If you need toe pistons and studs, you can pretend you are pushing them. Right? Thank you guys for those wonderful questions. Keep sending them! We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 430, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by May, and she writes: Hi Vidas, Thank you very much for addressing to my concerns in this email! I have been spending over an hour each day on the harmony exercises for a few weeks. I worked on the difficult way whenever possible (using 2 fingers from each hand) as suggested by you in an earlier email. Ever since I could manage to use to play the bass part (of hymns) with the pedals, I always use the pedals. I find it much easier to play the hymns with 3 fingers and both feet. Now I am not comfortable at all playing hymns with hands only. I am hoping I can slowly regain my hands-only hymn playing skills by doing these harmony exercises. For quite many chords in the exercises, there is no way I can play them with hands only and 2 fingers from each hand. I need the help from the pedals anyways. I always wonder how piano players practice these chords. A question from the week 8 harmony exercises… we should skip all D-T sequences starting with the 3rd note (from the dominant chord) on top. Is this correct? I saw that you have made the fingering of BWV 618 available a few days ago. I love to learn this chorale prelude but my hands are small and my fingers are short. My hands and fingers could only stretch to reach one octave only, meaning I am not able to reach certain intervals (e.g. from the low A to middle C in measure #7). Does it mean I could never play this chorale prelude? Is there any ways I can overcome this difficulty? May V: So, Ausra, let’s start from the top, okay? A: Yes! So many things to talk about. V: Mmm-hmm. She’s spending a lot of time on those harmony exercises from Harmony for Organist Level 1. And the first thing that she struggles is playing hymns with hands only, right? A: Well, that’s an interesting struggle, because usually it’s not a problem for people to play hymns by hand. It’s more often problem to play with the pedals. V: I guess she would struggle with pedals also if she used left hand also. A: Well, true. The most, easiest way is to play with pedals and right hand playing in closed position, three voices with your right hand. V: Mmm-hmm. So she probably should practice playing the tenor line with left hand. A: True. This would be a beneficial exercise. And it would improve coordination a lot. V: Mmm-hmm. And um… A: Because since she wrote herself, that she has a small hand, she won’t be able always to play three voices with the right hand and she really needs to play one voice with the left. V: You teach a lot of students on the piano—those harmony exercises. A: Yes. V: She wonders how piano players practice the chords when they have to reach between the bass and tenor, for example. A: Well, of course, we have pedal, sustaining pedal in the piano, but I would not offer, would not suggest my students to use it. Well, but in that case, if you cannot reach, let’s say, bass and tenor voices at the same time, you would hit the bass note first and then would play the rest of the chord… V: Mmm-hmm. A: tenor, alto and the bass. That’s what we do. V: Yeah. A: Or sometimes we can manipulate bass and put it an octave higher. V: Exactly. And she is also wondering about those sequences, dominant to tonic, and the third note, the seventh scale degree… A: Yes. V: is problematic, right? It also, always has to resolve to the first scale degree. A: Well, not always, always. It has to resolve to the first scale degree when it’s in the soprano voice. V: Yes, in the soprano. And in those exercises from week eight, I am skipping dominant to tonic sequences in that position. There is no seventh scale degree in the soprano, and she’s wondering is this correct. Yes! She could do other dispositions but not when soprano is in the seventh scale degree. A: But it’s one of the most common positions of the dominant to have the seventh scale degree in soprano… V: Yes… A: in general. V: but the connection was not harmonic but melodic, and therefore… A: But you could do harmonic connection with the seventh scale degree. That’s very easy. V: I mean melodic. A: Oh, yes, but you said harmonic. V: Did I? A: Yes. V: Okay. I meant melodic. If you have… A: But when you do melodic you could do three melodic connection. V: Oh, I didn’t teach her that. A: That’s the easiest way. If you have let’s say from the bass, G-D-G and B… V: Mmm-hmm. A: you would resolve it to C-C-E-C. V: Skipping G. A: That’s right. That’s one of the most common way in general to resolve dominant. V: And it works in C minor as well. A: True. V: With B natural in the soprano. A: Yes. V: So, G-G-D-B natural, resolving to C-C-E flat C. Mmm-hmm. She’s wondering about reaching certain intervals in Bach’s chorals from the Orgelbuchlein, and since she has short hand only reaching one octave, I think I wrote to her that she could use those lines a little bit creatively, right? Most of the time it’s possible to play Bach with short hands—most of the time. A: Yes, I wouldn’t say that Bach needs a wide hand. V: But from time to time you see like an interval of a twelfth, for example. Maybe that was the case because short octave was present. A: Yes, that’s possible. Also maybe you could help with another hand at that concrete spot. V: Yes. Or… A: Always need to check on this concrete situation. V: Or raise the bass one octave higher for a measure or two... A: Yes that’s possibility too. V: to make the connection logical. Not one note, which is inconvenient, right? But, entire motive, let’s say. A: That’s possibility too. V: Yeah. A: But if you would look at the Bach hand, from the pictures we have left, he didn’t have a big hand himself. Although he had sort of short fingers, but widely spread… V: Mmm-hmm. A: if you can say so. But that’s a good hand for playing polyphonic music. V: Yeah! Maybe people need to do more yoga for fingers. A: I don’t think so. But you know, if you have really long fingers, then maybe organ is not your instrument. Maybe you need to practice violin. V: If you have long fingers? A: Yes. V: Yes. Like Paganini. A: That’s right. But with short fingers and small hand you can perfectly play organ. V: Yes. A: There is plenty of music that could work for you. V: But probably not Vierne. A: Well… V: And Franck. A: Well, I have played some both, although I don’t have such a big hand. V: But it wasn’t comfortable. A: Well, actually it was, after playing for some time. V: I guess your span of your fingers improves with time. A: That’s true. That’s true, especially in the left hand. V: The more difficult music you play, the more it stretches. A: That’s right. V: Mmm-hmm. 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… V: Miracles happen! DON'T MISS A THING! FREE UPDATES BY EMAIL.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 406 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jay, and he writes: Hymns for church service on Sunday. Trying to get to the point where I know the music well enough, to recover quickly if (or when) I mess up. V: Jay is on the team who transcribe our podcast conversations, and I asked him what he was working on today, or struggling with today. So, Jay is probably struggling with knowing the music well enough not to mess up, or recover quickly, too. Is this important, Ausra? A: Of course it is if you are playing at church and accompanying a congregation, then yes, it’s very important. V: So, if the person is playing a hymn at church, how well should they know this hymn, in your opinion? Imagine yourself, for example, being on the organ bench. How well should you know it or how well should you sight read it, too? A: Well, I wouldn’t suggest for anybody that is not advanced enough to sightread during the actual service. You need to prepare in advance. And then, I would suggest that a beginner organists would get prepared for each service and learn all the hymns in advance. V: If you are a really beginner, sometimes it’s not enough time to play all of the hymns. A: True, but then you need to do something. Maybe skip the pedals. I did that way back in my life. And another thing you could do if you want to have pedals, you could omit the alto and tenor voices, and just play melody and pedal. That’s also an option. Another option, and I think this would be the easiest way, just take up the melody, and play it only with your hands in octaves. That’s also a possibility. But anyway, any of these ways that I mention now are better compared to if you would play all the written notes and do many many mistakes or stop somewhere. V: Or play….. A: ...in an unsteady tempo. V: Exactly. Because, you’re leading the congregation, and the congregation doesn’t care if you know the music or not. They just keep singing, and you have to be maybe one millisecond ahead of them, too. A: That’s right. True. V: Have you been in the situation, Ausra, when an organist drags, and for example, the tempo slows down? A: Yes, I have had an experience like this. V: Why does this happen sometimes? A: There might be various reasons. Well, one of the ways might be that maybe the organist is very, very old, and wants to play in a slow tempi. That sometimes happens with people with age, that you slow things down. But, there might be various reasons, actually. He or she might not listen to what the congregation is doing downstairs, or maybe her or his technique is not advanced enough to play up to tempo. V: Or maybe they are listening to the congregation too much! A: Yes, and then, because the congregation wants to slow things down, and if the organist listens too much to the congregation and cannot keep his or her steady tempo, then the tempo might slow down, too. V: It’s like playing with an orchestra, too. And if you are a soloist, you have to lead the orchestra, too, especially in episodes when you are playing solo, and then after you and orchestra comes in. You have to keep the tempo steady, and try not to slow down at the end. A: True. And this also might happen when you have so many people singing that the organ cannot be heard, too. I had that experience once in my lifetime, when I was playing at Grace Lutheran Church in Lincoln on the Christmas Eve service. There were so many people downstairs, and everybody was singing so loud that even though I played Organo Pleno, I could not hear a single note from the organ. V: Right. So, I hope Jay and others will have plenty of time to prepare for Sunday services, and to know the music well enough to recover quickly from the mistakes. A: And luckily, after some time, hymns start to repeat themselves. So, I guess you will get used to your hymnal, and I think with time, you will know some of the hymns by heart, so it will be much easier then. V: Thanks guys, this was Vidas, A: And Ausra! V: Please keep sending your wonderful questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
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SOPP407: I'm taking two lines from a hymn every day and taking it through the circle of fifths3/2/2019
Ausra: Hello, guys, this is Ausra.
Vidas: And Vidas. A: Let’s start question number 407, sent by Jeremy. And he asks about transposing: I'm taking two lines from a hymn every day and taking it through the circle of fifths. A: So, what do you think, Vidas? Is this a good way to transpose? V: This is actually a very clever way. Maybe for some people, two lines, maybe it’s too short, for some people it’s too long, or for some people it’s just right. What would you do? A: Well, if I would be transposing using the circle of fifths, I probably would choose the shortest segment, because it sounds like a sequence from a piece if it’s made in the circle of fifths. Probably I would in such a case, would pick up only two measures. V: I would sometimes transpose the entire hymn, but that’s advanced knowledge I think. For people who are just starting, one line is plenty, and one line is maybe four measure long. A: Well, and I know that you are an expert of transposition. How many ways do you know how to transpose things? V: Maybe, three, right? A: Well, yes. I’m a superior teacher of those three ways. V: You’re an expert too. A: Well, yes, such is a life. V: So, what are these ways? The first way of course is just to transpose by a given interval, right? A: Yes, that’s probably most common way. But not necessarily easiest the one. V: Mmm-hmm. The second is transposing by changing the clef. A: True. But... V: Which means that on the same line, has to be a different note, in a different clef. You have to figure out the key and which kind of clef you will need. For example; in treble clef, on the first line, is the note E, and if the hymn is in, on the first note is… A: C. V: C, in treble. A: Yes, on the bottom line is the note C. Because all the clefs, all the C clefs… V: Oh. I’m not talking about C clef—about treble clef—G clef. A: Oh. Okay. V: So, on the bottom… A: Does anybody still uses it? Because that’s one of the oldest keys. V: I think we are talking about… A: It’s old French key, yes? It’s old French key. V: We are talking about different terms. How would you call G clef which you use every day, in English? A: Treble clef. V: Treble clef! And that’s what I’m talking about now. So, on the bottom line is the note E. And if you need, for example, E Major, then the first scale degree is on the lowest note. So in a different key, then you would also need to have the first scale degree on the lowest line. A: Well, that’s what I meant. Why would use the soprano clef? V: Depending on the key… A: Because the C would be on the bottom line. V: But what kind of key then you would need? C Major, right? A: Yes. V: So, transposing from E Major to C Major, or major or minor third downward, you will need a, to change the clef into the soprano clef. A: But is it always possible to change the clefs? V: It is, because there are ten clefs altogether. A: But don’t you think it’s very hard for like non-advanced musician to know all of them and to manipulate them so easily? V: It is hard. So then the first method is easier. A: Because in reality nowadays, there are only four clefs that are in actual use—daily use. And also not for all musicians because we use treble clef, we use bass clef and we use two of the C clefs—alto and tenor. V: But you know, what is good about clefs? That you can take it few steps further, once you get comfortable with them. And if you like to improvise a fugue for example, you could just transpose your subject this way by changing the clef. Not only fugue but any type of composition or improvisation which is based on a subject which needs to be transposed throughout. A: True, but it’s quite an advanced technique. V: It is. It is. A: I think that probably the easiest way to transpose, is to change accidentals in the same clef. Of course in that way you can only transpose by half-step, but it’s very easy. V: That’s number three. A: Yes, that’s number three. For example, you have piece written in F Major, then you just imagine that it’s written in F# Major, so you sort of change the accidentals, next to the… V: Mmm-hmm. A: Clefs, and that’s it. V: But if you need to transpose into G Major, then you have to use another method. A: Well, yes and no. You could imagine G# Major key. It will have six… V: G flat you mean? A: No. Not G flat, but G sharp. V: What is that? A: (Laughs). G# Major key—you don’t know it? It has six sharps and one double-sharp. V: Oh. (Laughs). A: If you don’t use the circle of fifths, then you’re making it. You would go after C# Major key, you would have G# Major key. V: Uh-huh. A: And if you would play some compositions by Chopin, you would find keys like this. They’re not used in the real life but they are still exist. V: What about A Major then? How many double sharps would you have. A: Well you would have just to transpose it half-step down—into A flat major. V: Which method would that be? A: Changing accidentals. From A Major to A flat Major. V: No. From F Major to A Major, or A flat Major? A: Well then you will have to choose the given interval. V: The first method. A: Yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because the first method works all the time—all the time. V: Mmm-hmm. You just transpose by intervals, or you transpose by changing the clefs, which is harder. Or you change the accidentals, which is the third method, but only it’s by half-step up or half-step down. A: Yes, and then you want to actually transpose by a third… V: Mmm-hmm. A: It’s easy to switch a key from the bass to the treble or otherwise. V: Mmm-hmm. A: That’s how my students at school cheats on me. V: Oh. A: Because I’m asking them to transpose by a second, and they asking, ‘Oh, could we transpose by a third?’ And then we just change these two keys. V: Nice. A: So guys, I hope this discussion was useful for you. In anyway, transposition is a very useful thing for musician, and very useful thing for your brain. And this was Ausra. V: And Vidas. A: And remember; when you practice... V: Miracles happen! |
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Our Hauptwerk Setup:
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