 Let's celebrate J.S. Bach's 337th birthday today with this beautiful ornamented chorale prelude O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde gross, BWV 622 from the Orgelbüchlein. Hope you will enjoy the sound of Hauptwerk Martinikerk Groningen sample set! Score with fingering and pedaling: secrets-of-organ-playing.myshopify.com/products/o-mensch-bewein-dein-sunde-gross-bwv-622-by-j-s-bach?_pos=2&_sid=252023a5f&_ss=r We support Ukraine: www.blue-yellow.lt/en If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: PayPal.Me/ausramotuzaite My Hauptwerk setup: www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/2pXxZgiFPMKiqBRYi9rSLT?si=Xe1nTroTSmOGPtv8bP8MSw
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 oday I started J.S. Bach's 337th birthday. For this reason I recorded chorale prelude Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 from the Orgelbüchlein. Hope you will enjoy the sound of Hauptwerk Martinikerk Groningen sample set! Practice guide on mastering BWV 639: secrets-of-organ-playing.myshopify.com/products/practice-guide-of-ich-ruf-zu-dir-herr-jesu-christ-bwv-639-by-j-s-bach?_pos=2&_sid=ec8c6ffcc&_ss=r We support Ukraine: www.blue-yellow.lt/en If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: PayPal.Me/ausramotuzaite My Hauptwerk setup: www.organduo.lt/tools.html Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online: www.organduo.lt/total-organist Secrets of Organ Playing - When You Practice, Miracles Happen! organduo.lt Listen to my organ playing on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/2pXxZgiFPMKiqBRYi9rSLT?si=Xe1nTroTSmOGPtv8bP8MSw  Today I'd like to share with you my rendition of chorale prelude Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 599 by Johann Sebastian Bach from his Orgelbüchlein. Hope you will enjoy the sound of the Principal 8' on our portable Hauptwerk setup and Velesovo sample set! Score with fingering and pedaling: secrets-of-organ-playing.myshopify.com/products/bwv-599-by-j-s-bach?_pos=1&_sid=09811f7db&_ss=r Thank you for your support! If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo PayPal: PayPal.Me/ausramotuzaite My Hauptwerk setup: www.organduo.lt/tools.html  Today I would like to share with you my rendition of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645 from the collection of 6 Schübler chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was recorded during my and Vidas Pinkevicius' live joint recital "Christmas with Bach" at VU St John's Church on 2019-12-21. Hope you will enjoy it! Score with fingering and pedaling of all 6 Schübler chorales: secrets-of-organ-playing.myshopify.com/products/6-schubler-chorales-by-bach?_pos=1&_sid=78639a402&_ss=r Thank you for your support! If you like what I do, you can buy me some coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and I decided to climb Vilnius University St John's Church Bell Tower and bring my foldable MIDI keyboard with me in a backpack so that I could record myself playing Bach's inventions. In this video you will hear Bach's Two-Part Inventions in C Major, D Minor, E Minor, F Major, G Major and A Minor. I'm using Hauptwerk Velesovo sample set. Hope you will enjoy it!
Thank you for your support! My Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo Yesterday I tested out my new portable Hauptwerk setup in the garden. It was really easy to assemble and set it up. Even easier to put it back to storage afterwards. I decided to play the 1st movement from Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525 by J.S. Bach. Hope you will enjoy the amazing sounds of Velesovo sample set by Sonus Paradisi!
If you want to check out what exactly goes into my portable Hauptwerk setup, here's the post with pictures, videos and links to the products: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. Buy me some coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 660 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Vidas! By me! And, I've been struggling with mastering Part I of Trio Sonata No. 4 by J.S. Bach. For some reason it's harder to do than I imagined it would be. How do you like this question, Ausra? Ausra: Well, because you mentioned your imagination to me, maybe your imagination is poor, that you cannot imagine it will be as hard. Vidas: Luckily, I was able to record it and master this part after I submitted this question, but yes, it was a difficult part. It’s the Trio Sonata in E minor. And usually, the first movement easier than third movement, but in this Trio Sonata, it was the opposite. Ausra: Actually, I remember myself playing this Trio Sonata many years back, and I also screwed up the first movement. For me, it was really hard, that opening, because it starts sort of slowly and then it speeds up, and I don’t know, it’s really weird. Vidas: Can you ask me how I did it? Ausra: Well, yes, of course, because you are already asking yourself questions and you are talking with yourself, I think you reached sort of a new level of insanity! Vidas: Thank you! You’re very nice. I can share that while mastering this part and other parts as well, I’ve been following my 10 step method. (Ausra is already yawning). Why are you yawning, Ausra? Ausra: Because I cannot count up to 10. Maybe up to 3. Vidas: Okay. My method is rather boring to you. Right? But I still think it works, none-the-less. Ausra: I think it’s actually a wonderful method, and I think it’s my problem that I can’t cope with it because I don’t have enough patience, but I think it’s an excellent method. I think I would benefit a lot if I would use it more often. Vidas: Would you like me to be your teacher? Ausra: Maybe not. Vidas: I could teach you patience; annoy you 24/7! Ausra: I think you do that always with huge success already, so you don’t need to do any extra hard work in teaching me. Vidas: So anyway, the first step in mastering this Trio Sonata is obviously to watch my video, because I shared all those steps in my video. I will, of course, add the link into the description of this podcast so that other people can click and watch, but generally, the thing about this step, you kind of unwrap this Trio Sonata in practicing very small segments like one quarter note at a time, then you expand it into half note level, then a whole note level, then let’s say 2 measures at a time, four measures at a time, one line, two lines, one page, two pages, and then the entire piece. Ausra is already asleep. Ausra: Well, no, I’m laughing, actually. Well, it’s not how I learn Trios, but anyway, I think it’s a good method, especially for beginners. Vidas: Can you promise, Ausra, when you will play 6th Trio Sonata, you will share your own method with us in video? Ausra: Well, I just do simple work, actually. At least when I was a student, I would play two voices at the same time, let’s say both hands, then right hand and pedals, left hand and pedals, and then everything together. That’s the way how I learn to play Trios. Vidas: Yes, but could you demonstrate it on video? Ausra: Do you think people would be interested? Vidas: We’ll find out if anybody will comment. You know? But I think it’s good to share your process, too. Not only the result. What do you think? Ausra: Well, if you watch it I can do it for you. Vidas: And of course I will watch it. It’s good for your watch hours, too! Ausra: But of course, I don’t know how soon I will be able to work on that Sonata, because right now I am preparing for my next recital. Vidas: And what’s the program for that? Ausra: De Grigny – “Veni Creator Spiritus,” then Franck’s “Prélude, Fugue et Variation,” and the entire “Symphony no. 3” by Louis Vierne. Vidas: I am very glad you have taken up this program, because it will sound wonderful on the Nancy Cathedral sample set [note: “Nancy” spoken with a French accent]. Ausra: Yes, or Nancy as you call it. [note: “Nancy” spoken with an American accent] Vidas: It’s funny. So anyway, watch my videos, of course, with this part one of Trio Sonata, ten steps, and let us know if that helps. It did help to me! It was a big help for me to follow my own steps, and I write also one more thing on the sheet of paper or on the score somewhere in the corner, with pencil, I mark my repetitions. Let’s say I played this Trio Sonata from the beginning to the end one time, and I mark one like number one. Right? And if I play it a second time, I write number two, and I count those repetitions. How many do I have to do in order to prepare it for recording or recital. Would you like to find out how many did I do with this Trio Sonata? Ausra: The actual number scares me. Vidas: Could you hold the laptop, please? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: I will go to another room and get the score and we’ll see… So I got the score, and here is this Trio Sonata. You see what I mean, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, I see, but actually, it looks like if you would be on the island, the uninhabited island and you would have to count your days that you wouldn’t mess up! Vidas: Or in the prison. Ausra: Yes, or in a prison! That’s how it looks like. Vidas: It has 40 total repetitions. 40! Ausra: So why are you not writing numbers but only these tiny sticks? Vidas: It’s easier for me to write a stick than a number. Ausra: Okay. Vidas: So basically, people could write numbers if they want, but I wrote sticks, and each stick represents one repetition. But there are actually columns of repetitions, of sticks, which means one column is one practice session. So for example, in practice session number one, I repeated this movement five times, so I drew 5 sticks. Then the second time 5. 5, 5, 5, 5, so let’s count. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight practice sessions. Not necessarily 8 days, but 8 practice sessions. Probably, I sometimes practice twice per day. But 40 total repetitions. I think that’s a good result. Don’t you think? Ausra: I think it’s an excellent result. Vidas: It was still a little bit pushing my boundaries. I would have enjoyed it more if I had added 10 more repetitions. But between, let’s say, 40 and 100, I could do it easily. Anyone could do it easily… if they reach level where they can practice my steps successfully. If not, then the piece is too difficult for them. You see what I mean? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Yes Master! Ausra: Yes Master! I’m doomed! Vidas: Wow. It’s so fun to teach my wife! Is it fun for you, too? Ausra: Yes, sure. Vidas: Okay, wait while we’ll turn off the recording. Ausra: Wait until you will become hungry. Who will feed you? Vidas: Sure. Your mom! Ausra: You can eat your Trio Sonata! All those steps. Vidas: Okay. So guys, I hope you enjoyed this conversation. It was fun for me to answer my own question, but I hope this was useful for other people as well if they are struggling with similar things that I do. Right? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Okay, please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen! V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also join our community on BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at buymeacoffee.com/organduo SOPP654: Last week I was struggling to record Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525 by J.S. Bach7/14/2021
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 654 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by me, Vidas! I posted my answer in the Total Organist community Basecamp channel, where I’ve been asked the question, “What have you been struggling with the most in organ playing this week. So, I wrote: “Last week I was struggling to record Trio Sonata No. 1 in Eb Major, BWV 525 by J.S. Bach. Somehow I find it easier to play live recitals than to record pieces one by one.” For reference, here are the 3 videos of this trio sonata: Part I Part II Part III Vidas: I should add probably, “not only easier but more enjoyable.” Right Ausra? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: You, too? Ausra: Sure! Vidas: You like more playing recitals than recording pieces? Ausra: Definitely. It’s much easier! Vidas: I wonder, why is this the case with us? Why do we gladly play a live performance of an extended program, and struggling to record a three or five minute piece? Ausra: Well, it’s easier to play a recital because you have to do it only once. But if you start recording a single piece, then if you aren’t happy about something in it, you have to play it over, and over again, until you get a recording that you like. Vidas: And since we both appreciate perfection, we can’t be happy if a recording is not perfect. Right? Ausra: Yes, and because you have to start from the beginning each time when you are recording the same piece, after a while it seems you know the beginning really well, but you don’t know how the ending sounds, because you never get to the ending. Vidas: I know what you mean. In the five minute piece of, let’s say, one movement from Trio Sonata, it’s so easy to play the first page. Your concentration is there, you can focus for that long and not make mistakes. But then you get to the second page, and mistakes might happen. Then you come back and try again, and maybe the first page, now, goes wrong with some mistakes and the second page is better. It’s quite unpredictable. Because you’re right; we don’t cut and paste recordings. We try to play from the beginning until the end without stopping, not paste two parts of different recordings. Let’s say the first part was perfect in one session, and the second part was perfect in the second session. So if I wanted, I could glue them together with the means of editing software, but I usually don’t, because I tend to appreciate life performance. Ausra: Yes. I think those are more exciting but also more difficult at the same time. Don’t you find it frustrating sometimes? Vidas: It is frustrating! I remember that’s why I wrote my question. I was really struggling to record actually all of the movements, all three of the movements, maybe less so the third one, which is surprisingly strange, because the third movement is really fast and more difficult than the first two. Right? Usually. But for me, the third one is better than the first two. And even the middle movement, which is a slow movement, Adagio, I had to repeat them so many times and was not even able to record it in one day! I had to record it the next day, because the first day was not perfect. Ausra: Not all of the Trio movements, slow movements, are easy. For example, I struggled a lot with the C Major, the second movement, because those repeated notes just drove me crazy. Vidas: Yes, and especially for Eb Major Trio Sonata No. 1 (here is the score with fingering and pedaling), the second movement has repeats. And for recording purposes, I do repeat. So the piece is twice as long! Not 5 minutes long, but almost 10 minutes long, in this case—9.5 minutes long, to be precise. And that requires even more focusing! Ausra: And sometimes it’s really hard to pick up a right tempo for a slow movement, because if you will play it too slow, it will sound boring and everybody will fall asleep, and if you play it too fast, it will might sound unmusical, so it’s really a big issue. Vidas: So what’s the solution then? How to approach this problem; to play more live recitals and less recorded pieces one by one or to approach recording pieces in some different light? Ausra: I would rather play more recitals. Vidas: And then you can cut individual pieces from those recitals. Right? Ausra: Yes. If you would play them well enough. Vidas: That’s right. You could effectively actually make less recordings one by one like this, but have more time to prepare for your recitals, because let’s face it, if I spent an hour or 30 minutes just recording one movement from Trio Sonata, that hour was not spent preparing for my next recital. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: Unless I will play that movement in the recital, which I probably will. But my other repertoire is probably needing also my attention. Correct? Ausra: Yes, that’s right. Vidas: Would you suggest me to stop recording and play more recitals or what? Ausra: Well, I don’t think I’m a really good advisor in this case. I think you need to choose for yourself. Vidas: You are the best advisor, because you are the only one in the room besides me. Ausra: But would you listen to my advice? Vidas: It depends on what advice would you give me. Ausra: I think you are determined enough to do it your way, so I will not interfere. Vidas: No, in this case, I was really thinking about this question, whether to record more or play more recitals. And that’s not only this week’s question, I was thinking about an entire semester or more. Starting, actually, from last year when I started playing recitals and recordings with our new Hauptwerk setup, I found this problem exactly valuable and worthy of my attention, because it was actually more difficult at the beginning, because I wasn’t used to rigorous recording sessions last year. Now, it’s actually easier, but still frustrating at times. Ausra: Well, you know, if you will set yourself a goal, for example to record one piece each day—doesn’t matter what happens—then I think you would become sort of a like a real Internet organist who would play short, easy pieces in order to record them every day. And then, if you will have to play an entire recital, I doubt that you can put the program together out of those short easy pieces. So I don’t think that recording new pieces every day is a good solution. Maybe you could find some sort of balance between playing recitals and recording? Vidas: I’m not an average organist, because I also record the tutorials. Sometimes tutorials of learning new pieces like this Trio Sonata, last week it was recording not only each movement individually, but also my step-by-step method of mastering these pieces. Or harmony analysis of hymns, as well. I could actually start learning a wider repertoire, a larger repertoire for my upcoming recital, but during that time, I could also record some tutorials, like educational videos from time to time—maybe not necessarily every day, but whenever time permits—and at the end of that period, I could play a recital. Would that be a balance? Ausra: Yes. I think so. Vidas: And, as you say, we can cut out some pieces from the recital that way to enhance our channels later, if you like the quality of the live performance well enough. Ausra: Yes, that would be a solution. Vidas: Okay guys! Things are getting clearer to me! Ausra: And you really need to send us more questions, because if you will not, Vidas will answer his own questions in our upcoming sessions and podcasts, and that wouldn’t be nice! Vidas: Because those questions will not necessarily apply to everybody. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: For example; I could answer Ausra’s questions, too, right? Which we will do next, in the next conversation. Ausra: Oh dear! Vidas: So, we’d better go and form some questions. Thank you guys, this was Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen! V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Buy Me a Coffee platform and get early access: A: Find out more at https://buymeacoffee.com/organduo I performed this piece as part of my joint recital with Vidas on June 12, 2021. Hope you will enjoy the sounds of Hauptwerk Obervellach sample set (Piotr Grabowski) with Martinikerk Groningen Impulse Response Reverb (Sonus Paradisi).
Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 546 Score with fingering and pedaling: https://secrets-of-organ-playing.myshopify.com/products/bwv-546-with-fingering-and-pedaling?_pos=1&_sid=e8bb34bcd&_ss=r Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. Get early access: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo In this video I will teach you my method of mastering the 2nd movement from Trio Sonata No. 4 in E Minor, BWV 528 by J.S. Bach. I hope you will enjoy the sounds of Schnitger organ at Martinikerk Groningen, sample set by Sonus Paradisi.
Score: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/... Thank you for your support! You get early access and I get to keep going. Get early access: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/organduo |
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Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. Our Hauptwerk Setup:
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