In this article, I will explain my personal choices when it comes to registering free organ works of Bach. It is important to know how to choose registration in such cases, because a clever use of the resources of the organ will add a lot to the overall impression of your performance. On the contrary, if you play well, but don‘t know how to register such pieces, the result might be quite dissapointing. To illustrate my point, I have chosen to demonstrate the registration in the Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 547. Whenever I play this or a similar free composition (not based on pre-existing material), I tend to use Organo Pleno registration. This basically means a principal chorus: in the manual, I play with principals 8‘, 4‘, 2 2/3‘, 2‘, etc. – all the way up until mixtures. Often there is more than one mixture stop on some large instruments. In this case, I would probably use both of them (the low and the high one). If the mixture is really low (based on 4‘), it is best to add a 16‘ principal to the manual part. In other cases, 16‘ stop adds more gravity to the sound but is optional. If I play this piece on the large organ, I usually also couple one more manual which has a bright sound (preferably not a Swell division). In this case, I might also build a principal chorus on this manual, if available. If this particular instrument has narrow-scaled principals and high-pitched mixtures, such as in the Neo-Baroque organs, I might add 8‘ and 4‘ flutes to the manual part. Such trick usually adds gravity to the sound. Sometimes the fugue sounds nice with a Trompete 8‘ which might be a good option on many instruments to add to the principal chorus. 16‘ Trompete in the manual part might be a little too thick. However, this is my personal preference only. Although the organs of the Bach time in Central Germany usually had mixtures which included the tierce pipes, some organists add a 1 3/5‘ stop to the manual part. However, the result might be a little too harsh so you have to use your ears carefully. For the pedal part, I would also use principals 16‘, 8‘, 4‘ (if available), and mixtures. 32‘ flue stop (Principal or Subbass) works for tis particular prelude and fugue quite well, so I might also choose to have it. When using reeds in the pedal, the first reed to add is Posaune 16‘ and only then Trompete 8‘ (if necessary). 4‘ Clairons don‘t work in this music, so I would save them for other compositions. If the pedal part needs more power when compared to the manual sound, I would add manual to pedal coupler. However, there is a tendency to overdue this, so this option should be used with some consideration. Keep these points in mind when registering Bach‘s free works such as preludes, fugues, fantasias, and toccatas. However, you should always look at the instrument before deciding if it is going to work for a certain composition. Look not only at the number of manuals, manual and pedal compass but also at the style of the organ. If you are also playing chorale preludes of Bach, I also recommend you read about the ways you can register his organ chorale preludes. Although it is said that Bach‘s organ works sound well on any type of instrument, I would probably not play them on a genuine Romantic style organ (with some exceptions, of course). Instead, I would choose to perform Romantic and Modern music on it and save Bach‘s pieces for another instrument. If you have a large instrument at your disposal, often you might be tempted to use as many stops as possible in order to play very loud. However, your concern should not be how loud the prelude and fugue will sound but rather how well the polyphony will be heard. Remember, that even on a 3 or 4 manual instrument you don‘t necessarilly have to use all the stops and couplers. Often, a pure principal chorus without the couplers plus a Posaune 16‘ in the pedals (even without a mixture) will sound just fine. If you want more thorough and comprehensive treatment of this topic with citations from contemporary sources, I highly recommend The Registration of Baroque Organ Music by Barbara Owen. By the way, do you want to learn my special powerful techniques which help me to master any piece of organ music up to 10 times faster? If so, download my video Organ Practice Guide. Or if you want to learn to improvise in the style of Bach? If so, I suggest you check out my 9 day mini course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation.
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I've seen some people make these critical mistakes when playing Bach organ works. If you want to avoid these mistakes, read the following list:
1. Trills. In most of Bach‘s pieces, all trills must start on the upper note on the beat. However, I see some people playing from the main note and even starting before the beat. In other words, they start the trills too early. One thing that helps me to play these trills correctly is constantly keeping your attention on the pulse and then it's easier not to start the trill too early. 2. Articulation. The touch which many people transfer from piano to the organ is legato and in such music is not the ideal one. The manner of playing should be smooth and singable (cantabile) but there should be definitely small spaces between each note (unless indicated otherwise by the composer). We call it articulate legato. 3. Pedaling. Another important mistake is using the heels when playing the pedal part in Bach‘s organ pieces. It seems easier for a lot of people but in reality, this manner of playing produces legato touch which is not used for this type of music. 4. Practicing. If you are used to play Bach‘s pieces from the beginning until the end without stopping, I recommend you reconsider this method. The best option would be to stop whenever you make mistake, go back a few measures and correct it several times. Playing in shorter fragments often is more beneficial than playing without stopping. 5. Fingering. Many people still use finger substitution in Bach‘s organ works which I don't recommend. You see, finger substitution technique was developed to create the legato touch which is not stylistically correct manner of playing. 6. Feeling of the pulse. This is a critical mistake, without feeling the pulse and alternation of strong and weak beats, your performance will be dragging and lacking the natural flow. I recommend to shorten the weak beats and play the strong beats longer. 7. Suspensions. A lot of times people make this mistake. Even when they articulate the piece correctly, they might make rests after suspensions. In other words, they might make an eighth note rest after a tied-over note. The correct way to play it is to hold this note longer and play the next note almost legato. 8. Registration. Way too many people play Bach‘s free works (preludes, fugues, fantasias, toccatas etc.) changing registration too often. In free works (not chorale based pieces) you should use Organo Pleno registration on one or more manuals (full principal chorus). By the way, I'm going to be opening 30 slots for my new Bach Organ Mastery (Level 1) - a 16 week video training program. Click here to get early notification before the rest of my list of subscribers and clients: Bach Organ Mastery Level 1 Early Notification I have observed some common mistakes people make when learning Prelude and Fugue in F major, BWV 556 which prevent them from achieving fluency and stylistic integrity. As I'm preparing for the opening of the free video mini-course in learning BWV 556, today I would like to discuss these mistakes and to show you the solutions which facilitates the learning process.
1. Articulation . This is the most obvious mistake I see a lot of people make. As you probably know, the ideal articulation for the Baroque music is the articulate legato touch when we make small breaks between each note unless indicated otherwise by the composer. When playing this prelude, however, at the beginning you can see the legato signs which connect three sixteenth notes. By the way, this articulation should be applied to all places with this piece even though the legato signs appear only at the beginning episode. What I see a lot of people do is they play the three notes legato, but fail to articulate after the last note in the group of three sixteenths. This of course produces the complete legato touch which is more suitable for Romantic and Modern organ music. Another articulation mistake is in the fugue - here many people find it difficult to articulate the inner 2 voices out of 4 voice texture. Since the alto and tenor voices can be hard to listen to while playing all of them together, no wonder why precise and consistant articulation is difficult to achieve. SOLUTION: take a slow tempo and practice in small fragments and in separate voices, then combinations of 2 voices, later 3 voices and only then - the entire 4 part texture. Insist of playing at least 3 times correctly in a row. 2. Fingering . Since the prelude can be played using the general arpeggio fingerings, it is in the fugue that people find difficulties with this issue. The most common mistake I see people make is applying finger substitution in this piece. SOLUTION: I recommend using early fingerings without substitution. Then it will help you create the ideal articulation naturally even without thinking. Also avoid placing the thumb on the sharp or flat keys. In the mini course, I will also explain how the early fingering techniques work in practice. 3. Pedaling . Similarly to fingering, the most difficult part for choosing the pedaling is the fugue. If you are consistently making mistakes in articulating pedal line in the fugue, chances are you are using toe-heel technique which is suitable for Romantic and Modern organ music. SOLUTION: Use alternate toe technique in most cases (right-left toes only). The rule to use the same toe pedaling here is this: play with the same foot when the pedal line changes direction. Otherwise play with alternate toes. 4. Tempo . A lot of people take a tempo which is too fast for practicing. The reason for this is that they really want to feel the natural flow of the music. It takes a lot of courage to insist on playing very slowly. I can tell you from experience that the slower you play, the faster your progress will be. SOLUTION: take such tempo for practice which lets you avoid mistakes. If you make a mistake, go back a few measures, slow down, and check that place again. If you do this regularly, you can overcome any difficulty in the piece. 5. Rhythm . The mistakes with rhythm involve failing to keep the steady pulse while switching between triplets and duplets in the middle episode of the prelude with no pedal part. Since the triplets appear in most measures of the prelude, it is not too difficult to play them correctly. However, the places I see people make rhythmical mistakes are when triplets change into duplets. Here it is easy to play the duplets too fast. The result is a lack of steady pulse and change in tempo. SOLUTION: I highly recommend counting out lout the beats of the measure throughout the prelude (and the fugue). In the beginning you will find it exceedingly difficult because you will be multi-tasking. However, there is no shortcuts here and you just have to insist in saying the beats loudly enough so that you can keep the steady pulse. By the way, there are certain rhythmic devices, such as hemiola which I'm going to be teaching in the mini course as well. Without knowing how to find it in music, it will be very difficult to play the cadences in this piece stylistically correctly. 6. Ornaments . There are two basic mistakes people make when playing ornaments in this piece - either they start the ornaments too early or on the wrong note. By saying too early, I mean they play them before the beat. This comes from the Romantic tradition. The starting notes of the trills also have their rules. SOLUTION: Start the ornaments on the beat and not too early. The trill for the Bach music usually has to start on the upper note meaning that if you see a sign above the note G (as at the end of the first episode in the prelude), start the trill from A. I recommend playing 4 notes for the trill: A-G-A-G. 7. Practicing . Although I constantly advocate for practicing in short fragments, it is not as easy as it might seem to develop this habit. You see, a lot of people come to me looking for help while they already have developed some incorrect or ineficient practice habits. Therefore, they might play the piece from the beginning until the end without fixing their mistakes they make along the way. SOLUTION: I think it takes a shift in mindset to practice in short fragments. You see, one thing we have to realize is that practicing is not the same as performing. As you become more and more fluent with this piece and time approaches for performing it in public (either for your friends or family, during church service or recital) you need to get used to play it from the beginning until the end without stopping. However, if you really want to achieve the best results with BWV 556, the majority of your practice should be done in short fragments. By the way, as I'm typing this sentence, already 98 people have jumped on board of my new free video mini course which will start on Thursday. Congratulations to everyone - it's going to be an awesome time for the entire Secrets of Organ Playing community. So much interaction, so much communication is going on though emails and comments over the past several days. If you haven't done so, there are only 2 more days left to register for free. The methods that I will teach in this mini course will be fully applicable to learning other works of Bach: http://www.organduo.lt/bwv-556-mini-course.html If you are looking for on organ piece which would be suitable to play by an organist with a modest organ playing skills but at the same time you want your listeners to love it, you absolutely should consider learning to play the famous Prelude and Fugue in F major, BWV 556.
This is a piece from the delightful collection of 8 short preludes and fugues, BWV 553-560, earlier attributed to J.S.Bach but now generally believed to have been composed by one of his top students, Johann Ludwig Krebs. In this article, I would like to share with you my ideas on how you can master this wonderful composition. Before you actually start the learning and practicing process, I recommend you do the following two things – analyze the piece and write in the fingering and pedaling. This is absolutely a must if you want to become a master of this piece. In order to analyze the prelude, you can do the following things – look at the structure of the prelude and see if you find some thematic material which is repeated somewhere in the piece. In fact, if you compare the beginning and the end of the prelude, you will see right away, that the ending is the exact repetition of the beginning. Therefore, this prelude is written in a nice ternary ABA form. You can also look at the tonal plan of this piece. In order to find out what keys the composer uses for this prelude, just look at the cadences. They will help you discover the tonalities in their order of appearance. If you want to analyze the fugue, I recommend you count all the subject entries in the fugue. You can also note which voice has the subject and use a pencil to mark the entries on the score. In order to know the fugue on a deeper level, you can find out the key areas for each subject entry. After the initial analysis is done, take a pencil and mark the fingering and pedaling for both the prelude and the fugue. Note that you don’t need to wait until all the fingering and pedaling is prepared and start practicing only then. Instead, you can make the markings of the first line or so, and start practicing right away. Finish the process of writing in fingering and pedaling as you go along through the piece. Now you are probably wondering what is the best and the most efficient way to practice this piece? My answer is this – take a fragment of about 4-6 measures long and learn each separate voice in this fragment. When I say learn, I mean strive for your playing to be free of mistakes at least 3 times in a row. In order to avoid mistakes when practicing, always take a very slow tempo, and pay attention to such details as articulation, ornaments, fingering, and pedaling, hand and feet position, and pedal preparation. For most people, the total number of repetitions will be somewhere around 10. When you master each voice separately in you fragment, play 2 voices at a time, then 3 voices and so on. Even though the texture becomes increasingly difficult with 2, 3 or 4 voices, always strive for perfection, stop every 4-6 measures and correct your mistakes. When you reach the end of this piece, you will also need to combine the fragments together in order to achieve the complete fluency and be ready to perform it in public. If you really want to master this piece, join my new free limited time 7 day video mini course in playing BWV 556 in which I will teach you how to play it from scratch in just 7 days. The registration for this course ends this Wednesday at midnight, US Eastern time. As a bonus, you will also get the score with complete fingering and pedaling for easy practicing. Click here to sign up for free now: http://www.organduo.lt/bwv-556-mini-course.html I'm so excited to announce that all the preparation work for my free 7 day organ video mini course is done. You can take advantage of this limited time offer by clicking on the link below and signing up for this course:
Sign up for free now If you take part in this mini course, you will learn how to play the Prelude and Fugue in F major, BWV 556 on the organ in just 7 days. Beside the most efficient practice techniques and step by step learning method for each day, I'll teach you many important things, such as:
Sign up for free now I don't care how long or short these videos are going to be, the most important thing for me is to teach you all that you need to know to successfully advance in organ playing. So although I call it a mini course, you will receive massive value and information which you can use not just to master this fantastic piece, but also other your favorite compositions that you are playing right now or intend to learn in the future: Sign up for free now So even if you have played this piece piece before, I encourage you take part in it simply because of these additional things that I teach you about in this course. Bonus: you will also receive a score of this piece with complete fingering and pedaling for easy practicing. But remember, this is a limited time offer and you have to act quick because the registration ends this Wednesday at Midnight, US Eastern Time (it's completely free to sign up, just enter your name and email): Sign up for free now If you have been my subscriber for some time, you know that I'm obsessed with over-delivering and exceeding my student's expectations and I'm not revealing all the bonuses and surprises that I've prepared for you. To your success in organ playing, Vidas Pinkevicius P.S. Please forward this message to people who might benefit from this mini course. As I look back at the idea to create my free video course in mastering Prelude and Fugue in F Major, BWV 556 (from the collection of 8 Short Preludes and Fugues for organ formerly attributed to J.S.Bach), I can see some major differences in the presentation and format from my previous Mini Course in Keyboard Prelude Improvisation.
1. Unlike improvisation mini course, the new BWV 556 training program will be available for a limited time only. This means that people interested in joining this course will have to make a decision during a period of about 5 days. 2. This course will be presented using a video format as opposed to pure pdf materials. Because many people like watching online videos, this medium is becoming increasingly popular in teaching as well. At any rate, a live example and visual demonstration will almost always get the message across more clearly. 3. I am also including a practice score with complete fingering and pedaling for easy practice. As you know writing in fingering and pedaling is a very slow and for many people tedious process and yet in many cases it is a crucial element if you want to truly master an organ composition. In this mini course, though, you won't need to worry about fingering and pedaling - it's already taken care for you. 4. I am not limiting the length of each lesson to some particular time frame. Some videos might become longer, some shorter - as long as I need to cover the material in a very detailed manner. For example, the introduction to the course and video for Day 1 alone were 19 and 33 minutes each. However, the video for Day 2 fitted nicely into some 15 minutes. This is because when I teach, sometimes I feel compelled to add some additional points besides pure fast and efficient practice techniques and steps. That's why you will find me talking about the ideal articulation quite a bit as well as about ornaments, fingering, pedal preparation, and even some exciting Baroque rhythmical devices, such as Hemiola. These differences of course provide an increased value to the course but at the same time raise some important challenges which I have to overcome if this mini course is to be as helpful to my students as it was with the improvisation mini course. One of the obvious challenges is the file size and the time it takes to edit and convert the video to the format suitable for online watching. For example, even though these first videos were actually recorded in a period of just 90 minutes, the time and effort it took me to prepare the camera, upload, fully edit for public online use was exhausting. As you might be aware, I'm not a tech person and these things don't come naturally and easily to me. Even to find the suitable position for the lighting cost me some funny juggling around my organ bench. And I still don't feel this is the ideal lighting but at least now you will be able to see me teaching clearly enough. As I am not a native English speaker and not an orator by any means, to talk in front of the camera is always a challenge for me. For instance, this opening episode alone had to be taken several times because I kept making some funny mistakes while pronouncing the phrase "BWV 556". As the Internet speed at my house isn't particularly fit for uploading large video files, I had to find some other place for uploading. Luckily, everything went well and actually, it feels like it's going to be a really exciting time both for me teaching and for the students who will be watching and practicing this fantastic Prelude and fugue in F major. I'm in the final stages of preparation for the public announcement about the start of registration for this limited time mini course. If you want to be notified when the registration period starts and not to miss the deadline, go here to subscribe to the instructional newsletter (if you haven't done so already) and receive my video "How to Master Any Organ Piece up to 10 Time Faster." You may of course unsubscribe at any time: http://www.organduo.lt/bwv-556-mini-course.html You may have noticed that I haven't posted any article on my blog for a while. The reason for this is that I was busy with something that will give much joy to my readers.
So here it is: I'm so excited, I want to announce that yesterday I've recorded the first four videos for my brand new free 7 day mini-course on learning to play Prelude and Fugue in F Major, BWV 556 on the organ in 7 days. That's right - after seeing so many positive comments and such a tremendous interest in my mini-course of keyboard prelude improvisation (over 150 sign ups in the first 48 hours), I decided to create something new this time - I'm going to be teaching through video. The reason for me to create this mini-course is simple - people kept asking and asking that I create a similar course for the organ repertoire. And to tell you the truth - I was sort of hesitant at first, simply because that's a lot of work and I was busy with my other organ coaching programs. But now when I look back at the videos I created and the value that you will get out of them, I think it was well worth the effort. I will share the details of the program and the sign up form soon so if you want to take part in this free exclusive limited time mini-course, be on the look out for further updates. One of all time best known organ chorale preludes by J.S.Bach is “Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ”, BWV 639. It is included in the Little Organ Book or “Orgelbüchlein”. It is unique among other compositions in this collection because it is written in a trio texture with a chorale tune in the soprano voice. Although it employs three highly independent parts, relative slow tempo and gently pulsating pedal part make it accessible for organists with modest abilities. In fact, it might be a perfect hand and feet coordination exercise. In this article, I will give you 4 tips for playing “Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ” on the organ. Fingering The main rule for choosing the best left hand fingering is to apply arpeggio or broken chord fingerings. Arpeggios of chords in the root position are played using 5 3 2 1 fingers. If the third is major between the two lower notes as in A flat C, play 5 3. If the third is minor as in F A flat, play 5 4. The chords of the first inversion are played using 5 4 2 1 fingerings and 5 3 2 1 are best suited for the second inversion chords. Try to avoid placing the thumb on the sharp keys in the right hand part. However, it will not be always possible since the key of this chorale prelude has four flats. Play the ornaments using 4 3 fingers of the right hand. Pedaling As in most Baroque compositions, apply toes-only pedaling in this piece. Since the bass line is pulsating it will not always be possible to use alternate toe technique. However, in measures 4, 8, and 14 alternating right and left pedaling works well. You can treat the descending passage with repeated notes in measures 11 and 12 as a scale-like passage and play with alternate toes. Play with the same foot notes that are repeated and notes with change of direction. Articulation Although the traditional way of articulating Baroque music is with articulated legato, you can see the slurs every four notes in the left hand part. This legato articulation is original and you should try to play all four notes legato. Make sure there are delicate breaks between the note groups. Play all notes with a gentle articulation in the right hand part and in the pedals except in measure 3, where the appoggiatura in the soprano should be slurred. Ornaments Ornaments in this chorale prelude should be played from the upper note. Because it is a very gentle and expressive piece, do not rush your ornaments and do not allow them to sound virtuosic. Try to maintain the elegant intimate character even in playing the faster notes. Do not play the ornaments automatically in the precise rhythm. They will sound more natural if you hold the first note of the trill or the mordent longer and play the remaining notes a little faster. If you want more information about playing ornaments in the Baroque music, an invaluable resource is "Performing Baroque Music" by Mary Cyr which I highly recommend. Although the practice keeping in mind the above points about fingering, pedaling, articulation, and ornamentation requires significant amount of patience and attention to detail, the results achieved by such a practice will be great because you will be able to perform “Ich ruf zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ” with precision, clarity, and confidence. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. _As we all know, Bach's Aria from Orchestral Suite No. 3 is one of top 10 most popular Bach's pieces of all times. It is also commonly called Air on the G String. Arrangments of this immortal composition range from piano to guitar quartet, from flute choir to glass harmonica. Would you like to learn to play this piece on the organ? If so, watch this video, I teach it all step by step here: By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music.
Although the most popular of all organ toccatas by Johann Sebastian Bach is the legendary Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, perhaps even more masterful is the splendid and brilliant Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540.
This composition might have been created in Weimar when the true compositional style of a master composer was formed. Virtuosic Toccata and Fugue in F Major usually is a true technical and mental challenge for many skilled organists. If performed well, it is a real treat for every organ music lover and listener. Otherwise, it has the potential to create a sense boredom. The Toccata leaves the impression of a chase between voices and begins with a prolonged and playful two voice canon over a long tonic pedal point (Idea A). After this canon Bach writes another virtuosic episode - a pedal solo in the tonic key which leads to a cadence in the Dominant - C major. Now the voice parts switch places and the canon begins all over again, only this time in the Dominant key (C major). These two sections serve to establish both the Tonic and the Dominant keys and have a function, similar to the North German Passaggio in a Praeludium. After this episode, the chase stops but all voices begin a long and tiring journey (for the performer, that is) through various related keys in descending and ascending sequences (Idea B based on arpeggio figure). Through the course of this Toccata, canonic idea A and sequential idea B alternate and create an intriguing structural balance. In developing the idea A, Bach evidently shows his mastery of a double and sometimes even triple invertible counterpoint at the interval of an octave. This basically is a technique allowing voice switching. It only works if the composer uses the suitable intervals (most of the time thirds and sixths, avoiding fifths which in inversion become a forbidden fourth). Suspensions of a second and seventh are welcomed in this technique, too. Because of repeating two musical ideas, this Toccata shows the influence of the Italian Ritornello form. Bach learned to use this form in Weimar from transcribing for keyboard the concertos of Vivaldi and his contemporaries. The fugue, on the other hand, provides a welcomed relaxation for the organist from the technical point of view. However, Bach provides another challenge, e.g. old-fashioned "Palestrina" style fugue with alla breve meter (cut-time) in Style antico (the old style). This is a double fugue, which means that a composer has to develop two musical themes. Both of the themes must work in invertible counterpoint with each other. In the exposition and counter-exposition of the first theme, Bach develops the solemn, slow, and vocal musical idea in all four voices. The second theme appears to be playful, dance-like, which reminds of a Baroque dance Gavotte. During this section, the pedal part remains silent and waits its entrance until the powerful combination of both themes towards the close of a fugue. While listening of the fugue in this wonderful video, feel free to count the number of appearances of the first theme. I recommend using the New Bach Edition for playing this piece. It is reliable and solid. By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide: "How to Master Any Organ Composition" here: http://www.organduo.lt/organ-tutorial.html |
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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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