SOPP575: I like that Total Organist is keeping me focused on my practicing, and how to practice3/27/2020
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 575 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jeremy, who is transcribing our scores and adding fingering and pedaling, and is our member of the Total Organist Community. He writes: “I like that Total Organist is keeping me focused on my practicing, and how to practice.” V: Ausra, what does he mean? A: I think that’s what he means, what he says, that it helps him to stay focused on his practice and because it shows how to practice it means that it improves his practice, too! V: What is the opposite of focus in this case for Jeremy? A: Well, the loss of concentration, I guess. V: Distractions? A: Distractions, yes. V: Have you been distracted in your life from your organ practice by any other exciting things, let’s say? A: Of course, but not so much because of exciting things, but probably because of very serious and unpleasant things. V: Can you name one of them? A: No, I can’t. V: Just one? A: Because it’s just very personal. V: Ah. I thought maybe that ha something to do with school, you know? A: Oh! Do you mean overworking all the time? V: Mhm A: Yes, that’s one of them, but… I didn’t mean that when I said it. V: So, if Total Organist is keeping Jeremy focused on his practicing, this is a good thing. Right? But I’m thinking, “How is this program keeping him focused?” By which means? Do you have any idea? A: I think it’s because it consists of so many things that everybody can find something useful and something to work on. V: And this could be a distraction at the same time, right? A: I don’t think you would find any of the Total Organists that would do everything in this program. I guess you just find what your weakness is and what you want to learn the most, and then you work on that. V: But there are hundreds of scores and programs and trainings. You can get lost, right? A: Maybe you need to write a smooth guide through your Total Organist program. V: Step by step! A: Yes! V: But for everybody, as you say, it’s very personal, and the goals are personal. And I know Jeremy is participating in our weekly contest—Secrets of Organ Playing Contest—week after week, and it’s been great to see him work through Bach’s “Orgelbuchlein” Chrorale Preludes regularly. It’s amazing to see him progress and to actually read his reports, what he has been doing over each day, and I think when a person writes about his day, what he has been working on, then it makes him think about his day, about his activities. And sometimes, if you don’t think, you don’t notice things that you do, and you don’t know if you are productive or not—if creative or not. And when you are reporting like this for everyone else to see in this group, I think it really helps him to stay focused, as he says, for tomorrow also—for tomorrow’s goals. Don’t you think? A: Yes, I think so. I think you are absolutely right. V: That’s why I take your activity reports and also publish them on Basecamp so other people could also know what you are doing. A: Do you think they are useful? V: Nobody said that they’re not. A: Well… if you think that they are useful, you may put them there. V: Yeah, I think they are useful, because they help people feel that you are human, you know, not hiding behind a screen, but a real person. A: Okay. I am a real person, “Hi!” Well, anyway, I think if I would have had such a program let’s say 25 years back, I think I would have benefited from it very much. V: You think that 25 years ago you would have benefited from this program a lot? A: Yes! When I had just started to play the organ. V: Hmmm. There was no opportunity for anyone to create this. Right? No Internet, capabilities of streaming, and uploading…. A: I know, and I just think it would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of trouble. V: We started organ playing back in 1994, I think, A: Yes, that’s right! V: And that was before even blogs were created! Blogs were created, I think, just before 2000, the first blogs, but they became mainstream around 2002 picked up by big media, and I also remember that I noticed the word “blog” mentioned also on the Internet and on TV around that time, but I hadn’t done anything with it. I only dreamed about it, and started writing blog posts only in 2007 in Lithuanian, and in English in 2011. A: Yes, and now it’s just so nice to have access to all that information and organ playing technique, because I remember my first lesson with George Ritchie at Lincoln, when he asked by which method book I was taught to play the organ, and I said, “By none!” And I remember how he looked at me. V: You didn’t use any textbooks. A: Yes, I know. And I just felt like I came from the middle of the jungle somewhere, basically learning how to play organ from monkeys! V: Well yes. Nowadays, you cannot say that it’s lack of information that’s stopping people from mastering the organ or practicing the organ. Not anymore, right? A: Yes, but I don’t think that much has changed in Lithuania, because I guess with their kind of music, they still don’t use any kind of method books, so… V: Good thing we have a global audience and are not limited to a Lithuanian audience. A: Yes, that’s right. At least we can share our experience. V: Thank you guys! We hope this was useful to you, so you see how the Total Organist community is being inspired by one another, and keeping on track with their organ practice, and reporting back at the end of the day about their daily practice activities, and about their weekly goals, challenges, and this helps them move forward much much faster than they would be doing on their own. Right Ausra? A: True. V: Okay, 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 573 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. We just recorded the previous episode with the question sent by Rebecca about the articulation of “D Minor Toccata and Fugue” by Bach , and Rebecca’s question sort of continues in this episode. Okay, so she writes she has problems with: “Sticking with a schedule of practicing. Time management.” And also: “Pieces to play for an organ recital? Suggestions as to what would make a good program? I feel somewhat limited in what I can play. (I played piano during my early years, and I am semi retired at this point. However, I LOVE to play and I want to challenge myself to do a recital. I am thinking of the Bach piece, which has not been done in our recital programs in the last year and the ‘Westminster Carillon.’ Thank you for any input.” V: So basically, Ausra, let’s talk a little bit about scheduling—schedule of practice and time management. By the way, these are courses in our Total Organist program, so if she’s interested in joining Total Organist at least for some time, she could really take advantage of our programs. So we talk about practicing, but in general, schedule of practice is… it depends on each person, right Ausra? A: Sure! For me, it seems that in Rebecca’s case, she needs to set up a date for a recital if she really wants to do it, and that way, she will feel the pressure of it coming up and then she will manage her time much better. V: You think so? A: Or in the other case, she will have to cancel it! V: You think so? I have heard people play badly in recital, even though they scheduled the date in advance, and they knew that the due date is coming up, but they don’t understand their true situation wisely enough, and they still don’t take it seriously. You know whom I’m talking about. A: Well, of course there are people like this, but that’s what I would do, because otherwise, look, they cannot work on her schedule and to do it hour by hour, because we don’t know what she does in life, how long she sleeps, and what kind of other responsibilities she has. Does she have to take care of children, grandchildren… you know, we don’t know that. V: So basically, when you schedule a recital, a good solution is to play a run-through of the recital two months before the date. Yes? A: Well, if you are a professional, I think one month is enough, but it depends. V: If you are a professional, I think a run-through could be even sometimes omitted if it’s a solid program and you know it. But it depends. So in Rebecca’s case, I really recommend two months prior to recital a run-through. And, thinking about that, she has to plan her practices so that she would learn the right amount of repertoire on each day so that she would master it on time—two months before the recital. A: Sure, and about the program, she’s working on the “D Minor Toccata” and on “Westminster Carillon,” I would say that the one would be a perfect opening piece for her recital, and “Westminster Carillon” would be perfect for finishing it! V: And we could talk a little bit about general principles of selecting the repertoire, right? What do you think about playing everything either very fast or very loud? A: I think it’s very disrespectful to the audience in general, and to the organ itself. V: You haven’t been to our last recital at church. A: And I’m very glad about it from what I heard about it! V: But one of the guest organists played for an hour and twenty minutes with only, I think, one piece soft and slow, and maybe some variations of another piece a little bit softer, too. But other than that, it was loud and fast all the time. It was French twentieth century music, beautiful pieces by Tournemire, by… A: Duruflé… V: ...Duruflé, by Dupré, by Cochereau. They all are amazing pieces, but not together, you know? They have to have some contrast, and I have heard complaints from listeners downstairs that in general it was a nice recital, but too loud. A: So you need to respect your audience, basically, and think about them. So basically, you need to play various music. V: Various music! A: Loud and soft, fast and slow… V: Sad and… A: ...joyful, and keep a good balance among them. Because again, if you will play everything soft and slow, then the audience probably will either leave or fall asleep! V: Uh-huh. A: But if you will play loud and fast all the time for an hour and twenty minutes, everybody probably would just go mad. V: Exactly. Well, also think about your program like one continuous piece, one continuous musical story, like a movie! You have to have culmination in a movie. You have to have a strong beginning, right? Otherwise your listeners will be bored right away if you’re playing very meditative music at the beginning, unless there is a special reason for that, like in Lent, let’s say. Meditations in Lent or Advent time, some other things… A: You know, like now, the thought came to my mind, let’s say, about the “Third Symphony” by Louis Vierne. It consists of five movements. It has a fast and loud opening and finale, it has the third movement of this symphony is very a playful and joyful scherzo, virtuosic, and the second an the fourth movements are a sort of slow meditative style. V: Normally, those symphonic pieces are written with contrasts in mind, of course, and if that organist would have selected two symphonies, let’s say one symphony by Vierne and another by Dupré, let’s say, that would be fine! That would be fine, because each work has many contrasting sections and episodes so it would be built-in success. But he selected just the “pieces from the cake”--from each symphony or cycle. Just the Sortie, just the toccatas, you know! A: Yes, just the loud and fast stuff! Well, anyway, I think you also need to think about the timeline of composers on your program, because sometimes people start with early music and then they go to the modern stuff. That’s okay, too. You could do some baroque pieces and then some romantic pieces and finish with let’s say twentieth century or twenty-first century. V: And you know why it works? Because the musical language in those pieces will be gradually probably increasing in difficulty and the tolerance of dissonance in listeners’ ears will be also readjusted with each piece. If you start to play with a very dissonant piece right from the start, it might shock the listeners. Right? But on the other hand, if you play your entire program from modern music and each of them has contrasting sections and episodes, this commonality might unite your program, and actually that would not be as tragic. A: But, you know, you need to be careful about playing only modern music. V: When you say modern, it could mean a lot of different things. A: I know, but I mean sort of like a new Viennese style. Atonal. V: Or expressionist. Yeah. Twentieth century saw a lot of different movements, including minimalist music, minimal, which is very easy to listen to. It was like a reaction to Dodecaphonic music. A: I think for a general audience, you might add one of that kind of piece in your concert. If you will include all pieces like this, then again, you will lose your audience, because when we are talking about these specific twentieth century compositional techniques, I think it’s in general wise to introduce people to compositional techniques about what is done in the piece. Otherwise, they might not get the idea of what it was about. V: You’re right. It’s nice to talk between the pieces. A: Yes, or at least write it down in the piece’s program notes. V: Good! This is good enough for starting the discussion and thinking about it. For closing, I would like to point out that if there is an anniversary of the composer, you can play only the pieces of that composer. This is fine, I think. There is a reason to do that. Right? Or one stylistic period or one historical period of organ composition, one country if there is an instrument that fits this country very well. That’s fine. But it has to be explained for the audience as well. A: Yes. V: Why you chose this… exactly. Because variety in your program will be somewhat limited then, if you are unifying your program. Right? And then your listeners might need an explanation. Thanks 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 565 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Allen. And he writes, Hi Vidas and Ausra, It is great to read other people's problems and challenges and I would love to hear your responses to mine. I took up the organ seriously in 2015 after retiring and I am now 71. I practise every day for at least two hours and my latest piece (which I have just mastered) is the Bach Toccata BWV 538 (Dorian). Unfortunately, I do have the occasional BAD day when everything goes wrong, even bars that never went wrong before. I soldier on but it often gets worse. Do you ever experience this? If so, what do you do? Hoping to hear from you, Allen V: So, it’s very common piece and wonderful, Dorian toccata that Bach wrote, but I’m not sure if he is playing the Fugue or not. A: Well, anyway, I think this kind of problem, I have experienced it quite a lot actually. Many times. Because when we are talking about toccatas, we have this repeated patterns, motivic rhythm, at fast tempo, and while playing a lot of it, it might be overplayed, so to say. So the best thing for me is just to take a break and maybe to drop that piece for one or two days. Or even for a few days. And then to start to play it again, but at a slow tempo. V: Why is that, why do you have to take a break? A: Well, because you know, if I will force it, I might ruin it, and I might not want to play it anymore. V: And another answer might be probably that you have to let the unconscious do the work for you, while you are sleeping, while you are doing some other things, your mind still works subconsciously on that piece. A: I think that’s a very good point. V: Mm hm. And sometimes, subconscious practice is more beneficial than conscious practice, right? If we always force it and do it over and over again repeatedly, 100 times, 1000 times and with no results, maybe yes, we can take a break for a few days and then come back, and then the piece will start to sound like from scratch, like a fresh piece. And we will find many interesting new things in it, after we haven’t been, having been away from it for awhile. A: Because, you know, I get this feeling all the time when we are getting ready for our recitals. That you cannot practice every day in a concert tempo, because you ruin the piece. \ V: That’s very obvious, yeah. A: And the closer your recital comes, the better you are with your pieces, the more careful you need to be with it. And you need to take breaks, and you need to practice in a slow tempo. V: Yes, because it’s very tempting to play fast and… A: Yes, because everything is ready, you know, you know everything. V: It’s tempting to pretend that the recital is today. For example, we are recording it on Saturday, and our next recital is a week from tomorrow, on Sunday, A: Yes. V: In Sweden. And therefore, we have to try to peak on that day. Not today, not tomorrow, not in the middle of the week, but on the right day, and even on the right time. It will be like at 6:00 PM, and we have to get ready so that people in Sweden, in a city called Örebro would be listening there and enjoying it the most. A: True, so I guess the best timing is very important, and when you are learning and improving your skills, you need to find a pattern that works for you. V: And sometimes, it’s the opposite true, yes? Sometimes you can play slow and the easy way, and the calm way for too long, and then when the recital comes, or public appearance comes, you don’t know how you can handle the stress of the real tempo, because you never tried it. A: So I guess, you need to play in the concert tempo, that’s for sure, but after you reach that concert tempo, and you feel really comfortable in it, then you need to go back to a slower tempo. V: Well, for cases like that, they always recommend recording themselves, for people. And listening to those recordings. And when you press the record button, you always feel a little bit of stress, like, you can’t repeat a mistake, you can’t stop. You have to keep going. And that’s like a little bit similar to a real situation when people are listening to you live. And that’s very very helpful, if you really know the level that you are in right now. If you really mastered the Dorian toccata or not. Maybe it’s just in your mind that you have mastered it, but if you record it, maybe it’s another story. You have to check it. A: And recording yourself, I think, helps also to overcome performance anxiety. V: True. Exactly, because you are getting through these multiple levels of stress many times, and it’s not that stressful anymore, right? A: True, and the more you do it, the easier it gets. V: Although, this week when I recorded, I think the Spring from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi in the church, it was on Monday, I think, I was really nervous. Because I haven’t recorded anything from the score in a long while. You know, I usually livestream my improvisations, but that’s not the same, right? Because you can make up notes. Or if I perform modern-sounding music, people don’t know what kind of notes there are. But if it’s really popular classical piece like the Spring from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, everybody knows this piece inside out, and I was having a really stressful time calming myself down and focusing. Because I was actually livestreaming this piece when I was recording it. But, I had a fail-safe button on - I pressed the privacy level to “Private.” Nobody could hear it at that time. And only when I was happy with the performance, I set it on “Public.” A: So you were cheating a little bit, yes? V: I was cheating, yes. But the next time I recorded live, it was later on, the different piece, let’s say Bridal March from Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, I did it live. And actually played it three times. Nobody noticed, actually, on Facebook. All three times were good. But I chose the best version, the last version, for YouTube, for example. I edited it later. A: I guess you perform so much, so many times, and you livestream on Facebook, that nobody pays attention to you anymore. V: No, people usually listen to the beginning, and send “likes” and hearts, etc., and comment, for example, but not too many people listen to the end. A: Yeah. V: It’s the same on YouTube, too. Ok, guys. The best advice we could give, probably, is to practice slowly, and record yourself in this case. And then you will know your right, your exact level, and probably the bars that you occasionally play with mistakes can be fixed. A: And I really advise you to take a break. V: Oh, that’s good advice. I forgot about it. That’s like going on a trip, and missing your family, for example, if you go alone. And you come back, you miss your family, you start to appreciate it even more. A: Yes. So that might happen for Bach’s Toccata, Dorian. V: And play the Fugue, also. Fugue is worth the trouble, too. Our friend Jeremy Owens, practiced this piece, Toccata and Fugue, and Toccata, I think, was easier than Fugue for him. A: I think that’s always the case with Toccatas and Fugues. V: But he finally mastered this piece, so I have no doubt that Allen can do this too. Thank you. 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. 
Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast 549!
Vidas: I'm so excited to be able to talk with John Higgins now from Australia, my old friend, and he's been on our show for maybe 3 times before so I'm really delighted we can connect because John has some news to share. Last time we talked it was a while ago and he's very busy with raising a family - he has 3 sons. And also he's been working in a church, playing church music and also doing all kinds of church music related things which we will talk about today. So thank you so much, John and welcome to the show! John: Thank you so much, Vidas and it's such an honor to be on this podcast and I'm so proud to be one of your students for over 8 years now. V: I remember you were in Vilnius and recently I was looking through all the photos from the past and found the one with you playing our church organ and you together with me and Ausra and we all spent some time together. Your flight was delayed, it was a big adventure. And after practicing for 7 years, you finally got to play a recital on the largest pipe organ in Lithuania. That was quite an adventure! J: Yes, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and such a wonderful opportunity. I can't thank you enough for this. I'll never forget it. I feel like the organ is part of me, and you and Ausra are such a huge part of my life as well. V: What happened afterwards, John, after you came back to Australia? I know you have very dangerous bushfires in your area and I hope firefighters will stop them and that you will get some rain soon. That's my hope for New Year. We're hoping for much milder climate. So could you share, John about your life after you came back to Australia? What have you been up to? Listen to the conversation Related link: Hidden Treasures, John Higgins' YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrikng_XqeuuLbV2mo3zfig SOPP523: I must get moving soon or I will not be qualified to call myself an organist any more12/7/2019
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 523 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Robert, and he answers my question where I asked him how is his organ practice going. He writes: “Oh I wish you hadn't asked. Not well I haven't practiced in a very long time. Health and other things are preventing me. I must get moving soon or I will not be qualified to call myself an organist any more. I do read and soak in and enjoy and certainly appreciate receiving the emails and all the good instructions. Hopefully soon I will be applying it. Thank you for asking. Best regards, Robert” What can you say for starters, Ausra, to Robert, who hasn’t practiced in a very long time? A: Well, a term “very long time” is sort of relative, because for some people a week without practice might seem as a very long time, but for others, half a year might not be a long time. So, I wish people would be more specific about terms like this. V: True. He writes about health and “other things,” which is also not specific. A: True. So we can just imagine things in all that, because if it’s health, then you need to know if it’s a constant problem or it’s a temporary problem, and other stuff. V: But he writes in the next sentence that he must get moving again or he will not be qualified to call himself an organist anymore, which means that he can start practicing. Right? Even though health and other things are preventing it. So it’s subjective challenges that are bothering him. A: I think it’s not only for Robert. I think it’s true for everybody, that we try to find excuses if you don’t want to do things right away, sort of we are trying to procrastinate. V: Do you think that Robert needs a little push? A: Yes, a push might help. V: Like extra encouragement and external motivation; you know what I mean. A: Yes, to schedule recital to play in. Then you have to move. V: Oh, no! No! That’s too harsh for people who haven’t practiced for a long time. I think our Secrets of Organ Playing Contest would be helpful. Just one video a week. It doesn’t have to be long… A: You know, for somebody, one video a week, that’s a real challenge. It might take too much energy and time to do it. V: Imagine just one hymn a week, then. It still counts! A: Well, as you say. V: I think so, yeah, if he wants it badly enough. First of all, he has to be willing to sacrifice the comfortable feeling of being where he is now. In this situation, he is comfortable. Even though he hasn’t practiced in a very long time, he is in a known area, a known environment, and when he starts practicing, he will become progressing somewhere he doesn’t know, and this might become uncomfortable. So first of all, he has to be comfortable with being uncomfortable to extend his comfort limits. Don’t you think? A: Yes! What would be other options without your competition and steam platform? V: That’s a tricky question, because it helped me, it helped people who participate… A: Do you think that like a regular church service on Sundays might be something, too? V: No! Obviously it’s a big motivation to perform in public even in a church service, yes! But what’s easier? To find a church service and start playing in public, or just to take out a cell phone and record yourself? A: Well, but thinking about the future, and about all those perspectives, I would think finding a church to play in is more… V: More beneficial. A: More beneficial. V: Because when he plays in church, he still can participate in the contest, too. A: Sure, so you could, so to say, shoot two bunnies with one shot? V: To shoot two bunnies with one shot. Exactly, yes. A: Not a very nice idiom, but I think you get the idea. V: Two birds, maybe, English speaking people, say. A: It could be. V: Lithuanians don’t hunt birds, only bunnies, it seems. So, this is our advice for Robert and many other people who are sort of stuck in a state without practicing for some time. It could be a week, or more, or it could be in between projects, in between recitals… A: Well, sometimes we have to take time off. V: How much time is needed? A: It depends on the specific situation. V: Plus or minus. A month or less? A: Two weeks, I would say. V: Two weeks? A: Because sometimes one week is not enough to have a rest or break. V: Yes, you need to adjust and during that week maybe you can plan things ahead. A: Well, planning is also a work, so… V: Okay, two weeks without any organ practice, any thinking about organ… does reading about our conversations and podcasts count? A: I guess! V: So people could still read them, but take two weeks off if they deserve it. Right? A: Sure. Maybe somebody doesn’t need it… doesn’t need to take breaks. V: Excellent. 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 513, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. And in this episode we’d like to talk a little bit about our Total Organist students answers. Once a month we ask them a question, ‘how do you like Total Organist so far?’, And here is what James wrote on Basecamp: James: I feel bad when I get the next week's email and I haven't even finished the one from two weeks ago haha! Vidas: I wrote: I like Total Organist because it gives people an opportunity to quadruple their motivation to practice and consequently quadruple their results. Jeremy: I love it. It is a place of encouragement in some parts (the daily updates on what we've been working on) and also pushes me to become better by taking weekly classes or watch videos etc. Vidas: And Ruth wrote: Ruth: This program provides terrific encouragement for me. I see how something should be played ideally. I can hope to do the same, one day. At least, that is my hope. I am grateful for the constant encouragement. V: What do you say, Ausra? A: Well, I think encouragement is very important, at least for many people. V: You are sort of an individualist, Ausra, by heart. A: Yes, I am. V: Mmm-hmm. In your character you avoid masses of people, big congregations, gatherings, meetups. A: Because I[’m] always working with people, so I have people around me every day. So after work I just want to spend my time alone, with myself. And I think being an organist is an excellent thing for me. Because I think that basically organist is all alone. V: Mmm-hmm. If you were my student of Total Organist, just imagine, this hypothetical situation. I don’t suppose it would be nice for you, but still, as an exercise, for your character, for a person with your individuality, would you prefer to learn things on your own, completely, or would you choose to have some people around you who support you, some kind of mentor, or a few mentors, who are more advanced than you, who are sort of at the same path, supporting each other, just like we are doing in Basecamp? A: I think what you are doing on Basecamp is a little bit similar to what we had when were back at school... V: Mmm-hmm. A: and we would have those organ studio meetings every week. V: Yeah. A: And we would get support from each other and from our professors and from other students. So I guess this is some sort of similar form of support and sharing ideas, and sharing our work. V: You know there are so many, so many, now opportunities for people to take online courses, classes, even online academies, to learn any skill they want, right? And sometimes even for free, right? But the biggest challenge for people who are doing this is to stick with the schedule, stick with the routine and with the curriculum and actually finish what they started. If you go to school in a physical location, it’s one thing. But when you are sitting and studying at your computer or even on your phone or tablet, it’s different. Nobody really pushes you to do what you maybe are not eager to do right away, and you have to find inner motivation. So what we are doing, doing this group environment, even in the virtual setting on Basecamp with Total Organist Community, I think this is exactly what’s school does with support, with constant deadlines, right, and I think I can only hope that people can quadruple their results and motivation. A: Do you think everybody needs deadlines and feeling that somebody is watching them all the time, and pushing them, encouraging them? V: Yes! A: Really, really? V: Not… A: Don’t you think it puts too much pressure on some sort of personalities? V: Not necessarily like we’re doing. Not necessarily like we’re doing with Total Organist, but if you’re doing things on your own, you have to pretend that you have deadlines, at least inner deadlines, for yourself. A: But for example, I have very huge inner feeling of responsibility for something and if I know that I have to do something I will do it. I don’t need that outside voice pushing me to move forward. V: I mean inside voice, this has to be inside. A: Because I have very strong inside voice. V: Yes. A: So, I don’t need your encouragement because I have already too big encouragement of my own. V: Yeah. So that’s, but people like you are on the minority, I think. Otherwise we would already have reached… A: You don’t know so much because people like me, they don’t contact you. We don’t express with your opinion. V: But I mean if majority of population would be like you, we already would have reached Mars. Or even further. A: Do you think so? V: Yes! A: Why? V: Because most of the time people, when they are alone, they don’t do 100% of work. They do a little less, or even more, they take shortcuts. Not you perhaps. A: Not necessarily. If I’m alone I can do my job better because nobody distracts me. V: Exactly. A: I can work well now. V: But you are on the minority, I think. Individualist, you know, would despise the masses and do things on their own. A: I don’t despise masses. Simply I’m not interested in what we are doing. I’m more interested in myself. V: Alright, guys. This is where our personalities differ, because I would suspect that among our students you have both sides, right? Some people who are more like extroverts and some people who are like introverts. I’m not judging anyone here, I’m just saying that there are two kinds of, at least two kinds of people, there are even more probably, sides of character. And what we’re doing with Total Organist, we try to encourage people advance faster than they would do on their own. A: Yes, and I believe still and I haven’t changed my opinion, that organ is an instrument intended for introverts to play. V: Mmm-hmm. A: You might disagree. V: No. No. A: That’s why I’m sort of looking a little bit with this suspicion to… V: Uh-huh A: an organist who exhibits themselves very often. For example, play a recital and change their dresses in the middle of it… V: Right. A: their outfit, and, or doing only virtuoso pieces and playing them in prestissimo tempo just to exhibit themselves, so I don’t like things like this. I don’t think it’s fair. And it don’t think that organists should be like this. V: But how do you explain that masses, right, I’m talking about not one person, not two, not ten, but masses, love this kind of show? A: Well, if you love shows like these, you don’t have to go to an organ recital. You might just turn on your T.V. It’s full of crappy shows. Dance with a star, sing like a star, be a star and all that kind of (inappropriate expletive not included). V: Fifteen minutes of fame. A: Yes. V: Everybody wants to be a princess and a prince these days. Nobody wants to be regular person anymore. A: So in that way, you don’t have to sort of do not a nice thing with instrument, kind of instrument. V: Yes. Simply put, you sometimes you have to sell out. A: I think it’s too nice organ, too nice instrument, which has too long and beautiful history, that you would ruin it by doing some ugly show stuff. V: Can you find a balance, to please yourself and to please your listeners? A: Well I guess the main goal is to educate your listeners that you wouldn’t have to do show out of organ performance. V: Or, nowadays, you can actually choose your listeners, to play not for everyone, but for people who believe in you, who appreciate what you do. A: And for example, for me right now, I enjoy the most the performances of @partitura on Steem platform V: Yes. A: Because he always plays so nicely and he just seems to be loving the same kind of music that I love so I listen to his recordings and I enjoy them. V: Mmm-hmm. Have you changed your opinion of digital organs then? A: Actually, yes, I did a little bit. V: (Laughs, ha, ha, ha). A: I still prefer a real thing, but while listening to a good recording on a good digital instrument, I don’t think I could notice the difference right away. If I would listen to them alive, then yes, but not on the recording. V: Mmm-hmm. You’re right. Technology progresses faster than we can understand. A lots of things to think about, right, Ausra, from these answers that our wonderful students from Total Organist community have sent to us. And guys, keep please sending us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen!  Today in the morning I spend a lot of time practicing Toccata by Paul Ayres in my church. I stopped at every quarter note and did it 3 times. Then sight-read through some music by Ad Wammes and Tore Bjorn Larsen.
After a while composer Kristina Vasiliauskaitė came to the organ balcony and I helped her to sort out her PayPal earnings from the royalties of her compositions and taught her to use her new tablet. She has sold 15000 copies of her Agnus Dei for choir since 1999! I found it quite remarkable. She needs to have her own online store like I have though because now she is not in control of her inventory. She gave me a 70 percent chocolate bar for my work and also her 4 Christmas carols for the organ from 1992. I sight-read through them when she left and went to make a copy. Audiences would love this piece. I thought such music would be quite successful in the US because there is a need of quality liturgical music which also sounds good to the average listener. But for this she needs to continue to create. For lunch I met Ausra at the university cafeteria and we ate chicken cutlet and vegetable soup with tea. Of course, we shared half of that chocolate bar! When Ausra left to continue teaching at school I went to work at church at the computer. Submitted my request to play organ duet or improvisation recital to Holy Rosary Cathedral Concert Series in Canada. We'll see if this proposal will be interesting to the organizers. At home I prepared for our next harmony class by typing 6 hymn tunes with an empty bass line for students to fill out tomorrow. My Fitbit device notified me about 10000 steps taken today. Then talked for 93 minutes on the phone with a friend. Finished the day by writing and reading the diary of David Sedaris. This morning after I practiced the 1st page of the Toccata by Paul Ayres, an organist Grazina Petrauskaite came to practice for her upcoming Saturday's recital. During this time I went to central administration building to check if her poster is already hanging and then came back to the church. Then I walked around the church and its chapels and recorded this video while Grazina played two pieces on the organ. This was Praeludium in G Minor, BuxWV 149 and Chorale partita Aus der tiefe ruf ich zu dir, BWV 745. I was amazed at the beauty of the church, music and organ sounds. Hope you give it a listen. 
Vidas: I'm here with Andreas Spahn from Germany whom I met last Thursday at Vilnius Cathedral during the recital of Lithuanian organist Balys Vaitkus, but before that Andreas contacted be via email asking about the opportunity to hear me play because his son is going to start studying at Vilnius University Medicine Department. So I mentioned him that recital at Vilnius Cathedral and he came - it was a big surprise to me last Thursday. I'm really glad that we're meeting here at Vilnius University St John's church. This is Monday, September 2 and today we have a big celebration at the opening of the academic year at the university and we're going to talk now in depth about what Andreas is doing, what is he practicing, what is he working on at church and things like that. So thank you so much Andreas and welcome to the show!
Andreas: Thank you Vidas! It's a really big pleasure for me to be on your podcast. V: Andreas before we started this conversation tried out this instrument for a while playing some of popular organ music, modern creative organ music and it sounded sometimes like music from the movies to my ears and it seems like Andreas' congregation is enjoying this music. So Andreas, can you introduce your congregation to us , what you do there, and what's your current environment? A: OK! You know my name - Andreas Spahn and I've been playing the organ for 35 years, the church organ. I started my organ training first on an electronic organ, I think I was 10 years old and it only had a short pedal - one and a half octave. I was too small to play those pedals. I learned for 4-5 years electronic organ and then I changed to the church organ. After some years I took the C level exam. It's a level for lay persons. I've been training on the service and playing during Mass and at the time I've been studying liturgical singing, choir conducting, singing in the choir, hymnology, organ building, music theory and ear training. It was 3 year training. V: And now you can play in church, right? A: I've been playing in church for 35 years. In Catholic and Protestant churches. V: In which town? A: In a small town near Stuttgart, in Leutenbach. It's about 20 kilometers away from Stuttgart in Germany. And in Birkmannsweiler. I've been playing 3 small but very interesting organs. V: It's very interesting to hear you play and you mentioned that your Lutheran congregation stays after the service and listens to your playing while Catholic congregation just walks out after 30 seconds. Do you think it depends on their music education level or mentality or what is causing this difference? Listen to the entire conversation Here is more information about Andreas Spahn and organ-related activities in Leutenbach and Birkmannsweiler: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011248180510 https://www.facebook.com/FvKKLeutenbach/ https://www.kirche-leutenbach.de/foerderverein-fuer-kultur-und-kirche-leutenbach/ https://www.ev-kirchengemeinde-birkmannsweiler-hoefen-baach.de/fileadmin/mediapool/gemeinden/KG_birkmannsweiler/Rueckblicke/Rueckblicke_-_Teil_2/Orgeleinweihung_BMW/Festschrift_Orgeleinweihung-9MB.pdf https://www.kirche-leutenbach.de/fileadmin/mediapool/gemeinden/KG_leutenbach/Plakate/120412_text11.04.pdf
Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra V: Let’s start episode 493 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Sally. And she writes: Choir rehearsals for the fall start Thursday, September 5, so time to get serious and spend time going through the music. I have a meeting with our music director this week to review the music for the fall and go over expectations. I also need to continue working on pieces for preludes and postludes this year, as well as meditative music to use at the end of communion. My goal is to spend time at the organ /piano everyday. It is challenging because I work full time and often am mentally drained by the time I get home. But once I make it to the piano or organ, I can easily spend an hour. So that's my goal. V: So Sally is a church musician, Ausra. A: Yes, it seems like that, but she also has a full-time job so she’s not only a church musician. V: Mmm-hmm. A church musician on the side, probably. A: Yes. V: And the challenge is to find mental energy after work to practice on the piano or organ, and now she has to get serious about practicing choir music, accompaniments probably. A: Yes, I guess because she needs to accompany choir. V: Have you ever accompanied choir, Ausra? A: Of course. When I worked Grace Church. V: How was it? A: Well, I liked it. I enjoyed it actually. It’s fun. V: What kind of skills do you have to have? A: Well, for me my sight-reading skills helped me the most. I would say then you don’t have to struggle and to put a lot of effort and time and learning new stuff. V: What about collaboration with others, if you’ve been used to playing solo, solo, solo? A: Well, that might be difficult for you. It wasn’t difficult for me because I sang in a choir since the age of seven, I guess, so it wasn’t hard for me to accompany choir. And actually I enjoy accompanying more when no singing myself. V: Me too! Singing is actually more difficult for the voice and mentally probably more difficult to me. To accompany is to pay attention to the conductor and to follow the orders that comes from conductor, and that’s all you have to do. A: Yes. And you even don’t have to worry about picking up your own tempo because if there is no conductor then it’s all settled. V: Mmm-hmm. So Sally is probably in this situation too. She has to work with music director. A: But as I understood the main concern of Sally is to have that mental energy, to be able to rehearse. Because if she gets to an instrument then she practices. The trouble probably is forcing herself to reach that instrument and sit down. And I can well imagine because I’m dealing with the same problem—all that time managing thing. Because also as teaching full-time, I know what that is to be able still to practice, yourself. V: Um, is it time management or priority management? A: Well, it’s not so much time and priority management, I think it’s about finding enough energy to do it. V: Mind management. A: Well… V: They say you have to manage your mind also, in order for it to function properly when you need it. A: I think what is very important, we don’t know what full-time Sally is doing besides being a church organist. But if it’s not a physical activity, and I guess that it’s probably not, if you are working in an office, so and working at the church, it means you really lack the physical activity. And this might also be a reason for not having enough energy to practice. So I think the crucial thing would be to find time to exercise, to do some physical activity. That might recharge you and you might be able to practice. V: The easiest way is to walk, as we found out, ourselves. A: Yes. But you know the trouble with that is for example, last night Vidas and I went for a nice long walk. It took about an hour for us. We used our tracker pulse. V: You mean tracking pulse. A: Tracking pulse, yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Tracking pulse, or tracking sticks. And I still cannot manage them very well, but after coming back from the forest, I couldn’t do anything. V: You were exhausted? A: Yes, I was exhausted but the good thing was that I slept very well after that. V: Really? A: Yes. V: Aha. So your mind was in a resting state. A: True, so maybe… V: Recharging. A: maybe if I wouldn’t walk like for an hour but maybe for a half-hour, I would still be able to practice after that. I don’t know. V: Plus you used those tracking sticks, which are difficult to manage at first. And also they take total body coordination and workout your upper body muscles. So you actually exercised much more than you usually did during walks. A: Yes, and I realized how sloppy I am in my body if I may say so. Because doing the right foot and left stick… V: Mmm-hmm. A: was really hard for me. It was really a challenge. Vidas kept saying to me, ‘oh, you are doing it incorrect’. So because he is a champion… V: Yes… A: on those things very well. V: I watched a Youtube video for five minutes. A: That’s right. And that made you an expert. V: Yes. A: So actually, exercising might help to be more efficient with your practice, to get you on the organ bench. Another thing might help—when I was studying at the National Čiurlionis School of Art, I would often have classes from nine to six and it was really big, long time. V: Like a full-time job. A: Yes, like a full-time job. But I would still have to do all those homework[s], and to practice and… V: It was even more than… A: Yes, it was actually much more than a full-time job. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because I would finish doing preparing for this school like at one or two o’clock in the morning. So can you imagine that? V: I would think adults work 40 hour weeks and students work 60 hour weeks, probably. A: Well at least in this school that’s true. V: Mmm-hmm. A: So, I would return back home and actually I would take a long nice bath. V: You would take a long nice bath. A: Yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And after this long nice bath, I could do things again. I would sit and practice for a couple of hours and then do other things. So you might try that as well. V: I have another suggestion which works similarly, but you don’t have to use water. Just sit, or lay down even, for fifteen or twenty minutes with your eyes closed, and sort of breathe naturally. A: You will fall asleep if you are really tired. V: Yes. But then wake up after twenty or fifteen minutes and that would be enough, just enough to get you recharged. It’s like a short meditation. A: Actually what many people do in a case like this when we need to do still something and we don’t have energy—but I wouldn’t suggest you to do that—we eat sweets and we drink coffee. I wouldn’t do that. V: No, it’s better… A: Because, maybe you will feel better for a short while but in the long term it will make… V: Mmm-hmm. A: things even worse. V: I agree! It’s better not to do artificial, not to take artificial boosters like this. Maybe just for twenty minutes of relaxation, and really closing your eyes and breathing, you will feel that energy boost in actually, anyway. And if you do this in the middle of the day, let’s say in, around two o’clock, when you feel the most tired, two, three o’clock, when you feel the most sleepy maybe, you will then discover that the day has split into two parts. Like you’ve been getting out of bed at two o’clock in the afternoon and starting a new day this way. And you can do this where ever you are—don’t necessarily at home, not necessarily in the bed, sitting in the chair is fine. A: Sure! I think that’s a good advice. V: Thanks 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! |
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Authors
Drs. Vidas Pinkevicius and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene Organists of Vilnius University , creators of Secrets of Organ Playing. 
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