Welcome to episode 717 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Pamela and she writes: "I would be interested in tips on how to accompany plainsong chant. I know that many people do not like or approve of chant accompaniments but many USA churches use them. The organist often has to invent on the spot." Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast! Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 716 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ray, and he writes: “Hey Vidas Thanks for your tips. Here are my goals: - to increase my play from memory ability (given the fact that l am 71) and to perform two major pieces Challenges: - time is a challenge - correct fingering (still fumbling at times) - improve my pedal skill Thanks again for your tips! Regards Ray” Vidas: So let’s recap a little bit, Ausra, and start from the beginning. Ray is 71, and wants to perform two major pieces, and wants to improve his memorization. Correct? Ausra: Yes! I just wonder why to perform from memory, because very often organists perform from the score, and that saves time, actually. But maybe he is uncomfortable looking at the score, and maybe it’s easier for him to play from memory. Because if he is comfortable looking at the score, I would not suggest for him to memorize pieces that he’s playing, because that would take him time. Vidas: 10 times more, probably, is required when you try to learn from memory. Ausra: But of course, if he’s uncomfortable looking at the score, and some people have that issue, that problem, especially those who were trained in the Suzuki method, that learned all music by ear not from the score. But otherwise, I think it would be much easier to play from the score and don’t worry about memorization. But of course it is up to him. Memorization always takes time. If you really want to play from memory and to memory faster, I don’t think that there is a shortcut to memorize a piece. Vidas: There is a shortcut but it’s not short. Ausra: Yes! Because… Vidas: It’s a method! Ausra: Because it’s still based on lots of repetitions, adding, learning like two measures at a time, and then adding another two measures and so on and so forth and repeating, repeating, repeating. So it’s a really long process. Of course, there are different kinds of memory types that different people have, because if you have like good visual memory than you are lucky, like photographic memory. You would just look at the score and you would memorize it. But very few people actually possess that ability, and others have just to take this painful long and boring process of memorizing measure by measure, step by step. But of course, it might be a good way also to improve your mental state, for example, which might prevent diseases like Alzheimer or dementia. Anyway, memorization for me always gives a lot of pain. I always struggle with it because basically I have never started to memorize things on time, and the last-minute memorization would never work really well, because then you would get extremely high performance anxiety. I still have nightmares about it. Vidas: I have a suggestion for Ray to use Marcel Dupré’s system. It’s solid, it takes only 15 minutes a day to do it, but with time, you can learn major pieces like this from memory. Would you like me to refresh how it works, Ausra? Ausra: Sure, although I’m not sure if I will use this method myself. Vidas: No! Ausra: But I will gladly listen to your advice. Vidas: Okay, divide a piece into four-measure fragments. And that fragment, four measures long, will be your menu for each day. The next day, you will learn another fragment of four measures long, and the third day will be another fragment of four measures long. Not long, right? Four. Ausra: But it will take forever then to learn the major piece! Vidas: Just let me finish, because it’s kind of very systematic. You first learn one measure at a time in this fragment, in these four measures. So you learn measure one, measure two, measure three, and measure four. And the way to do it is you play five times, while looking at the score, one measure, and then the same measure, without looking at the score, five times. You start and end at the beginning of the down beat. In other words, you start and end at the beginning of every fragment—new fragment. Right? If measure one is your goal right now, you start with the measure one downbeat, and you end with measure two downbeat. Right? Until you can do it five times from the score, five times from memory. Then you do the same with measure two. Five times from the score, five times from memory. Measure three then the same way, measure four. Right? So far so good, Ausra? Are you with me? Ausra: I am sleeping already, but anyway… go ahead… continue please. Vidas: Okay. It’s a good story before going to bed. Right? Ausra: Yes! It’s like counting sheep. Vidas: And then you learn measure one and two. So you start from the downbeat of measure one and end on the downbeat of measure three. Then you learn measures two and three, measures three and four. Then three measures at a time: one, two, three, and then two, three, four. And then finally one, two, three, four. Repeat one, two, three, four. Ausra: One, two, three, four. Vidas: One, two Ausra: One, two Vidas: Two, three Ausra: Two three Vidas: Three four Ausra: Three four Vidas: One, two, three Ausra: One, two, three Vidas: Two, three, four Ausra: Two, three, four Vidas: One, two, three, four. Ausra: One, two, three, four. Vidas: See, you already memorized it. Ausra: But, you know, while you are telling about this method, I kept thinking about Reincken’s “Chorale Fantasy: Was kann uns kommen an für Not” which I’m preparing for our Bach’s birthday recital, and it has 222 meaures. Vidas: Yes. Ausra: So, do you know how many days it would take for me to memorize it if I would learn, let’s say, only memorize only four measures per day? Vidas: I agree. Ausra: Maybe I would be able to be able to learn it not for this upcoming birthday in March, you know, but maybe… Vidas: The next one… Ausra: ...the next one, yes. Vidas: It would be still a major achievement. But what I mean to say is that you don’t have to only play 15 minutes per day. This takes four measures at a time. This takes 15 minutes only. I tested it myself. But if you want, you can play 30 minutes per day the same piece, so you can learn two fragments at a time. Right? Or if you have 3 fragments, you could learn 45 minutes at a time, or even one hour. So it speeds up your practice. Ausra: But it still takes a lot of time. Vidas: Yes, that’s what memorization is supposed to do! But the trick is that you won’t forget it after even many months. You will come back to this piece and it will be easy to refresh it. Sure, you will miss some details, but it will easy to relearn it from decades not learning it afterwards. So that’s my suggestion about memorization. Time is a challenge. Well, we cannot give him time, but he has to make time for practicing. Right Ausra? Ausra: Yes, you know… Vidas: If he has a goal, he has to make time for that goal. Ausra: Yes, we all make sacrifices in our lives in order to be able to practice. But that’s true. We cannot give him more time. Because I think time is a challenge for everybody. Just look at your routine! Maybe you can really shorten something and add more practice hours. And… well… if you would stop memorizing pieces, then you would save time! Maybe this could help you to have more time. So maybe you need, really, to sacrifice memorization, so think about it. Vidas: Mmmm… yeah. Could be. And then correct fingering. He struggles to play with correct fingering. And for that, there is a shortcut, actually—to get our fingered and pedaled scores with correct fingering and pedaling. It’s not necessarily correct 100% for every person, because every person has different types of hands, but the majority of times it will work. You have to sometimes adjust some things. And they will help you play with ideal perfect legato if it’s a Romantic piece, or with articulate legato if it’s a Baroque piece. We have designed scores like that with these fingerings and pedalings. Ausra: Yes, and just be sure that you use the same fingers all the time when you are playing the same piece, because that will speed up the process of learning the piece. Because if every time you will use, let’s say, slightly different fingering, then your final goal of achieving smooth playing will be postponed. Vidas: Ausra, can we recommend to Ray our Pedal Virtuoso master course for him if he wants to improve his pedal technique? Ausra: Yes, sure. Definitely that would be a really good… would we… because we have more than one course of improving pedal skills. Vidas: Yes. “10-day Pedal Challenge,” I think it’s a shorter one, and a longer one it takes over a number of weeks is, “Pedal Virtuoso Master Course,” if he likes playing pedal exercises like scales and arpeggios. Ausra: Yes. Like one of our friends recently said he wanted to hire an organ teacher, and I just asked, “What is your goal? Why do you need to hire?” And he said, “I want to improve my pedal technique!” And I said to him that if in order to improve your pedal technique, you need to play pedals more. That’s it! No teacher can improve your pedal technique, you just need to sit down at the organ and do it yourself. So either get Vidas’s courses that he is suggesting, or for example, if you don’t have time or you want to learn only your repertoire, you could also make exercises from your repertoire, too. You know, just select the hard places and work on those many many times. That will help, too. But of course, if you will take a pedal course, that would help you improve in more various ways and prepare you for more advanced and versatile repertoire. Vidas: Okay 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, 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: A: Find out more at https://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! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 713 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jim, and he writes: I'm trying to think when, if ever, someone would want to use a 16' stop when playing on the manuals. It seems that practice would give a very thick and muddy sound to the part written for the manuals. Can you give an instance or example of when it would be appropriate to use a 16' stop for the manuals, or one of the manuals, please? I am just having trouble imagining what type of sound that would be. Thank you very much. ~Jim A: Yes, that’s a very good question. And actually quite an easy one to answer, because the 16’ stop if used appropriately in the manuals does not make sound muddy, because you just have to know the instances when it’s best to use it, and when it’s better not to use it. For example, at St. John’s, if I’m playing the plenum registration on the Hauptwerk, on the first manual, on the Great, I always add the 16’ Principal. Because the plenum with the Mixture and without 16’ Principal will sound not as good. It sort of completes, rounds up that plenum sound. V: It depends on the Mixture composition. Because on other manuals, we don’t need 16’ stop - we don’t necessarily need it, right? We could use it, but not always. As Ausra mentions, on the first, on the Great manual, there is this Mixture which is ranked lower. It’s a low Mixture based on 16’ harmonic series, not on 8’ harmonic series. So if you don’t use 16’ stop together with this Mixture, what happens then? A: Well, then the sound is sort of screamy-like. And in order to round it up, you need to add the 16’ Principal. Then it sounds nice and complete. V: I think the lowest rank of the Mixture starts at 2⅔. So that’s pretty low. You need the 16’ stop Principal or the Bourdon to make it blend with the chorus. For example, on the third manual, Oberwerk, it’s not as low. It could be 1⅓, we have the Cymbel, which is even higher, so it’s a brighter sound, and we don’t need 16’ stop then all the time. A: Then another instance when I have to use the 16’ stop on the manual is when I’m playing a texture which has like a solo voice in the right hand and some sort of accompaniment in the left hand. And then if you would have two different manuals and the 16’ in your left hand, and solo voice in another manual, the 16’ stop would add some sort of pedal sound in the left hand. It would trick sort of your ear and your mind, and you could imagine that you are playing the pedals instead of the left hand. That a nice way, and sometimes I like to teach too, when I don’t want to use pedals too much and I don’t have time, I just play the pedal part with my left hand on the 16’ stop. Of course, you never use the 16’ stop alone in the manual, unless it’s a reed stop. Then it’s another question and another manner of registering. V: It’s an interesting observation, Ausra. A lot of trios written in the Baroque period with cantus firmus in the middle voice, in the tenor, can be played both ways: with the pedals taking the bass line, or with the pedals taking the tenor line. And if that’s the case, in the pedals we wouldn’t use 16’ registration, only 8’ bass stop, like a reed, but in the left hand part, like Ausra says, we could use 16’ and 8’. There is even actually a theory you could play the famous “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” from the six Schubler chorales by Bach this way - right hand could be played on the Principal 8’, left hand could take 16’ and 8’ flute stops as the bass line, and in the pedals you could have 8’ reed playing the tenor line, the cantus firmus. A: Yes, it’s very handy to have this option. What would you do if you have 16’ reeds on the manuals - how would you register? V: That’s a nice idea, too. On the big organs, there are a few 16’ reeds. Like we have, for example, 16’ Bombarde on the first manual, on the Great, and do we have on the Swell, we have Fagott, not Fagott, it’s called…what’s it called? A: ?? V: I think it’s called Basson. Yeah, like the German version. A: So it’s Fagott. V: German, English or French version of the Fagott, of the Basson. So basically it’s a softer reed than the Trumpet, but it works very well for playing fast bass lines, fast-running bass passages on the pedals - on the left hand part. So, there is like this famous “Christ Unser Herr… A: ..zum Jordan kam” V: Yes, from the Clavierȕbung Part 3 by Bach. And it has a running left hand part which could be effectively played with this 16’. A: Yes, that’s a very nice option actually. V: Then you would have tenor cantus firmus in the pedals, 8’ reed, and some other stops in the right hand playing the canon. A: Yes, and in general, I like having 16’ stop on the manuals, because for me somehow it helps to make organ sound too screamy because it has so many mutations, and 2’ and 1’ stop, and 16’ to balance. V: If the reed is loud, 16’ reed is loud like Bombarde 16’, then probably it’s best to reserve it for chordal texture, like chorus, fanfare-like sounds if you want to use on a bigger registration, in addition to other stops you would add 16’ Bombarde. A: To make powerful sounds even more powerful. And you know, people often ask us how to reharmonize for example, the last stanza of a hymn, then in some cases it would be just enough to add the Bombarde for the last verse of the hymn. V: I also notice that this Bombarde might make sound muddy if we’re not using even more high pitched stops. So we already probably would have used mixture on the first manual before drawing the Bombarde 16’, and I like to add the Tierce, a third sound, 1⅗ together with the Bombarde, which then brightens up this powerful sound on the first manual. Or if we have strong fingers, we could add a coupler to the Oberwerk, to the third manual, and then we will have an even brighter mixture together with the first manual. A: So in any case, you need to experiment with your organ. Try various combinations and see what works, what does not work, and decide for yourself. V: Then there is also this regional tradition. For example, in the Netherlands, there is interesting tradition to sing psalms - in the right hand part you would have solo melody which would be registered on the 8’ manual, registration but also on the 16’ registration in the right hand part, in the soprano. And we were told that it is due to the fact that the sound was sung by men one octave lower. So every country has its own tradition. For example, in the middle of Lithuania, this village church which has one manual organ without any pedal, just one single manual, and it has 16’ trumpet. A: Yes, it’s very bizarre, yes. V: Historical organ, amateur organ builder, by the way. Monastic - it is like an organbuilder/monk. But he built an organ with a 16’ Trumpet. A: And it doesn’t have divided keyboard. V: No. A: So that’s very bizarre. V: I remember visiting that church long time ago with Professor (12:28) as part of the trip, organ study trip throughout Lithuania, with Ausra and some other colleagues from the Academy of Music in Lithuania, and we all tried this instrument, and I didn’t know what to play on that 16’ Trumpet, and I think I played Hindemith’s music a little bit. A: Yeah. V: Paul Hindemith. Okay, so I think we have discussed the 16’ registration on the manuals pretty extensively today. If you have any other observations and questions, please let us know. And remember, when you practice, A: 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: A: Find out more at https://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! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 677 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Miguel, and he is in our Total Organist community plus he takes private lessons with me, and one time he wrote this message: “My back was quite painful, but now I'm fully recovered and practicing again. Part of the problem was sitting for too long, apart from the 8 hours a day I sit for my computer work at the bank. I sit an hour or two on a bench with no back support. The physio also told me that the movements of the legs on the pedals have a toll on the spine. So, I've been reintroducing walking that I haven't done for quite a while and also using my height adjustable desk for standing as well as sitting, at least during working hours. Did you have problems with your back due to organ playing, or do you know other people that had the same problem?” Vidas: Ausra, do you know some people? Ausra: Yes, it’s myself, actually. Vidas: I see. Tell us about it? Ausra: Well, in general, I think, the organ is a very unfortunate instrument for our backs, because sitting without support in our feet since we have to play pedals, it’s not healthy for your back. But in general, I think that sitting work, as for example Miguel works at the bank and sits at the computer all day long is bad for your back. So what we can do, actually, is to exercise and strengthen our back. Vidas: Walking is, of course, one useful exercise. Ausra: Yes, but also you need to do some other extra… Vidas: Specific Exercises. Ausra: Specific exercises, yes. Well, actually, the easiest is to lie down on your stomach and you need to stretch both your arms and both your legs, and then simultaneously you need to lift up the right arm and left foot at the same time, and then to do just the opposite, and just repeat it slowly a few times. Vidas: Lift right arm, left foot, and then left arm, right foot. Ausra: Yes, this is sort of one of the classical Pilates exercises that really strengthens the back. Vidas: Is it difficult? Ausra: Well, at the beginning it might be a little bit difficult but later on, no, it’s not. Vidas: Can you hurt your back while doing so? Ausra: I don’t think so. Vidas: Unless you do it very quickly. Ausra: Yes. Vidas: It has to be done slowly. Ausra: Yes. The slower, the better, actually, because it’s not so easy to do it slowly. You have to work with the muscles more. Well, what else could help? Actually swimming is quite good, too, and other exercises with a big Pilates ball is also good. Vidas: Nice. We have that ball. Ausra: Yes, but we don’t exercise. Yes? Vidas: We need to do it. Ausra: Yes. Of course, if you have enough funds, the massages are very helpful for back to strengthen the back muscles. What else could help, too, for example, I have sort of like a rag, Vidas: A rug? Ausra: Yes, like a rug with needles. I know it sounds painful, and it is painful, but actually now I spend half an hour every day lying down on those needles. Vidas: And it helps blood circulation, probably? Ausra: Yes, and it helps my spine in general. It’s very painful for the first five to ten minutes, but then it gets easier and actually quite comfortable. And it really improves the condition of my back and my arms. Vidas: You get this warm feeling in your spine. Ausra: Yes, because it releases all the muscle tension, so it’s really good. Vidas: It’s like a natural massage. Ausra: True. Vidas: Without any extra help. Ausra: Yes, but you know, you have to endure some pain at the beginning. Maybe not everybody could do that, but you know, if your back really hurts, then it’s a good thing for you. Vidas: Yeah, I’m sure Miguel and others can find the product that you are using online, probably. Ausra: Probably, yes. Vidas: There are probably various versions of it. Ausra: Yes. Mine came from Ukraine, so… Vidas: Ukraine? Ausra: Yes. But it was maybe ten years back, so now I think they have more modern things to sell. Vidas: Excellent. So yeah, in today’s lifestyle when a lot of people sit at the desk, especially in front of the computer for eight hours a day, it’s getting very, very important to move extra and do some extra exercises to take care of our bodies. Right? Ausra: Yes. Some people do Yoga, for example. Yoga doesn’t work for me, but it might work for Miguel. I don’t know. Vidas: You say Pilates would work. Right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: It’s different. Ausra: Yes, it’s different, because what Pilates does, it strengthens the inner muscles, and what Yoga does is actually more makes your body flexible. Vidas: But in those two exercise systems, breathing is also important. Right? Ausra: Sure! It’s important in any physical activities. And so the breathing is important in playing, as well. Vidas: Oh, what do you mean? You need to remind yourself to breath? Ausra: Sure! Vidas: While playing the organ? Ausra: Yes. Many people don’t breath enough while playing. Vidas: Meaning that they breath less often than they should, or their breathing is too shallow? Ausra: Both, actually. Vidas: Interesting. I find sometimes that having regular places to breath in a pieces is nice if you find, like, at the beginning of every four bar phrase, if that pulse and meter allows, it could be quite regular then. Ausra: Sure, but if the tempo is Grave, then you might get in trouble breathing only after each four measures. Vidas: No, no! You calculate for yourself, of course, what’s comfortable for you, and it has to be piece-specific. Right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Alright guys, various things to think about. We hope this was useful to you. 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
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 678 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Hubertus, and he writes, Hello Ausra, Heard your demo of the Alessandria organ with interest. Thank you for hearing you play on that. However, I am 75 and do not yet have enough experience to distinguish what those sounds for registrations entail, because I only started playing about 13 years ago, the total overview is missing. I also bought that organ this year, but I don't know what registrations you played the music with. Is it possible to use the "Simple" screen for a next demonstration instead of the Console, so that it is possible to follow your choice of registrations, in order to be able to try them out by myself, because it sounded very nice, but my knowledge falls short. Hope you can/will comply with my request. Thanks for listening to me. Best regards. Hubertus
V: So, very nice that Hubertus enjoyed your presentation of Alessandria sample set, and as I understand, he wants to see the stops on the screen.
A: Yes, that’s what I understood too. V: After that I think we changed the layout of the stops, and now… A: Yes, and now all the demonstrations that I do have the simple view of organ stops, and definitely you can see them much better. V: Visually it’s not that pleasing to the eye, right? Because the console view was colorful and similar to the original organ. But now, simple view is just stop names, right? Very very simple layout so that your eyes would understand and see what happens on the screen. But maybe it’s for the better. A: Yes, sure. And now I have a question. Is it possible to go back to my old recording and to do a switch between the consoles, or not? V: Oh, let’s see. Let’s see. In your old recording, you used, what do they see? They see your hands, right? A: Yes, my hands. V: They see your hands from above. A: What else? V: Keyboard view from above. They hear the sound, right? But they don’t necessarily see on the screen what’s in front of them, so…. Right? A: We can check that recording and see how it works. V: But Hubertus means that he cannot see the stop names, yes? No? A: Well I understood that he would like to see the simple view of the stops. V: So that has to be a new recording, not the finished one. Because it’s done already and you cannot manipulate the old one. A: Okay. V: How can you go to YouTube video…? A: I don’t know. V: It’s…no, no. A: But definitely I cannot redo that old recording, and I don’t remember already what I have played. V: That’s exactly right. Maybe next time, for example, next round when you do a demonstration of Alessandria, will be different material, different music, right? You might remember to do Alessandria sample set or any other sample set. A: But actually I have recorded already more music on Alessandria. Maybe he can check those registrations. V: Yes, and sometimes we write in the description, too. A: Yes, what we use. V: Mm hm. And he could look at my recordings as well, although I don’t do demonstrations of these sample sets, but sometimes I show on the screen, switch camera angles basically, what stops I am using. And even if I’m not using the stop layout on the big screen, right, entire screen, having this sample set at home, you can actually look at the stops that I’m using from the distance and kind of guess what they are in terms of where they are positioned. A: Yes, that’s what I do sometimes, too. V: Yeah. If you see that camera layout where the organist is from the side, and our computer screen is visible, and we see the stops. They are bigger to us because we are closer to the screen, but camera also captures the screen as well. For regular people who don’t have this, so it’s probably difficult, right, to guess what stops we’re using. But if he has a sample set to compare… A: Sure. It shouldn’t be so hard. V: Visually it’s possible, definitely. And as Ausra said, of course in the future, we are using simple layout all the time for future demonstrations. A: That’s right. V: Can you tell us a little bit about, what did you enjoy the most in Alessandria? A: Tuba, of course! V: Tuba. A: Yes. V: Did you use tuba in demonstration? A: Well, you are asking now - I recorded this demonstration last year. But I’m sure I did. Or if I didn’t in the demonstration, I definitely recorded with the tuba. V: Someplace else. A: Some pieces. And I even have done of my improvisations, you know… V: Yes. A: …on tuba of Alessandria. So you can definitely find that in my playlist on my channel. V: Fun fact: people who join our little community on YouTube, become fans or friends of SOP, like channel members, can have a special emoji in their comments or live chat, whenever I do a live stream or a premiere. And for example, one of them is tuba. A special designed sticker called “tuba.” Whenever I use tuba, I see my members write or place that emoji, tuba. It’s very beautifully designed and makes a great impact - their comments stand out. A: Sure. And in general, it’s nice to have a sample set with a tuba. It’s a very rare case. V: Yeah, it’s an English stop, but the organ is not English, it’s Italian Mascioni Company, but the style is more French of course. So it’s nice to have English feature in it, too, but with beautiful French sounds. A: Yes. And beautiful tremulants that Vidas loves so much. V: Yes, and do you know why? A: I don’t know the older you get, the more you get the more tremulants you love. V: Maybe because my voice trembles, too. A: Could be. V: When I sing. A: It doesn’t tremble as much as my voice when I talk before my demonstrations. V: Maybe you are being too serious. A: Maybe. V: Okay guys. What else can we say about Alessandria organ? Definitely worth having if you’re into Hauptwerk stuff. Piotr Grabowski releases this, his sample sets with great care, and they are amazing sample sets. Most of them are very, very realistic, and especially the newest ones. Maybe he has improved his equipment over the years, or maybe recording strategy of every pipe, but they’re definitely sample sets that we enjoy. Besides Alessandria, what else? Nitra? A: Yes, and many many others. But when talking about making registrations on Alessandria, just don’t be afraid to experiment and listen to what works for you and what you like. Because of the wonderful acoustics of this sample set and beautiful stops, you can hardly make something really really wrong. So just trust yourself, trust your intuition. V: Right. Registration is actually one of the weaker points for organists, right? When we discover or get questions from people, they often ask what kind of stops we are using, or what are the principles of using registration, and this is such a broad topic. A: It is. It’s very broad. Well, my advice would be never use mixtures alone. V: Unless…you’re playing a specific piece designed for mixtures. A: Yes, but in general you are not using mixtures alone. V: Maybe, I think people could check out Piotr Grabowski’s site and get familiar with many many sample sets that they have, that he has on the website. The newest one, for example, is Nitra, but before that was Święta Lipka, and we recently received a present from Piotr Grabowski, and Ausra is going to do a demonstration on it very soon. A: Yes, I’m going to. V: I already tried it out during one of the “On the Bench with Vidas” live streams, and it sounds very very nice for German Romantic music, late 19th century music. A: Yes, it works well for that. 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. 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
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 675 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Stephen, and he writes: “I love the Zipoli Pastorale...!!! Thank you... Zipoli is one of my favorite early Baroque composers!” Vidas: I wrote to him, “Thanks Stephen! What other composers do you like?” And Stephen writes: “In a more contemporary "vein" I am fond of Dale Wood's music. There are passages in his work that require a legato technique especially with chords...Sometimes I am at a loss as to how best to play them...finger substitution..but which is best..that sort of challenge. In answer to your question, what composers do I like ....Of course BACH, esp some of the Chorale Preludes. and I intensely care for the Eight Short Preludes and Fugues attributed to Bach but maybe not ?? I think his pupil Krebs may have had a hand in composing these??? I cannot prove that of course. but I love these pieces and I have always played them from the Wayne Leupold Edition...Sandra Soderland, editor. I prefer to follow her revelations as to style and registrations etc...all toes pedal!!!! I love them and find they never bore me....I studied them formally with Dr. Laura Ellis. Always from the Soderland Ed.! I never learned them any other way. so I was lucky :) Thank you and your wife/life partner for all you do to extend education to all who seek ....” Vidas: And I wrote to him again, “Thanks Stephen! Yes, Wayne Leupold publishes great educational material. Current scholarship thinks these short preludes and fugues might have indeed been written by Krebs but there is no proof. So it's safe to say they were written by the Bach Circle. You mentioned finger substitution being a challenge. It's just a matter of time spent and experience. Just continue to play easier pieces and little by little you can master more difficult ones as well. Fingers have muscle memory. And something more. They start to sense the best patterns after a while. The first 20 years are difficult and then it's easy.” Vidas: Stephen wrote back to me: “I just found a piece I had enjoyed and practiced several years ago...would like to share it with you ...I enjoy and care a lot for Marcel Dupre's work....This is one of the Seventy Nine Chorales Op. 28, he wrote for teaching purposes...I am guessing that you know them: XXVIII The Son of God is Come....very short and beautiful... And I wanted to share my a guiding principle in my organ study which I think is in agreement with yours: "It is only through playing a lot of easier pieces and being able to consolidate our progress at a manageable standard that we can go on to greater things" I want to play easier pieces well ..rather than difficult pieces badly! I find the ZIpoli can present some challenges… having the fingering at hand thanks to you...makes the task of learning it so much easier. Dupre marked all the fingering and pedaling in the Chorales. Happy Holidays: All of them!!!” Vidas: So Ausra, this was a long message from Stephen, and primarily he loves Zipoli, “Pastorale.” Ausra: Yes! And so what else can I add to this? Vidas: What is your take about learning difficult things badly or easier things to the best of your ability? Ausra: I think I would take a middle ground. I wouldn’t practice just easy and short things. Maybe you could work on a few of those and also at the same time learn something harder and longer. Vidas: And why is that you feel this way? Ausra: That way I think you would be well balanced, because if you will only learn small things, you might never go to that longer pieces. Vidas: The next level. Ausra: Yes. Vidas: I might agree with you here, because you have to constantly challenge yourself, not too much, but also not too little. And this middle ground playing a variety of repertoire adds a little bit more possibility for your muscles and brain to work together. Ausra: Yes, because you know, I don’t think that the length of the piece always determines its difficulty level. You might have quite a long piece but not as hard as maybe a short and really difficult miniature. But you always need to have short pieces and long pieces, because they develop different skills that you need, because when you are playing the long piece, it develops your concentration, which is very important for organ and any musician. Vidas: I find that, just yesterday for example, I had this thought in my head that I can sight-read easier things than I can improvise. I can improvise more difficult things like Partitas and even Fugues. But I could not sight-read during a recital Partitas and Fugues. Why is that? Ausra: Because they are more difficult, probably. More challenging! Vidas: Yes, but why can I play spontaneously, not written on the page, but spontaneously in my mind—difficult things—while reading the score, I am slower. Not really slow, I can still play sight-reading pretty well mostly, probably better than most people, but comparing to what I can do without sheet, it’s less advanced. Ausra: Well, because when you are improvising, you are composing your own music. You are the master of your mind! But if you’re sight-reading somebody else’s Partitas or Fugues, let’s say, then you are reading another person’s mind, which is always a harder thing. Vidas: Yeah. It’s a little bit… seems unconnected to Stephen’s idea, it’s what Dupré wrote. Right? That only thought playing a lot of easier pieces and being able to consolidate our progress at a manageable standard that we can go on to greater things. So I guess in my case, sight-reading easier pieces and then gradually including more difficult stuff, probably, I will be able to improve my sight-reading as well! Ausra: I think so, too! Vidas: Over time. Ausra: Yes, and what also think is really important is that you wouldn’t stay at each stage for too long, for example. That you wouldn’t become just an organist who plays short easy pieces forever. You really need to find that spot or that time when you need to jump to another level. Vidas: And that might be how soon? Ausra: Well, you know, when you feel comfortable at doing something, it means you need to jump up to the next level. Vidas: I would agree here with you. I see some other organists on YouTube, for example, playing only easy pieces—really well, or relatively well, right, but never advancing to the next level. For months, or even years! Ausra: Well, and that’s understandable, because when you love to push me, yes, to record something every day, then what do you think, I can like record a substantial piece every day, then I would sleep eat and do other things. Vidas: Oh, I know! I’m not talking about you. Why are you talking about yourself? Ausra: But maybe somebody who records only short pieces has also such a supportive… Vidas: You just created this…. Ausra: ...wife or husband that pushes all the time, and in order to survive somebody, you know, picks up the standard collection and records it every day! Vidas: Do you know many organists who have partners who are organists and who pushes them to record? Ausra: I don’t know, but there are some. I know at least one! Vidas: I highly doubt it. Yeah.. I think, you just recorded your demonstration of Groningen Martinikerk, and that was a rather advanced piece, Chaconne and Prelude. Right? Quite virtuosic piece. Ausra: Well, Chaconne is pretty easy actually. Of course, you have to understand the style of it. But Prelude, yes. You have to have good finger technique to play it. Vidas: Are you saying that you are challenging yourself enough these days? Ausra: Yes, because I have just simply too many things to do, to play, too many ideas and sometimes it’s hard to know what to do now and what to leave for the next week, and how to organize the work, because there are simply too many things that I need to play and to do. Vidas: Me too! I also started live streaming, “On the Bench with Vidas” series, and I have really so many ideas to play constantly. New music and old music and hymns and improvisations and even theater organ repertoire. So yeah, I’m constantly challenging myself. Probably more than most people. So, I guess for Stephen also, it could be good to have this middle ground. I’m still trying to find my rhythm of what’s working for me, not to over extend myself, and not to be too relaxed. When I’m too relaxed, I’m bored with organ playing. Ausra: And then you start to push me! Yes? To get more excitement. Vidas: No, and then I plan the next thing, and next thing, and next thing, and then it’s too much and I quit! Ausra: Yes, that’s what you often do. I realized when I told you to play some more difficult repertoire, like for example that beautiful A-Major trio by J. S. Bach, “Allein Gott,” suddenly you jumped to Wurlitzer and started to play Jazz! Vidas: Or when James Flores and I decided to master, “Carillon de Westminster” by Louis Vierne together by Valentine’s Day, at first I was so energetic and enthusiastic about it, but now I’m not so sure that… Ausra: Yes, you will never be able to do it, because you don’t practice, because you did so many other pieces in that time instead of practicing Vierne, so I knew right away that you would not finish it. Vidas: Really. But I will finish by this Summer for sure. Ausra: Yes, that you might do. Vidas: Can you believe it? Ausra: Yes! Vidas: Okay. So guys, lets practice intelligently. Maybe smarter, not harder. That would be a good solution. Right? Ausra: Yes. Don’t repeat our mistakes. Vidas: Or repeat them and then laugh at yourself also, like we are laughing at ourselves. Alright, thank you guys for sending these 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
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 676 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Nick, and he answers my question, “What is your dream in organ playing in the next 3-6 months, and what are some challenges along the way?” So he writes, 1. To be able to play a wide selection of easy to moderate standard organ pieces suitable for service use. V: and challenges would be 2. Sight reading, sight reading and sight reading! V: Why do you think he writes “sight reading” three times? A: Because it’s his main challenge. V: Oh. A: But you know, I think that this sight reading is very important for him to achieve, that his first goal to have a wide selection of easy to moderate standard organ repertoire suitable for service use. I remember when I played at church in the United States. Well of course, because I was always working on the big repertoire for my degree recitals, I was looking for easy church music to play, basically the pieces I could maybe sight read once or twice and then play for the services. So basically it was really important to find suitable music. And then after doing that for awhile, the sight reading just became so easy. V: Mm hm. Did you prefer to play, sight read for service purposes, music of composers who lived in previous periods or contemporary music? A: Actually, mainly Baroque music, some Romantic music. A little bit of Dupre, but not so much of living composers. V: Mm hm. Nowadays there are some publishing houses, especially in the United States which specializes for service music for organists, accessible music basically. Accessible may be quality music too. A: Yes, but it costs, and at that time I didn’t have any money, any extra money, additional money to get new scores, so I just had to pick up something that is accessible to me. V: Mm hm. A: So I really loved Dover’s publications because they were cheap and they had a large collection of music. I remember buying like Pachelbel, and I played it - almost entire collection - sight read for services. V: If you had good improvisation skills at that time, would you rather have improvised than sight read? A: Yes, probably because it’s so convenient when working at church. V: Let’s say your pastor would select hymns, right, or some other music director select hymns for you. And then you could improvise preludes and postludes and interludes, right? A: True, true, that would be very useful skill. V: That’s exactly what contemporary composers do. Maybe they’re not improvising newly written repertoire, but they’re creating music based on those seasonal hymns, right? Mostly. So that an organist could go to their catalog and order something suitable for that Sunday, particular Sunday. And there are publishing houses like Lorenz or Wayne Leupold Editions. I suspect there are many others too, but those two came to my attention just recently. For example, Wayne Leupold Editions have periodical. You can subscribe to, how it’s called… The Organist…Organ Companion I think. Yes, Organ Companion. We have two archival issues of this periodical, about 30 pages long, so maybe like nine or ten pieces in each issue. Issued bi-monthly, every two months, and for any particular season in that period. And one third of that consists of pieces of Baroque, 17th and 18th century music, one third of Romantic and early 20th century music, and one third of contemporary composers, specifically created for that purpose. What do you think about that? A: You know, there was a time when I really thought, I had a very high opinion about Wayne Leupold’s Editions, in general on the music, because they were really good collections in terms of historical approach and performance practices. They had extensive articles about what they are publishing. V: Yes, I will interrupt you, because in that Organist’s Companion, there are commentaries about each piece and extensive historical documentation too. A: But if we would look at the prices, what he offers, I think they are just enormously high. V: To add to this, maybe nowadays he offers alternative publications also, like PDFs. Much much cheaper you can subscribe to PDFs every two months, and they are quite affordable. You get constant flow of new repertoire. A: And in general, I remember listening to his presentation, live presentation back in the United States, I realized that he is more like businessman, not as musician, because he really knows how to sell his product very well. He reminded me actually of that turtle from the Ice Age movie, remember? V: Yes. A: Who could sell anything! Right before the flood coming. So that reminded me a little of Wayne Leupold. I hope he will not be offended of my comparison. V: But on the other hand, musicians also should be able to sell their art, don’t you think? A: Yes, that’s true. V: Otherwise you will end up in the drawer. A: Yes. Except that you know the auditorium of musicians are never rich basically, and your products cannot be… V: Expensive? A: Expensive, yeah. V: But… A: …or so expensive, because our income is really low. V: …if you work at a large church, for example, sometimes your employer buys things for you. A: That’s maybe only in United States and a few places in United States. But I don’t think that’s true in Europe. Not in Lithuania, anyway. V: These purchases could be tax deductible, you know. A: Yeah. V: It’s still not free, but it’s a good support I think. A: Yeah. V: For professional material. A: But anyway, if you love to read and you like a historical approach, then yes, Wayne Leupold is a good place for new scores. V: Another place I found is Lorenz Publications from United States. Carson Cooman, our colleague on YouTube, organist and composer, he is an editor there in Lorenz, and he manages those subscriptions also. They have this subscription, monthly subscription, you pay a fee for a certain number of download credits. And let’s say five or ten credits, you can select your own choices, or you can trust what the editor suggests for each season. They send you like a subscription-based newsletter every month. A: That’s very good if you lack your own ideas, then you can be advised what to do and what to select. It’s very handy. V: And it’s very affordable. And if you’re not satisfied with what the editor suggests, you can go online to their catalog online and pick your own things from their publishing house of course. And they specialize on affordable - accessible maybe - accessible contemporary organ repertoire for church use. A: Yes. V: So that’s two things to think about if you are not willing to improvise during services, right? And if you need…of course, you still need sight reading skills for that, if you are constantly playing… A: But I think if you are having the church position, like regular church position, I think that sight reading skills will come to you. V: Sooner or later. A: Sooner or later, yes. Because you will be forced to sight read every day. Maybe you will have no time to prepare for each service, then what else can you do? Just sight read. V: Yes, excellent. So I hope this was useful to our listeners. These ideas. And please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: 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
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra V: Let’s start episode 674 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Maureen, and she writes, I have been working on Christmas carols. There is a Catholic church 26 miles from my hometown needing an organist. I haven't played in public for a long time. Seeing this advert has given me renewed vigour to play with a definite purpose. There is a huge part of me who would love to play again in public and there is the other part of me trying to be sensible, logical, and practical. I would need daily access to the organ and the energy to meet the challenge. I don't drive; I haven't played in years; I don't know whether to let the priest know I can play a church organ with time to familiarise myself with it. What would you do? V: So Maureen is a member of our Total Organist Community and basically she’s wondering whether to pursue this dream of playing organ in public, right, Ausra? A: Yes, and I would say, just take this chance. Because another opportunity may never come to you. And I think you need to see as many years in life as you can, because you can always, if after trying something will not work for you. But if you will not try, then you will never know if that would have worked for you. And you might even regret that you haven’t tried it. V: Yes, I agree with you. And this is because we often think that our limits are low, you know, when we are practicing at home. That we can do certain things and not more. But surprisingly, when the situation has more risk like playing in public, at church or in concert, if you’re able, and then somehow you get more ability to play for other people, right? You discover you have some kind of inner power you didn’t think you had. A: That’s right. And you know, maybe Maureen can practice in her hometown. But to go to perform in public in that Catholic church which is 26 miles away from her hometown. Because she’s not driving, maybe somebody can give her a lift. Maybe somebody from that congregation lives close to her hometown. V: Absolutely true. Usually, in Catholic liturgy, people are required to play hymns, some acclamations, what else…maybe… A: Parts of the Mass of course. V: Parts from Ordinary Mass, yeah. And sing some psalms, I don’t know if in her town this is the case, but in Lithuania, Poland, for example, organist also has to sing. A: But I think this is unique for Lithuania and Poland. I don’t think in other countries Catholic organists also sing psalms. V: You might be true. You might be right. A: Actually, in Lithuania it’s more important to have a good strong voice than to be able to play well. V: Right. So probably Maureen should be thinking about playing hymns. A: Most likely, yes. V: Playing hymns in time well, with good leading, sense of rhythm. It could be actually beneficial practice for her to record her own singing - for herself, you know - starting from a certain pitch. Then later she could play that recording to herself and accompany her voice with the organ. Meaning that you, an organist, cannot drag or change the rhythm because the melody is sung by people already. What do you think, Ausra? No? A: I don’t know. Never thought about it. V: You know, you pretend that you are your own congregation in that recording. I can test on you. A: (laughs) V: You can sing for me, and I could accompany you. A: I know when I played at church, did many hymns, I would sing myself. But not loud. V: Mm hm. A: But inside of me I always was singing because that way I can pick up the right tempo of a hymn. V: That’s a good idea, too. Sing inside. A: Yes. V: With your inner voice. And I guess the test that I was suggesting wouldn’t work for us, because you know me and I know you, and you would adapt to my playing, and I would easily adapt to your singing. It has to be like a stranger person, who would not bend to your playing that much. So that’s why I suggested doing recording first of your own singing, and then playing it back together with your accompaniment. A: Well you just need to accompany really loud, and don’t listen to what congregation is singing. That way you will be a leader and they will have to listen to you. V: Well, exactly. It’s a good idea. Interesting question for discussion, maybe for another time: An organist…is an organist a leader or a follower? Accompanist or somebody who leads? A: Well definitely I think the organist should be leader in hymn accompanying. And you can follow somebody who sings, if it’s a soloist, then yes you need to follow with accompaniment. But if you’re leading the congregation singing then you need to be a leader. V: How is it different from soloist - following a soloist - accompanying a soloist? A: Well, it’s much different, a lot different, because it’s only one person, the soloist. And then you can adapt and follow him or her. But if it’s entire congregation, no. If you will start to listen to congregation too much, it won’t be good. V: It’s like in classroom? A: Yes. There needs to be one leader. V: Like you. Teacher. You are teacher for 15.5 years, right? A: Well no - in general to count all the years that I have taught, it would be 22 years. V: 22? A: Yes. V: Wow. A: So I’m done with teaching for now. V: For classroom setting. A: Yes. V: Mm hm. Yeah. If you have a lot of students in the classroom, you have to lead. But if you have just one-on-one lesson, you can listen. A: You still need to lead. V: But you can listen more. A: If you are a teacher, you always need to lead. V: But there is more room for listening, I think, one-on-one. A: Well yes, but I don’t think this is related with the hymn accompaniment. V: Oh it is related. Much related. Same principle, human psychology. What do you think? A: You know what I think. V: (laughs) Okay, okay! So we have different ideas with Ausra, but maybe that’s good because people who are listening also have different ideas, not always agreeable one of us. And they can choose whom to agree with. Tell us sometimes - we need feedback, right? Whom do you agree with more? A: (laughs) Well I think the truth is probably somewhere in the middle between us two. But I remember once - remember when you played hymns too fast in one of the churches and you lost your position. V: And…so I was a leader. A: Yes. V: And I lost the position. A: Yes. V: (laughs) A: But maybe that’s a good thing because I don’t think that congregation was worth your time. V: Bingo! Yeah, if they don’t want you as a leader, maybe they are better with somebody else. So thank you so much, Maureen, for this very thoughtful question. And we hope this was useful to you and maybe a few other people who are thinking of playing in public, in church liturgical setting. So please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: 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
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra V: Let’s start episode 672 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Gerrit, or, I don’t know how to pronounce it. If he’s Dutch, maybe “Herrit.” I would appreciate people maybe giving us feedback how to pronounce their names, right? Would be nice. So Gerrit writes: I’ve watched and listened to your performance of Duetto, Op. 156 No. 6 of Joseph Rheinberger. Thank you for that. It sounds beautiful. I have a question, maybe somewhat off topic, but I’ve noticed that playing from a tablet, the pages seem to turn by themselves. For example at 1:04. How did you do that? I am working with MobileSheets with the auto-scroll function, but your method is better. Did you turn the pages by yourself or was it another person? Hope that you can clarify this mystery for me. A; (laughs) That’s so funny. Yes, it will be a miracle - you know the pages was turned just by themselves. I’m afraid nobody has yet developed such an advanced technology. V: But they will. I think I heard people are developing neuro- something with brain - you think that, once you think of an idea of turning pages, it will turn the pages. A: But that’s kind of scary because you can think about it in the wrong place and then it will flip your page in the wrong spot. V: Yes. Yes. Or somebody else will think for you? A: Yes. So I guess we need to explain what kind of program we use for turning our pages while playing from the iPad. V: And what do we use, Ausra? A: Well, we have special program. V: Called…ForScore. F-o-rScore. One word. It’s only available for iOS. Basically for iPads, for iPhones. Obviously iPads are easier for eyes, because they’re larger. And the modern, the newer iPads have this camera function of facial recognition, you know, where you unlock not with typing passwords or your fingerprint, but with facial recognition. You look at the camera and they recognize that it is you, right? That’s the newer kind, newer models of iPads. And this camera can work with ForScore, and you set up this facial gestures feature. It only works I think with ForScore Pro. You have to pay a small subscription fee every year, I think. We also do, but for that, in return you get additional features not available in basic edition. And one of them is of course facial gestures, and you can set up page turning either by blinking or by moving your lips. A: Which one do you prefer with this? V: Right now, obviously blinking is nice, but I’ve worked with both. When you blink, you actually kind of move your lips too a little bit, don’t you think? A: Not so much, actually. V: I’ve seen people move their lips during livestreams. A: It doesn’t look nice. It seems like a man or a woman has some kind of neurological problems, so I prefer blinking myself. It’s easier. And if you want to flip the page forward, you blink your right eye, and if you want to go back, you blink with your left eye. V: For me, blinking is easier too, because with lips, I get confused when to move my lips to the left or to the right. It’s quite confusing at times. And as Ausra says, it looks not very elegant. A: Sure. Then when watching people turning pages with their lips, I’m thinking of treatise by Francois Couperin who wrote that while practicing you need to put the mirror in front of you and to look to your face, what kind of mimics do you make, because he wrote that it’s inappropriate to make too much out, with your face during performance. V: That was 300 years ago. A: I know, but I think it still works today, too. V: Do you think Couperin would not use ForScore facial gestures feature? A: Maybe he would use it, but he would definitely blink, not move his lips. V: Hm. I wonder. Yeah, probably. I mean, it’s elegant. Just blink to the right, with the right eye, and page is flipped to the right side, right, forward. And with the left, backwards. There is additional thing you could do, right, because when you’re playing from paper sheets, you could put like a score, open score with two pages open, and you only have to turn pages every two pages once, right, not every page. And that is easier, right, in performance. A lot of pieces are just two pages long. And more, less effort is required in turning pages this way. But with one iPad it’s not really possible, right? Unless you put it horizontally, and then there are two page view. But then your pages are twice as small. Correct, Ausra? A: Yes. V: And what did we find, how did we find another solution? A: We tried to put two iPads on the, on music rack, one the bigger one and then the small one. V: Exactly. A: Especially when we were playing duets. V: Right. Ausra sits on the right. She needs pages on the right side, and I sit on the left, and I need another device for that. And this way you only blink once, but turn two pages at once. A: Yes, but it’s costly. Not everybody can afford to have two iPads. V: Assuming they have more than one device, then there is this score, this app, ForScore. And in addition to this app, the same company that makes ForScore, they have an app called Cue - C-u-e. And you download this Cue app on another device, and you basically connect two devices… A: …together… V: …via this app, right? And blink once and turn two pages at once. A: Yes. Also, I never think that we have to say about this blinking, that you have to write the sort of correct spot on the organ bench, and always try to blink from the same position. V: Correct, and especially it’s true if the iPad is positioned horizontally, right? In landscape mode, not in portrait. A: Yes, landscape mode. V: Therefore, your camera is not right in the middle, but a little bit to the left, even I think,.lower right corner of an iPad, and if you just move just a little bit to the left, the movement can be predictable. You blink, and can turn the page or not; sometimes it turns the page automatically without you even blinking. I find it problematic when iPad is positioned in landscape mode. So I prefer portrait mode of course, if it’s possible. And another thing, especially on different instruments if you are traveling, for example. Music racks are angled at a different angle sometimes. Wider angle or narrower angle. And that means your eyes are looking at the camera from a different angle, and face as well. And not always basically straight into the camera. So sometimes, I find it easier to put something on the music rack, on top of the music rack, so that iPad is moved a little bit forward, to adjust for the distance between the eyes and the camera. I did that in Germany while on tour, and it worked. Like a hymnal basically, but on top of the music rack. That worked. A: (laughs) Everything sounds so problematic. V: Yes, because I was alone. There was nobody to help me, so I had to really make sure it will work. Any other suggestions, Ausra? A: Well, if you can play from the paper score, better play from the paper score. You will have less problems with that. V: What about trees, saving trees? A: I know. Do you think the musical scores will diminish the number of trees in the world? Do you think musicians have the main problem of global warming? V: Mmm… A: I highly doubt it. V: Agreed. Agreed, yeah. And of course, all iPads require electricity… A: That’s right. V: …to charge. And you’re not always charging your devices with renewable sources. A: That’s right. V: But that’s another topic for another day. And for now, thank you so much guys, for sending us your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: 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
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 671 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Hubertus, and he writes: “Hello Vidas and Ausra, As for getting informed with your very-very good advice etc. I admire your setup, and do respond to your questions as a moral obligation. As you probably remember from the last mail exchange, I’m 75, and do know for myself, the Very high difficulty of remembering my daily study already the next day. 13 years ago I started from scratch in music and organ play. I generally get only 1 to maybe max. Sometimes 2 hrs time to practice a day, some days even less, for all kinds of reasons, concentration is a hot issue in this all. So, on the moment I’m studied in this past holiday season the BWV 721, and after 2 months now I’m able to play the piece as tempi gives, and still make usual remembrance mistakes, and in between I TRY to replay several pieces I studied recently before, with lots of difficulties in reading. Again, I still like to play and do, especially this Bach piece. So to answer your nr 1; My dream WAS, 12 years ago, to play beautiful easy pieces of baroque music etc., Nevertheless, to my feelings and due to my former remarks, this goal is not really to achieve anymore, most probably due to organ play starting age around 62, and present bad possibility to remember the study even of the day before properly, and maybe I have to study twice as much, but I cannot bring that up, sorry. Answer Nr 2, as mentioned = 1 – Concentration special in reading, 2 - Maybe not enough daily practice time, with coming wintertime I expect/hope to find more time, 3 – Impatience in having results. Very much Thanks again for your lessons in practicing setup. Hope this helps in your request. All Best regards to both of you, Hubertus” Vidas: That’s a long message from Hubertus, right Ausra? Ausra: Yes, it is, but very useful. Thank you Hubertus. Vidas: Yes, thanks so much for answering these two questions. The first one was, “What was your goal in organ playing?” and the second, “the challenges that he has to overcome to achieve this goal.” So to recap, probably his goal no longer is to find beautiful music that he wants to play. Right? Baroque music. Ausra: Yes. Vidas: But maybe now, right now, to have a more modest call. Right? Like this BWV 721 piece that he likes to play, maybe a few more pieces. Right? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: And the challenges of course, he faces several, concentration, especially in reading, and he’s not able to give daily practice time, and of course, he is impatient because he wants results quicker, but it doesn’t work that way. Right? Ausra: Yes, true. I guess these problems could apply even for younger or even very young people—being impatient, wanting to have results as soon as possible, and not finding time to practice, and actually, staying concentrated. It all could be very challenging. Vidas: And some people reach their goals and some people don’t. Why is that? Ausra: I think because some of them work very persistently and some don’t. Vidas: And why is that again? Why do some people work and others don’t? Ausra: I think because we all are very different. Different personalities! Vidas: Yes. Can I add something else to this? Ausra: Sure you can! Vidas: What if we are having goals, differing goals, right? But these goals mean different things to us, like importance, priority wise. For some people organ playing is really important, and for some it’s just a hobby that they do at the end of the day. If they have time, okay, if not they skip a day or two or five. Ausra: But I think that for Hubertus it’s really important because he started to learn to play the organ when he was 62 years old! Not everybody would challenge himself or herself to achieve his goal, and that is very exciting and I really admire him for doing that. Vidas: I would probably recommend setting up like an intermediate goal—a short term goal—like three months from now what he wants to achieve. Learn this piece, right, but why? Why does he want to learn BWV 721? Because it’s beautiful, yes, of course! Is this enough to force himself on an organ bench? For some people yes… Ausra: Yes! Yes, of course. You know, being at the age of 75, I think, and to practice maybe not everyday but every other day is already a big achievement, actually, because despite all these musical goals, the practice of the organ gives you another result that might slow down whatever kind of dementia you might develop with age. It might help for your joints and for your coordination… Vidas: But you need to take rests frequently. Ausra: Of course. Definitely, yes! But I think because the organists use both our hands and both of our feet, we have to coordinate between them, and I think this is a very important skill to have for anybody. Vidas: I would probably add to this… I don’t know… one thing, maybe. I’m not sure what Hubertus’s family situation is, if he lives alone or not, if he has relatives visiting him, for example. What might help, let’s presume he has some kind of still friends visiting, most people do even though they might live alone. But sometimes people come over to the house, and what would be nice is if he could play this piece for them. For friends or for family. Ausra: That’s a possibility, but now you know, during the pandemic not everybody wants to have visitors. Vidas: True. I would suggest video, but that’s probably not for everyone. Ausra: Well, I think the most important thing is enjoy the process of daily practicing, and if you do enjoy your practice, I think it’s good enough. Vidas: With this kind advice from Ausra let’s finish our conversation for today. Let’s thank our listeners for sending their questions to us, and let’s hope to meet again in the next episode. This was Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: 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: A: Find out more at https://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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