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 669 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Chad, and he writes, Hi Vidas, A few years ago, I bought a roll-up piano hoping that it would provide a means for me to practice on my airline trips. I desperately wanted to like it. But I HATED it! There was no tactile feel… No way to tell one key from the other. And the contacts didn’t work very well, so it was difficult to play the notes without tapping them pretty hard. But maybe there has been progress in their construction? Which one did you buy? You must be somewhat pleased with it if you can get it to work well enough to make videos! V: What do you think, Ausra? A: Yes, I remember our summer adventure. Actually, they work better now because we didn’t have the contact problems, yes? When we press key it really sounded quite on time and everything worked quite well. V: Except when you want to play two voices in one hand. A: Yes, that makes things of course harder. But you could practice inventions, two-part inventions, for example, it would work pretty well. V: Yeah. A: And you know of course it cannot replace the real instrument. It cannot replace the real thing, but it was nice, because we played with it during our summer break when we were resting on the beach in Palanga and it was sort of fun to take it to the various locations and to play something. V: On the beach, on the castle, on the bench, anywhere actually. And then on the bridge, right? On the fountain... A: Yes, but it was sort of more like a fun time for us, yes? V: Right, musical adventure. But for practice purposes you have to actually hear everything you play. It could be a silent keyboard. If you have a table, you roll up this piano and you play, without even actually connecting it to some computer to produce a sound. A: Yes, and I think this kind of roll-up keyboard could be really great for the kids to sort of, to start the interest in music in general. V: Yeah, because it’s a fun gadget. A: Yes, it’s like a toy. V: Mm hm. It’s a toy. Except now when we travel, after this trip, I was also frustrated that I had to bang those keys pretty hard, and actually some of my fingers started to hurt. So I decided to look around online and see what other options for portable MIDI keyboards are there. And I found this folding MIDI keyboard, folding piano basically. It comes in two sizes, 88 keys (like a real piano, 88 keys), or 49 keys - 4 octaves, suitable for most organ music. So I decided to go out and buy. And you can take a look at the website I have available, organduo.lt/tools. Our Hauptwerk setup is listed there with all the links, pictures, videos. You can find the stationary home organ setup that we use for normal use, and you’ll find all other repercussions that we decided to try out: folding keyboard, roll-up piano, everything. So you will see a little bit more information about that. A: But I think this folding keyboard works much better than the roll-up keyboard… V: Yes. A: ...because actually we did early some videos for fun with roll-up keyboard during our summer break, summer vacation, but I wouldn’t use, for example, roll-up keyboard in real performance environment. V: No. A: Yes, because it’s too risky and you know.... V: It’s risky in the sense that some notes could actually get lost, right? A: Yes. But with the folding keyboard, Vidas already has performed live, and it worked pretty well. V: Let’s see, I performed on… A: You performed.. V: ...in a funeral. A: Yes, and you performed a memorial recital. V: Yes. A: For my mom’s aunt. And you also played Gaudeamus igitur on the solemn occasion for the School of Law. V: Yes. A: At Vilnius University. And it worked well (I played it recently at the President's Palace too). V: Yes, they didn’t have any instruments so I decided to bring my folding keyboard as well as special speaker, bluetooth speaker. And it worked well for that hall. I had a soloist with me, I gave a special microphone connected to that speaker, and it was actually very, very simple setup which really worked for this occasion. It’s maybe not as sophisticated and for bigger halls it wouldn’t be enough, but for that purpose it was almost perfect. What else can I say about this folding keyboard? Yes, it fits in a backpack. You can really take it anywhere. We once climbed the, what’s that word, TV tower in Vilnius. A: Actually, we did not climb it. We took an elevator. V: Elevator. A: I don’t think we would be able to climb up (laughs). V: You should keep a secret and tell us that we climbed. A: Oh, okay. V: With rope. A: Sorry, sorry! V: Yes. And that was really fun. Another occasion, I actually climbed, yes with all those stairs to Vilnius University St. John’s Church bell tower. With hundreds of stairs. This is the tallest building in Vilnius old town. It was quite windy and I played quite a few Inventions by Bach. A: Yes actually I was quite worried because it was a really windy day. I thought you might not survive. (laughs) V: My camera was actually shaking. A: Yes. V: But it was really okay. I was surprised. I was surprised that it worked. So… A: And actually on this kind of keyboard you can take it on vacation if you won’t lose your good shape, because you can already do some work on it, some manual work on it. V: Yes, so imagine if the total length when unfolded is four octaves, so when you fold it in half, it’s two octaves. So that’s how big is this - only two octaves size. Whereas actually 88-keyboard, folding keyboard is actually also two octaves long, but it folds twice, you see? A: Yes. V: When you have a long version, you have to have a very long table to fit all those octaves. So I don’t think it would work for organ music. A: Sure not. More just like a toy. V: Yeah, so 49 keys is quite enough, especially for keyboard-oriented music without pedals, I mean. One thing that I wish is that people would come up with some kind of roll-up pedalboard, silicone pedalboard, like we had roll-up piano, right, 61 notes. Which wasn’t very comfortable to play because you had to press very hard sometimes. But I could imagine if we had a roll-up pedalboard, your feet actually could handle that strength needed, right? Easily. A: Of course, because feet are stronger than hands. V: Yes, and it would fit actually in your backpack, entire organ setup, both manuals, if you use folding keyboard, and pedals - that would be amazing. A: And since so many people complain that they cannot afford to play the real pedalboard at home and they still want to have some pedalboard at home, I think that would be a great solution, too. V: Yes, because I’ve seen there is this folding pedalboard which folds in half. Two octaves, right? They fold in half. It’s like, it fits in a large suitcase. But still… A: But still it’s a lot. V: Clunky and a big chunk if you want to travel. But if it could roll out like a silicone thing on the floor, that would be amazing. So thank you so much guys, for these questions. We love helping you grow. Please send us more of them. It’s fun to answer them during our podcast. 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 buy us some coffee. Find out more at: A: Find out more at https://buymeacoffee.com/organduo SOPP668: I would like to master a variety of organ music to be able to give a performance11/10/2021
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. Vidas: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... Ausra: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. Vidas: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ Ausra: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. Vidas: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. Ausra: We hope you’ll enjoy it! Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra, Vidas: Let’s start episode 668 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Mike, and he writes: “I would like to master a variety of organ music to be able to give a performance. The most important hurdles to overcome are:
Many of your podcasts and notes are extremely helpful. Thank you for providing them.” Vidas: So let’s unpack this; okay? The first hurdle that Mike is having is being able to work on a consistent fingering to make passages flow smoothly. Ausra: Well, in order to be consistent with your fingering, you have to write fingering down, and then to practice them in the exact order, because if you won’t do that and you will play the same passages every time with a different fingering, it will slow down your improvement. What do you think, Vidas? Vidas: Is it even possible to discover the right fingering on your own? Ausra: Well, if you have experience, then yes. If you are just a beginner, then probably not. Vidas: Mhmm, then we could probably recommend our practice scores with fingering and pedaling written in. Ausra: Yes, sure, because we have already quite a large amount of organ pieces with fingering and pedaling. Vidas: Yeah, in many styles. In articulate legato style for early music, and in legato style for Romantic music. Right? Ausra: Yes, that’s right. Vidas: Okay, the second challenge that Mike needs to overcome is interpretation of music, registration. Ausra: Well, in order to be able to do the right interpretation and registration, of course, you need to know about the style that you are playing, the composer that you are playing, and of course, about organ in general, and you need to be able to choose the right repertoire for the right instrument. Because even if you will play the… let’s say the Baroque piece with good articulation but you will play it on the, let’s say, Romantic instrument, it might not work, so, everything has its own rules. What do you say about it, Vidas? Vidas: It’s kind of difficult to give advice generally without knowing what he is specifically playing. Right, Ausra? Ausra: Yes! Yes! Vidas: What piece he is struggling with right now, what piece needs a registration, for example. But in general, yes, you are right, because not every instrument can accommodate every type of music. I mean, you could play anything on a keyboard with pedals which has enough pedals and keys. Right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: You could! Ausra: And if you have an eclectic instrument you could probably play most of the repertoire, but not everything still would work for it. Vidas: That’s why a lot of organ music sounds dull and boring on eclectic instruments—a lot of early music. Nowadays, of course, this can be adjusted, because a lot of people have virtual organs at their home like Hauptwerk or GrandOrgue, so they can really choose samples that are carefully fitted for a specific piece or type of music. And then, even pieces which would sound uninteresting on a generic instrument are quite colorful suddenly on the specific kind of instrument that it was designed for. Ausra: Yes, but you know, not everybody has the Hauptwerk or GrandOrgue or whatever, this kind or type of instrument at home, and we are mostly talking about real instruments in a real environment. But basically, an eclectic instrument is good because you can play a lot of things on it, but in some way, it sounds sort of boring because it’s like an equal temperament, you know, you can play in all the keys, but they all sound the same. Vidas: Exactly. If a person doesn’t feel the difference when I’m playing C or C# major chord, so then I could simply play the same piece up a half step and nobody would tell the difference. Right? Except maybe for some perfect pitch people. But that’s not the big difference. The difference is in character if each note is a little bit from each other sometimes in those unequal tunings. Ausra: And the same with the repertoire. Vidas: Right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: So the third challenge that Mike has to overcome is developing and knowing how to make a piece “artistically my own instead of just playing notes.” What he means by this is maybe…. We could talk a little bit about our own practice process. How do you transition from sight-reading to real performance—complete performance for a recording, let’s say. What’s happening in your mind, Ausra? Ausra: Well actually you need to be really well familiar with your piece that you’re working on, because you cannot feel the right music and be artistically sufficient or to make this music yourself if you are not good technically at it and if you are still struggling, let’s say, with some spots on the piece. It means that you really need to be advanced with the particular piece that you are working on. Another thing, you really need to listen to other people play, and not only to organ music, in general you need to listen to other people performing, because, you know, when you are really deep into music in general, probably such questions wouldn’t even arise, because let’s say I play a piece and I see it’s structure, I know where I have to slow down, where I have to, let’s say, mark something, or you know, to do an accelerando, or to change registration or to do whatever. It just becomes natural. Vidas: That’s because you know the structure. Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Or because you listen to other people. Ausra: Well, it helps. Or do you think these two things are contradictory? Vidas: No, I think the more you listen to performances of other people on other instruments, perhaps, or even your own instrument, like organ, the broader you have those experiences and musical horizon. Right? And the deeper connections you can make between separate things on the sheet of music is notes start to speak to you, how they are presented. If you don’t have any experience, like a beginner, then you are like a blank sheet of paper. Right, Ausra? Ausra: Because yes, I once had a student and we were working on the “Little Prelude in F Major” by J. S. Bach, which is actually probably not a Bach, as we know now, but probably Krebs, but anyway, we were working on this piece and she would just keep playing like the metronome all the time and do the same things all the time, and I wanted her to show how the structure is made, and I actually marked everything in her score: where she has to slow down, which chord she has to hold longer, and all that kind of stuff. Basically I worked as a movie director or something. But still it didn’t ring a bell at all, and she still played like dull, measure by measure, note by note, and did nothing of what I was saying. Maybe if she would listen to herself, to her recording, maybe then she would realize how dull she is playing! Maybe that would have changed her attitude and her playing style, but I think that comes from general unmusicality, and that’s why I think the more you listen to the music in general, the better you will become with it, because the deeper your understanding about music in general will become. Vidas: That’s why it’s so beneficial to go to concerts, not only to listen to recordings and videos, but to go to a real recital or a concert in a concert hall or a church, because when you go someplace, you are more inclined, actually, to focus than at home, because you made an effort to go there, and you want to take out as much as possible from that experience. Right, Ausra? Ausra: Yes! And actually another helpful thing would be to sing your music—actually to sing each line—because it’s often the case that we can play unmusically, but we cannot sing unmusically. Somehow if you are playing you can just drop the end of a phrase not listening to it. But if you are singing, that usually don’t happen. Vidas: And that’s why when I see a person play unmusically and ask to sing it, they never can sing. Never ever in my teaching experience, you know, that never happens. Ausra: Because singing is so closely related to to breathing and breathing is so important because that leads to the right phrasing, so I think it’s really, really important to sing what you are playing. Vidas: Then you can think about the right meter and pulse, and keep the steady rhythms. Right? But that’s because you hear yourself. Ausra: Yes, that’s right. And another thing, often the instrument can teach you, also, how to play, and it can show you if you are taking a right tempo, if you are playing with the right fingering, because I’m talking especially about historical instruments, because again, they can teach you a lot about phrasing, about articulation. Vidas: Right. Another last, probably, recommendation would be, for example, if you like some musician, some organist, and you find his recordings or her recordings, I think it’s wise to study them all from the beginning until the end, and then not only his recordings or her recordings, but find out who it was—that person, that organist, lets say—and start listening to other people’s music as well, and that’s how you broaden your horizons and general musicianship as well. Ausra: That’s very true. Vidas: Right? You are not alone in this musical universe. You have to go out and make connections. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Thank you guys for listening to this conversation. 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 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. Ausra: We hope you’ll enjoy it! Vidas: A lot of times, the instrument will teach you everything you need to know. Ausra: Sure, you just really need to learn to listen to yourself, what you are doing. Vidas: Now we have to take this saying with a grain of salt, because a lot of people today play at home with some kind of electronic instruments or virtual instruments, and in virtual instruments, the sound might be quite realistic, but the touch might be plastic. You see? And it’s quite different from tracker touch in a real pipe organ situation. People might not necessarily discover on their own when they play their home organs. Don’t you think? Ausra: As well, they can record themselves and listen to how it sounds, and of course you need to get opportunities to try different instruments. Vidas: Yes, go to locations, various locations, that’s more difficult than playing and practicing at home and enjoying the beautiful sounds from your living room. And this is a very comfortable setting. No one is bothering you, there are no external sounds or disturbances, but at the same time, you also lose something, right? With the extended effort that you need to put in when you go to church to practice and play the organ you gain something from that experience as well, after live concerts in the church as well, Ausra. Do you agree? Ausra: Sure! But you know, I think this fear of new environments and new instruments might come because you know so much, and you have tried so many different instruments. But for example, you know, for kids, they don’t have such a fear. If you remember, I once had the lecture demonstration / concert / public lessons for kids from the musical school at the museum of… church museum on that tiny Italian style instrument. Vidas: Yes, yes I rememer that. Ausra: And you know, before that I was so worried how all these little kids that have never tried to play the organ (they were all studying piano) and you know, how will they do on that instrument, and they will have to play something for me at the end of it. And actually, they did just fine, because they didn’t bother to be afraid of trying and of playing another unfamiliar instrument, and they did just great. Vidas: They didn’t overthink it. Ausra: Sure. Sure! Vidas: It reminds me of the experience that I had when playing this roll-up piano we recently got. Right Ausra? Ausra: Yes, we got it yesterday. Vidas: It looks scary, right? You can fold it up, fold it in a roll and take it with you when you’re traveling, but it looks scary when you play. There are no white and black key differences too much—a little bit of difference, the sharp keys are a little bit higher than the white keys, just a little bit, and the touch is different, of course, than either plastic keyboard or tracker touch, but as I discovered myself yesterday, if you just do it, sooner or later you get used to that touch also. Of course it’s not that comfortable, and maybe not even pleasant to play like that, but in emergency situations when you don’t want to miss practicing when you travel, I think it’s a good tool to have. So this comment I made like that reminds me of new instruments which we discover when we travel. And they’re not necessarily really scary, either. Right? Ausra: Yes. As I said, the most important thing is to practice. Vidas: What about audiation? You didn’t mention too much your position on the value of sight-singing. Does it help people develop this mental thinking and mental hearing that Daniel is talking about? Ausra: Well, you know, what I strongly believe why I think that all the audiation things must be done, must be developed, until you are a teenager. Because when you are a child these are the things you can develop very easily and you are still very flexible. You know, if you only start to do audiation when you are a complete adult, I think it will be really hard. It will, of course, give you some benefit, but I would not think it would do magic. Vidas: So, for people who are, let’s say, competitive in nature, they want to participate in competitions, then this type of learning, it’s probably too late for them. Right? Because they start too late in their life. But if they’re only doing it like Daniel, for themselves just to improve, why not? Ausra: Yes! In general singing is very very good for any musicians. Vidas: I usually emphasize singing music that you play. Your own organ pieces, excerpts of melodies, chorale melodies, even the hymn tunes. Right? What about opening any hymnal and just singing the hymns. Ausra: Yes, but it will not do you much good if you only sing the melody or soprano line. I think if you really need to do the audiation and you want to benefit from it, you need to sing inner voices. Let’s say if you have four voices, then sing alto or tenor. It will benefit you much more than singing the soprano line all the time. Vidas: Or start with just two voices at a time. One voice you play, one voice you sing, and you switch. Ausra: Yes, that’s very beneficial! But I really don’t know how much time you have to do it for such things, because it takes time. It really takes time. Vidas: Yes. Ausra: Especially if you don’t have well developed skills to do it, it might be really difficult. Vidas: And might not be worth it, you see. Ausra: Well, yes. In some cases, yes. Vidas: Yeah. Usually people don’t have full time devoted just for organ playing and improving organ practice, improving their audiation and improving their organ technique. So they need to do something very concise in that area—to learn something in 30 minutes or 1 hour, or at the most, 2 hours with some breaks in between. Right? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Every day, ideally. But some people don’t even practice every day. That’s the key. Ausra: Yes, and you know, if you will have all day long to do things every day of what Daniel talked about, all of them are actually excellent things, you know. But it takes really many many hours to achieve it. Vidas: Yes. So maybe, this is a long conversation. Right? Maybe we will split it in two halves to discuss it in two different podcast episodes. Almost 20 minutes. Time flies quickly! Ausra: Sure, when the question is good. Vidas: And very thoroughly detailed. Okay guys, 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 SOPP666: Can you please clarify when using a thumb on black notes is or is not proper fingering”9/29/2021
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys, this is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 666 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Bob, and he writes: “I have read in several places that using the thumb on the black notes is kind of frowned upon. The "Organ Playing Master Course" routinely calls for the thumb on a black note, can you please clarify when it is or is not proper fingering.” So basically, Bob is taking my “Organ Playing Master Course,” right Ausra? Ausra: Yes, that’s what I understood. Vidas: Here is my answer on Basecamp. I wrote him: “Very good question Bob! The point of these exercises is to develop note reading ability. Normally we avoid thumbs on a black note but when there are many sharps or flats, there is a tradition actually which says you can use C major fingering in F Sharp major or Db Major. We would discuss it in the podcast.” What do you think, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, I think that’s right. Even when I think about music by J. S. Bach, I can’t imagine actually playing it without thumb on the black key. Vidas: Mhmm! Ausra: It’s simply impossible, because he uses such complex keys. Vidas: Yes! In real music, when there are exercises for five fingers and you play them in C Major, like C D E F G and backwards F E D C, you use 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1. But if you do it in, let’s say, C# Major, you also would use the same fingering: 1 2 3 4 5… or not? What would you do? Would you do it starting from the second finger? Ausra: Yes, I would do it starting from the second finger. Vidas: Okay. Ausra: Because that’s how I used to play the scales at school. Vidas: If it’s the scale, then yes. But if it’s an exercise for five fingers, then that’s the idea that you could use the C Major fingering. Ausra: Yes, I see what you mean. Vidas: I’ve really read someplace that there is this school of thought that you could play some of the exercises on black keys based on C Major fingering, like Hanon, for example. You could transpose Hanon exercises. Ausra: Yes, I think if you are an accomplished musician, you have to do it both ways. You have to be used to doing it both ways. Vidas: Right. While we are on the topic of Hanon, I think people should understand, they are written in a series of exercises in C Major only, if you exclude the scales, and arpeggios, and chords, of course, but if it’s just C Major, then you could effectively transpose them to any other key, and actually, Experts recommend them transposing to, let’s say, C# Major or Db Major, but using the same C Major fingering, so that you would get used to black keys more often. Right? Ausra: Yes! Because if you only practiced in C Major you can only be good at playing in C Major. Vidas: Yes. I remember my training in Hanon, but I changed the modes somewhat. I would use not major and minor keys, but I would use Lydian, Mixolydian, Dorian modes, and some other things; even more artificial modes as well. That helped me to assimilate them for my improvisations later. Does it make sense? Ausra: Yes, it makes sense. Vidas: Okay, so Bob is in our “Organ Playing Master Course” and actually in “Total Organist” as well. Ausra: Excellent! Vidas: I hope he enjoys this training community and progress as well. So I hope this clarified his question about using the thumb on a black note. Right, Ausra? Ausra: I hope so, too. Vidas: Please guys, send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. 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 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 667 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Justin, and he writes, Hello, I am currently subscribed to the Pedal Virtuoso Course. My materials for the week usually arrive on Wednesdays around 11:30 am local time, but for some reason, I didn't receive my materials for Week 5 (not in either my inbox or my spam folder). Could you arrange to have it sent? I've been enjoying the course. I'm an advanced organist, but in all my years of studying and playing, none of my teachers has ever taught pedal scales or arpeggios. So I'm grateful that this material is filling in that gap! Thanks, and all the best, Justin V: First of all, of course I sent Justin the material, missing material, and the problem was with the auto responder service that I’m using. I looked up - everything was set up okay except one specific Week 5. And after Week 5, there is Week 6, 7, 8, etc., and they were scheduled correctly. But since Week 5 was not specified to go on a certain day, then Week 6 also wouldn’t get sent out. So I fixed that mistake. Does this make sense? A: Yes, I guess so. V: (laughs) That’s a little bit technical talk. A: And I’m not a really technical person. V: In some areas you are! A: I could teach about parallel 5ths and octaves. V: Yeah, that’s also technical. So Justin is taking Pedal Virtuoso Master Course. A: Well actually, it’s a very nice message. I was really glad to hear from somebody who is an advanced organist and still can find useful our materials from Total Organist. V: This specific course could really be helpful to advanced organists as well, because we start with C Major scale and C Major scale is not the easiest one to play even if you are experienced organist, right? You have to really develop flexibility of an ankle. And that’s not always the case with organists. A: Yes, and actually this is, that C Major scale is very deceitful, because even on the piano it’s not the easiest scale to play actually. Because often people just avoid the black keys, thinking that they are real trouble-maker, but actually it’s not. Usually the white keys gives more trouble. V: Correct. Unless there are too many black keys, then you can get lost in the keyboard, but what if you have one or two, those two black keys give you sense of direction, and also because if you look at your hand, your palm let’s say, your first finger is lower than the rest of them, so it feels natural to play sharps on some occasions. A: Because when you can use your thumb closer to the black keys, yes. V: Yes. You place your thumb on the white key, and let’s say the second finger on the sharp key. A: Yes, and now a funny thought came to my mind. I thought about Bach’s Prelude in D Major which opens with that pedal line scale. V: Yes, yes. A: And I thought what a good joke it would be to transpose it into C Major. Would it be easier or harder, what do you think? V: With Baroque pedaling, probably easier, probably easier, because all the white keys - remember, the feet are not exactly shaped like your fingers, so it’s a little bit easier to play on the white keys. Although one or two doesn’t hurt also. A: Well, thanks for explaining me that feet are not exactly as my hands! (laughs) I was kind of confused about that. Thanks for clarifying it to me. V: I wasn’t keeping you in mind in this specific example, but maybe some people could relate. A: Yeah, so I was wondering maybe I should learn that D Major Prelude and Fugue. I have played it awhile ago, but maybe I need to play it in C Major and it will be easier. V: That particular scale would be easier, but what about the rest of the Prelude? A: Well, I’m not sure. I need to look into it. V: Yeah. So yeah, difficult scales and arpeggios in this course are very helpful in developing perfect pedal technique, but if you are talking about BWV 532, D Major Prelude and Fugue, this opening, a lot of people are still using modern pedaling to play this passage. A: I know. V: You know that? A: Yes, I know that. V: With heels. A: Too bad, but it’s their choice. What can we do? V: Yeah. Even concert organists and lot of experts on...very famous organists on YouTube for example use heels, whereas Baroque pedaling could be very simple for this passage. Left, left, right, left, right, left, right, right. A: Yes, I guess these virtuoso organists, concert organists as you call them, they probably haven’t played the real Baroque organ. V: Real Baroque pedalboard. A: Yes. V: It’s a flat… A: Yes V: ...pedalboard. A: Because I just can’t imagine using heels on real original Baroque organ. V: Mm hm. Yeah. If you have let’s say at your disposal radiating AGO specification-based pedalboard, with the sides of the pedalboard going upward, it’s completely different feeling than the flat pedalboard that you see in Baroque instruments. And in a lot of cases in Romantic instruments as well. In Lithuania for example, in village churches, right? A: Yes, that’s right. V: The modern pedalboard wasn’t standardized probably up until 20th century, A: As many things actually, wasn’t standardized until that time. As tuning, for example. V: Yes. Tuning, pitch, a lot of instruments were either a little bit higher or a little bit lower than concert pitch A 440. A: So music had more colors. V: A lot of instruments had temperament different from equal temperament of today’s piano. So you could modulate to many different keys, and still feel the difference between the keys. A: That’s right. V: What do you think about people who don’t like exercises and scales and arpeggios - would they benefit from this course, or would, it would be counter-productive? A: I think everybody would benefit from it, but it’s just question of personal choice. V: Yes, some people enjoy playing repertoire straightaway. A: Yes, that’s right. And it’s okay. If exercises are exhausting you or killing you, then why bother, if you are good at what you are doing? V: And on the contrary, there are people that I even know personally who refrain from playing repertoire unless they can play exercises for a long time. They could practice exercises for weeks and months. A: I guess probably for those people, simple exercises is like a therapy, like some sort of meditation, don’t you think so? V: Yes because let’s say in this course you get one set of exercises every week, and if you learn one exercise per day, you’ll get kind of sense of accomplishment. A: Sure, and I guess it’s up to each person to find her or his own way, what really works. V: Yeah. Some people play hymns instead of repertoire or exercises. They’re not interested. A: Which is also perfectly normal, because hymns are fun to play, and they are naturally really pleasing, even musically. V: I found that using hymns in organ demonstrations is really really fun, both for the performer and hopefully for the listener too. A: Yes, especially if you grew up in a church and certain hymns are really deep under your skin. V: Yeah. A: And it really appeals to many people, I think. V: Yeah. It depends who’s listening, of course. A: Sure. V: If you are someone who never sang hymns, then probably organ demonstrations with a different kind of music would work better. All right 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. 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 663 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Daniel, and he writes, Hello Vidas, My ultimate dream in regard to organ playing would be to gain the technical facility and coordination necessary to perform the masterworks of the Baroque repertoire (e.g., BWV 582, HWV 432, the entirety of BWV 1080). Beyond that would be to gain the ability to improvise/think contrapuntally. The three areas that are impeding these goals would be detailed as:
Thank you again and best regards, ~Daniel V: What can I say, Ausra? Was it detailed enough? A: Yes, it’s very detailed. And from my experience both as a music practitioner and also teaching theory for many years now, I could say that you should not study so many theoretical books and all those methods about fingering, pedaling, composition, and you know all those other things that, technical stuff too, as Daniel mentioned. It seems for me that he spends many many hours of studying about music. But if I would be him, I would spend more time actually practicing and spending time with an instrument, because no books will teach you, no methods will teach you how to play. The best teacher is your own ears and your own fingers. And you need to spend as much time at the instrument as you can. Another thing about coordination problem, well I was told by the physical therapist that in general men have more coordination comparing to women. So... V: Why is that? A: I don’t know. He told me that from his experience, from his patients that he had had. V: Maybe it’s because women can do multi-tasking better. A: I don’t know if it’s related to that, but definitely there is something about that. But once again, you have to work more on that. Because often the pianists struggle with coordination when we switch instruments from piano to an organ. V: So to go back to your beginning statement, probably I could put it in another way, saying that Daniel is studying about studying, and not doing actual studying more. A: Yes, you know, let’s see since I’m working at the theory department, well and I’m a practitioner because I play organ a lot. Not as much as I wish I would play, but still a lot comparing to my colleagues for example at the same department. And they know a lot about music, they can hear perfectly, they can easily write polyphonic dictation, let’s say consisting of three parts, but very seldom could any of them sit and play a piece or sight read very well, although they know all this in theory, all the keys and they have most of them perfect pitch and so on and so forth. But if you don’t practice on regular basis, you will not play an instrument. Just reading about how to do it right will not teach you to play. Well and about notion of the right fingering - if we are talking about Baroque repertoire yes, then it’s quite different from what you have learned to play on the piano and what you are playing on the organ. You need some specific knowledge about it and some additional skills. But if we are talking about Romantic and Modern, Contemporary Repertoire, then basically the fingering is same, where you don’t need to rediscover and to recreate the bicycle, it already works. V: Yes, organ fingering specific to organ probably applies mostly to Early Music, whereas you see on the organ in Romantic Era, they tried to recreate perfect legato without the sustain pedal that piano has, so you have to do everything with your fingers. You can do perfect legato on the piano with the fingers, but also with the help of the sustain pedal, don’t you think? And that might be different fingering choice, too. A: Well yes, but you know the good pianist will also think about fingering. Because only using pedal and cheating by that will not substitute a legato, really legato touch. V: Mm hm. A: And some of the pianists, some bad pianists, they simply overuse the pedal. V: Right. And if we’re talking about organ fingering, early organ fingering let’s say, or early keyboard fingering, you don’t need to aim for legato at all. You can use position fingering basically. Change positions and change fingers when you change positions, when you change chords, right? A: Sure. V: It’s more complicated than that, but the basic principle might be like this. There are more nuances of course, which you can learn in other trainings that we have. A: Yes, but you know what I mean actually that read less books and practice more. Even J.S. Bach he haven’t rewritten any treatises of his time, and he actually haven’t written any treatises of his own, but as he was a child and lived with his brother, he wrote down music by other composers. V: Remember he wrote one page of, sort of rules in playing thoroughbass. A: Sure. V: One page! A: And that was enough. V: Mm hm. A: Because I think that practice is all or the most that you need. Of course you need some guidance definitely, you need some guidance, some rules, and some knowledge but not overwhelm yourself with it. Because you won’t have time and energy left to practice. V: Thanks guys for listening to this conversation! 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! 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 665 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Bob, and he writes, I was just wondering if articulate legato applies to all keyboards or just organs? V: Bob is our Total Organist member, and he asked this question recently. And my short answer was that it is applicable to all keyboards. But there are nuances of course. Not only keyboards. All instruments playing music composed before the 1800s, like violin, flute, trumpet, etc. Unless written otherwise in the score by the composer. What do you think? A: Yes, I couldn’t agree more. I think you answered his question. Short and clear. V: Now we can expand, right? A: Yes, you could a little bit. V: So what’s the proof that all instruments played like that before Romantic Period? A: Well you can check famous treatises written by famous musicians. Of course, we are not talking about organ now, because there are lots of treatises about how to play the organ. But if we are talking about other instruments, because the question was about other instruments, you could read the treatises by Leopold Mozart who was very famous composer and actually educator. We know that he was a perfect educator because Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was his son, but he also was a wonderful teacher of violin, and wrote a very important treatise about playing violin. So you could read that. It has German and English versions for sure, I don’t know into how other many languages it was translated, but you can definitely find it in English. Then if we are talking about flute, then you need to read the treatise by Joachim Quantz. He was a very famous flutist and he worked at the Prussian court. V: So basically, violin treatise by Leopold Mozart applies to other stringed instruments obviously. A: Sure, sure, to all the stringed instruments, not only violin of course. V: And flute treatise by Quantz applies to let’s say wind instruments. I’m not sure about brass instruments, but probably also to some degree. A: Sure. V: So even today, if you watch how string players play a melody, bowing up and down, up and down, up and down - they change the bow. What happens at the instant where the bow is being changed is a micro detachment between those two notes. Down-up. Stronger beats are usually down. So down-up, down-up, down-up - that’s how they play the scale let’s say. If it’s not written legato. A: Yes, and if you are playing of course wind instruments, you need to use your tongue in order to do articulation. V: Tonguing yes. Same with trumpet - also similar. Let’s say with flutes, you play legato only changing your fingering, but with one breath, with one tongue - without any tonguing. But if you play a little bit of tonguing, then those notes are a little bit detached. A: Sure. V: That’s what we would call ordinary touch or articulate legato in keyboard technique. A: Yes, and listening to the early music ensembles, how they perform let’s say cantatas by J.S. Bach, you can hear various instruments that use regular articulation. V: That’s a good question, right? I like when people are wondering outside of their instrument and trying to make connections between other instruments in those periods. A: Sure, and since the organ is also not only the keyboard instrument but the wind instrument, I think we can find close connection about articulation between organ and wind instruments. V: And Bob of course was asking about keyboards in comparison to organs, right? And we’re expanding the question, not only about keyboards but other instruments as well. So Bob needs to know that this articulate legato could be applied to harpsichord, to virginal, to clavichord, what else? A: Yes, to all the keyboard instruments. Except probably modern piano. V: Except modern piano music composed after 1800s. So even playing Mozart let’s say, you could in certain cases play with articulation. A: Yes, definitely yes. V: Right? Probably fast passages of 16th notes. A: Because this knowledge of articulate legato, it existed until I would say Franz Liszt. Don’t you agree? V: Mid-19th century. A: Sure. V: It started to decline during that time, but even Franz Liszt was complaining that in some villages in Germany, they still play with articulation on the organ. A: So, because the tradition was still alive since so many instruments were preserved. I cannot imagine that you would sit down on the Baroque organ and you would play something really legato. V: And in some cases, in some countries, this tradition probably extended even longer, because the instruments remained mechanical with slider chests all the way through the 19th century, like in the Netherlands. A: Yes, you know the poorer church was, the further it was located from the big centers, the better instruments were preserved, because people didn’t have money to rebuild them or restore them, and they basically stayed untouched, luckily for us, that way we know what was at that time, and how the original instruments sounded. V: It sounds like you mean Netherlands were a poor country. A: Well no, but… V: (laughs) A: And actually I was not talking about Netherlands. What I meant more was probably France. V: Yes. France and middle European countries which, for example, have wonderful Baroque organs, not necessarily in the capitals, but in small villages. A: Yes, because like in the big cities if the war would come, all the organ pipes would be made into weapons. V: Yeah, countries like Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia - there are amazing instruments to explore, and largely unknown to the western world, but they are getting more famous because of virtual organ samples on Hauptwerk. So today you can upload or download those sample sets on your computer and play them on Hauptwerk using realistic sounds from various very exotic countries. A: And it would be really nice to go to visit them, those instruments, and hear how they sound in the real surroundings, and to compare if those sample sets are really as good as you thought. V: What was the first sample set that you discovered, Ausra? A: Velesovo. V: So before that, you probably even didn’t hear, or haven’t heard of Velesovo town. A: Yes, of course I hadn’t. V: Where it was, in Slovenia. And now, if you ever travel through Slovenia or you happen to go with a concert to Slovenia, you would probably look Velesovo up and try to find that church. A: Sure. V: You have a, like emotional connection. A: Because this is one of my most favorite sample sets. V: It sure is. All right guys. We hope this was useful to you. So keep practicing, keep expanding your musical horizons on all the keyboards - not only keyboards, but on stringed instruments, and wind instruments, and brass instruments. This is really fun. And keep sending us your wonderful questions, too. 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 662 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Irineo, and he writes: “Hello there, dear maestro. Thank you for your latest SOPP about Unda Maris. I really enjoyed it. But I have a question: who's the composer of that fantastic G-Major piece you played from 21:00 until 23:17? It sounds early baroque to me, but I can't really say whether it's Bach. And what an AWESOME Bombarde 16' does that organ feature! Where is it located? Sounds just as beautiful as that Jacek Siedlar instrument where Maestra Motuzaite also played a recital for which I congratulated her a while ago, if you recall. Keep rewarding us with those great treasures, maestro. Say hello to Maestra Motuzaite for me, will you? Very truly yours, Irineo.” Vidas: So Ausra, “Hello!” from Irineo! Ausra: Yes, wonderful letter. Do you recall about which piece he is talking about? Vidas: I wrote him an answer like this: “Thanks Irineo! In that video during Unda Maris rehearsal I harmonised and improvised on the chorale tune Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott using Sonus Paradisi's Hauptwerk sample set from Martinikerk Groningen (Schnitger organ). From 21:00 was the last variation on that hymn tune. Sorry if it sounded like Bach but it was my improvisation.” Vidas: So, what can you add, Ausra? Ausra: Well wonderful, you know, if people already think that this sounds like Bach, I should congratulate you on improvising so well. Vidas: While we are on this topic, I remember checking one video by Sietze de Vries, where he was improvising on some Genevan Psalm Tune, and in the description of this video, there was a YouTube content ID where they mixed up this video music with some piece of Bach performed by a famous organist from Italy, Andrea Marcon. But that was surely improvisation, you see, but YouTube couldn’t differentiate that. Ausra: Well, yes. Sietze is a wonderful improvisor, and often you can mix his music with pre-composed music. Vidas: And it was funny, because YouTube wrote that there was this specific piece by Bach that was quoted in that video. Ausra: Well, you know, actually many Baroque composers shared similar rhetoric figures that were common at that period. Vidas: Of course, I’m not at that level where YouTube could confuse me with Bach, but it was a nice comment by Irineo, I think Ausra: Maybe YouTube will confuse you with Krebs! Vidas: I think I still have quite a ways to go until I reach Krebs. Krebs was, of course, one of the best students by Bach. I could be a student of Krebs, then, some minor student. Ausra: Yes. Well, could you comment about that Bombarde? Do you like it? Why have you chosen it? Vidas: Yes. I think he is talking about the variation where the left hand plays on that Bombarde 16’, the right hand plays 2 voices on two principles, 8’ and 4’, soprano and alto, and the pedal is playing, I think, a chorale tune in the tenor range with the Trumpet 8’, like this, so it was a very nice combination where the bass was played not by the feet, but by the left hand. I think improvisers should learn all kinds of dispositions to place the tune, either in the right hand, or in the left hand, or in the pedals, and at any pitch level as well, 8’, 4’, and even 2’, and 16’ also. Ausra: Excellent! Vidas: So, I hope this was helpful to you guys, of course if you like improvisations like that, I’ve been following improviser Sietze de Vries, and Ausra later joined me in studying from his improvisation course on Patreon, so we highly recommend it. Right? Ausra: Yes, although there are some deficiencies in his course, but it’s fine. Vidas: Can you tell us what you would like to improve in this course? Ausra: Well, he could be more specific, you know. He promised to send, for example, to include the sheets of hymn tunes, for example, already a few weeks ago, and he still hasn’t done it, so, that’s not a good thing. And I’m saying that with experience from myself while teaching for many years, because if you tell your students you will do something, you really have to do it. Otherwise they won’t respect you. Vidas: And of course, they can’t practice as much as you expect them to practice without those notes. Ausra: Well, they never practice enough. Vidas: So they will not improve! Ausra: Sure. Vidas; Right. Okay guys, we hope this was helpful to you. Keep sending us these wonderful questions and we will try to answer them during the podcast conversations like these. Okay? Thank you guys, this was Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: Stay tuned for our future podcasts, 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! Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 660 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Vidas! By me! And, I've been struggling with mastering Part I of Trio Sonata No. 4 by J.S. Bach. For some reason it's harder to do than I imagined it would be. How do you like this question, Ausra? Ausra: Well, because you mentioned your imagination to me, maybe your imagination is poor, that you cannot imagine it will be as hard. Vidas: Luckily, I was able to record it and master this part after I submitted this question, but yes, it was a difficult part. It’s the Trio Sonata in E minor. And usually, the first movement easier than third movement, but in this Trio Sonata, it was the opposite. Ausra: Actually, I remember myself playing this Trio Sonata many years back, and I also screwed up the first movement. For me, it was really hard, that opening, because it starts sort of slowly and then it speeds up, and I don’t know, it’s really weird. Vidas: Can you ask me how I did it? Ausra: Well, yes, of course, because you are already asking yourself questions and you are talking with yourself, I think you reached sort of a new level of insanity! Vidas: Thank you! You’re very nice. I can share that while mastering this part and other parts as well, I’ve been following my 10 step method. (Ausra is already yawning). Why are you yawning, Ausra? Ausra: Because I cannot count up to 10. Maybe up to 3. Vidas: Okay. My method is rather boring to you. Right? But I still think it works, none-the-less. Ausra: I think it’s actually a wonderful method, and I think it’s my problem that I can’t cope with it because I don’t have enough patience, but I think it’s an excellent method. I think I would benefit a lot if I would use it more often. Vidas: Would you like me to be your teacher? Ausra: Maybe not. Vidas: I could teach you patience; annoy you 24/7! Ausra: I think you do that always with huge success already, so you don’t need to do any extra hard work in teaching me. Vidas: So anyway, the first step in mastering this Trio Sonata is obviously to watch my video, because I shared all those steps in my video. I will, of course, add the link into the description of this podcast so that other people can click and watch, but generally, the thing about this step, you kind of unwrap this Trio Sonata in practicing very small segments like one quarter note at a time, then you expand it into half note level, then a whole note level, then let’s say 2 measures at a time, four measures at a time, one line, two lines, one page, two pages, and then the entire piece. Ausra is already asleep. Ausra: Well, no, I’m laughing, actually. Well, it’s not how I learn Trios, but anyway, I think it’s a good method, especially for beginners. Vidas: Can you promise, Ausra, when you will play 6th Trio Sonata, you will share your own method with us in video? Ausra: Well, I just do simple work, actually. At least when I was a student, I would play two voices at the same time, let’s say both hands, then right hand and pedals, left hand and pedals, and then everything together. That’s the way how I learn to play Trios. Vidas: Yes, but could you demonstrate it on video? Ausra: Do you think people would be interested? Vidas: We’ll find out if anybody will comment. You know? But I think it’s good to share your process, too. Not only the result. What do you think? Ausra: Well, if you watch it I can do it for you. Vidas: And of course I will watch it. It’s good for your watch hours, too! Ausra: But of course, I don’t know how soon I will be able to work on that Sonata, because right now I am preparing for my next recital. Vidas: And what’s the program for that? Ausra: De Grigny – “Veni Creator Spiritus,” then Franck’s “Prélude, Fugue et Variation,” and the entire “Symphony no. 3” by Louis Vierne. Vidas: I am very glad you have taken up this program, because it will sound wonderful on the Nancy Cathedral sample set [note: “Nancy” spoken with a French accent]. Ausra: Yes, or Nancy as you call it. [note: “Nancy” spoken with an American accent] Vidas: It’s funny. So anyway, watch my videos, of course, with this part one of Trio Sonata, ten steps, and let us know if that helps. It did help to me! It was a big help for me to follow my own steps, and I write also one more thing on the sheet of paper or on the score somewhere in the corner, with pencil, I mark my repetitions. Let’s say I played this Trio Sonata from the beginning to the end one time, and I mark one like number one. Right? And if I play it a second time, I write number two, and I count those repetitions. How many do I have to do in order to prepare it for recording or recital. Would you like to find out how many did I do with this Trio Sonata? Ausra: The actual number scares me. Vidas: Could you hold the laptop, please? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: I will go to another room and get the score and we’ll see… So I got the score, and here is this Trio Sonata. You see what I mean, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, I see, but actually, it looks like if you would be on the island, the uninhabited island and you would have to count your days that you wouldn’t mess up! Vidas: Or in the prison. Ausra: Yes, or in a prison! That’s how it looks like. Vidas: It has 40 total repetitions. 40! Ausra: So why are you not writing numbers but only these tiny sticks? Vidas: It’s easier for me to write a stick than a number. Ausra: Okay. Vidas: So basically, people could write numbers if they want, but I wrote sticks, and each stick represents one repetition. But there are actually columns of repetitions, of sticks, which means one column is one practice session. So for example, in practice session number one, I repeated this movement five times, so I drew 5 sticks. Then the second time 5. 5, 5, 5, 5, so let’s count. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight practice sessions. Not necessarily 8 days, but 8 practice sessions. Probably, I sometimes practice twice per day. But 40 total repetitions. I think that’s a good result. Don’t you think? Ausra: I think it’s an excellent result. Vidas: It was still a little bit pushing my boundaries. I would have enjoyed it more if I had added 10 more repetitions. But between, let’s say, 40 and 100, I could do it easily. Anyone could do it easily… if they reach level where they can practice my steps successfully. If not, then the piece is too difficult for them. You see what I mean? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Yes Master! Ausra: Yes Master! I’m doomed! Vidas: Wow. It’s so fun to teach my wife! Is it fun for you, too? Ausra: Yes, sure. Vidas: Okay, wait while we’ll turn off the recording. Ausra: Wait until you will become hungry. Who will feed you? Vidas: Sure. Your mom! Ausra: You can eat your Trio Sonata! All those steps. Vidas: Okay. So guys, I hope you enjoyed this conversation. It was fun for me to answer my own question, but I hope this was useful for other people as well if they are struggling with similar things that I do. Right? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Okay, please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen! V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also join our community on BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at buymeacoffee.com/organduo
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 658 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Manfred, and he writes: “Hello Vidas, I was not a novice on the pedal, since I played the church organ for a couple of years. When I started to look into nicer and more demanding pieces for organ, I felt I need a better technique at least for playing scales. Fortunately I found your Course in the internet, signed up and practiced the lessons every day over 12 weeks. It is amazing: My feet find the right keys without looking. Now I can play with both feet to both edges of the pedals, even with my heels. How did I play before? I tried to play an new piece. It is amazing how easy my feet play the notes almost automatically. Thank you very much! Manfred.” Vidas: So, this is a sort of a testimonial about one of my courses that Manfred is taking! Ausra: Yes, it’s a nice advertisement for you! Vidas: Let me check which course. Yeah, this is “Pedal Virtuoso Master Course.” Ausra: That’s what I thought from his description of it. Vidas: It is a rather demanding course, and not everyone is able to finish what they start. Ausra: But if they will finish it then they will have a really nice result! Vidas: Right. So before that, he played church organ, and played a little bit of organ music, but didn’t have a pedal technique, probably, for playing accurately. So he looked on the internet and he found my “Pedal Virtuoso Master Course,” and I’m very grateful that he wrote this testimonial. Maybe it will enable other people to start practicing from this course, or other people who haven’t finished. Maybe they will pick up and keep going. Ausra: Let’s hope for it! Vidas: What other advice would you have for Manfred, Ausra? Ausra: Well, I’m really glad that he improved his pedal technique, so now he can play more demanding organ pieces, which is very nice. He might enrich his church services, or even play a recital for his congregation. Vidas: What I recommend if Manfred is really serious about taking my advice, and it appears that he is, is to record his playing and to put it online. Share it with his congregation. Perhaps nowadays a lot of services are being done online, and he could put it on YouTube. You know? What do you think about it? Ausra: Well, I know that you basically record and publish everything that you are doing. I’m not that kind of person, but well, it’s up for everybody to decide, you know, how they want to do it, or if they want to do it. Vidas: Yes, but if they want my advice and they trust me, then they would improve even more, because the reason I’m suggesting this is our weekly contest. He could participate… Ausra: Well yes, but I would suggest for somebody to record themselves in order to listen back to them and to improve, because the improvement will be greater and faster if they will do that. But you know, I think only things that you have done really well you need to publish, and put it online. Vidas: Yes, but this weekly goal to share one piece, it’s a kind of good deadline for people. Not too much, not too little, just about right. Ausra: You know, it depends what kind of person you are and what kind of lifestyle you lead, because for somebody, it might be too stressful to record one piece per week at a high level. Don’t you think so? Vidas: Maybe that piece is too difficult then! Ausra: Well, but maybe you want to learn the longer piece which is more demanding, and you need to spend maybe a few months working on it. Vidas: Sure. Sure. Ausra: Because otherwise you might become an organist who plays always the pieces that are one or two pages long, and not improve much further. Vidas: With time, I think recording goes easier and people get used to the current workload and get easier over the longer pieces. I’m noticing it myself. Last week I recorded three movements from Trio Sonata, the entire Trio Sonata! Ausra: Well, not everybody has so much time to practice. Vidas: As are you? Ausra: Yes. And not everybody has a DMA degree, so don’t praise yourself too much. Vidas: Maybe I should praise myself a little more because… or not. Ausra: Because what? Vidas: Because I recorded Trio Sonata! You see? Ausra: Well, yes, I know, and everybody knows how wonderful you are. Nobody doubts it. Vidas: Okay, guys, I think you get the point. Ausra is different from me, so if Manfred would like to get a second opinion from Ausra, and of course it’s his choice to apply her advice. My advice is different, and well, exactly Ausra. I agree with you. Not everybody has the same goals. Not everybody has the goal to quadruple their results. That simple. And if they are happy with their current level, or improving just a little bit, then they can do what they’ve been doing! Ausra: Well, I’m just saying that people have other things in life as well, and for example, you live with the organ. For you this is the most important thing. You can spend 20 hours a day just doing what you really love and what you really like. You don’t have, you know, like daily duties like teaching full time or doing whatever full time. So you can learn a new Trio Sonata every day! That’s okay! But maybe a person has only a half an hour or an hour a day to practice at the most. Vidas: Wait, I’m not suggesting that Manfred or anybody else to record every day a Trio Sonata. I cannot do it myself, you know? Ausra: But that’s what you were talking about and praising yourself. Vidas: I was praising myself that I’m improving. You know? It goes faster—hard pieces. I think when Trio Sonata three movements is like 13 to 15 pages long, and I was able to do it in one week. Ausra: And I am only telling you that if you are learning or posting for the performance for the competition every week a new piece, that these pieces might be really short and sort of insignificant at first. Vidas: At first. Yes. So well yes, and everybody has their own situation and has to decide for themself what’s the next step. Right? We only can share with them what we are doing. Right? I’m sharing my story, you are sharing your story. That’s it. People can take or leave it. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Right? Because otherwise they cannot really be forced into doing anything we say. Right? They will still choose to do or not to do. Right? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Simple. Ausra: Yes, and you know, everybody has to find her or his own way of doing things. Vidas: True. Okay guys, thank you so much for sending these beautiful questions and testimonials. Please send us more of them; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen! V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also join our community on BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at buymeacoffee.com/organduo |
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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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