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 640 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Pieter, and he writes,: 

“Dear Vidas,

Thank you for sending me the extra exercise supplementary to the sight reading course. I appreciate that very much. Firstly let me apologise for my late response after finishing the course. It has been rather busy with various things.

You may recall that when I first approached you asking your advice my goal to improve my sightreading skills was very much focussed on obtaining the CRCO (Colleague of the Royal College of Organists) diploma. I had already achieved credits for the paperwork and repertoire but not the musicianship tests. I am pleased to tell you that I achieved the last part of the qualification in the summer session and I therefore now have my CRCO qualification! I was really delighted to achieve this as it was a real challenge for me but after a lot of work, my efforts paid off!

There can be no doubt that the sightreading course helped me particularly with issues of rhythm which I always found a weak point so I am grateful for that indeed. Although transposition was something I found slightly less challenging, this is also a sort of sightreading so I am sure the course helped me there too!

I think I am done with organ diplomas so I will concentrate on learning repertoire now and just enjoying playing the instrument that I love but I have to say that my all round musicianship skills have improved through the experience of preparing for a challenging qualification and that has to help my playing in the general sense.

You would like to have some feedback about the course and I am very happy to give that.

Firstly I would say that the course is excellent and I can well imagine that a lot of effort went into preparing it. I like the graded approach, each week new challenges being added. I thought that was better than anything else I had seen elsewhere.

There was a slight problem with downloading the latter material and this was a little frustrating as it had been so easy up until that point. I am not sure what the problem was or indeed if it had something to do with my computer but anyway I found a way around it in the end.

I think that many people wishing to do the sightreading course (and this probably applies to the other musicianship courses you offer) will be aiming to gain an organ qualification. There is a captive audience out there as for the RCO exams and also probably for the AGO exams as well, there is limited graded material available.

Most people studying for RCO diplomas are constantly searching for materials to help them achieve success and that isn't always easy.

It is worth noting that if one looks at past papers of test material used, it is almost always a section of music from the German romantic repertoire e.g. Merkel etc. At CRCO level they are also looking for competency in the use of the swell pedal and manual changes. Stop changes are not required at this level but certainly would be at ARCO level. Although the baroque repertoire has much to offer it might be a good idea to further the development of exercises to include later romantic organ music where organ management issues are so important and definitely crucial to success in this test. I think that if this were to be available many candidates would be interested in signing up for your course! I would certainly recommend it under those circumstances!

I realise that not everyone wants to improve musicianship skills to pass an exam but the fact of the matter is that these things are part of many organists trajectory and I think there is a real opportunity here for you should you have the inclination to do it. These diplomas are such a gold standard for many and they are very challenging and not easy to acquire as you no doubt know. I think there is a potential for you to develop this area if you so wished.

I hope these comments are helpful and once again, many thanks for your help.

I wish you and Ausra and successful and hopefully a more uplifting 2021.

Best wishes,

Pieter”

Vidas: So Ausra, as you understand, Pieter took my “Organ Sight-Reading Master Course” and gave feedback, because he passed the “Colleague of Royal College of Organists” Diploma, which is very exciting.

Ausra: Yes! Congratulations Pieter! We are very glad you made this achievement!

Vidas: And of course, this course is a long course. It has 40 weeks of training plus 7 weeks of bonus material. Not everyone who starts this course ever finishes it.

Ausra: Yes, I implied that.

Vidas: And Pieter is one of them who did finish, so it’s really exciting.

Ausra: And it’s a really nice feedback. Thank you Pieter.

Vidas: I’m not sure what the problem with the download was, but I noticed that at some point my courses suffered downloading issues. Maybe that was the browser issue. But it sort of was a short problem—maybe after a few days it disappeared by itself—so it wasn’t probably Pieter’s fault or my fault, it wasn’t even his computer’s fault. It might have been his browser’s fault, like Google Chrome. Something happened with Chrome at that point, and you can’t load things. That was at least my case when I looked. But I’m glad that it was solved in the end.

Ausra: Yes, all those technical issues can give people a hard time.

Vidas: And a real headache. Obviously, one suggestion sticks out in this feedback, which is to supplement this course with materials suitable for Romantic music—legato technique. What do you think about it?

Ausra: Yes, I think that’s a good idea. Of course you include some things in this material as well.

Vidas: At the end of the course, starting from week 41, I think. We have 7 weeks of bonus materials where I provide sight-reading exercises taken from 30 short Reger’s Chorale Preludes all opus 135a. And these pieces are at first mastered or presented in single line, like right-hand, left-hand, pedals, and then two part texture, and then finally we have three part texture. So it’s kind of a shorter section in the entire course, but it’s still present. Obviously, we might need another course, because it’s already a long course. Right? To require people to do  20 or 30 or 40 weeks plus in addition to this course, it would be too much. Probably we would need another level just for legato playing for Romantic music. Don’t you think?

Ausra: Yes, that’s what I thought, too. It would be nice to have a…

Vidas: Separate course…

Ausra: ...Separate course.

Vidas: And obviously, in this course would be issues like registration changes, swell pedal, crescendo pedal… right? Ideally, that would be a video course, where I could demonstrate how it’s done each exercise, and people would get a video in addition to the PDF score. Yeah, that would be really helpful, because people really take those exams seriously and try to improve. Tests, written tests, the written portion of tests are much easier. Theoretical, right?

Ausra: Yes.

Vidas: And practical exercises are always a bummer.

Ausra: Yes, and it’s interesting that even people with university degrees and advanced degrees like having Masters or even Doctorate degrees sometimes take these exams, too. And I know some people who did that.

Vidas: Which means that the general musicianship for Master level graduates are not always equal to their theoretical achievements.

Ausra: Would you like, for example, to take FAGO?

Vidas: FAGO? In order for me to take any course, I would need to see what is the benefit for me. What is the return on my investment? Because obviously, those tests or exams cost money. Right? And sometimes not even a small amount of money, sometimes a considerable amount of money. Usually, the higher the test, the more difficult the test, the more money you have to pay.

Ausra: I’m just kidding, of course, because you have a DMA already, which is equivalent of FAGO. 

Vidas: Yes, you know there is one test which is not equivalent to AGO, which is Trinity College, this exam in London. Trinity College London, so TCL. Remember, James Flores took LTCL, and now they have the highest level FTCL, which is Fellow of this college. Basically, it’s a recitalist diploma probably, but at the highest level. It’s probably very expensive to take, right?

Ausra: Yes, I guess so.

Vidas: So I’m not sure if it’s worth it. I’m still playing recitals. Last year I played 20 recitals, so nobody is stopping to play recitals. Right? Even if I haven’t passed this test yet, or ever will take this test. So, people sometimes create artificial boundaries for themselves and think that this external validation with change some things. It’s good if you present this diploma or a test from AGO or RCO to your employer and ask for a raise.

Ausra: Ha Ha… do you think in my case it would help? In my job?

Vidas: What is your job?

Ausra: Teaching music theory.

Vidas: Teaching music theory… you know, it’s not a private institution, therefore those additional diplomas don’t matter. It’s a public institution, and public rules state that your salary is as high as it can be, and it will be raised whenever everyone is raising. It’s a public institution. But if it were a private institution, yes! You could go to your employer and say, “here, I got this diploma, please give me a raise.” 

Ausra: Maybe in my next life or in my dreams.

Vidas: So like in the church, if you work at church and you have an organist position or a music director position, yes. You could approach your clergy and say, “give me a raise.”

Ausra: But then they might just kick you out of the church and hire somebody cheaper. Don’t you think so? At least in Lithuania.

Vidas: Yes, and that would prove that you don’t belong there. You belong to a better place. So, yeah, it’s tricky to get the raise in places where people don’t appreciate what you do. Don’t appreciate enough what you do. Right? When you are replaceable. So the solution is always to be irreplaceable. Right?

Ausra: Sure, but I think everybody is replaceable.

Vidas: In those institutions, yes. Yes. Kind of a difficult topic, obviously, because we can’t change the system. But again, we are very happy for Pieter, who has taken our course and given this excellent feedback. Thank you so much Pieter,

Ausra: Thank you very much!

Vidas: 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 Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos.

A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and 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 626 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Mario, and he writes: 

“Hello Vidas, my name is Mario I am a 25 year old musician from Panamá.

My dream is to become Panamá's first organist, we have two pipe organs in the country and lucky for me I have access to both.
 
One is Spanish pipe organ with 2 manuals and 30 note straight pedalboard and 51 keys on each manual.

Second is a Renaissance pipe organ built in 2019 by a Polish organ company, it has 3 manuals with 51 keys also and a 27 note pedalboard.

I am very interested in developing my sight reading abilities to a high level, where I could Just grab any composition and play it at tempo, and I mean piano or organ composition. I am wondering if your sight reading course would be good for me.

I am comfortable sight reading hymns, but I don't have knowledge on pipe organ repertoire, only Bach.

I practice on a digital Piano a Yamaha p155. I bought an AGO pedalboard and it should arrive in 2 weeks.

Let me know if you can help me become a master at sight reading.”

Vidas: So Ausra, where do we start?

Ausra: Well, what I can say: Mario seems to me a very ambitious young man with a future vision!

Vidas: Yes. Now he has access only to two organs in Panamá. Both… the only two organs in Panamá. And he has a goal in the future to have a pedalboard at home so he could easily practice every day. Right? 

Ausra: Sure, of course!

Vidas: The first thing that came to mind is how did a Polish organ company  build an organ in Panamá?

Ausra: I also thought it sort of bizarre, and the choice of building a Renaissance pipe organ, which is also very bizarre. Are they sort of doing something with early music in Panamá?

Vidas: Yeah, strange coincidence. Maybe Mario could follow up and tell us the story of how this organ came to Panamá.

Ausra: Because I don’t think that Poland itself is very famous for Renaissance instruments. I think it’s more famous for Baroque and later instruments.

Vidas: Right. Well, there are a number of historical organs, probably old ones from the Renaissance times in Poland, but it seems strange to build in organ in the country which only in the previous days has only one previous organ. Right? And you are building a second organ which will be a Renaissance type organ.

Ausra: Yes, because this sort of very much reduces the chances of your repertoire, because if it’s a renaissance organ, then you will be able to play only Renaissance music on it, and it’s not such a large variety of repertoire.

Vidas: I hope we are missing something. Maybe there is something behind the scenes that we don’t know.

Ausra: Yes, could be.

Vidas: So, concerning probably the sight-reading goal that Mario has, he has probably a basic understanding of playing hymns. Right, Ausra?

Ausra: Yes, that’s what I understood, because he says that he sight-reads hymns. Of course he didn’t tell us if he just plays them on the piano, which is one thing, and if he plays them with the pedal, which is a big difference.

Vidas: Yes, it is. But obviously, if he took my sight-reading Master Course on the organ, then obviously, he will start with one single voice, like any other student, and progress through other voices, then within a number of weeks, he will start playing two voice combinations, later add three voices, and finally sight-read all four voices together. Does this plan sound like something Mario could do?

Ausra: Yes, obviously he could do it. Of course, I don’t know if he would be sort of fluent in sight-reading any music at any tempo after that, but I don’t think very many people could do that in general.

Vidas: This course is not a substitute for regular organ repertoire. You have to mix both things together. You have to simultaneously play repertoire and at the same time this course, let’s say. And then you will progress through sight-reading that repertoire which you are playing much faster. Does that make sense?

Ausra: Yes, it makes sense, of course.

Vidas: So that’s my main suggestion. Obviously, you need a pedalboard, and it’s best to have it at home, so maybe in two weeks, or maybe by the time that Mario hears this podcast episode, maybe he will already have acquired a pedalboard at his home. Possible!

Ausra: Yes, that’s possible, of course.

Vidas: I would think that a digital piano like Yamaha would have a MIDI outlet, right?

Ausra: I’m not good with technologies, but yes, I think it should have one.

Vidas: This particular model I’m not sure, but in general digital pianos should have MIDI-in and MIDI-out, so if it does then he could connect Hauptwerk.

Ausra: Yes, that’s a possibility.

Vidas: Hauptwerk is a virtual pipe organ software where you download samples, install sample sets, from real sounding organs, and you can choose many many sample sets on your machine and switch them according to the needs of your repertoire. If you’re playing Baroque music, you can choose a Baroque organ, if you’re playing Romantic music, you could choose a Romantic organ. French, German, Dutch, whatever you want, you know!

Ausra: But since Mario has only one keyboard and one pedalboard, I don’t think he could benefit a lot from adding Hauptwerk, because if you want to use Hauptwerk, you have to have at least a couple of keyboards. Don’t you think so? Unless you practice only Baroque music.

Vidas: Yeah, for this particular course, Sight-reading Master Course, this could be done. This could be done with pedals and one keyboard. Remember, we listen to the entire “Art of Fugue” on harpsichord without…

Ausra: Of course, but I’m not talking about “Art of Fugue!” I’m talking about what you just told about—the possibilities of Hauptwerk having all of these different French, German, Dutch instruments. I’m saying that it doesn’t make sense to have all these sample sets if you don’t have more keyboards. Don’t you agree?

Vidas: Agree.

Ausra: Okay!

Vidas: Alright! So, it seems that… but my proposition to try out Hauptwerk is because if you are playing on a digital piano, you will have piano sounds, and piano sounds are not the same as organ sounds. Maybe it’s just a basic one-keyboard organ sound that he needs, but still, to have a virtual, at least one sample set installed would be nice!

Ausra: Yes, especially since he will have a pedalboard as well.

Vidas: Right. So 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 Patreon and get free CD’s.

A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying

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 621 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by William, and he writes,

​Vidas,

Thank you for putting together this course. My sight reading of notes and rhythms both improved significantly from 9 months ago. It also improved my sight reading of dense passages of music. The areas that gave me a little trouble (that I need to continue working on) are the counting of 32nd notes and irregular rhythms (triplets against 2 eighth notes / 4 sixteenth notes / dotted eighth note and a sixteenth note).  Regards, Bill
​
V:  So William talks about my Organ Sight Reading Master Course, which is quite popular among Total Organist Community, and I’m very happy that people are enjoying the progress that they are making over the course of this training program.  It takes basically 40 weeks, 47 weeks with bonus materials, so that’s almost a full year, right, Ausra?

A:  Yes, it takes awhile.

V:  For a long time, for many weeks, people start sight reading one single melodic line.  And a lot of people quit after even noticing improvement, even before starting two part exercises.  Because it takes such a long time to go through entire Art of Fugue voice by voice.  Ausra, do you have such patience?

A:  Well, I would have patience if I would have enough time.

V:  And you mean that you couldn’t practice for many weeks one single voice?

A:  Yes.  Definitely not.  And I don’t need it, because I have quite a good skills of sight reading music.

V:  Hm, makes me think, maybe I should devise special course for you, just for you, where I would test your sight reading skills and give you more challenges.

A:  You know I have enough challenges in my life on a daily basis.

V:  And you could devise a course for me, as well.  Would you like that?

A:  Not really.

V:  Why not?  You could be my teacher.

A:  Well, I teach for 25 hours a week.  So I guess I have enough teaching already without teaching you.

V:  Could I sit in your classes instead?

A:  No, because now it’s pandemic.

V:  Maybe under the table then!

A:  Well, you could sneak in, or at least try to sneak in.

V:  I could sit under the table like your pet.  I would be quiet, promise.

A:  But then I would have to put you on a leash.

V:  Yeah.  On a leash, or a choke collar?

A:  Well, it would depend on your behavior.

V:  (laughs) If I would be polite, maybe leash would be enough.

A:  Yes, I guess so.

V:  So, William is enjoying the course, sight reading every week, seven days a week I think, those exercises run.  Would you, Ausra, imagine yourself sight reading every day of the week, if you had time?

A:  Well yes, because I think this is a crucial skill to have for any musician.

V:  Yeah, I think for people who don’t have enough time to sight read, they are simply sacrificing their goals and dreams, putting aside their future in favor of their present tasks, or maybe urgent assignments.  But I think it’s important to work towards your future, make the future possible, right?  Because at the end of the day, you have fulfilled maybe your tasks, but haven’t advanced towards your goals.

A:  True, and often people wonder why they cannot learn music very fast, or as fast as they would wish to, and why they still keep struggling.  And I think one of the reasons is that we don’t sight read enough.

V:  Or don’t listen to music enough as well.  That also is very important.  Basically, music is like language.  You have to immerse yourself in this language.  It’s a musical language, and we have to imagine we’re learning like a foreign language.  Obviously, learning foreign language is easiest from an early age, right, Ausra?

A:  That’s right.  I think any skill is easier to learn at the early age, but I think it’s possible to learn later too.  But it takes more time, and it requires more effort.

V:  Will you be fluent in that language if you start late in life?

A:  Well I guess it’s sort of very individual to a person, from person to person.

V:  Let’s say a person starts later in life and spends hours every day sight reading and practicing, and listening to musical pieces.  At first, it’s a very difficult struggle, right?  Because this new language is completely foreign to them.  And it takes weeks, even months, before they start to feel any kind of enjoyment, right?  And even when people are listening to such training exercises, they’re not interesting at all to listen to.  Like one voice, right?

A:  That’s right.

V:  Especially if played in a slow tempo.  I can imagine that if played in a right tempo, if you can play The Art of Fugue soprano voice for example, in a concert tempo, that's a wonderful piece of music by itself.  It’s like one single instrument, solo instrument, a flute or a violin playing.  But you have to be fluent.

A:  That’s right.

V:  Otherwise it’s just for you, not for other people to enjoy.  But definitely there will come a time in your course where you will feel that something is tipping.  You will feel this tipping point where yesterday you didn’t notice improvement, and this morning you started to notice something differently.  Something more frequent, more fluently.  There was for me also.  It’s in any activity.  When I was busy doing exercises of pull-ups in my, in our garden last year, for example, at first I couldn’t do a lot of them.  Just a few.  Or maybe just to hang myself, hang and - not hang myself!

A:  I hope not!

V:  Simply, I would just hold onto the rings and hang in there, you know, for 30 seconds let’s say.  But then after weeks passed, I could do one, then two, then four pull-ups.  And then after I reached five pull-ups, I suddenly noticed I could do all those five pull-ups fast.  Like not one by one, but in a combination of two or even three - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - in one breath, basically.  So obviously this faster pull-up routine makes it easier to do all five of them, right?  But I couldn’t do that before.  It took me, I don’t know, maybe four months to reach that goal.  So obviously, people who practice sight reading from my course need to realize that they have to really keep going for a longer time in order to start feeling the results, like William has.  He started about 9 months ago, right?  But he didn’t quit after a few weeks, even if it was hard when 32nd notes appeared, or triplets against two eighth notes, those complicated rhythms, you see.

A:  Wonderful!  I guess William has the kind of character that each of us needs to develop - to be patient and to be consistent about what you are doing.

V:  Wonderful.  So guys, those of you who are practicing from this course, or sight reading on your own, please don’t quit just after a few days or weeks.  Just keep going.  And those of you who haven’t seen my course, check it out!  I will leave the link in the description of this conversation.  Thank you guys.  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 Patreon and get free CD’s.

A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying

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 618 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Brigitte, and she writes:

“Hi Vidas and Ausra,
The more complicated rhythms are my favorites for sight-reading. Also I have been listening to recordings from Art of the fugue and did some research as I was wondering about the meaning of the different parts.
There must be so much more that can be learned from the Art of the fugue.

The variations of the Genevan Psalms are of interest to me too. Can I find them somewhere together to come back to them?
Enjoy following you and learning from you.
Regards,
Brigitte”

Vidas: So Ausra, it appears that Brigitte is studying my “Organ Sight-Reading Master Course.”

Ausra: Excellent! I think this is a very useful tool.

Vidas: It’s based on Bach’s “The Art of Fugue,” and each week, students receive daily trainings for their sight-reading exercises, and at first we start very simply with sight-reading one voice, a simple line soprano part. And then we switch to other voices little by little, add combinations of voices, increase the number of voices, and so we also switch keys! I transpose the contrapuntal material into other keys as well, so organists can get the sense of playing in multiple keys as well. So, this is a long course—40 week long—plus seven weeks of bonus material in legato style. And I hope that people who start can finish what they started, because not everyone is so patient.

Ausra: Yes, I know somebody who sight-read one voice, but I think I haven’t heard her playing more voices.

Vidas: I’m looking forward to two voices as well. Maybe this time will come in the future, too. Who knows? But Brigitte is clearly enjoying complicated rhythms in that collection, in “The Art of Fugue.” Do you think she means triplets or something else?

Ausra: I’m not quite sure in which part of “Art of Fugue” she is right now. But in general, that’s a sort of a little bit of an odd comment, because often people avoid complicated rhythms and they like simple rhythms, so…

Vidas: This is good!

Ausra: Yes, this is very good.

Vidas: Yeah, because if you know how to play simple rhythms, you tend to play simple rhythms all the time, and challenging parts are not always a joyful experience to play. Right?

Ausra: Yes, that’s right, and in general, as Brigitte says, “The Art of Fugue” is the collection that one could learn a lot, and I couldn’t agree more, because it’s really a good collection.

Vidas: How many times have you heard this collection live?

Ausra: Well, only a very few times. Like being in a real recital, I think I’ve heard it three times. But of course, I’ve heard recordings, too.

Vidas: So two times was for organ, right?

Ausra: Yes.

Vidas: And one for harpsichord, right?

Ausra: Yes, that’s right.

Vidas: Can you share with us what that was?

Ausra: Well, twice, our former organ professor, George Ritchie has played it at UNL, and he played it twice, but I think…

Vidas: In the same week!

Ausra: Yes, I think we were the only two students who attended both performances, and I think it’s worth it to listen to it more than once!

Vidas: And this collection became his DVD recording together with a double CD, I think, where he also not only performs “The Art of Fugue,” but talks about each movement and the history behind the work, the meaning of every fugue, and so on.

Ausra: And he is not the only one who talks about “The Art of Fugue.” The famous musicologist Christoph Wolff also talks about it in this DVD.

Vidas: Yeah, it’s called the “Desert Fugue,” I think. We can add the link add the link to this conversation for people to find the DVD. It’s published by Fugue State Films.

Ausra: Yes, I believe it is.

Vidas: So, yeah, and the other, the third performance you heard by whom?

Ausra: By Dirksen!

Vidas: Pieter Dirksen.

Ausra: Yes.

Vidas: Did you like his playing on the harpsichord?

Ausra: Yes, I liked it a lot, because he always pays so much attention to the little details, and he is a really wonderful performer and teacher and musicologist!

Vidas: He initiates, I think, a Facebook group called “Sweelinck 2021,” because next year, there will be, I think, the 400 year anniversary of Sweelinck! So we need to play more Sweelinck next year.

Ausra: Yes, and he is one of the leading scholars of Sweelinck’s music, and he has published a famous book, which is very extensive, and I think the best source for those who study Sweelinck.

Vidas: And also, he’s done great research in Heinrich Scheidemann’s organ works and keyboard works as well!

Ausra: Yes, so it was really nice to hear him playing “The Art of Fugue” on the harpsichord.

Vidas: If you had to choose one, which one would you choose, Dirksen or Ritchie?

Ausra: That’s a very unfair question. I don’t think you should be asking it!

Vidas: I know! But I will ask anyway!

Ausra: Well, it’s very different, you know, to hear it on the harpsichord and on the organ, because the specifications of these two instruments are completely different.

Vidas: But also, playing on the harpsichord without pedals, that kind of looks more difficult. Don’t you think? Because you have to reach with your left hand more.

Ausra: Well, but for people who, for example, don’t know how hard or easy it is to play pedal, they think that it’s harder to play something with the pedals. So it’s…

Vidas: But anyways, this is a great collection to learn sight reading. When I practiced my sight reading, I learned from the original clefs. Not only from the bass clef, but also from the soprano clef, alto clef, and tenor clef. In this course, in “Organ Sight-Reading Master Course, I transcribed everything into modern notation with treble clef and bass clef so that people won’t get scared too much. It’s already challenging enough, I think, but adding original clefs would scare people away.

Ausra: Sure! I don’t think that would be a good idea.

Vidas: Yes. So Brigitte, if you want to learn even more from “The Art of Fugue, once you finish this course, you can go back a little bit and check out the original clefs, original notation, and play through them, a few fugues, at least the beginning four. These are nice; they group together nicely. And I think I already made one score with the fingering and pedaling of the first Contrapunctus so people can enjoy playing for themselves with articulation, with articulated legato touch, which could be easily achieved with my fingering and pedaling.

Ausra: Excellent.

Vidas: And of course, we need to talk about Genevan Psalms, Ausra, because Brigitte is kind of interested in Genevan Psalms. Shall we talk about it in the next podcast episode?

Ausra: Well, yes, I think so!

Vidas: Because it is another theme.

Ausra: That’s right.

Vidas: Alright 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 Patreon and get free CD’s.

A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying

Vidas and I today are practicing Aria sopra la Bergamasca (1642) by Marco Uccellini from his Sonate, arie et correnti, Op. 3 and using Groningen Martinikerk organ sample set by Sonus Paradisi and Hauptwerk VPO software. The upper two parts are quite demanding and in reality should be played by two separate instrumentalists. So I was thinking to myself why did I agree to sight-read this piece in public during live-stream...

​Score: https://imslp.org/wiki/Sonate,_arie_e...)

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.

V: Let’s start episode 582 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Pieter.   And he writes,

Dear Vidas and Ausra,

A friend has sent me a link to your website and I think that it is something that is very interesting for me. Before I look into it further I would be grateful for your guidance as to how I might proceed. I will tell you a little about my situation.

I am an organ student living in the Netherlands although I have had a fantastic organ teacher in London where I lived for many years. I have an organ at home and practise every day. I do not have regular organ lessons at the moment as I am still very loyal to my teacher in London and prefer to go to her when I am there.

Although I played the organ many years ago I did stop but about 3 years ago I restarted lessons. I am highly motivated and I am in the fortunate position that I have a lot of time to practise as I am now retired (I am 63).

I have recently taken the Colleague diploma of the Royal College of Organists and I achieved success in the Pieces as well as the Harmony, Counterpoint, Theory and Aural sections. I was not successful with the tests at the organ although I did get a pass mark for transposition of a hymn tune. I think sight reading is my weakest area. As this diploma is modular I can repeat just the section that I didn't pass and if I am successful the next time then I will get the full award.

Of course I do understand that playing the organ is so much more than passing exams and I guess my goal is to be a better musician. I suppose I am looking for guidance as to how to approach these challenges and whether your material might help me in that respect. I am sure nothing can substitute for regular lessons and somehow I need to sort that out but your thoughts on that would be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance for taking the time to read this email.

Kind regards, Pieter

V:  Let’s congratulate Pieter that at the age of 63, he still continues to practice and still continues to improve himself, right?

A:  Yes, it’s very good.  I think that’s how people need to live their life.

V:  Life long education, right?

A:  That’s right.

V:  Life long improvement.

A:  I always admire people who have goal in life and not stopping doing things.  Not only just watching TV all day long.

V:  He mentions passing exams and tests.  I don’t think they are necessarily a bad thing, right?  Even if you think that organ playing is so much more than tests and exams.  But tests and exams can give you a goal.

A:  Sure.  They can push you forward a little bit harder.

V:  They can give you deadline.

A:  That’s right.  So they can increase your motivation.

V:  True.

A:  So I think that’s a good thing, to have your goals set ahead of you, of your time.  So I think it’s very beneficial.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  And I thought while reading Pieter’s letter that our sight reading course might be beneficial for him.

V:  Definitely, definitely.

A:  To improve his skills.

V:  Yeah.  A lot of people have very positive comments about this course.  It doesn’t start very easy, like in the beginning level, you have to be able to sight read or practice, let’s say, a little bit syncopations, and eighth note movements, jumps, and polyphonic movement.  Although the exercises start as just one single voice.  But it’s not as easy as sight reading a hymn, separate lines of a hymn.  The rhythms are more varied.  But if he can, if he passed harmony, counterpoint, theory, and aural sections, I have no doubt that he has preliminary skills to take this course.  And even though the course lasts for 40 weeks, we have supplemental material.  People don’t  have to necessarily stick to this schedule and do the course in 40 weeks.  They can adjust the schedule and…

A:  Sure.  Or we can rush if we have time.  For example, now when quarantine is all over Europe and most places of the world.

V:  That’s right.  If you find the course too easy at the beginning, you can sight read faster.  And actually, he can let us know in advance, I can send you advance material.  If you, for example, complete Week 2, Week 1, 2, 3, 4 material in two weeks let’s say, or one week, and you want maybe week 8 material right away, I can do that.  I can grab the file and send it to you in advance.  Just let us know.  So, as Ausra thinks, and I agree, Pieter should look into our organ sight reading master course.  This is a solid course, lasts 40 weeks, and will keep him occupied for quite some time, and is based on Bach’s Art of Fugue, with supplemental material at the end of playing Romantic organ music, based on Reger’s Chorale Preludes, legato style.  Okay, guys, let’s ask Ausra if she has anything else to add.

A:  Probably not.

V:  Mm hm.  So this was quite a specific question: How Pieter can improve his sight reading, basically, and we have very specific answer.  Thank you guys for sending us those questions.  We love helping you grow.  And remember, when you practice,

A:  Miracles happen.

Vidas: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online.

Ausra: 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...

Vidas: 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…

Ausra: 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.

Vidas: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s.

Ausra: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying

At the Unda Maris rehearsal yesterday I improvised a canonical dialogue in F before people started gathering.

The first to play was Audre and I showed to her 3 methods of keeping the hands while the feet were playing because she wanted to play with her feet. I suggested the same hymn that she would play with her hands. So the first method was to keep the hands on the edges of the keyboards which she liked very much. Then she held the hands on the organ bench and the last way was to hold them simply on the knees. I explained why this method is the best one, even though the hardest - because there is no danger to accidentally depressing the keys like in the first one.

Then Rokas played Prelude and fugue in G Minor, (little), BWV 558 and said he struggled with the last pedal entrance in the fugue. I reminded him and demonstrated how practicing in 15 voice combinations work.

@drugelis played two-part Invention No. 1 in C Major, BWV 772 by Bach and struggled with picking up from the middle of the piece. I asked her to start from a specific measure quickly but she couldn't do it most of the time.

I had a suspicion she didn't practice in short fragments recently. Now I also asked everyone who has been sight-reading regularly and it appears no one is. So I suggested for @drugelis to either sight-read two-part inventions hands separately or hymns, like Taize songs. At least one page a day.

Alisa played the 3rd short trio by Lemmens and struggled with hand crossings on two manuals. After several tries she got better. Regular sight-reading wouldn't hurt her either.

Then came Ignas from the university choirs and wanted to check out choir stands and how they could be moved to the altar for "Classics for Everybody" concert on December 7th. It appears it's best to order an official team from the university to disassemble them. Ignas told me how one stand fell during rehearsal several years ago. Luckily no one was hurt, only scared.
​
By the way, Ignas took up the position of artistic director of choir "Dobilas" recently and is looking for concert appearances. I suggested he contact festivals in Rokiskis, Anyksciai and Moletai. He invited me for coffee when we left the church but I had to rush home to @laputis and finish practicing our organ duet arrangements from Bach cantatas.

Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
 
Ausra: And Ausra
 
V: Let’s start episode 518, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. And this questions was sent by Oluwadotun. He’s a new subscriber of ours and he answered the question; when new subscriber after maybe two weeks, they get this question from us: ‘what are your dreams in organ playing right now and what are the challenges that prevent you from reaching your dream?’ And he wrote:
 
Dream of playing MUSICAL scores or pieces at sight.
 
V: And he writes further:
 
Oluwadotun: I need training on my sight reading ability and skills. I also want to improve my sight playing.

V: So basically, it’s all about the same thing.
 
A: Yes. All three sentences are basically the same.
 
V: Synonym's of …
 
A: As I read them, yes.
 
V: He basically wants to play musical pieces without practicing them and play them very well, probably, like sight reading.
 
A: Yes. I can disappoint him right away, that it’s impossible for anybody. I wouldn’t know a person who could play any given organ piece at sight, let’s say, in a concert. Do you know? In a concert. Difficult! Difficult!
 
V: Ah, difficult.
 
A: I’m not talking about like Frescobaldi’s Fiori Musicali that you play for church if you need something…
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: right away.
 
V: So you probably mean that some scores with easier technical difficulty level could be learned to sight read without mistakes.
 
A: Of course! Of course. But still, you wouldn’t play those in a concert probably.
 
V: Or maybe if you would play some of them in a concert, you would still definitely need some difficult music to play.
 
A: Sure. Of course, you would need to know to play various music during your recitals. Probably because you cannot play just very, very hard pieces, all of them, because you would collapse at the end of recital.
 
V: Mmm-hmm. Or, you playing very, very easy pieces isn’t a good idea either.
 
A: Everybody would either sleep or leave.
 
V: Mmm-hmm. Has to be some balance.
 
A: But I guess that if we are talking about sight reading, those pieces that you play in a regular like liturgical setting can be easily sight read, and that I think it’s okay. Still, if you are just a beginner, I would never suggest you just simply sight read it during church service. Because you might get fired.
 
V: Beginners cannot even sight read hymns.
 
A: True. Especially because of the pedal line and left hand tenor voice.
 
V: They all of course, not always know the trick to playing only the soprano and the bass parts, the two parts, outer parts, which sound pretty nice without the inner parts as well.
 
A: But anyway, in this question, I see this guy, he wants to take a shortcut. But I can really disappoint you that there are no shortcuts in playing organ and playing it well. Of course if you are play on a daily basis, year after year, decade after decade, yes, at some point you might notice that it’s very easy and everything is just so natural. But before that, achieving that you need to spend a lot of hours on the organ.
 
V: How many hours. Let’s disappoint him even further.
 
A: Well, I guess you love to count so you tell us a number.
 
V: Okay. In Berlin Conservatory, or Academy of Music maybe, there was this experiment conducted when researchers went and made a survey of students who are winners of international music competition—basically they are in a very, very world class level, very high class level, not just students who simply keep themselves afloat but at the best of their class—and asked them how many years, have they practiced their instruments, violin, piano, anything. And all of them appeared to have been practicing more than ten years, which also gives an average of ten thousand hours. Imagine! But obviously ten thousand hours is not just a number that you need to reach. Each hour, each minute, basically, on your organ bench, for example, has to be, what we call deliberate practice. Deliberate practice means that in each practice session, you have to set a goal, what you are doing today and try to reach this goal. Strive to make yourself at this skill or art, better every day. Is it clear Ausra?
 
A: Yes. Clear, frankly for me.
 
V: Otherwise, it’s just fooling around, like sight reading pieces which helps with certain elements of your sight reading skills, for example, but sight reading skills alone don’t get you win in international musical competition.
 
A: That’s right.
 
V: Right! Or play recitals, let’s say. It’s a part of that skill and there are many more things involved like being very good at music theory and harmony.
 
A: True. Because it’s essential, also if you want to sight read things easily. Because if you won’t have any knowledge of music theory, then I think it still will be very hard for you to sight read even after ten years of practice.
 
V: Well, in this case, like a person who just sight reads, sight reads, sight reads every day without giving a thought about what that music means in terms of musical ideas, keys…
 
A: Style.
 
V: and chords, chord progressions, they’re simply doing the same thing like reading a book in a foreign language, let’s say in Japanese, in very exotic language probably, and without even translating anything, without knowing what they’re reading about.
 
A: Now I thought about such a ridiculous example, for example, how I would compare the organization is sort of just reading, sight reading day after day without any thought. It’s like cooking for pigs, yes and it’s like cooking in a renowned restaurant.
 
V: But pigs are very happy, you know.
 
A: I know.
 
V: Every morning they’re squealing for breakfast.
 
A: But still do you vary menu for pigs? No. You just mash whatever, potatoes and some other stuff in it, day after day, but they are still happy, yes?
 
V: No steak?
 
A: No steak!
 
V: No cake?
 
A: No cake!
 
V: Alright. So you get the idea probably.
 
A: And I guess that in this modern world full of these smart technologies, it becomes a real issue for people and a real problem for people to stick to something and to do something on regular basis, to study something that takes effort for out of you. Because everybody just wants good results right away without putting any efforts, or putting just a minimal efforts.
 
V: Like fast food.
 
A: True.
 
V: Mmm-hmm. Which tastes good but is not healthy.
 
A: That’s right.
 
V: So in organ playing you would do very well if you set a goal for each practice, if you sight read. Even sight reading has to be deliberate, playing at a certain tempo, right?, and thinking about what’s going on in the music right away.
 
A: And for example, if your goal is to be an excellent sight reader, it’s your sort of like a final goal, yes, long term goal. It’s not enough. You need to have some short time, short period goals too...
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: for each day or for each week or each month because only going step by step you will be able to achieve some progress.
 
V: All things that we are talking about seems to take years and even decades, right? And the people who want fast results might get sorely disappointed. But, let’s console them a little bit. What about enjoying moment to moment practice and the process, not the result. Result might come after years, but the process itself might be enjoyable too.
 
A: True. I think you just have to setup some sort of stable routine for yourself, and enjoy the moment.
 
V: Because practice is privilege!
 
A: True.
 
V: Like our professor Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra used to say. So, guys, this was Vidas.
 
A: And Ausra.
 
V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice…
 
A: Miracles happen!

Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
 
Ausra: And Ausra
 
V: Let’s start episode 487, of Secrets Of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Andrei. He wrote:

I am working on the Sight Reading Master Course and I am struggling with the 32nd notes, how do I count them?
 
V: Very practical question, right, Ausra?
 
A: Yes.
 
V: What do you do with 32nd notes? Do you count them?
 
A: It depends of the piece. If I’m learning a piece by a contemporary composer, then yes, if the smallest note values are 32nd, then yes, I subdivide everything in 32nd—until I learn the text.
 
V: If the music is not familiar and not easily predictable, right?
 
A: Yes.
 
V: Like Messiaen. You count in smallest note values.
 
A: That’s right. There is no other way how to do it.
 
V: But flourishes in the Art of Fugue that my Sight-Reading Master Course is based on, might be well predictable, quite predictable. And I’m thinking whether Andrei has to even count them or not.
 
A: Well, I think that whole thing is to know math a little bit—to know how many notes are in another note value.
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: For example, you have to realize that in one eighth note, you have two sixteenth notes…
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: Yes? And in one sixteen note you have two 32nd notes.
 
V: Yeah, it always doubles.
 
A: So you really need to know how much, how many notes is on that certain beat.
 
V: I’m not good at math, but this I understand.
 
A: So, and then you just really need to count. Well, what would you suggest? What would be the best note value to count in this particular example?
 
V: I wrote to Andrei to try counting in eighth notes.
 
A: I think that’s a good advice.
 
V: And if it’s still too many unclear notes, it’s means maybe he’s playing not slow enough.
 
A: Yeah, that could be a problem.
 
V: Right? So in one eighth note you have two sixteenth notes and four 32nd notes. Four 32nd notes total in one eighth note. Is it possible to play four notes without counting? I would think so, yes—in one eighth note. But then you have to really take it really slow—maybe twice as slow as you are playing right now.
 
A: That’s right. I think that wrong tempo might be a problem. Then of course later on when you will master hard parts, you might will play in a faster tempo but not at the beginning. Especially if you are struggling with some rhythmic issues.
 
V: Right.
 
A: And what do you think? Have you encountered that sometimes you tell your students that you need to count and they are telling you ‘oh yes, I’m counting’ but they can still not master it and still play incorrectly rhythmically.
 
V: What I do is I ask them to do aloud, aloud.
 
A: Yes, I think that’s the best…
 
V: With their voice.
 
A: that’s the best way to do it.
 
V: Because if they do this inside of their head, it might seem that they are counting correctly, in a constant tempo, but you never know.
 
A: That’s also what I’m doing with my students when they are writing dictations...
 
V: Mmm-hmm.
 
A: Musical dictations. Especially in one voice, dictations might be quite hard, so if they cannot grasp it and count it, I’m forcing them to count loud.
 
V: So let’s say, in Sight-Reading Master Course, there is a tempo of cut time, alla breve, maybe 2/2 or two half-notes per measure, right? But at the concert tempo you should count in half-notes. But when you practice you could subdivide it in anyway you want. So you could treat it as a 4/4 meter easily. One, two, three, four. But to tell you the truth you could subdivide it in eighth notes—one and two and three and, and count it slowly enough. If that’s too fast, you could count in sixteenth notes also by adding one-e-and-uh, two-e-and-uh, three-e-and-uh, four-e-and-uh. But I don’t think you could even add the additional syllable for the 32nd. That would be like specially composed poem for counting. Maybe we should Google, you know, how to count in 32nd, or even create a special poem. Maybe I could get creative with this and produce something. Do you have an idea?
 
A: Well, I don’t know. I need to think about it. But anyway if you would practice slower and count, I think everything should work out quite well. It all comes with experience.
 
V: Mmm-hmm. One-e-and-uh; it’s like counting in sixteenth notes. So now if you wanted 32nd notes, you should add one additional syllable between each of the sixteen notes; one-e-and-uh, would become, what would be a better syllable to fit here.
 
A: Could you do the same, just in a faster tempo? And it would work for 32nd.
 
V: One-e-and-uh, two-e-and-uh. Yeah, you could. But you could do one-beat-e-beat-and-beat-ah-beat, (laughs) for example.
 
A: I couldn’t do that. It’s too complicated for me.
 
V: Or you could do really creative. Instead of beat you add some organ term with one syllable. What is your favorite one-syllable organ related term? Like flute, for example? One-flute-e-flute-and-flute-ah-flute, for example?
 
A: I don’t think I know many one syllable organ terms.
 
V: You could twist your tongue and go to the doctor afterwards.
 
A: Maybe no.
 
V: Tongue doctor. Is there a doctor like that?
 
A: I don’t think so. I think your tongue is working pretty well so I don’t think you need to worry about it.
 
V: Alright guys. Get creative and if you really want to count in 32nd notes or 64th notes or 128th notes—I don’t know, get wild. Alright. This was Vidas.
 
A: And Ausra.
 
V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice…
 
A: Miracles happen!

 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
 
Ausra: And Ausra!
 
V: Let’s start episode 448 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Christianna, and Christianna writes:
 
“My dream for organ playing is to be able to play, at very least hymns and sightread intermediate organ music. The three inhibitors at the moment I think, would be: 1. Lack of a teacher, 2. Having to drive fifteen minutes to play on an organ and, having to deal with the fact that it's not available on weekends, 3. None of the music stores in my area carry any sort of organ method or scale book. I think that might help at first as I work on figuring out the foot pedals and stops, even though my organ only has four stops for each manual.”
 
V: So, Christianna wants to be reasonably good at intermediate organ music and playing hymns. That’s a very decent goal, I think.
 
A: Yes, for a church organist, it is.
 
V: And I think her problems or challenges can be overcome, right? Lack of teacher. What would you suggest?
 
A: Well, nowadays, there are so many sources on the Internet!
 
V: And, isn’t that the reason why we started our podcast and blog and training courses?
 
A: Sure! I think you can find lots of material in our resources that would help for you to become at least an intermediate organist.
 
V: Yeah, no doubt about that. And, of course, this question that Christianna is answering is sent to her after about two weeks of being here in our community, so she’s kind of new. She needs to explore a little bit more what’s available—what free materials are available, what courses are available—and definitely, she will find something for her. The second, obviously, challenge is with the organ itself.
 
A: But she only has to drive 15 minutes. Do you consider 15 minutes to be a long way to find an organ to practice? I find it a funny distance, 15 minutes.
 
V: 15 minutes? It’s a reasonable distance. If, for example, you are living in a city, then it’s really not that far. It’s like going to a gym, basically, right?
 
A: Well, it takes us longer to go to a gym from the place where we live.
 
V: And it takes longer for us to go to the church from where we live.
 
A: Definitely. So I think nowadays, when people are driving really long distances, for example, to work every day, 15 minutes doesn’t seem a long time. And if you don’t want to waste those 15 minutes, you may listen to some useful stuff while you’re driving.
 
V: For example….
 
A: Well, you can learn learn languages.
 
V: Or listen to Maltese music.
 
A: Well…...yes….
 
V: I need to tell the background of this joke for people to understand. When I went to Malta to play there for 200 tourists from Paris, “Le Figaro” newspaper, I saw one person playing a mandolin in 60 languages, and I asked for him to play something and sing something Lithuanian, and he did one of our most well-known songs, and obviously, I bought a CD from him with his music, Maltese music, where he played mandolin. So that’s the origin of this joke. Obviously, you could listen to books on tape, or podcasts, or as Ausra says, organ music…
 
A: But anyway, 15 minutes of drive is not a long distance. I wouldn’t consider it a problem.
 
V: A little bit of a problem would be if she cannot practice on that organ on weekends. Right? The organ is not available, she says. So on those weekends, maybe practicing at home on the table would help, if she doesn’t have any other instruments, like a keyboard. What else?
 
A: True! That might help.
 
V: Definitely.
 
A: Because, I think if you have a goal, and if it’s important for you to reach the goal, you will always find possibilities to do it, and if you don’t maybe that goal wasn’t so important for you.
 
V: And if it’s important to you, maybe with time, start saving some money, investing some money for a keyboard to have at home.
 
A: True!
 
V: Number 3 would be, “None of the music stores in my area carry any sort of organ method,” which is also related to the first question, lack of teacher.
 
A: True, but today, if she can use the Internet, it means that she can order things online.
 
V: Obviously, yes.
 
A: And there are so many things you can get on the Internet.
 
V: And, if she just looked around, we have so many courses, and practice courses for fingering and pedaling, it’s a good starting point, I think.
 
A: I guess nowadays, it’s not so hard to find the information that you need, material that you need, as I think it’s hard to decide which one to buy!
 
V: Oh, it’s called, “information overload.”
 
A: That’s what I think is more common nowadays.
 
V: When you have 50 sources to compare, and you don’t know which one is better, then you basically are stuck, and freeze in your mind. I think the best way to start is wherever you are—whatever is in front of you. It might not be the best method, or the most comprehensive method that you wish for, but it’s a good starting point, and it will lead you someplace, and after you reach that intermediate goal, you can go to the next level.
 
A: Sure. Do you think the Hymn Playing Workshop would be helpful for her, from our teaching materials?
 
V: Yes, we have those hymn playing workshop videos and hymn scores in that, so yes, it will give her a foundation on how to master those hymns, and after those videos, she will have the knowledge to apply it to any other hymn, which is good.
 
A: And because it has videos, it sort of replaces the real teacher.
 
V: Yes! The real teacher would also be, maybe, more strict with her, giving external motivation, because she would be maybe embarrassed to show up unprepared. With videos in our courses, there is a different motivation, which is basically inner motivation. That’s what we value the most. Right Ausra?
 
A: True, and I think that inner motivation is the most important, because look; even if you go go to college or to university or academy of music, or a conservatory to study music, your studies won’t last forever. Eventually, you will graduate from the institution and you will be left on your own! So if you won’t have that inner motivation, then what can you do? You will start practicing!
 
V: And we’re seeing people quitting playing after a while, because they lack motivation. So, I think it’s good to find some sort of external motivation in the form of public performance opportunities, maybe in the same church that she would practice, she could give public performances during services, maybe—preludes, postludes, communions, offertories—or if she is really good, later on she could prepare a post service appearance.
 
A: And Christianna also says that her organ where she practices is probably not a large one. It has two manual, each having four stops. I think it’s a reasonable size organ for practicing. It’s more than enough, I think, to become an intermediate organist.
 
V: We have two stops at our home organ. Yes.
 
A: True.
 
V: That’s enough, I think. Whatever more that you need, you can pretend you have. If you need a swell box, you can pretend you’re using it with your right foot. If you need toe pistons and studs, you can pretend you are pushing them. Right? Thank you guys for those wonderful questions. Keep sending them! We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice,
 
A: Miracles happen!