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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 652 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by James, and he writes that he is struggling with: “Sitting down and learning a new repertoire. With all the performances and recitals I’ve been doing, it’s hard to set aside time to learn new things.” Vidas: So, James is our friend on YouTube, and he plays very frequently, both recitals and new videos, records new videos. Do you know what I’m talking about, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, of course I know. He’s very prolific. Vidas: Yes, and we’ve been chatting with him, and he wrote this question especially when he was playing a lot of live recitals both in his church and on YouTube as collaborations and solos. At that time, he was struggling to learn something new, because all the pieces on his programs, or most of the pieces on his programs were repeat things. Right, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, I guess so. Vidas: So, do you think a lot of prolific concert organists struggle with this? Ausra: Probably yes, but I think you still have to find time to do it; maybe to perform publicly less and instead of that to learn something new. It depends what is more important for you, but you know, after a while if you will play only the old repertoire, probably you will not improve as much as you would if you would learn also a new repertoire. Vidas: For me it was the opposite, actually. I would learn a lot of new things, but struggled to put all of them in a recital. I remember at the moment when he wrote this question, I was thinking it’s quite the opposite for me, because I wasn’t playing many recitals at the moment, but recording a lot. Ausra: So basically, the truth lies somewhere in between these two extremes. Vidas: Well, probably you are right, and it’s interesting. What is your take on this? Do you struggle more with gathering programs for recitals or learning new things? Ausra: Basically I’m struggling most at finding time to sit at the organ bench and play something, especially now when the spring came. Vidas: What’s so special about the Spring? Ausra: Because I have extra work to do at school, as always, but I hope that when the June will start I will still have work, but I will have more time to practice and to learn something or to finish some pieces that I have started learning. Vidas: Such as? Ausra: Such as C Minor Bach’s Prelude and Fugue, which I have actually played more than twenty years ago, so it’s like a new piece for me. Vidas: BWV 546. Ausra: Yes. And then to learn six pieces of Jeanne Demessieux. Vidas: Oh, Six “Chorale Preludes” from the cycle of 12. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: And who will play the rest of this? Ausra: Of course, you will! But you know, I’ll give you advice, for you and for James, both of you! Because if you know you don’t have enough time for whatever reason like to learn new repertoire or to perform more, I would suggest you to chat less with each other! I think you would have plenty of time! Vidas: You’re referring to our friendly chats in the morning? Ausra: Yes, of course! Vidas: But you see why it is important? He is my colleague, you know? Not only friend but colleague in the way that we both are doing similar things, and… Ausra: Internet organists, you mean? Vidas: Yes, virtual organists. And we could add to the bunch crypto-organists as well, because he is also very active in the crypto currency world. So, if I’m just sitting down and playing alone and preparing for my repertoire and recitals, it’s kind of lonely. You know? There are not so many people to talk to, because regular organists are different from us. Ausra: Okay, Okay, you don’t have to defend yourself against me, I’m supporting you anyway. Actually I really like when you talk and chat with James. Vidas: Why? I know why! Because then I leave you alone, right? Ausra: No! It’s just good for me to know that you have a good friend. Vidas: Ah! Ausra: That way you talk less with me about crypto and all those other things. Vidas: That’s what I meant! Well... Ausra: I wish Australia were closer to Lithuania. Vidas: I wish they would open their borders, first! There is no possibility to ever go to Australia if they keep their borders closed. Ausra: Well, you know, with the pandemic developing like that, I don’t think it will be very soon when they will open their borders, what now is happening in India, for example. Vidas: I hope all our subscribers and listeners are keeping themselves and their families safe! Ausra: Yes, I hope so, too. Vidas: Staying indoors and practicing. That’s why having an instrument at home is so important right now. Ausra: Yes, this pandemic showed yes, it’s crucial. Vidas: Imagine we didn’t have Hauptwerk, for example. Yes, we have a pipe organ, little two manual, two rank practice organ at home, but of course if we wanted to record on this, and I was recording previously, of course, but then everything sounds so similar with those two flutes… Ausra: Yes, but at least you could simply practice, learn new repertoire to keep in good shape! Vidas: Yes. Ausra: I think it’s still much more than many people can afford to have at their homes. Vidas: Oh, that’s totally true, because all of our organist friends from Lithuania, or most of them, they need to go to church to practice, and churches were closed for a long time. I guess now you could go to a church, but you still have to travel to church, and that’s a risk, too. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: I know only a few organists from Lithuania who have organs at home. Very few! I think it’s more popular abroad. Ausra: Yes, for example in The United States. Vidas: So, going back to James’s question about learning new things, also my advice is to keep a good balance. Maybe schedule your recitals with programs that you’re currently learning. Right? For example, you could learn a new piece every day, or a part of a piece every day, and this piece could be recorded, let’s say, every day or whenever you feel comfortable, but then your repertoire grows and in a few weeks, you will be ready to play a small recital. Ausra: Well, you know, that recording every day I don’t think is such a great idea, because it doesn’t help you to learn major pieces, because what can you learn in one day. But I think that what I would suggest is that you always would be working on at least one major piece of organ composer. Vidas: In addition to… Ausra: Yes! And I think in the long run you will still learn it some day. Maybe not in a week or two or three, but maybe in a month or two. Vidas: Right. This week I was struggling actually with “Trio Sonata No. 1” by Bach, and of course this is a major piece, and I would never dream to learn all three movements in one day and record it, but it’s part of my upcoming recital program with you! Right? Where you will be playing C Minor by Bach and Demessieux, and I will be playing this “Trio Sonata” and the rest of the Demessieux Preludes. So, I was struggling because even the first movement is a long one, and quite complex, virtuosic, three part writing, polyphonic style. And even though I made a video of mastering this piece in eight steps, obviously I was not able to master this piece in one sitting. I needed, I think, three days to record it. The first day, I did a video, and the second day I attempted to record it, but was not entirely successful, and the third day I was finally successful with the first movement. So it took only three tries—three sessions—long sessions for me. So every three days I would record, probably, a “Trio Sonata” movement. That’s good, right? Ausra: Yes, very good. Too good, actually. Vidas: But that’s, I don’t know if that’s sustainable, but there are only eighteen movements total, six Sonatas. So… but it’s a good project, but very very strenuous, like a marathon. So you have to find something that works for yourself, obviously. Right Ausra? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: With your life obligations, life and work balance… and if organ playing is not your main job, it’s a hobby! Right? Or for example if you are a full time church organist but learning new repertoire is not really required! You know, you could get by with a simple Prelude or Postlude or improvisation even, with very little preparation, and a bunch of hymns which you could actually sight-read, so then if you do this for a long time, you will not learn anything new. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: So, keep in perspective your long-term goals then. Thank you guys, we hope this was useful. This was Vidas, Ausra: And Ausra! Vidas: Please send us 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
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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. V: Let’s start episode 655 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ausra, and she writes, "This week I’m struggling with sitting down on the organ bench. At first I didn’t have time and now I don’t have motivation to practice." V: What can I do? A: So since it’s my question, so now you will have to answer it, and I will just listen to your suggestions. V: Okay. I’m like a psychotherapist, and I first will ask you some questions, okay? How do you feel when you have the urge to practice, but you don’t? Do you miss it? A: Well, I have guilty conscious. V: Conscience? A: Conscience. V: So deep down, you would love to practice, but the pain of sitting down on the organ bench is bigger than the pain of actually not practicing, right? A: Yes. V: You have to flip this if you want to ever overcome your situation. The pain of not practicing has to be bigger than the pain of practicing. A: Well, but there are some problems that distract actually me from practicing. Changing to another Hauptwerk setup is one of the problems. Because I sort of started to miss our old Hauptwerk setup. V: Now you have to go to our friend Paulus’ home. He has our old organ setup. A: You know that that’s impossible, and to tell the truth, yes, it’s really hard. Because I never know what you will buy, and when you will buy, and when a new thing will arrive at our home, and what kind of mess I will find. For example, like last Monday I returned after a long and really hard day, because I was teaching half of a day online, and then I went to school to teach live, and stuck in a traffic jam, and I came back home and I found like a strange kid running all over our place, and you know, the organ builder working at something with you, and I just turned around and left. V: We should clarify this situation. That day, that evening that Ausra is talking about, our friend Carpenter brought us our new table for the Hauptwerk setup. Earlier we had a table bought from IKEA, very cheap, but it served us relatively well except it wasn’t stable. It only had two legs, so imagine playing, putting your keyboards on two-legs table. And it would shake with every minute of your pressing the keys. A: But the problem that is that now we have a new table, and we have an old table we don’t know what to do with it, so it just piles up with an other junk. Which is not a trouble for Vidas to live with, but it is really a trouble for me. And plus, we still have another table, new table, that our friend Paulus has to pick up from our home. So right now we have actually three tables. So come up guys, we might give one to you as well. V: (laughs) If you need tables, we have them. A: So all these things, actually you know they demotivate me from playing, and they distract me and they irritate me. Maybe I’m crazy, I don’t know. V: No, you’re not crazy, because it’s, those, these are triggers, you know? They trigger your reaction or kind of frustration. And this frustration can prevent you from doing the thing that you love. A: And that new, for example pedalboard, it irritates me because a couple times when I practice it, the B flat, that one in the middle which is very often used, started sort of shake, to shake. It was really frustrating. Because this was the first time that it happened to me to any pedalboard that I have tried, and I have tried many of them, and I know that I’m playing pedal quite gently and I’m never kicking them. And if this really happened, it means that something isn’t really right with it. And if other pedals will do the same in the future, then it will drive me, drives me crazy. V: You see, you never assembled a pedalboard and you don’t know how it works. Inside of that pedalboard, there are, what’s the term - screws, yes - so the week before that I was assembling that pedalboard, and that B flat that you’re talking about probably loosened up a little bit. So I just took a screwdriver and fastened it a little bit more. So I actually fasten all of them regularly now. Because it’s a new pedalboard, a new basically device, and some sticky keys or some loose keys might appear from time to time. It’s probably normal for a new device to behave like that. Do you remember how our new organ at St. John’s was at first? I was inside of the organ every week, regulating the mechanics. But now it’s not that way, because it’s dry and already regulated, and used to the environment, and well it’s adjusted. A: Well, but what then about the Viscount pedalboard with which we had not a single problem? V: I don’t know what to tell you. I liked it, too. So maybe this pedalboard will also be a good pedalboard. Actually, this is a really soft pedalboard. I like the touch. It’s like a carpet. When you press the key, you don’t even feel the bottom of the key. You have to be like stepping on carpet, so you play, you have to play very gently. But now our friend Paulus can play the Viscount pedalboard and enjoy it. A: I miss it very much. V: So we’ll go to Paulus from time to time. We’ll visit him. (laughs) No, but I actually think that the reason it frustrates you, those changes, arriving new tools, gadgets, tables, Hauptwerk setups, all this mess, the reason it distracts you from your playing is because, let me ask you this question - What was your goal in organ playing before this mess? Did you have a goal for a specific, you know maybe like short term goal, like three month goal. A: Yes, I would usually have some performance planned ahead so I would have to prepare for it. V: Yeah. So one or two or three recitals lined up, yes? So the same could be also in this situation, you could just set up a goal for yourself. And actually we do have a goal for Pentecost, to play a recital of works by Bach and (XXX Composer 9:24) A: I don’t think I will be able to get ready on time. V: No? A: Because I’m not practicing. So you might do that recital on your own. Well you know, I’m really busy at school. I have so much teaching, and exams are approaching so fast, and all that unclarity about how much longer will we teach online, or how often we will have to go to school, and how all the schedules will work. It’s completely messed up. V: I think what you’re experiencing with online teaching is really crazy, and… A: ...and even to tell for example for my 8th and 9th graders if we will have exams online, or at school - I don’t know. You know, students keep asking me every day about all these questions and I don’t know what to answer. V: I know. If I had to teach your load online and fill out all the paperwork grading additionally to teaching, you’re now spending probably twice as much time than before with your teaching online than at school. And it really affects your well-being probably, and your ability to do the things that you would love to do besides school, right? There is no energy left or as we joke, RAM, in computer like memory, internal memory. There is just so much things you can do with your energy, and when school takes up everything, there is nothing left to share with organ playing, let’s say, right? A: Yes. I guess you are right. V: So I don’t think my Hauptwerk setup, mess, tables, all those issues that you were facing with pedalboards is really a problem here, or defining problem. I think the problem is that you don’t have energy left from school. You work too much, you see? You are spent. And probably solution could either be to wait for better times, for vacation, summer vacation, right, when there is more free time… A: Which will be very short, as was the last year. V: One month? A: Because all the exams are postponed for the seniors. V: Right, yeah. Art requires sacrifice, and sometimes that sacrifice is just too much, right? A: True. V: Frankly speaking, I don’t know what I could do if I had to teach that much like you do. Maybe I have a better health condition though - more energy in general - and maybe I would still have enough energy to practice, you know, my own things. Maybe. I’m not sure, but I sort of fantasize here. A: You have never worked so much as I do. V: I would probably not work that much, either. If I had to complete those tasks as you do, I would probably leave them in less perfect shape, you know, those things, and still would take care of my own goals, my own goals would probably need to go first. Because the school would not take care of me. I still have to take care of myself. So maybe that’s my suggestion to you. Don’t do everything at the 100% level at school. And sometimes you take some breaks, like student work piles up and you don’t grade them right away. You sort of let it rest and take a walk in the woods to just relax. This is good I think, too. Correct? A: I don’t know. But still, that work doesn’t disappear, so I still have to come back and do it. V: Or you could give some of them, some of it to me. I could also share, help you grade it. A: No, I wouldn’t do that. Because you know, one time you actually really helped me to do my work, not at school of course, but when we were living with a host family in the United States. V: Yes. A: And Vidas wanted, because it was really tired, to clean the desk for our host, host lady. And actually he did it, but then she would scold me and show me that mess that actually was done. So I never asked Vidas to do anything instead of me. Because he simply can’t. So if you would grade my students’ work like this, it wouldn’t work. V: You think I wouldn’t grade them like you? Maybe it’s not the right comparison, because I understand how to grade dictations and even some harmony exercises. Not maybe at the highest level that you did with 12th graders, but I could do 10th graders, for example, easily. Not sure about 11th graders, though. (both laugh) A: You are funny. V: But you could teach me first, and then I could… A: No no… V: ...grade them. A: It’s too hard to teach. V: I’m a good student, you know. I would listen to you, I would respect you, and I would worship you. A: Yes, you are a very good student. Actually, a couple of times when I was teaching online, Vidas fall asleep during my lectures, and actually he even snored, and I would have to talk really loud to my students that we wouldn’t hear his snoring in the same room! V: I hope your students are not listening to our podcasts right now. A: And I don’t know if I was so boring? Once I was talking about the dominant ninth chord, and I think another time it was about the second scale degree ninth chord. V: No, it wasn’t...it wasn't anything to do with your teaching or the interesting things you taught or not, it was just because I lacked some sleep that night. I needed more sleep, so… A: And you found a perfect time and perfect place to do it. V: Yes, your voice was calming me and letting me into a good dream. A: I’m glad. V: Thank you guys. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: 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 Patreon and BMC and get early access to our videos. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying and buymeacoffee.com/organduo
Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 576 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Julie. And she writes, I tend to focus too much on what I am playing on Sunday and don’t make as much progress on the “bigger” pieces that take much longer than a week to learn. Sometimes there isn’t much I can do about that if things are particularly busy at work. V: Ausra, this challenge seems to be particularly common among liturgical organists, right? A: Yes, I think so, yes. V: Who have constant duties at church, preparing hymns, preludes, and other liturgical music week after week. But then, what comes after that is really hard to learn, right? After a month or three months from now, a person doesn’t have enough time. A: True. Although I think there are some solutions that could be applied. First of all, if you are a church organist for more than one year, well, each liturgical year has its own festivities and occasions. And after some time, you will see that, you will notice that the hymns will come back, and you will be playing the same hymns as the last year or the year before that. So I guess after knowing your hymnal really well, it doesn’t take so long to prepare hymns for Sunday. And the same with preludes and postludes. You don’t need to play new things every Sunday. Maybe you can repeat some of older pieces after some time. And you can alternate between them, so that will save time, too. V: This situation kind of reminds me of your schoolwork and preparation for it. How much time did you have to spend in your first or second year? A: A lot. Many hours. V: Many hours. Mm hm. Half an hour for each lesson, class? A: Yes, for when I worked the first year, probably yes. V: And you were teaching, like maybe 20 or more classes every week? A: Yes, around that. I started with 18 hours per week, and then I had more. V: Mm hm. But then the second year, did you notice some things got easier? A: Well, some things. But still, it was quite hard. V: Obviously, because the course was more advanced, right? A: Yes. V: Eleventh grade. You started from the tenth grade, then eleventh grade? A: Well, I have taught since the fifth grades. V: Uh huh. A: When I started to work, so… V: And then the third year afterwards it got even more complex, right? A: True. V: With twelfth grade harmony. But when did you start to notice things to be repeating, and your skill level and experience level helping you out? A: Well I guess after five years, I noticed. V: I wonder how long Julie is working in church, and is she having five year’s experience or not? A: But now it takes me one hour for, to prepare for entire week, so, at the very most. V: So I would imagine with your experience, a person who would play at church for a decade or more, they could simply practice those hymns and liturgical music and preludes one hour in advance, maybe on Saturday evening, right? A: Yes. And when we are talking about problems like this, I just think, how blest are the organists who can improvise. How much time they can save. V: Yes, that’s a great idea. So Julie, I think Ausra is suggesting you to improvise. A: Yes. V: Or do some kind of combination of repertoire playing and improvisation. At first, you will be very, you will feel like you are a beginner at this, inadequate skills. It’s like starting to play the organ from the, from scratch. But little by little, after a year or two, you will get more experience. A: And another thing: If you are working on the larger scale repertoire for, let’s say a recital, you could integrate some of that music into a liturgical service as well. Maybe not to play an entire piece, but maybe just an episode out of it. V: And finish with a nice cadence. A: I know. And that way, you will then go both ways. You will add to your larger repertoire, and you will fill in your service. V: Yes, I know what you mean. It’s like a cycle. Prelude and Fugue has two parts, right? You could play the Prelude in the beginning and Fugue at the end. A: That’s still a lot of music. V: Still a lot? A: Yes. V: So what you could do, to play just the prelude, but split it in two parts, and finish it with a nice final cadence, maybe with extension towards subdominant key at the end and then coming back to the tonic. And then this would be your prelude, half of the actual prelude. And then the other half could be repeated after the service. Maybe starting with some kind of gradual introduction so you could drive into this postlude gradually, musically, in an aesthetically pleasing way. A: Yes, that’s a good suggestion. V: This requires obviously harmony skills, maybe music theory skills, and even a little bit more experience. But the general suggestion could be like this. Incorporate your bigger works into liturgy. A: And of course, when you’re picking up larger pieces for recitals, you could think about that too, if they would strategically fit into the service music. Because obviously there are lots of organ repertoire that could be easily included into the service music. Let’s say partitas, Pachelbel’s partitas or Bach’s partitas. They work just well and these segmented pieces, so you wouldn’t need to worry about making up the cadences. V: And in general, I think you have to gather more and more repertoire, so that when the time comes for you to play in public, let’s say a recital, then you don’t have to learn everything from scratch, but as Ausra says, learn just one or two pieces from scratch, and repeat everything else this time. And next time, you can learn two more pieces and repeat everything else, you see. And you gradually will supplant your repertoire, refresh your repertoire this way, but won’t overextend yourself. A: That’s right. V: Yeah. That’s our suggestions for this question, and they should be helpful for people, right, Ausra? A: Yes, I hope so. V: So please, guys, send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 573 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. We just recorded the previous episode with the question sent by Rebecca about the articulation of “D Minor Toccata and Fugue” by Bach , and Rebecca’s question sort of continues in this episode. Okay, so she writes she has problems with: “Sticking with a schedule of practicing. Time management.” And also: “Pieces to play for an organ recital? Suggestions as to what would make a good program? I feel somewhat limited in what I can play. (I played piano during my early years, and I am semi retired at this point. However, I LOVE to play and I want to challenge myself to do a recital. I am thinking of the Bach piece, which has not been done in our recital programs in the last year and the ‘Westminster Carillon.’ Thank you for any input.” V: So basically, Ausra, let’s talk a little bit about scheduling—schedule of practice and time management. By the way, these are courses in our Total Organist program, so if she’s interested in joining Total Organist at least for some time, she could really take advantage of our programs. So we talk about practicing, but in general, schedule of practice is… it depends on each person, right Ausra? A: Sure! For me, it seems that in Rebecca’s case, she needs to set up a date for a recital if she really wants to do it, and that way, she will feel the pressure of it coming up and then she will manage her time much better. V: You think so? A: Or in the other case, she will have to cancel it! V: You think so? I have heard people play badly in recital, even though they scheduled the date in advance, and they knew that the due date is coming up, but they don’t understand their true situation wisely enough, and they still don’t take it seriously. You know whom I’m talking about. A: Well, of course there are people like this, but that’s what I would do, because otherwise, look, they cannot work on her schedule and to do it hour by hour, because we don’t know what she does in life, how long she sleeps, and what kind of other responsibilities she has. Does she have to take care of children, grandchildren… you know, we don’t know that. V: So basically, when you schedule a recital, a good solution is to play a run-through of the recital two months before the date. Yes? A: Well, if you are a professional, I think one month is enough, but it depends. V: If you are a professional, I think a run-through could be even sometimes omitted if it’s a solid program and you know it. But it depends. So in Rebecca’s case, I really recommend two months prior to recital a run-through. And, thinking about that, she has to plan her practices so that she would learn the right amount of repertoire on each day so that she would master it on time—two months before the recital. A: Sure, and about the program, she’s working on the “D Minor Toccata” and on “Westminster Carillon,” I would say that the one would be a perfect opening piece for her recital, and “Westminster Carillon” would be perfect for finishing it! V: And we could talk a little bit about general principles of selecting the repertoire, right? What do you think about playing everything either very fast or very loud? A: I think it’s very disrespectful to the audience in general, and to the organ itself. V: You haven’t been to our last recital at church. A: And I’m very glad about it from what I heard about it! V: But one of the guest organists played for an hour and twenty minutes with only, I think, one piece soft and slow, and maybe some variations of another piece a little bit softer, too. But other than that, it was loud and fast all the time. It was French twentieth century music, beautiful pieces by Tournemire, by… A: Duruflé… V: ...Duruflé, by Dupré, by Cochereau. They all are amazing pieces, but not together, you know? They have to have some contrast, and I have heard complaints from listeners downstairs that in general it was a nice recital, but too loud. A: So you need to respect your audience, basically, and think about them. So basically, you need to play various music. V: Various music! A: Loud and soft, fast and slow… V: Sad and… A: ...joyful, and keep a good balance among them. Because again, if you will play everything soft and slow, then the audience probably will either leave or fall asleep! V: Uh-huh. A: But if you will play loud and fast all the time for an hour and twenty minutes, everybody probably would just go mad. V: Exactly. Well, also think about your program like one continuous piece, one continuous musical story, like a movie! You have to have culmination in a movie. You have to have a strong beginning, right? Otherwise your listeners will be bored right away if you’re playing very meditative music at the beginning, unless there is a special reason for that, like in Lent, let’s say. Meditations in Lent or Advent time, some other things… A: You know, like now, the thought came to my mind, let’s say, about the “Third Symphony” by Louis Vierne. It consists of five movements. It has a fast and loud opening and finale, it has the third movement of this symphony is very a playful and joyful scherzo, virtuosic, and the second an the fourth movements are a sort of slow meditative style. V: Normally, those symphonic pieces are written with contrasts in mind, of course, and if that organist would have selected two symphonies, let’s say one symphony by Vierne and another by Dupré, let’s say, that would be fine! That would be fine, because each work has many contrasting sections and episodes so it would be built-in success. But he selected just the “pieces from the cake”--from each symphony or cycle. Just the Sortie, just the toccatas, you know! A: Yes, just the loud and fast stuff! Well, anyway, I think you also need to think about the timeline of composers on your program, because sometimes people start with early music and then they go to the modern stuff. That’s okay, too. You could do some baroque pieces and then some romantic pieces and finish with let’s say twentieth century or twenty-first century. V: And you know why it works? Because the musical language in those pieces will be gradually probably increasing in difficulty and the tolerance of dissonance in listeners’ ears will be also readjusted with each piece. If you start to play with a very dissonant piece right from the start, it might shock the listeners. Right? But on the other hand, if you play your entire program from modern music and each of them has contrasting sections and episodes, this commonality might unite your program, and actually that would not be as tragic. A: But, you know, you need to be careful about playing only modern music. V: When you say modern, it could mean a lot of different things. A: I know, but I mean sort of like a new Viennese style. Atonal. V: Or expressionist. Yeah. Twentieth century saw a lot of different movements, including minimalist music, minimal, which is very easy to listen to. It was like a reaction to Dodecaphonic music. A: I think for a general audience, you might add one of that kind of piece in your concert. If you will include all pieces like this, then again, you will lose your audience, because when we are talking about these specific twentieth century compositional techniques, I think it’s in general wise to introduce people to compositional techniques about what is done in the piece. Otherwise, they might not get the idea of what it was about. V: You’re right. It’s nice to talk between the pieces. A: Yes, or at least write it down in the piece’s program notes. V: Good! This is good enough for starting the discussion and thinking about it. For closing, I would like to point out that if there is an anniversary of the composer, you can play only the pieces of that composer. This is fine, I think. There is a reason to do that. Right? Or one stylistic period or one historical period of organ composition, one country if there is an instrument that fits this country very well. That’s fine. But it has to be explained for the audience as well. A: Yes. V: Why you chose this… exactly. Because variety in your program will be somewhat limited then, if you are unifying your program. Right? And then your listeners might need an explanation. Thanks guys, this was Vidas! A: And Ausra! V: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen! 
It's 5:27 PM when I'm writing this.
This morning was the first time I got out of bed knowing I won't be able to go to church to practice. The entire university with the attached St John's church is closed down for at least a couple of weeks. So yesterday I packed all my short-term belongings and brought them home. The day hasn't ended yet but I was able to do some creative work already - practiced and recorded Fuga a 3 by Beethoven using Hauptwerk 5 software on my MIDI keyboard. I didn't play from a paper score - used my iPad with forScore app for this purpose instead. Since this piece involves one complicated page turn and I don't have any device to turn the page with my foot yet I asked Ausra to use her finger to tap on the screen and turn that page. When recording was done, I closed Hauptwerk and created MP3 file out of WAV file generated by Hauptwerk using WavePad program. Then with the help of Movie Maker which is a default video creating program on Windows computers I slapped my photo on top of this audio file and created a video MP4 file. Then I uploaded it to my YouTube channel:
The next step for me to share the audio file on Contrebombarde.com which is a platform where organists share their recordings using Hauptwerk software.
Then I shared the link to my YouTube video on my Facebook profile and on the group called Organists. I did the same on Steempeak, Creary and LinkedIn. Ausra also wanted to practice and record Fuga a 3 in E Minor by Beethoven so I was her page-turner. When she was done, I repeated the steps of making an MP3 and MP4 files and uploaded to her YouTube channel:
Naturally after that I shared her recording on Contrebombarde, Facebook, Steempeak and Creary.
Then I set up our Patreon page and published two posts with the links to our videos there for our patrons. Now that all public events are being cancelled performing musicians are facing a period of time literally without work. No work often translates into no pay and loss of revenue. My advice for musician now is to use this time to create their creative portfolios online and set alternative revenue streams using Patreon, Steem, Creary, Spotify, YouTube and other platforms. Recently I was approached by two of my former students who are thinking about sharing their work online. I've been doing this for 9 years now, never hiding and always being vocal about the benefits such life provides. But only now they seem to be starting to understand what I meant. Hope this helps!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 509 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Diana, and she writes: “It’s difficult for me to know how much time it’s best to leave for learning new music and how much time - for refreshing previously mastered material. Most often I spend too much time on new pieces and too little time - on pieces learned earlier.” So, Ausra, do you know Diana from our Unda Maris studio? A: Of course I know her. V: Yeah, she is now practicing various manualiter pieces, namely Chorale Harmonizations from Krebs’s “Clavier-Übung”, but only outer parts—soprano and the bass—and she is now starting to practice Bach’s inventions, and in addition to that, she is transcribing fingering and pedaling from Lemmens’s “Short Trios” and playing them, as well. So, it depends on her choices, probably, what she needs to do on the goals, right? A: Sure, because from her question, of course, I know her personally, but if I didn’t know her, I would still understand that she is just a beginner, because usually this is the kind of question that might arise from a beginner. Because, for an experienced musician, it’s clear that it’s impossible to keep under your finger all the repertoire that you have ever learned all the time. V: Impossible? A: Yes. Well, unless you have learned only maybe… I don’t know... V: ...five pieces… A: ...90 minutes of music, then yes. But you know, if you have mastered hours and hours of music, then I think it’s impossible, and it’s not your goal to keep everything under your fingers all the time. Then you will have just played from morning until night every day. V: So probably, for beginners like Diana, her goal should be to learn as much new music as possible. Right? A: Yes, I think so. I think she would benefit more from that after just repeating the old stuff. Of course, she needs to think what kind of pieces she liked from her repertoire and she would like to play in the future, that has some artistic values to her, and maybe to play them time after time. But I think her main focus needs to be learning new repertoire. V: It’s like for babies, right? Babies grow up so fast, and for example babies’ clothes no longer fit them after a few months. Is that a good comparison? A: Well, yes, I think it’s a good comparison. I would never think about that myself, but yes, you could say it like that. V: So Diana is like a musical baby, and she needs to change her clothes constantly—musical clothes. A: Repertoire, you mean. V: Yes. A: So, what about you? How much repertoire is under your fingers, for example, in a given moment? V: Well, I’m different from most of my organists that I know—my friends, because I improvise in public, and that’s a big difference from just playing something that is written and keeping that under your fingers. So I’m generally thinking about learning new music for my upcoming recitals if I’m planning something to play from the repertoire, not only from improvisations. But right now, I have two recitals coming up which are improvisations, two recitals with you which are organ duets, or four duets, actually—two in Lithuania and two in other countries—and then some organ demonstrations, as well, so I have to be constantly ready to play in public, basically. My situation is different from most people, I think. A: But I guess if you are an organist and you are somehow related to the church, even if you don’t have a regular position, or to the universities, I think you need to keep some of your repertoire ready at any time. So maybe while learning new and difficult pieces, you need to have sort of a basic repertoire that you could be ready to refresh right away if you would receive any calls that you need to replace somebody and to play for some occasions, such as weddings, funerals, Mass… V: A collection of short pieces. A: Yes. V: Two or three minutes each, or even one minute is okay, probably, for starters. So, it reminds me of the examination requirements of the American Guild of Organists, where they have this test for the service playing certificate. They have requirements to play a few preludes, a few offertories, a few postludes, and a few communion pieces, and a few funeral pieces, and a few wedding pieces. So maybe a total of twelve pieces for this test. And for this occasion, maybe if you’d add six categories, so one or two from each category would be a good place to aim to learn for your constant repertoire. Don’t you think? A: Yes, I think that’s a good suggestion. V: Until you become a good sight-reader and can sight-read this kind of music on short notice. Okay, this was Vidas, A: And Ausra! V: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra V: Let’s start episode 513, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. And in this episode we’d like to talk a little bit about our Total Organist students answers. Once a month we ask them a question, ‘how do you like Total Organist so far?’, And here is what James wrote on Basecamp: James: I feel bad when I get the next week's email and I haven't even finished the one from two weeks ago haha! Vidas: I wrote: I like Total Organist because it gives people an opportunity to quadruple their motivation to practice and consequently quadruple their results. Jeremy: I love it. It is a place of encouragement in some parts (the daily updates on what we've been working on) and also pushes me to become better by taking weekly classes or watch videos etc. Vidas: And Ruth wrote: Ruth: This program provides terrific encouragement for me. I see how something should be played ideally. I can hope to do the same, one day. At least, that is my hope. I am grateful for the constant encouragement. V: What do you say, Ausra? A: Well, I think encouragement is very important, at least for many people. V: You are sort of an individualist, Ausra, by heart. A: Yes, I am. V: Mmm-hmm. In your character you avoid masses of people, big congregations, gatherings, meetups. A: Because I[’m] always working with people, so I have people around me every day. So after work I just want to spend my time alone, with myself. And I think being an organist is an excellent thing for me. Because I think that basically organist is all alone. V: Mmm-hmm. If you were my student of Total Organist, just imagine, this hypothetical situation. I don’t suppose it would be nice for you, but still, as an exercise, for your character, for a person with your individuality, would you prefer to learn things on your own, completely, or would you choose to have some people around you who support you, some kind of mentor, or a few mentors, who are more advanced than you, who are sort of at the same path, supporting each other, just like we are doing in Basecamp? A: I think what you are doing on Basecamp is a little bit similar to what we had when were back at school... V: Mmm-hmm. A: and we would have those organ studio meetings every week. V: Yeah. A: And we would get support from each other and from our professors and from other students. So I guess this is some sort of similar form of support and sharing ideas, and sharing our work. V: You know there are so many, so many, now opportunities for people to take online courses, classes, even online academies, to learn any skill they want, right? And sometimes even for free, right? But the biggest challenge for people who are doing this is to stick with the schedule, stick with the routine and with the curriculum and actually finish what they started. If you go to school in a physical location, it’s one thing. But when you are sitting and studying at your computer or even on your phone or tablet, it’s different. Nobody really pushes you to do what you maybe are not eager to do right away, and you have to find inner motivation. So what we are doing, doing this group environment, even in the virtual setting on Basecamp with Total Organist Community, I think this is exactly what’s school does with support, with constant deadlines, right, and I think I can only hope that people can quadruple their results and motivation. A: Do you think everybody needs deadlines and feeling that somebody is watching them all the time, and pushing them, encouraging them? V: Yes! A: Really, really? V: Not… A: Don’t you think it puts too much pressure on some sort of personalities? V: Not necessarily like we’re doing. Not necessarily like we’re doing with Total Organist, but if you’re doing things on your own, you have to pretend that you have deadlines, at least inner deadlines, for yourself. A: But for example, I have very huge inner feeling of responsibility for something and if I know that I have to do something I will do it. I don’t need that outside voice pushing me to move forward. V: I mean inside voice, this has to be inside. A: Because I have very strong inside voice. V: Yes. A: So, I don’t need your encouragement because I have already too big encouragement of my own. V: Yeah. So that’s, but people like you are on the minority, I think. Otherwise we would already have reached… A: You don’t know so much because people like me, they don’t contact you. We don’t express with your opinion. V: But I mean if majority of population would be like you, we already would have reached Mars. Or even further. A: Do you think so? V: Yes! A: Why? V: Because most of the time people, when they are alone, they don’t do 100% of work. They do a little less, or even more, they take shortcuts. Not you perhaps. A: Not necessarily. If I’m alone I can do my job better because nobody distracts me. V: Exactly. A: I can work well now. V: But you are on the minority, I think. Individualist, you know, would despise the masses and do things on their own. A: I don’t despise masses. Simply I’m not interested in what we are doing. I’m more interested in myself. V: Alright, guys. This is where our personalities differ, because I would suspect that among our students you have both sides, right? Some people who are more like extroverts and some people who are like introverts. I’m not judging anyone here, I’m just saying that there are two kinds of, at least two kinds of people, there are even more probably, sides of character. And what we’re doing with Total Organist, we try to encourage people advance faster than they would do on their own. A: Yes, and I believe still and I haven’t changed my opinion, that organ is an instrument intended for introverts to play. V: Mmm-hmm. A: You might disagree. V: No. No. A: That’s why I’m sort of looking a little bit with this suspicion to… V: Uh-huh A: an organist who exhibits themselves very often. For example, play a recital and change their dresses in the middle of it… V: Right. A: their outfit, and, or doing only virtuoso pieces and playing them in prestissimo tempo just to exhibit themselves, so I don’t like things like this. I don’t think it’s fair. And it don’t think that organists should be like this. V: But how do you explain that masses, right, I’m talking about not one person, not two, not ten, but masses, love this kind of show? A: Well, if you love shows like these, you don’t have to go to an organ recital. You might just turn on your T.V. It’s full of crappy shows. Dance with a star, sing like a star, be a star and all that kind of (inappropriate expletive not included). V: Fifteen minutes of fame. A: Yes. V: Everybody wants to be a princess and a prince these days. Nobody wants to be regular person anymore. A: So in that way, you don’t have to sort of do not a nice thing with instrument, kind of instrument. V: Yes. Simply put, you sometimes you have to sell out. A: I think it’s too nice organ, too nice instrument, which has too long and beautiful history, that you would ruin it by doing some ugly show stuff. V: Can you find a balance, to please yourself and to please your listeners? A: Well I guess the main goal is to educate your listeners that you wouldn’t have to do show out of organ performance. V: Or, nowadays, you can actually choose your listeners, to play not for everyone, but for people who believe in you, who appreciate what you do. A: And for example, for me right now, I enjoy the most the performances of @partitura on Steem platform V: Yes. A: Because he always plays so nicely and he just seems to be loving the same kind of music that I love so I listen to his recordings and I enjoy them. V: Mmm-hmm. Have you changed your opinion of digital organs then? A: Actually, yes, I did a little bit. V: (Laughs, ha, ha, ha). A: I still prefer a real thing, but while listening to a good recording on a good digital instrument, I don’t think I could notice the difference right away. If I would listen to them alive, then yes, but not on the recording. V: Mmm-hmm. You’re right. Technology progresses faster than we can understand. A lots of things to think about, right, Ausra, from these answers that our wonderful students from Total Organist community have sent to us. And guys, keep please sending us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi, guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra V: Let’s start episode 493 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Sally. And she writes: Choir rehearsals for the fall start Thursday, September 5, so time to get serious and spend time going through the music. I have a meeting with our music director this week to review the music for the fall and go over expectations. I also need to continue working on pieces for preludes and postludes this year, as well as meditative music to use at the end of communion. My goal is to spend time at the organ /piano everyday. It is challenging because I work full time and often am mentally drained by the time I get home. But once I make it to the piano or organ, I can easily spend an hour. So that's my goal. V: So Sally is a church musician, Ausra. A: Yes, it seems like that, but she also has a full-time job so she’s not only a church musician. V: Mmm-hmm. A church musician on the side, probably. A: Yes. V: And the challenge is to find mental energy after work to practice on the piano or organ, and now she has to get serious about practicing choir music, accompaniments probably. A: Yes, I guess because she needs to accompany choir. V: Have you ever accompanied choir, Ausra? A: Of course. When I worked Grace Church. V: How was it? A: Well, I liked it. I enjoyed it actually. It’s fun. V: What kind of skills do you have to have? A: Well, for me my sight-reading skills helped me the most. I would say then you don’t have to struggle and to put a lot of effort and time and learning new stuff. V: What about collaboration with others, if you’ve been used to playing solo, solo, solo? A: Well, that might be difficult for you. It wasn’t difficult for me because I sang in a choir since the age of seven, I guess, so it wasn’t hard for me to accompany choir. And actually I enjoy accompanying more when no singing myself. V: Me too! Singing is actually more difficult for the voice and mentally probably more difficult to me. To accompany is to pay attention to the conductor and to follow the orders that comes from conductor, and that’s all you have to do. A: Yes. And you even don’t have to worry about picking up your own tempo because if there is no conductor then it’s all settled. V: Mmm-hmm. So Sally is probably in this situation too. She has to work with music director. A: But as I understood the main concern of Sally is to have that mental energy, to be able to rehearse. Because if she gets to an instrument then she practices. The trouble probably is forcing herself to reach that instrument and sit down. And I can well imagine because I’m dealing with the same problem—all that time managing thing. Because also as teaching full-time, I know what that is to be able still to practice, yourself. V: Um, is it time management or priority management? A: Well, it’s not so much time and priority management, I think it’s about finding enough energy to do it. V: Mind management. A: Well… V: They say you have to manage your mind also, in order for it to function properly when you need it. A: I think what is very important, we don’t know what full-time Sally is doing besides being a church organist. But if it’s not a physical activity, and I guess that it’s probably not, if you are working in an office, so and working at the church, it means you really lack the physical activity. And this might also be a reason for not having enough energy to practice. So I think the crucial thing would be to find time to exercise, to do some physical activity. That might recharge you and you might be able to practice. V: The easiest way is to walk, as we found out, ourselves. A: Yes. But you know the trouble with that is for example, last night Vidas and I went for a nice long walk. It took about an hour for us. We used our tracker pulse. V: You mean tracking pulse. A: Tracking pulse, yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Tracking pulse, or tracking sticks. And I still cannot manage them very well, but after coming back from the forest, I couldn’t do anything. V: You were exhausted? A: Yes, I was exhausted but the good thing was that I slept very well after that. V: Really? A: Yes. V: Aha. So your mind was in a resting state. A: True, so maybe… V: Recharging. A: maybe if I wouldn’t walk like for an hour but maybe for a half-hour, I would still be able to practice after that. I don’t know. V: Plus you used those tracking sticks, which are difficult to manage at first. And also they take total body coordination and workout your upper body muscles. So you actually exercised much more than you usually did during walks. A: Yes, and I realized how sloppy I am in my body if I may say so. Because doing the right foot and left stick… V: Mmm-hmm. A: was really hard for me. It was really a challenge. Vidas kept saying to me, ‘oh, you are doing it incorrect’. So because he is a champion… V: Yes… A: on those things very well. V: I watched a Youtube video for five minutes. A: That’s right. And that made you an expert. V: Yes. A: So actually, exercising might help to be more efficient with your practice, to get you on the organ bench. Another thing might help—when I was studying at the National Čiurlionis School of Art, I would often have classes from nine to six and it was really big, long time. V: Like a full-time job. A: Yes, like a full-time job. But I would still have to do all those homework[s], and to practice and… V: It was even more than… A: Yes, it was actually much more than a full-time job. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because I would finish doing preparing for this school like at one or two o’clock in the morning. So can you imagine that? V: I would think adults work 40 hour weeks and students work 60 hour weeks, probably. A: Well at least in this school that’s true. V: Mmm-hmm. A: So, I would return back home and actually I would take a long nice bath. V: You would take a long nice bath. A: Yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And after this long nice bath, I could do things again. I would sit and practice for a couple of hours and then do other things. So you might try that as well. V: I have another suggestion which works similarly, but you don’t have to use water. Just sit, or lay down even, for fifteen or twenty minutes with your eyes closed, and sort of breathe naturally. A: You will fall asleep if you are really tired. V: Yes. But then wake up after twenty or fifteen minutes and that would be enough, just enough to get you recharged. It’s like a short meditation. A: Actually what many people do in a case like this when we need to do still something and we don’t have energy—but I wouldn’t suggest you to do that—we eat sweets and we drink coffee. I wouldn’t do that. V: No, it’s better… A: Because, maybe you will feel better for a short while but in the long term it will make… V: Mmm-hmm. A: things even worse. V: I agree! It’s better not to do artificial, not to take artificial boosters like this. Maybe just for twenty minutes of relaxation, and really closing your eyes and breathing, you will feel that energy boost in actually, anyway. And if you do this in the middle of the day, let’s say in, around two o’clock, when you feel the most tired, two, three o’clock, when you feel the most sleepy maybe, you will then discover that the day has split into two parts. Like you’ve been getting out of bed at two o’clock in the afternoon and starting a new day this way. And you can do this where ever you are—don’t necessarily at home, not necessarily in the bed, sitting in the chair is fine. A: Sure! I think that’s a good advice. V: Thanks guys. We hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 431 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. And before we go to the podcast question for today, we’d just like to express our feelings about what happened at Notre Dame a little bit. Right, Ausra? A: True. Such a tragedy. V: How do you feel about it? A: Well, I feel very sad, as I think many people feel right now. And now, reading all those expressions that Macron promises to rebuild it, to rebuild it even more beautiful, already seems for me like somebody’s making for himself political dividends! Because right now, I’m sort of worried that because of the water and of all that damage, it could collapse. V: The first, most important present task would be to secure the structure of the cathedral, what is left, and preserve it from collapsing, so that the remaining artifacts and instrument, the Grand Organ, I think, has survived in some shape, we don’t know yet what kind of condition it is in, but if this structure wouldn’t hold, for example, because there is lots of water on the vault above the church, and it would be tragic to see it collapse. Another idea is to take the organ apart and preserve it in some workshop, and then later assemble it when it’s completely rebuilt, and when the cathedral is rebuilt. A: I guess you cannot do that right now, because you cannot even enter the cathedral. It has to stay like this until Friday, until the water will dry and it will be possible to enter. V: So, imagine if it’s soaked up with water, everything is flooded with water, when it’s dried up, I’m not an engineer, but it seems to me that everything will shrink a little bit, and there might be cracks in the walls and structures, and how that will affect the resistance of the walls and vault, I don’t know. A: In general, I think that it’s a horrible thing that in the 21st century, all the world could watch on the TV how really one of the most beautiful and important cathedrals in the world just goes in fire like that, and couldn’t do anything, because at the beginning, it seemed that nothing happens at all, that nobody even tries to put the fire down, which is horrible. I don’t know who did that reconstruction and how all of this began, but it’s unforgivable, I think. V: I think we have to just wait for the investigation to reveal some details, if it will reveal the real causes—I don’t know—but, I’m hopeful. So, as sad as it is, I think the life still must go on, and we still have to practice the organ the best we can, and we have to try to answer Sally’s question today. So Sally wrote: “I struggle with finding time to work on expanding my organ skills and techniques. It seems I spend most of my time at the organ prepping for choir rehearsal and weekend Mass. I also work full time, so there not a lot of hours available for practice.” So this is a very common situation, when people work full time and they don’t have, seemingly, time to practice the organ. A: Well, then just try to improve your skills during your preparation for choir! I guess I assume she’s talking about accompaniments, yes? You could also expand your skills on playing accompaniment, if you will do it mindfully. V: And she needs to prepare for weekend Mass, which probably involves playing organ. A: True! So she spends quite a lot of time playing, maybe she’s not practicing what she would wish for, but it’s still a practice. V: At this stage of your life, Ausra, if you had to play in church, would you spend a lot of time playing hymns? A: Definitely not. V: Right? So, what it means, is that you can kind of gradually mix them together—hymns and techniques—and maybe even repertoire, and once your techniques and repertoire are much more developed, you will have an easier time to prepare for weekend Masses, I think. A: I guess it’s the same as teaching for school, for example. For the first few years, I really had to struggle, and I really had to prepare for every class that I would teach, but you know, after having experience teaching for 13 years, I don’t need to do it anymore, because I have enough experience just to keep me going, basic like, and do many things really mechanically. It’s all there, and I guess it’s the same with playing organ service. Of course, sometimes you need to do something special, and maybe add something special and learn new things and add new things, but in general, it may be quite automatic. V: And for me, too, I’m working with technology for many years now, since I first started Secrets of Organ Playing back in 2011. I was doing this alone at first, and later Ausra joined in, but she’s always responsible with content, with ideas. Technology is left to me. Which means, at first, I had to figure out how to do it, and it was a slow process. But I didn’t give up, and taught myself some things, and at first it was simple things, then gradually advanced things, but now what I do doesn’t take much time for me to maintain the things that I need to do on a daily basis, because the experience is there, and my skills are quite fast, I think, with computers. I’m not a coder, not a programmer, but what I’m doing—publishing, editing—those things come to me very naturally, now. But, of course, there are always new things on the horizon to learn, so I’m kind of looking out for some innovations that I could apply, also. So, it kind of relates to Sally’s situation, also. At first, she has to spend some time developing the skills, and then later there will be less time required to maintain it, but mixing some time to add some more new skills, because this current level never is satisfying. Right? We always move on and move up, hopefully forward, hopefully improving ourselves. A: Yes, there’s always something new, totally new. V: Okay guys, we hope this was useful to you, so keep your minds and hearts focused on Notre Dame, maybe donate something to the funds of restoration, if there are some options. I haven’t seen some accounts or some foundations set up yet, because it’s too early. It has just happened two days ago as we are recording. We are recording Wednesday morning, and it just happened Monday night. So, by the time you guys hear this conversation, there might be more details about what has been preserved, what has not, and we are also looking forward to finding out everything we can, and we will keep you up to date, as well. So, stay tuned. We hope you will keep sending us more of your questions, because we love helping you grow, guys. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. DON'T MISS A THING! FREE UPDATES BY EMAIL. 
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas
Ausra: And Ausra Vidas: Let’s start episode 374 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ariane, and she writes: I am only in my first week, but what I like already is the fact that I have some sort of schedule which I can work along. Practicing seems more focused and also, I feel part of something. I certainly haven't regretted joining! Thank you. V: Ausra, why do you think Ariane feels that way about having Total Organist subscription? A: I think it’s very important to feel a part of something—of a group, or people having the same goal. V: Not to be alone. A: True. I think it gives greater motivation to anybody. V: Do you think our Basecamp communication channel has something to do with it? A: Of course, yes! V: And people get asked those questions at the end of the day. “What have you been working on today?” And they can respond, and moreover, they can read others’ answers—answers by other students from the same group—which is very motivating and empowering. To me, it’s really like a forming of a small community within the Secrets of Organ Playing larger community that we get questions from, several thousands of people. But here, this unique group of individuals who are rather tightly connected because they are taking the same courses, practicing the same pieces in many instances, and largely having the same goals, too. A: Do you think it is possible for a person to achieve his or her goal without being in a group, without any support? V: Certainly, I believe it’s possible, but it will probably take ten times as much energy to do this, and motivation, which has to come from within a person. When nobody is helping you grow, nobody is taking you by the hand, then you have to find this inner strength. Right, Ausra? A: True. V: Would you, Ausra, play the organ if nobody else were applauding you after the concert? You might actually play the organ, but at the beginning, when you just started 25 years ago or so, would you do it? A: Well, I don’t know, but nobody was applauding my playing at first. V: Well, of course, it’s Lithuania, and people are not so supportive. What was your beginnings? A feeling? A: Well, it was hard. It was a hard job. Hard, heavy work. V: Without recognition and support. A: True. V: How did your teacher support you? A: Well, not very well, actually. V: The situation with professors and teachers in general in Europe is different from, let’s say, America, right? A: True. V: They tend to motivate you with a stick, rather than with a carrot. A: Would a Carrot motivate you to practice more? Or do you mean candy! V: Carrot! Carrots are… well, if I am a bunny. A: Well, are you our bunny? V: That’s the question! A: But yes, I think this European system is very demotivating for myself, because I’m not that kind of person that if somebody will beat me that I will do things better. Rather, the opposite. I won’t do anything then. But if somebody will give me a candy or say a nice word, then I do ten times more. V: So, the fact that you are still practicing after 25 or more years means that somebody is giving you candy. A: Yes. V: Literal or not literal candy. What kind of rewards are you getting today from playing the organ? A: Well, it’s a very complex question. Certainly I’m not doing it because of getting a candy from somebody. I’m doing it for myself, basically. Organ in itself is good enough motivation for me, now. V: And obviously, that’s the kind of question that professionals would answer like you. They don’t need external motivation for the most part, but obviously, applause and a feeling of exhilaration after a recital gives you another boost of willingness to practice even more. To plan ahead for your next recital and next recital—to choose the music and sit down on the organ bench. Right? A: Yes, I think that’s how a reward works. V: What about me? A: What about you? V: Yes! Ask me! A: So, how do you feel about it? V: Well, when I first started playing the organ, it was kind of interesting. My former...the first teacher that I had in Klaipėda, called me on the phone and asked me if I wanted to start playing the organ, taking lessons with her at school, with hopes of applying to the Lithuanian Academy of Music in a few years. And, even with the prospect of studying with the famous professor, Leopoldas Digrys! And of course, Digrys’ name was very well known to me—I mean… even to me! Because I was little, but still my mom used to go to his recitals in Vilnius when she was studying art, when she was a student at the institute of fine arts. So, of course, she was very happy that I chose organ lessons. And then, of course, the reality was a little bit different when I started studying with Digrys. He was very strict and his students were afraid of him, actually. Today, I’m continuing to practice like you, probably, because organ in itself is a wonderful instrument, and gives me pleasure and joy. It’s like self expression; if I’m not playing something everyday, I don’t feel well. I have to play at least something, create something on the organ, at least improvise. Then I know that my day isn’t wasted. A: Nice. V: Right. So, for Ariane, who is just joining our Total Organist community, it’s obviously important to get this feedback and motivation from the group, and from us, and feel like she belongs to a higher cause. Not like she’s practicing for herself, but she sort of has this passion, and actually a purpose. Without a purpose, it’s a very temporary hobby. A: Yes, I think you always need to see a purpose and to have your goal. V: Because when you don’t have a purpose, and it’s just a passion of yours, then the passion will probably fade as soon as you get the first roadblock. A: Yes, that’s how many people will not finish up what they have started. V: Right. Thank you guys, we hope this was useful to you. Please think about your purpose when you are playing the organ—the “why.” Why are you playing the organ? And this “why” will help you continue through the hard times. Keep sending your wonderful questions to us. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen! 
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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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