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 695 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast.  Today, we’d like to talk a little bit about how and why Total Organist Community has migrated from Basecamp to Discord, right Ausra?

A:  Yes, that’s a big journey.

V:  Yeah.  Basecamp has served our purposes very well for four or five years, and we were very very happy how it works, and what was your experience, Ausra, with Basecamp communication?

A:  Well, I was slow at the beginning with all unfamiliar platforms, but I was very happy after, afterwards.  I got used to it.  And during the pandemic, when I had to teach online and school hadn’t suggested any alternatives, we were just, you know, said that we had to do it, and I was happy that Vidas allowed me to use Basecamp for my students.  So I did that for a few months until school bought access to Google Classroom.  Then I switched to that, because we were required to use Google Classroom.

​V:  That’s right.  And yeah, for our purpose it served various teams.  Like our university Unda Maris studio was on Basecamp, separate channel.  For communications, it really worked very well.  But the thing with Basecamp is that it costs, well, $99 per month, or $1,000 per year if you pay yearly.  And for large teams, for large corporations, it’s okay, because they don’t charge anything for extra people.  Because lots of project management software charges specific fee, maybe a low fee, but still one fee for each extra person.

A:  Yeah.

V:   So imagine if we have 10 people and you get charged 10 times for each person.  But Basecamp has just one flat fee.  Except this fee is a little bit strange, because if you have 20 people on your team, you can still get a free personal Basecamp account, right?  And for small private lessons, that could be possible, right?  For our Unda Maris studio could be possible because we have less people.  But if you have 21 people on your team, the first, it’s already, you already pay the same as you would for 1,000 people on your team, you know?

A:  Yes.

V:  Or 10,000.

A:  Yes, that’s a little bit unfair.

V:  And I asked them to adjust their pricing a little bit for smaller teams like we have; for family corporations like Ausra and I have.  But they were very inflexible, and they said, “Sorry, that’s our policy,” you know, ok?  And for a long time, for a few years, it served our purposes.  But in this economy, to pay $1,000 per year just for communication, it’s hard to justify this expense Ausra, right?

A:  Yes, it’s a little bit too much.

V:  Yeah.  So we decided to go ahead and look for other platforms, maybe free versions.  And of course the first that came to us, to mind, was Discord.  Discord is very popular platform for groups, for communities.  It was created for gamers.  It’s a gamer platform to chat while livestreaming.  It’s very robust and has many features that gamers love.  But today, actually during the pandemic, as all of their communication chatrooms have expanded their coverage to offer much more comprehensive approach to chats, to communities.  And now they can handle all your communication needs, whatever your interests are.  Basically, if you have a club, if you have a team of people like we do with Total Organist, or Secrets of Organ Playing community too, they can chat in real time in Discord.  The thing that we loved probably the most on Basecamp, and we were actually hesitant to move for quite awhile from Basecamp to anywhere else, was those automatic questions that you would get every day, or every week, or every month.  Like, “What have you been working on?”  And people would answer - not all of them, but some people would get involved, and that’s very very nice.  Did you like those questions?

A:  Yes, I liked those a lot.

V:  And for a long while, I thought it would be hard to replace that automatization in other platforms because I didn’t find those features in free platforms like Discord.  But recently, I found that there is automation platform called Zapier, and you can automate everything that you do.  You get, for example - now we have the same questions, but they are delivered to Discord channel through the Zapier bot.  I set up that bot in advance, and for customize day or date or time, they can deliver a customized message.  And that saves a lot of time, because…

A:  Oh yes.

V:  …every day we don’t have to pose the same question over and over again.

A: Yes. Yes.

V:  And for the same number of people, so everybody will get them.  So we’re very happy.

A:  Yes.  And today I already started to use Discord, because before that I hesitated, because I didn’t like those moving stickers.

V:  Yeah.  Well, when people join Discord, you can send a wave, like with a sticker.  And that sticker is like moving picture, like GIF.  And it starts to wiggle hands or say something like an animation.

A:  It’s very distracting.

V:  Yeah, it’s also fun!

A:  It is fun, yes.

V:  It’s a happy picture.

A:  It is very happy.  But maybe I’m just too old for such happy figures.

V:  Yeah, could be.  So we set up the same channels that we had on Basecamp, we set up on Secrets of Organ Playing Community on Discord.  We have General Channel, we have Welcome Channel, we have Training Materials, we have Fingering and Pedaling for our team, and Podcast Transcriptions for our team to share.  We have Announcements Channel, and we have Support Channel, people could ask questions if they need help.  It actually even has one extra channel that Basecamp didn’t have, that’s Voice Channel.  You could actually transmit livestreams, voice livestreams through Discord.  I haven’t used it before, but it could be something that we could think about.

A:  I think we will try it.

V:  Voice, like radio, right?  We could set up radio for our members.  And that works really well.  And a number of people have already joined in from Basecamp, they already moved.  And some of them who haven’t moved, they will probably join later.  The link is available if you are listening to this conversation at a later date, the link is always available on Total Organist Dashboard when you log in to your account, and you will see the link to Discord, right?  We are offering the same community also, but with a little bit different privileges.  To our Buy Me a Coffee subscribers to select levels.  People who are paying $10 per month or more-  €10 per month or more, so they could get access to this private Secrets of Organ Community, except they wouldn’t be able to see Total Organist training materials.  Is that fair, Ausra?

A:  Yes, I think that’s fair.

V:  Yeah, because that’s not included in their membership of course.  So we have a few students from Buy Me A Coffee platform who we teach privately like coaching one-on-one, and they get access to this Discord community as well.  So, shall we recommend and encourage people to look into private coaching if they need private one-on-one help?

A:  Of course, I think it’s very helpful.

V:  Yeah. Some people need group lessons, group materials videos like we do in Total Organist.  That’s okay for some.  But for some, they specifically contact me or Ausra to teach them something one-on-one.  And that’s how we use Buy Me A Coffee platform now.  These specific levels get various types of rewards.  And those rewards mean that they get specific numbers of private lessons through Zoom platform with us one-on-one, depending on the level that they choose.  All right, so that’s about Discord.  It’s been wonderful for me.  I’ve been using it for the last week or so to communicate with those new members who have jumped in.  And it’s been working.  I haven’t seen any complaints so far, because it’s very accessible.  You can specify your theme.  It has a night theme, it has white theme.  I like a darker theme for my eyes.  Ausra likes white theme for her eyes.  So I think you will get the best suitable appearance for yourself as well.  So anyway, if you’re listening to this conversation at a later date, please remember Basecamp is no longer our choice for communication of Total Organist Community and Buy Me a Coffee community as well.  So we have moved to Discord for now.  And if we ever decide to change the platform of course you will get notified with another announcement.

A:  Yes.  Thanks for listening.

V:  And remember, when you practice,

A:  Miracles happen.

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

A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online...

V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more…

A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime.

V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Buy Me a Coffee platform and get early access:

​A: Find out more at https://buymeacoffee.com/organduo

Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!

Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist.

V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius...

A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene.

V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ

A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011.

V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today.

A: We hope you’ll enjoy it!

V: Hi guys!  This is Vidas.

A:  And Ausra.

V: Let’s start episode 635 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Scott, and he writes,

Hi Vidas. I'm new to organ playing and came across your site. Do you have a course that goes in order from kind of the beginning? I'm an intermediate piano player who doesn't read well yet. I also don't have pedals nor multiple manuals right now. Just using a midi controller with organ presets. Can a membership on your site help me where I'm at now with organ?

V:  So Scott is probably wondering about Total Organist.

A:  Yes.  I guess so.

V:  But he is interested in learning the organ kind of from the beginning.  What I don’t really get is how he can be an intermediate piano player, but at the same time doesn’t read well.  So if you are intermediate, you already read well, right?

A:  Maybe he meant that he doesn’t read difficult pieces well right away.

V:  If you are a beginner you don’t read well, but if you are intermediate you are reading well.

A:  But intermediate is not advanced.    

V:  Mm.  I would think advanced players read very well.  Not well but very well.

A:  Maybe he’s just modest about…

V:  Or maybe he’s more of a basic level organist, not intermediate level - pianist - let’s say pianist.  What’s your instinct on this, intuition?

A:  My guess that he needs right now, because he has only one keyboard and no pedal, to work on manualiter things, and do you have such a course in your Total Organist program?

V:  Oh yeah.  Specifically designed for people who don’t have pedals, or who start with piano skills first.  I made fingering for all the Bach Two Part Inventions and Three Part Sinfonias.  But also, for Cesar Franck’s L’Organiste.  Basically, L’Organiste teaches legato technique with finger substitutions, and Bach works show you and teach you about articulate legato style, suitable for early music.

A:  And all these great collections can be done on one manual, is that right?

V:  Yes.  For Franck, sometimes you do need sort of a second keyboard because of a different sounds required for the right hand as a solo melody, or the left hand.  Because if they were written, let’s say for harmonium, harmonium would have a divided keyboard.  Certain stop would only affect let’s say the right hand side of the keyboard but not the left hand side of the keyboard.  So you can draw out one stop and play with solo out melody, but left hand would be softer, and vice versa.  So if you only have one keyboard, then you would not get this diversification easily, unless you have let’s say Hauptwerk or Grand Orgue, let’s say - virtual pipe organ software, where you could have a sample set for one organ, one organ, but with divided keyboard.  There are some Spanish organs like that, maybe Italian organs, maybe Positivs for three or four stops - they could be suitable for this kind of division between the hands.  What do you think, Ausra?

A:  Well what I think that it’s very important to spend every day practicing, no matter what kind of instrument you have at home.  And maybe instead of searching for, let’s say more variety, other instruments, I think it’s more beneficial to spend that time just working and practicing and increasing your technique.

V:  Hm.  You are so right, Ausra.  You are painfully right, I mean you’re right at the degree that I don’t have anything else to add.  And I would like to add something, actually, but I don’t know what.

A:  Yes, because you know, if we are talking about the same collection by Cesar Franck, L’Organiste, you can still do a lot on just having one keyboard without any other extra division and other manuals.  Most of them can be done on one keyboard.

V:  Yeah.  I didn’t specify that some of the pieces need a sort of division between the hands, but a lot of them not.

A:  So basically, all those, like Inventions by J.S. Bach and Sinfonias by J.S. Bach, and Cesar Franck L’Organiste can be easily done on one keyboard, and it’s just very important for Scott.

V:  Exactly.   And by the time you finish learning all Bach’s Inventions and Sinfonias as well as most of the pieces by Franck in L’Organiste, probably you will have saved some money to get a MIDI pedalboard, or MIDI-fy your old pedalboard, sort of to be used together with the MIDI controller as a manual, together with pedals you could play both.  It would be like a second step.

A:  Yes, and at that time you can start learning new pieces with the pedals.

V:  That’s a good advice.  Thank you guys for watching, for listening to us.  We really appreciate your questions.  Doesn’t matter if you’re an advanced player or a beginner player, we really want to help you grow.  And obviously there is no better way to grow than in a community.  We have this Total Organist community on Basecamp, which asks and answers questions every day, reports how they’re practicing, what they’re practicing, what they’re struggling with, and they support each other.  They sort of see commonalities between each of them, and it’s really really rewarding experience to be a part of that group.  Even if you are an advanced organist, you would definitely benefit from being in a group of like-minded individuals who want to improve their organ playing skills, don’t you think, Ausra?

A:  Yes, I think it’s nice to be a part of community where share same ideas, and have some struggles that are common for everybody.

V:  From my experience, people basically quadruple their results from being a solo player, from studying on their own, and then when they join the community of Total Organist, in some months they quadruple their results.  That’s unbelievable.

A:  I would say maybe double at first, but of course I’m a pessimist, or a realist in life, and you are optimist, so.

V:  Who wins in life, pessimists, or realists, or optimists?

A:  They end up the same for everybody.

V:  Which is?

A:  Death, of course.

V:  (laughs)

A:  You shouldn’t be laughing about that - it’s serious things.

V:  Yes, but since we all have the same results, so why bother?  Can’t escape.

A:  Well, don’t talk nonsense, okay?

V:  All right.  Ausra is getting too serious for this conversation, so we better go and play some organ duets now, right?

A:  Yes, because we have recording upcoming next week.

V:  Remind us, what will you be playing?

A:  I’ll play Offertory by Alexander Guilmant, based on two noels.  And of course I’ll play a bunch of duets together with you.

V:  Christmas Oratorio excerpts, as well as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, and I will improvise something on the Christmas tunes.  Wonderful!  This was Vidas.

A:  And Ausra.

V:  Please send us more of your questions.  We love helping you grow.  And remember, when you practice,

A:  Miracles happen.

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

A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online...

V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more…

A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime.

V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on 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 629 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by James, and he writes,

Thanks Vidas for acknowledging my donation.  With lockdown and retirement I have a bit more time to work at learning the organ.  I am now 73 so things are a bit slower for me.

I have an old analog Viscount organ but I have found that my new iPad can produce even better and authentic sound. Favourite at the moment is Pipe Organ and St Just. So I have brought out my old Casio keyboard which has a MIDI possibility and bought the necessary connectors and connected it to my old stereo system, it really can sound amazing and have to keep the volume down. Love the “pedal notes”.

Over the winter I shall follow your example and buy new keyboards, I think it will be better than only one.

Music wise I continue to work away at hymns and have started flowkey. I bought your Prière à Notre-Dame as it is just about my level though hard work with all the accidentals. So I would appreciate you doing more of the simpler stuff, I am not quite ready for the toccata.  The likes of simpler advent music and Rhoysymedre like what you are beginning to play with fingering would be really useful. It helps build confidence and speeds the process up if an expert such as yourself does the ground work.

So thank you for all you do, all you online organists are amazing at this time and offer so much to those of us who feel safer not going to church, a real godsend indeed.

So you keep safe and bless you,
Jim (James)

V:  So, wonderful.  James donated, I think, some money for us after probably seeing one of my videos, I would say.

A:  Yes, I guess so.  And we appreciate it very much.

V:  Yes, and I asked him how is your, how is his organ playing doing these days.  And he wrote that rather extensive feedback message.

A:  I think it’s so nice that nowadays you can have instruments at home and have different sample sets and that would connect you to organ from various countries.  And that way you might not feel lonely, and you always have some goal and I think this will help so many organists to survive this pandemic.

V:  Yeah, definitely.  It’s like a hobby - a good hobby, right - to keep your mind and body occupied while so many terrible things are happening around the world, and you are sort of trying to forget it all, or distract yourself.

A:  And I think making music is an excellent way to entertain yourself.

V:  Yeah, in early days without the recorders and stereo systems, YouTube and internet, people would really entertain themselves while playing, by reading out loud to family members, playing games, probably board games, card games, right?  What else - probably drawing, probably acting together, like a small theatre production.  It’s all amazing pastime.  And I think people who don’t have hobbies, who only have a job and after job they return home, they sort of are tired.  They get something to eat, go to bed, get up in the morning and go to job again, miss a great deal something in life, don’t you think so?

A:  Yes, I think so.  I think we are really really lucky to be able to make music.

V:  Who?

A:  You and I, and all people who can play.

V:  Oh you mean we.  I thought you said “they.”

A:  No, I did not.

V:  Okay, I need to wash my ears more often.  More often than twice per year.

A:  But I think this is a great idea that James suggests, to record easier music for beginners.  You should think about it and do something.

V:  And I did!  For example, during my this recital upcoming Saturday, I’m playing - well, it’s not that easy, but - I’m playing a piece which people could start learning themselves.  For example, Crown Imperial by William Walton.  Very nice, fanfare-like voluntary.  Then I’m playing Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, but a short one, BWV 549, which starts with a pedal solo.  It’s a basic level piece, it’s not a difficult piece.  So maybe James could pick it up.  I have fingering and pedaling available in the score.  What else I’m playing...I’m playing Eleven Preludes, Chorale Preludes, by Johannes Brahms.  Those are really basic level pieces, not very difficult, although some have more thick texture than others.  But they are short.

A:  And some don’t have pedal.

V:  Exactly, yes.  And then after that, I’m playing two Chorale Preludes by Jan Zwart, Dutch Romantic composer, which I love very much.  Recently discovered his music from some of my Dutch organist colleagues.

A:  Well, his name, sorry for that Zwart, but makes me laugh every time.  Because somehow that Zwart sounds like a “dwarf” for me.

V:  Oh, you mean Zwerg.

A:  Yes, that’s what I mean.

V:  In German, Zwerg means dwarf.

A:  Yes.

V:  Okay, and then I finish with the Gigout Toccata.  Gigout Toccata is not a basic level piece, but it’s one of the easier ones in the toccata repertoire.

A:  Yes, I guess it’s sort of manageable.

V:  Mm hm, yes.  So even after 25 plus years of experience, I can choose a variety of repertoire.  Some of it is difficult, some of it is easy, some of it is medium, intermediate level.  Right?  And you can do the same if you follow our work.  Ausra is also practicing at home.  What are you playing right now, Ausra?

A:  I’m practicing the G Major Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach.

V: 541.

A:  Yes, and I’m also learning the Offertory by Alexander Guilmant.

V:  On the two noels.

A:  Yes, on Adeste Fideles and another French noel.

V:  Mm hm.  So, it’s a wonderful piece, and I think you play it already very well.

A:  Well, but I will play them for Christmas time.

V:  And Christmas is so far away, I think you are ready for another challenge right now.

A:  Well, we are still learning that Haydn quartet, quartet.

V:  Yes.  We decided to play for four hands, arrangement of Haydn, Josef Haydn’s quartet, it’s called Emperor’s Quartet in C Major.  It’s called Emperor’s because one of the movements I think…

A:  The second one.

V:  The second one has this traditional anthem.  Right now, it is German national anthem, but in earlier days it was Austrian anthem too.  So I think people who will listen to us will recognize this theme right away.

A:  It’s very beautiful one.  My favorite.

V:  All right, so hopefully we will manage.  We will start to practice it more often this week after tomorrow’s TV production.  Can you tell us a little bit what’s going on with TV?

A:  Well, yes.  And I’m afraid of it so much, so tomorrow we are going to our church to be filmed by national television for so-called interesting learning, or…

V:  Curious lessons maybe.

A:  Yes, maybe curious lessons would be the best translation.  And we need to, in two minutes, basically to represent our organ at St. John’s.

V:  So we’re kind of, for the first minute, I will go upstairs and show some pipes.  Ausra will stay at the organ console and also play some sounds with those pipes, or maybe operate some organ stops so that people could see how the mechanics work.  And in the second minute, maybe we will play a coda, only the ending, from Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

A:  Yes, that’s our plan.  We will see if it will work.  I’m already having goosebumps.

V:  (laughs) That will be fun.  So interesting week.  I hope this was helpful to 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

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it!

Considering the circumstances of the state of the world now we are happy to be alive, really. Wherever you are, we hope you and your loved ones are safe and avoiding physical contact.

Ironically, there is one benefit of the pandemic - people who are forced to stay at home, sometimes (but not always) have more time on their hands. Time, which they can use for studies, hobbies and developing new skills. For our Secrets of Organ Playing community this means, of course, focusing more on organ playing.

To this end, and in connection with Thanksgiving we'd like to offer a special 50% discount for Total Organist program and for any of our practice materials within our store (discount at the store will be automatically applied at the checkout, no code is necessary).

Total Organist Thanksgiving Discount

Here's what some of the members of the community say about Total Organist:

Total Organist and Secrets of Organ Playing Midsummer 50% Discount (until July 1).
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 601 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jeremy, and he writes,

Now that summer is here, I am excited to get into one of the courses on Total Organist again.  Maybe the Couperin Mass or improv mini-course.  Either actually as I have just signed up for them…

V:  So, Ausra, Jeremy is transcribing fingering and pedaling for us, and in return, he's getting access to Total Organist community.

A:  Very nice.

V:  And his dream is of course to spend the summer creatively and maybe challenge himself a little more, and try to practice some Couperin and maybe improvisation from the mini course. Have you seen some of his Couperin videos already?

A:  Yes, I have.

V:  He is recording them sometimes for our secrets of organ playing contest, Or sometimes just for fun.

A:  Yes, I think these are very handy pieces by Couperin.  Because you can play them as a set, but you can play separate pieces.

V:  This is the Mass for Convents.

A:  Yes, excellent.

V:  The Mass for Parishes has pedal parts.

A:  So it's easier then, to play Mass for Convents.

V:  Yeah, Mass for Convents is in G Major, and it doesn’t have any pedals, and it doesn’t, it isn’t based on any pre-existent chorale melody.  All the themes are kind of original by Couperin.  Whereas Mass for the Parishes has plainchant, basically Gregorian Chant melodies, and also pedal part.

A:  So I guess when makes the Mass for Convents even more special, because very often, French composers based their masses on Gregorian Chant.

V:  Yes, and it appears that Convents requires smaller organs than Parishes, right?

A:  Surely, and I guess because most of them probably didn’t have any pedals.  That’s why Couperin chose not to add one.

V:  And the course that teaches to play Couperin Mass for Convents is based on video material.  I recorded them on St. John’s organ a few years ago.  And I remember also preparing fingering for students as part of the course, so it’s really comprehensive training program.  Because not only you will get fingering and pedaling, but also I’m talking about characteristics of each piece of each movement of the mass, and the processes that helps you learn faster.

A:  Excellent.  Because I think you need guidance when you are working on French Baroque music.

V:  What’s the most challenging thing that comes to mind right away about French Baroque - French Classical, as they say?

A:  Well, probably the ornamentation.  All these trills and mordents and all other embellishments.

V:  They’re similar to the late Johann Sebastian Bach ornaments, right?

A:  True.  But you know, still, many people cannot grasp them, because just recently, a few days ago, I received a question - one piano teacher from a small town of Lithuania.  But she’s already really mature.  I taught her daughter once, solfege for a few years, so she knows me fairly well.  Sent me a score - excerpt of a score - by Couperin.  But it was actually original harpsichord piece, but her student is performing it on the piano, and she does not know how to play the ornaments.  So I had to explain her.  And it’s so strange that you teach piano for 30 years, and you still don’t know how to play French trills and ornaments.

V:  In Lithuania, I don’t think pianists have any opportunity to learn early music performance practice.

A:  That’s true, but still now I think the information is available for everybody.

V:  Which means you just have to stay curious.

A:  That’s right.

V:  It’s hard to stay curious when you have stagnant position, right, as pianists do…

A:  Yes, that’s true.

V:  ...in music school.

A:  And I guess organists in general understand about ornaments much more than pianists, or at least that’s my opinion.

V:  They should, of course, because generally, they tend to learn early music from early sources, original sources.  And that pays off in the end.  This experience can be applied to many other things.

A:  That’s right.  So now, Vidas, tell us more about improvisation mini course.

V:  This mini course was based on my dissertation from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  And serves as an introduction to the prelude improvisation formula.  So everyone who is planning to take or taking prelude improvisation formula, has to take keyboard improvisation mini course first.  It’s like the first chapter of the bigger course, prelude improvisation formula.  So people get acquainted to the basic ideas in this larger course, and they can master one particular figure that comprises one keyboard prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach from the keyboard notebook for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, for his eldest son.

A:  Well, how advanced do you need to be in order to be able to take and to benefit from this course?

V:  If you could play those pieces, I think you are good to go.  I mean original pieces, keyboard Klavierbüchlein for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach.  Like two part inventions, things like that.  Not very difficult at all.

A:  Well, okay.

V:  The fun begins when you try to decipher the figures and the sequences, and various other harmonic devices that Bach uses, cadences.  And then you memorize them, you practice them, and then you transpose to various keys.  And then you put them together in a different order - create your own mini-prelude like this, based on my pre-existing tonal plan.  In major keys, in minor keys, and then you transpose them.  So this is really fun.  It’s just an introduction to the Prelude Improvisation Formula, and could be played without any pedals, so basically on any keyboard instrument.

A:  So basically it’s good also for pianists, and harpsichordists, and organists.

V:  Absolutely yes.  For harpsichordists, they just play this on one or two manuals of their harpsichord.  For pianists, it’s very simple - just play on the keyboard.  For organists, they could change registration, of course, in various preludes, and get more variety with these techniques.

A:  But do you mean just to change the registration once for a prelude, and then to change it for another prelude?

V:  Yes, yes.  Play each prelude with a different registration.

A:  Okay.  I get it.

V:  Remember how I wrote this dissertation?

A:  Yes, I remember it.

V:  Who was there? The testing, we say, rabbit - you?

A:  Yes, I did some of it.

V:  You were my human, what is this word, when doctors test on humans?

A:  I don’t know.

V:  Human guinea pig.

A:  Yes.

V:  And was it painful?

A:  No, it wasn’t.  It was a little bit time consuming.

V:  What do you mean?

A:  Well, because I did not have much time at that time.  I was writing on my, working on my dissertation as well, so…

V:  Did I serve as your human mini pig - not mini pig but guinea pig for you?

A:  Well, no, because my dissertation wasn’t so practical as yours.

V:  What was the topic?

A:  About Adam Gottlob Casparini and his organs.

V:  About basically organ construction and organ building?

A:  Yes, basically, more on that side.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  Not so much connected with performance practice.

V:  Excellent.  So guys, if you want to learn to improvise keyboard preludes which are not based on pre-existing chorale melodies, check out my mini course, which later continues into prelude improvisation formula.  And of course, Couperin Mass training that Jeremy is taking is very helpful, too, for other purposes.

A:  That’s right.  So I hope you will find them useful.

V:  So, please 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.

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​Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!

Ausra: And Ausra!

V: Let’s start episode 575 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jeremy, who is transcribing our scores and adding fingering and pedaling, and is our member of the Total Organist Community. He writes:

“I like that Total Organist is keeping me focused on my practicing, and how to practice.”

V: Ausra, what does he mean?

A: I think that’s what he means, what he says, that it helps him to stay focused on his practice and because it shows how to practice it means that it improves his practice, too!

V: What is the opposite of focus in this case for Jeremy?

A: Well, the loss of concentration, I guess.

V: Distractions?

A: Distractions, yes.

V: Have you been distracted in your life from your organ practice by any other exciting things, let’s say?

A: Of course, but not so much because of exciting things, but probably because of very serious and unpleasant things. 

V: Can you name one of them?

A: No, I can’t.

V: Just one?

A: Because it’s just very personal.

V: Ah. I thought maybe that ha something to do with school, you know?

A: Oh! Do you mean overworking all the time?

V: Mhm

A: Yes, that’s one of them, but… I didn’t mean that when I said it.

V: So, if Total Organist is keeping Jeremy focused on his practicing, this is a good thing. Right? But I’m thinking, “How is this program keeping him focused?” By which means? Do you have any idea?

A: I think it’s because it consists of so many things that everybody can find something useful and something to work on. 

V: And this could be a distraction at the same time, right?

A: I don’t think you would find any of the Total Organists that would do everything in this program. I guess you just find what your weakness is and what you want to learn the most, and then you work on that.

V: But there are hundreds of scores and programs and trainings. You can get lost, right?

A: Maybe you need to write a smooth guide through your Total Organist program.

V: Step by step!

A: Yes!

V: But for everybody, as you say, it’s very personal, and the goals are personal. And I know Jeremy is participating in our weekly contest—Secrets of Organ Playing Contest—week after week, and it’s been great to see him work through Bach’s “Orgelbuchlein” Chrorale Preludes regularly. It’s amazing to see him progress and to actually read his reports, what he has been doing over each day, and I think when a person writes about his day, what he has been working on, then it makes him think about his day, about his activities. And sometimes, if you don’t think, you don’t notice things that you do, and you don’t know if you are productive or not—if creative or not. And when you are reporting like this for everyone else to see in this group, I think it really helps him to stay focused, as he says, for tomorrow also—for tomorrow’s goals. Don’t you think?

A: Yes, I think so. I think you are absolutely right. 

V: That’s why I take your activity reports and also publish them on Basecamp so other people could also know what you are doing.

A: Do you think they are useful?

V: Nobody said that they’re not.

A: Well… if you think that they are useful, you may put them there.

V: Yeah, I think they are useful, because they help people feel that you are human, you know, not hiding behind a screen, but a real person.

A: Okay. I am a real person, “Hi!” Well, anyway, I think if I would have had such a program let’s say 25 years back, I think I would have benefited from it very much.

V: You think that 25 years ago you would have benefited from this program a lot?

A: Yes! When I had just started to play the organ.

V: Hmmm. There was no opportunity for anyone to create this. Right? No Internet, capabilities of streaming, and uploading….

A: I know, and I just think it would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of trouble.

V: We started organ playing back in 1994, I think, 

A: Yes, that’s right!

V: And that was before even blogs were created! Blogs were created, I think, just before 2000, the first blogs, but they became mainstream around 2002 picked up by big media, and I also remember that I noticed the word “blog” mentioned also on the Internet and on TV around that time, but I hadn’t done anything with it. I only dreamed about it, and started writing blog posts only in 2007 in Lithuanian, and in English in 2011.

A: Yes, and now it’s just so nice to have access to all that information and organ playing technique, because I remember my first lesson with George Ritchie at Lincoln, when he asked by which method book I was taught to play the organ, and I said, “By none!” And I remember how he looked at me.

V: You didn’t use any textbooks.

A: Yes, I know. And I just felt like I came from the middle of the jungle somewhere, basically learning how to play organ from monkeys! 

V: Well yes. Nowadays, you cannot say that it’s lack of information that’s stopping people from mastering the organ or practicing the organ. Not anymore, right?

A: Yes, but I don’t think that much has changed in Lithuania, because I guess with their kind of music, they still don’t use any kind of method books, so…

V: Good thing we have a global audience and are not limited to a Lithuanian audience.

A: Yes, that’s right. At least we can share our experience.

V: Thank you guys! We hope this was useful to you, so you see how the Total Organist community is being inspired by one another, and keeping on track with their organ practice, and reporting back at the end of the day about their daily practice activities, and about their weekly goals, challenges, and this helps them move forward much much faster than they would be doing on their own. Right Ausra?

A: True.

V: Okay, this was Vidas!

A: And Ausra!

V: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, 

A: Miracles happen!

Vidas: Hi guys!  This is Vidas.

Ausra:  And Ausra.
 
V: Let’s start episode 574 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ruth.  And she wrote an answer in return of my question in Total Organist community:  How do you like Total Organist so far?  And she wrote,

In Total Organist I am learning a lot, from reading of the experiences of organists around the world.  I appreciate the opportunity to ask questions of them and also to listen to recordings of some of them.

V:  Hm.  Do you think, Ausra, that Ruth is referring to recordings of our Secrets of Organ Playing Contest, or what is she talking about?

A:  I’m a little bit misunderstood her question.  Because I don’t know, what do you think about it?

V:  Sometimes organists who participate in our contests, like Jeremy Owens or James Flores, they publish links to their posts so that people could read their posts and listen to their contest entries.  Maybe that is what Ruth is referring to.

A:  Could be.  Of course, I think in general that it’s probably the most beneficial for any person, well, to practice more, and to spend more time at the keyboard, rather than reading or listening about what other people are doing.  Don’t you think so?

V:  Yes, but you can augment that.  Because when you are alone practicing, it’s just one thing, yes, you are practicing for your own enjoyment.  But when you know that other people are doing it at the same time, and reporting their experiences, this is very powerful motivator, I think.

A:  Yes, but I think nowadays there is a danger of, sort of develop an addiction to social networks.

V:  What I mean - obviously you’re right - but what I mean is, for example this morning, James Flores recorded chorale prelude from Orgelbuchlein by Bach, Christ lag in Todesbanden.  And I listened to his recording, and I got inspired to create my own chorale prelude based on this tune.  If he hadn’t published this, if I hadn’t come across to this recording, then I might have missed the chance of creating.  I’m not saying I will create it, or I have created in the past, but I am already thinking about it, and James has been the catalyst of this.

A:  But do you think everybody who will listen to that recording will feel the same way and will start to compose something or create something?

V:  You mean to James’ recording or my recording?

A:  To James’ recording, let’s say.

V:  No, no.

A:  Because you haven’t created on that tune yet.

V:  Yes, I mean, for everyone it’s different.  They take what is inspiring for them, what their goals are.  Not everyone is a creator yet, right?  Some people are performers.  And if they listen to Orgelbuchlein prelude like this, they might get inspired to perform it, to practice.  The same piece, you know.

A:  Well, I wouldn’t agree with you that performers aren’t creators.  I think we are creators.  Because what we are creating, we are creating our own interpretations of the given piece.  Because you can take the same piece and let’s say, 101 organists would record it, and everybody would play a little bit different.

V:  Of course you are a creator, I didn’t mean that.

A:  No, I didn’t took it personally, so, I didn’t take it personally.  But you know what I mean.

V:  And you know what I mean.

A:  Yes.

V:  We know what we mean in our minds, so we basically don’t say it out loud, but people who are listening to this might understand something from this conversation that I mean, if you are creating your own music, that’s a different thing than you are interpreting somebody else’s, you know.

A:  Yes.  You know, what I’m trying to tell, that there are sort of group of people who really want to participate in this organ life.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  And who attend every single recital in the area.

V:  Uh huh.

A:  But, you know, and they pretend that they know about organ a lot.

V:  Discuss things.

A:  Discuss things.  But you know, if you ask them to sit down at a keyboard, they can barely play a scale for you.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  That’s what I’m talking about.  Instead of, not wasting your time, but spending too much of your time listen to other organists, or other recitalists, you need to do something for yourself and sit on the organ bench and practice.

V:  This is why I always advise to do creative activity first thing in the morning, whatever it means for you.  This morning for me, it meant that I had to create a performance of my Opus 1, Veni Creator Spiritus, on the keyboard that I have upstairs in my room.  So, instead of surfing social media let’s say, listening to a lot of other people’s music - although, I listened to James’ performance first, I have to admit.  But it was just for 2 minutes (laugh).  You know what 2 minutes means for me.

A:  Yes, it’s at least 20 minutes, but it’s okay.

V:  Yeah, but I got up at 5 a.m., so….

A:  Well so in this case, I am just feel so hopeless.  Because most of my mornings, the first thing in the morning, what I do is to prepare a breakfast for you and myself.

V:  That’s a…

A:  And then I just go to school.

V:  But that’s later, that’s at 6:00 sometimes, right?

A:  Yes, that’s right.

V:  On a, or weekends, like at 8:00.  So I am not saying that you should get up at 6 or at 5 like I do, because some people need more sleep.  And maybe I need more sleep - we’ll see soon enough, you know?

A:  Yes, Vidas will end up in a mental institution because of overworking.

V:  Mm hm.

A:  And creating too much.

V:  Well, but it’s really exciting to see people create around you and being able to share your own pieces with them, and getting positive feedback, it’s intoxicating actually.

A:  But is intoxicating a good word or not?  Because as you said it, it seems very negative.

V:  No, I meant addictive, addictive.

A:  Yes, thanks for clarifying that.  In general, you know, I think that everything in life has its own measures, and everybody has to find their own way.  And just telling that you really need to practice, and after that, you need to listen to other people playing and talking and creating.

V:  But before that, you need to have a goal while you practice, right?  Before that, if you sit down on the organ bench and you don’t know why you sit down, it’s very hard to be productive.

A:  But still, I’m talking about people who have either church position, or are concert organists, or, who, have their organ as part of their professional life.

V:  That’s a good goal, yeah.   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. ​

 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
 
Ausra: And Ausra!
 
V: Let’s start episode 570 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Albert, and he is our Total Organist student now. He writes:
 
“Dear Vidas,
 
I was browsing on your website and just have a couple of questions.
 
I just want to know if I were to subscribe to your program, there are two things I want to develop.
 
My Technique (left and right hand manuals and both feet pedal playing)
Sight Reading
Learning Hymns faster
 
What kind of materials will I expect to improve these from your programs?
 
Also I currently have a 61 key Hammond Organ/Keyboard and a 20 note Hammond Pedal will this be enough for me to make use of your program to achieve my goals?
 
Thanks
Albert”
 
V: Well, first of all, I wrote an email afterwards to Albert with the suggestion that he would become a Total Organist subscriber, so he did subscribe to the program, which is very nice. Hopefully he will get a lot of things out of this program like many other people are doing. But to answer his question, Ausra, what do you think? Sight-reading, for example. A lot of people seem to enjoy my Sight-Reading Master Course.
 
A: Yes! I think that’s a great course based on the “Bach’s Art of Fugue,” and if you can manage that, then it definitely will help you to learn hymns much faster.
 
V: Exactly, yes. Although his primary objective is playing hymns, maybe through sight-reading real organ pieces he will gain additional skills that will enable him to play real organ music later on. You see, when people say they want to learn hymns faster, they don’t necessarily mean that real organ music is not interesting to them. Maybe they don’t have the direct practical application to organ music, let’s say, during liturgy. But imagine if you were a church organist, Ausra, and you could play something from the real organ repertoire. Would you sometimes play it? Would you do it?
 
A: Of course I would do it.
 
V: As a prelude. As a postlude.
 
A: Postlude.
 
V: Why not, right?
 
A: Or during communion.
 
V: There are thousands of organists who don’t do this, and actually, the services then become a little much more boring, I think… service playing…
 
A: I remember when I was serving as an organist in Lithuania before our studies in The United States, I would mostly hate the time of Advent and of Lent because it was the hardest time for organists in Lithuania, because you were not allowed to play solo organ repertoire during Mass. And we had to sing a lot, because most often, churches could not afford to have a choir or a soloist. That would leave congregational singing, so the organist would have to do it, and it was tough, really. After singing the entire Mass and all the hymns during communion, and the opening hymn, ending hymn, it was really hard.
 
V: I think it’s unfortunate sometimes that people don’t play a real organ repertoire or improvise, let’s say, more sophisticated stuff, because after a while, you get used to playing hymns. You know all the hymns in your hymnal  after a few years, and the cycle continues. You continue playing that in circles, and you no longer improve, actually, and it becomes boring, not only for musician who visit your church, as members of the congregation, or listeners, but to yourself, as well, because you’re not longer improving. And I ideally recommend making use of your sight-reading skills, and little by little starting to play preludes and postludes, and even communion pieces if there is a time for it in your congregations.
 
A: What about technique? Do you think your courses are useful in developing technique of your hands and pedals?
 
V: Well, I have this Pedal Virtuoso Master Course, which of course includes pedals scales and arpeggios over one octave, and two octaves. This is a really great course for improving ankle flexibility, which is the secret of perfect pedal technique.
 
A: And what about the manual part?
 
V: Well, for manuals I have Left Hand Training and Two Part Training! Those two courses are based on Bach’s Trio Sonatas. I transposed all those trio sonatas into all the different keys, and in the first course, Left Hand Training, I present them as just one single melody. So for people who want to improve left hand, they can practice with the left hand, but it’s not necessarily limited to that, you can practice with the right hand… the same melody, maybe one octave higher. You can even play with the pedals… the same melody. It would be more complex, but it’s possible, because let’s say in a trio sonata, there are three parts: Soprano, Middle part, and the Bass. I present all three of them in a specific order to play for a single voice for left hand, so there is no, let’s say, there isn’t any limitation for you to omit pedal playing for this. You can make it as a complete left hand, right hand, and pedal playing course out of it, if you want. And then comes Two Part Training. Two Part Training includes also different keys, much transpositions, but only for two voices: left hand and right hand, or for right hand an pedals, or for left hand and pedals. See?
 
A: So I guess this course would be really beneficial for Albert’s needs.
 
V: Yeah, sure!
 
A: And then he asks if his organ is sufficient to practice these courses. What would you say about it?
 
V: With manuals, there is no problem with 61 keys, obviously enough, but with 20 note pedals… 20 note… 2 octaves is 24 notes or 25 notes if you want to go up to treble C, right? So 20 note what… up to tenor G or something.
 
A: It’s from C to G. It’s an octave and a half.
 
V: Uh-huh. So you still can practice all those courses, but you sometimes have to drop either one note, or one motif or an entire phrase one octave lower, depending on which piece, or more musical.
 
A: Yes, so you have to adjust a little bit, you know.
 
V: And adjust your pedaling as well. Sometimes, if you drop a high note to a lower octave, it’s no longer useful to play it with your right foot. Maybe your left foot has to take over.
 
A: But still, you can learn a lot even having such an organ with a short pedal keyboard.
 
V: Definitely. Yes. So I hope this will be useful to Albert and to everyone else who is looking to improve their technique. So total organist is doing what it says to do, to try to develop total organist skills. Whatever you want to become, you can become with the Total Organist program. And not only that, it’s not limited. You can study music theory, harmony, and also improvisation training. You really will become a complete musician. Right Ausra?
 
A: Yes.
 
V: Thank you 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!