10 Ideas for Making the Most of Your Organ Practice

By Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene (get free updates of new posts here)​​​​​​

I almost broke in into a stranger's apartment yesterday.

We were going to visit my mom and dad. I tried the key to the door but it didn't fit before Vidas said that it's not their apartment number (the doors look the same on every floor).

It turns out we were one floor below and we didn't notice it at first.

This is because we just had an all-consuming practice class at the gym and our minds and bodies were fatigued.

This was our neighbors apartment we were trying to get into.

They have a dog and she started barking which helped us to come back to our senses.

This curious incident got me thinking about our organ practice:

How to give your best when you play the organ so that you'll get the most results?

Here are 11 things to keep in mind:

​1. Practice for at least 50 minutes
2. Warm up for 15 minutes
3. Focus your mind
4. Push yourself
5. When your'e exhausted keep saying to yourself "One More Time"
6. Slow tempo is best for practice
7. Repeat the fragments multiple times
8. Keep your eyes fixed on the score
9. Breath slowly and deeply through your nose
​10. Relax your body
11. Drink some water every 15 minutes or so to stay hydrated

If you do this, when the timer rings to stop you, you will feel quite drained out (both physically and mentally) but you'll notice considerable improvement on your organ pieces the next day. Do this for 30 days and you'll get a new habit that over time will change your playing 180 degrees.

(And maybe next time when I try to break into our neighbor's apartment, their dog will let us in).