Need a page turner?

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

Do you play some piece of organ music with difficult page turns and feel you need an assistant to turn pages for you?

Sure, that's what you should do, if you're playing in public.

But for organ practice purposes, why don't you learn to turn pages yourself?

It gives you a certain level of confidence, self-reliance, even freedom.

I find that even in the most dense musical textures, where there aren't really any significant rests for either hand, you can still turn a page. Here's how:

Figure out, which hand plays melodically crucial part. Keep playing that part but with another hand turn the page.

Memorize the connections in both pages - 4 measures total (2 at the bottom and 2 - at the top).

Practice the turns over and over. They should become part of the performance of the piece.

Who knows, maybe you'll find out you don't need a page turner after all.