Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 514 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Lawrence. And he writes: Hello Vidas, In your last note to me, you asked me what challenges me. I find pedal playing a challenge because it is relatively new to me. I have only had this organ for a year and a half. All through my playing life I have found sight reading to be difficult. I also need to practice in a more structured way. I think your practice video should be a big help. Thank you, Lawrence. V: Let’s start from the ending, ok? A: Okay. V: He mentions my practice video. Lawrence just recently subscribed to my, to our newsletter, and when person is new on our list, they first get this free 10-day organ playing mini course. And on day one, they get this video how to play, how to master any organ composition. Where I teach to play Bach’s chorale prelude from Orgelbüchlein, Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ. And probably, he refers to this video. A: Yes, I guess so. V: It’s interesting. I created this video at the beginning of our online activity, back in 2011, at the end of 2011, so what, eight years, almost? And it’s still relevant, it’s still helpful. A: And it will be relevant, I believe. Because it’s a beautiful piece. Most of us who play organ love Bach, so. V: Exactly. For Lawrence, sight reading is difficult. This is natural, because sight reading involves playing music that is unfamiliar to you. And if you haven’t done this before too much, then it will remain difficult. A: Well, it will come with practice. The more repertoire you will learn, the easier sight reading will get for you. And also, the other thing that helps to become a better sight reader is knowing music theory. Because, now when I teach keyboard harmony and general functional harmony and music theory and solfege for 14 years, I have no trouble reading any kind of music at all. Reading in any key. I can you know, sight read easily from 7 flats and 7 sharps, and it doesn’t bother me at all. V: Mm hm. That’s good. A: Because that’s experience. Because I remember my theory professor at EMU University, Anthony Iannaccone who would tell us, If you are watching at every interval and you are still thinking what that interval is, it means you don’t know it well enough. Because it just needs to go automatically without much thinking. V: Exactly. How much, how many hours do you teach in a week on average, Ausra? A: Well, on average, it’s, well, at least 23. V: 23. A: At least. V: So in one month, would be what, 90 hours perhaps? A: Yeah. V: Approximately. 100 maybe? A: Maybe. V: Maybe. Let’s make it an even number and say it’s 100 hours per month. How many months are in your school year? A: Nine. Because then on the 10th month, we have exams. V: Ah, so, okay. You are teaching for nine months. So then, this means that you’re teaching for about 900 hours per year. A: Yeah, and why do you need to calculate anything? What will it do? V: How many hours for 14 years? A: Well, I’m not so good with numbers, if you like to count, then you do it. V: Ok. Ten years would be 9,000 hours. But plus four years, 13,600 I believe. A: Yeah. V: Do you know, Ausra, how many hours does it take to reach mastery? A: No. V: Well, it depends. You can do the same thing over and over again your entire life and still don’t become a master at anything. But what I mean is deliberate practice. Meaning that when you teach somebody, you are striving to do your best, right, and to improve yourself, I would suspect. A: Yeah. True. V: Yes? So it takes about 10,000 hours to reach this level of mastery in any kind of difficult skill. Organ playing, harmony, teaching, the same thing. Were you a good teacher at the beginning, or now? The same kind of teacher, or did you progress? A: No, definitely not. Because it was very hard for me to teach at the beginning, it would take so much of my energy. V: So definitely you advanced. That was my front point. So you see, if people practiced for let’s say 10 years or 14 years with the same occupation, like you teach, they would become relatively in a high state of improvement, I would say, in organ playing, or harmony, or whatever you want. A: But maybe you wouldn’t need to set up a goal that takes 10 years for you to reach. Because you need I think the short term goals more. V: Yes. But this is world class level. You could teach in any high school, high, not high but college or university in the world now, correct? A: Yes, I could teach these subjects easily. V: Mm hm. This is world class. So, for people who want to reach world class in their skill set, I think there is no shortcut. But for people who would just simply enjoy improving themselves day after day, and in their organ playing skills, reach a higher level little by little, I think they can take things less seriously. Right? A: True, true. V: Okay, guys. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. 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 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 510, of Secrets Of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jay, who is on the team to transcribe our podcast conversations so we really appreciate his work every week. And he writes: Accuracy in all parts, especially pedals, keeping correct tempo throughout. V: So basically this is his answer when I ask him what is his main challenges. What are some things that he is challenging, what is he frustrated with, right? Things that are keeping him from reaching his goals. Let’s talk about accuracy, Ausra, or accuracy in all parts. A: Yes. I always envy organists who can play without any kind of mistakes. V: Always envy, or not so much anymore? A: Not so much anymore, but of course there are organists that played without any mistakes, even the smallest ones, that you can always record their concerts and put them on CD’s. But that’s a rare case. Often you might not hear mistake because you don’t know that piece very well or you are not focused enough while listening to the piece, and you might miss it. Because, for instance, there are sometimes these moments when you are playing yourself, and you think that something’s very wrong, but then you listen to recording and it seems okay. V: I did this. Remember my first organ CD with Giedrius Gelgotas, the flutist. I played D Minor Toccata. A: Yes, I remember that, but it wasn’t a case. You played it and you thought it... V: It was okay… A: was okay, and I thought so too. And then we listened to the recording. We heard the mistake… V: In the first page. A: Yes. V: And I didn’t repeat this page. Therefore, my sound engineer had a very difficult time in eliminating this mistake. But he did it, I think. A: Yes, he did it. So, do you think accuracy is the most important goal, the final goal, of each organist or not? V: Accuracy, probably, is important for beginners, very much, because they are just starting out and struggling to play without mistakes. And if they make too many mistakes, the quality of the perception of the piece, or the performance gets distorted in your listeners ears, in your listeners minds. Therefore, it’s good to aim to play with accuracy and it’s good to aim to master the piece with this kind of accuracy, right? A: Yes. I think it’s very important to play as accurate as possible. But I don’t think it’s the only goal, or the most important goal. I guess the most important goal is of course to play as accurate as possible but I think that even more important is to keep steady tempo throughout the piece, even if you made a mistake. And that’s what happens with the beginners, especially, we make a mistake, we got all stressed out and we stop keeping tempo. Or we stop... V: Mmm-hmm. A: in the middle of performance and might [want] to repeat it again and they make mistake at the same spot again, and, I have heard such performance. V: Or they freeze and don’t know what to do. A: Yeah. V: Yeah. This kind of situation is the worse I think, for listeners. A: True, because if you occasionally make a mistake—who doesn’t—we are no computers or robots. But if you will give a steady tempo then nobody will notice. Or maybe just a few professionals, but not the general audience. V: Do you think people mess up more pedal parts or manual parts? A: Well, I never thought about it. Never counted… V: Mmm-hmm. A: if I have heard more mistakes in the pedals or made myself, in the manual part. But I guess pedal part is still a challenge for many organists. V: Mmm-hmm. A: For beginners. But I guess if we would just relax and let it go, I think we would do [a] better job. I think it’s all mostly mental. V: Yeah. And it also, I was going to say, depends on peoples ability to multitask, right? Because when you play the organ, you have to be able to do many things at once—play with your right hand, play with the left hand, play with the right feet, foot, and play with the left foot, at the same time. Sometimes really together, all those four parts. Sometimes in alternation. And this requires coordination of your various body parts. And beginners and people with less experience on the organ bench or less experience with different kind of instruments, usually get distracted while doing this kind of assignment of playing different parts together. And if they mess up someplace, in someplace, they can’t pickup from the same place seamlessly. They have to stop and start again. But I think that that’s very natural. And after a while, experience, if you don’t stop yourself from practicing over the years, practicing and playing in public, playing on different instruments, if you keep advancing, I think your experience will teach you all things that you need to know. And it will not be very challenging to pick up the music without stopping and keep going, just keep going, right? A: Yes. It’s very important. And another thought that came to my mind while reading Jay’s question about keeping the correct tempo throughout the piece, that if it’s difficult for you to keep that tempo throughout the piece… V: Mmm-hmm. A: that maybe you picked up the wrong tempo. V: Or the wrong piece. A: Well, that’s [a] possibility too, but let’s not go into to selecting repertoire. V: Mmm-hmm. A: but maybe, it’s not the right tempo for you. Maybe it’s the right tempo for that piece, but maybe you still have to work on some difficult spots, and to strengthen your abilities, technical abilities to play it. V: Quite often, the most challenging episode comes, not at the beginning, but towards the middle or towards even the end of the piece. A: Well, it’s often the cadences that we are talking about… V: Mmm-hmm. A: in Bach’s music. V: So even if this cadence is the first cadence that you meet in Bach’s music, it’s not in the first measure. A: Sure. V: It’s after a few measures. And if you start at the concert tempo and it goes smoothly, like for three, four, six measures, and then you encounter a cadence and then you slip, right? You first have to think about this cadence and be able to play it at the comfortable tempo fluently. And then, pick this tempo for the beginning of the piece. A: Yes. And sometimes I found out for myself, that if I pick up a new piece that I don’t know, then everything is just fine. But if I decide to learn some well known organ piece that I have heard many, many time, I sit down on the organ bench, and I want to play it in the right tempo, as I hear it in my mind. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And then it’s really [a] problem. Because you cannot pickup right away very difficult song, organ piece, and play it in a concert tempo. V: No, not yet. A: So I find it’s challenging sometimes, to slow me down. V: Well, you have to, you want to have immediate results, right? A: Yes, but it’s impossible I think, for anybody. If somebody tells the other way, maybe we just exaggerating their skills. V: Even Bach was known to stop for several times while say, creating a piece on the harpsichord, while visiting his friend. This was documented in one of his letters. And then after that he exclaimed that it’s not possible to sight-read everything. A: Excellent! V: Mmm-hmm. So guys, don’t worry. Even Bach was a human being, even if it’s hard to believe. Thank guys. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 498 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. And, this question was sent by Linda, and she writes: “If I could I would practice organ 10 hours a day, but I can't because it would ruin my hands. I had hand surgery in 2015 from over-practicing. I passed Part I of the AGO colleague exam in May. I am set to take Part II in November. I'm sixty years old, and in the remaining years God gives me on this earth, I hope to also achieve the higher AGO exams, plus learn as much organ literature as I can. I heard a youtube recording of Klaas Jan Mulder's "Fantasie-Toccata on 'Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan", which blew me away. Dutch organ literature is definitely an area I want to explore, as well as the standard organ literature I haven't learned yet. Love your website. There's a lot of material there. Blessings on you, and thank you again.” V: So, Ausra, would you practice for 10 hours a day if you could? A: Well, I don’t think it’s necessary to practice for 10 hours a day. But I would be happy if I could practice 4 hours every day. V: What would you play? A: Everything. V: Starting from what? A: From everything. All the Trio Sonatas by J. S. Bach—because so far, I have played four of them, so I still have two sonatas to learn—and other excellent stuff. Maybe Franck’s “Chorale in E Major,” which I haven’t played, yet. V: The first one? A: Yes, the first one. So, and other stuff, too. V: We will be playing our organ duet recital in a couple of days, or in a few days, maybe on Saturday, and after that, probably it will be time to start playing solo, too. A: Yes, if school doesn’t kill me. V: Yeah, that’s a big consideration. I think I’m going to be a little bit busy even after this recital with various organ demonstrations and educational events, I think. But, I will continue sight reading. This is really good for my own skills. A: But what do you think? Is it always necessary to practice for 10 hours? V: I have never practiced for 10 hours. Well, maybe once. Maybe once, when I was really short on time, and the concert was maybe in two days. A: You know, the most I have practiced was actually four hours, but it was four hours of excellent practice. But even though four hours is not like 10 hours, I could not practice the same amount of hours the next day, because, simply, your head needs to lead your practice, not your hands. V: It’s the same with physical exercise. If you do over-train one day, you will not be able to do the same type type of exercise the next day. You will have to rest one day. A: True. So, I guess, even if you practice a lot on one day, you need to take it easy on the second one; on the next one. Because, I think when you are learning the organ repertoire, you also need to do some mental work with the music that you are playing. V: Mental? A: Yes, and it’s not only… you don’t do it only by sitting on the instrument and practicing. You need to think about the music, too. V: What do you do when you think about it? A: Well, I often think of different excerpts from the piece and think about the form, about the meaning of the piece, and it helps, too. V: I used to do that more when I had time. Now, I just don’t have this privilege anymore—sitting without the instrument—because there is so much on my plate already. But, when the occasion arises, for example, I’m traveling, sitting in the hotel, the concert is tomorrow, and I still need to work on something, obviously that would be a great way to practice mentally. A: Plus, I’ve realized that sometimes you keep practicing and practicing and practicing, and instead of improving things, you sort of start messing things up. And sometimes, giving a break of one or two days actually makes your program sound better. V: Or come back to the same program after practicing something else for a week, or two weeks, or a month. Right? You switch things up a little bit. It’s like physical exercise. One day you want to work on your upper body muscles, maybe, the next day, maybe on your lower body, maybe the third day on your core abdominal muscles, and then maybe the next day, you might rest. After 3 days, you take a rest., and then, start over again. There are all kinds of methods of mixing up physical exercise, so I think with organ practice, this could be applied in some way, too, this type of a variety. A: True! And, as Linda mentioned that she already had surgery, and that she loves to practice a lot, I guess this trouble with her hands shows that you need to practice less, actually, and to practice fewer hours, actually, but maybe to do it more efficiently. V: And maybe warm up. A: Yes, that’s a good idea, too. V: And maybe practice easier pieces? A: That’s a possibility, too. V: We don’t know exactly what her level is, but certainly overextending yourself doesn’t help. A: But it’s very nice that she has the goal of what she wants to achieve. That’s very important. I guess when you have a goal, then it’s easier for you to practice. V: Yes, you feel motivated externally, and then you just have to follow through. Thanks guys, this was Vidas! A: And Ausra! V: Please send 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 511 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Fintan. And he writes: Hi Vidas, I’m practising hard. I retired after 35 years as a Primary School Teacher and have gone back to study Organ Performance and Musicology in university. It’s hard work but I find it very useful to have fingering notated in advance when learning new repertoire. I’ve just purchased a copy of your Toccata in F, BWV 540 with fingering and look forward to learning it. Regards, Fintan A: Well, you know, let’s congratulate Fintan that after teaching at school for 35 years, he finds strength to play the organ, to practice the organ and study organ performance and musicology at university. I think it’s amazing. Well, I’m not teaching for so many years yet, but even now, I feel so exhausted after each day at school. So it really surprises me in a good way that a person can find so much energy left after so many years of a teaching job. V: When you were little, Ausra, what was your dream? For example, what would you like, what was your dream to become in the future? What did you want to do? A: I wanted to be a singer. V: Singer, right? A: Yes. V: Uh huh. So imagine, if you, when you retire after, I don’t know, 20 years or less, as the teacher, harmony and theory teacher, and ear-training teacher, maybe you would like to pursue this hobby again and… A: Sing? V: Sing! A: You know, I think that this little bit of voice that I still have left, I think will leave my body after teaching for let’s say, 20 more years. V: Because you are using your voice every day. A: I know, and it leaves me right now, sometimes, in the middle of my classroom. I’m talking, and suddenly I don’t have a voice anymore. So I think I have to abandon the idea of singer’s career. V: It’s gone? A: Yes. I think I will be very lucky if after retirement, I can sit on the organ bench and to play a little prelude and fugue from Bach’s circle. V: I know what you mean! But does singing still fascinate you? A: Yes, but not that kind of singing that I wanted to pursue when I was a little kid. Because then, when I was a little kid, I was fascinated by opera singers with these huge voices. But now I’m not fascinated by that anymore. Of course, I appreciate good singers. I can understand who is who, and be able to know who is singing well and who is not singing very well. But now, I’m fascinated with early music singers that don’t project so much of the power of the voice, but can control it and sing polyphonic music, for example. V: In a good style. A: Yes. V: Uh huh. I see. But if putting things aside that are stopping you, right, your voice limitations, your everyday using of your voice, right, and you understand that this is not possible for you, right? A: Mm. V: If is WAS possible, right, if you didn’t damage your voice, when you retire, did you, would you still have this passion for singing? A: Of course, but like for most elderly ladies, you cannot keep your muscles very well intact, so the breathing becomes a problem, and holding your breath, and this is for singers a crucial point. So, well, I rather would not do it. Because I don’t think it would sound very nice. But of course, if I would be fascinated by everything that my physical abilities would still let me do it, then of course I guess I would do it. V: Yeah. We, as kids, have many dreams and hobbies, and we stop sometimes them, because life gets in the way, formal education gets in the way, right? And when we grow up, we no longer have this ability to practice our hobbies. But then, somehow our hobbies from childhood catch up with us, later in life, right? A: True. V: Look at us now. We’re doing things that we didn’t do for many years now. Maybe the same is with Fintan. Maybe he started to play organ after he retired, right, and after he had more time to do it, and less stress as a Primary School teacher, right? A: True. It’s like our friend Marcia Koster who raised ten kids of her own. And she went back to school when she was 60, and got her Master’s degree in organ performance. So, because, that was her dream, but she didn’t have time in her life to do it until she was 60 years old. So I guess it’s very natural. It didn’t seem very natural for us, because Vidas and I, we were raised in the Soviet Union, where people had strict rules about things. And it was really uncommon that after retirement you would begin to study something. Everybody would think that you are crazy. V: They would think you are an idiot. A: Yes. V: Because if you are still learning... A: You have some mental issues. Because why, of course you graduate from school, you graduate from university or not, but then you got a job which was assigned to you even in those days. V: You didn’t have to choose. A: Yes. So everything was sort of known in advance. You would know that after graduation you will receive a position. Maybe not in the capital, but somewhere in the province. And that’s it. And life will just go by. V: Mm hm. A: And it was really very unusual to do something like to go back to school after retirement. I don’t think as a child that I would have heard any of such stories. But now it’s sort of becoming a rule, and it’s becoming just a regular thing. V: Yeah, it’s more common for seniors to start learning hobbies and learning new things. And we have so many students over 60 years old, right, Ausra? A: Yes. V: All around the world. A: And now there’s this so-called Third Age University. V: For seniors. A: For seniors. And all those classrooms are just crowded with seniors. Of course, there are some areas that are more interesting for people. V: Like medicine? A: Yes, like all kinds of medical issues. But also, like history. V: Yeah. A: And every subject. V: So seniors cannot really be put in a position with low expectations, right? Oh, you are over 60, you are no longer useful to society, and you just have to watch TV all day long and wait for the day to end. A: And you know, I remember when I was a child, and you know, let’s say, people would retire very early in the Soviet days. Women would retire at age 55. Men, I think, at the age of maybe 60. V: Mm hm. A: And now we all retire at age of 65 in Lithuania. And I guess by the time that we will have to retire, we will postpone that age even. We will make it even longer. But, you know, a lady at the years of 60 would just wear a scarf on her head. V: Mm hm. A: And would really look very, very old. Now there is nothing like this anymore. V: Nobody wears scarves. A: I know. Maybe some stylish, fancy ones. But just to keep in fashion. V: In fashion, yes. A: But otherwise, as I remember 30 years back, when comparing our elderly people with people from west, western countries, they would be like night and day, how their seniors look like and how our seniors look like. But now our seniors look like the western seniors. V: Maybe with less smiles. A: Well yes. V: Yes? A: But still, if you wouldn’t look at the smile only about appearance. You wouldn’t recognize who’s who. V: True. So I can only congratulate Fintan and others who decided to pick up their dream of learning organ playing at age of 50, 60 years old, sometimes 70 years old. A: I guess he is not a beginner, he just went back to, I guess because of the piece that he purchased. V: Yes, Toccata and Fugue in A: F Major. V: In F Major, BWV 540, is a very advanced piece. A: So, that’s what I’m guessing that, you know, he played the organ, but because of the teaching, he had to stop practicing, to quit practicing. But now he has more time, so he went back to his dream. V: Yes. And we all should pursue our dreams, or just simply do things that we are meant to do, right? Because if we don’t do it, we will feel miserable. Don’t you think, Ausra? A: Yes, I guess we would regret it at the end of our life. V: Yes. 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.
Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 507. This question was sent by Dan. And he writes: Hi Vidas and Ausra, Hard to believe that you guys are almost up to 500 episodes already. Seems just like yesterday that you started the podcast. I’ve been a listener right from day one. To comment on this episode, another thing that an organist could do during service, if playing a hymn that’s less familiar, is to solo out the melody on a second manual, with a prominent reed stop, a couple of principals, or a suitable combination on that second manual, so that the melody could be heard. I’ve observed over the years that this is a technique that I’ve heard organist use, to assist congregations with new material. Our organist that we had when I’d first started going to the church I’m going to, back in 2000, if there was an unfamiliar hymn, before the service, he’d take maybe 10 minutes and go over it. Then during service, for the first verse, he’d solo out the melody, on the festival trumpet on the choir division of the organ there. I think in the service, soloing out the melody of a hymn, is a good technique to assist the congregation right from the organ. A: Well, it is a good technique, and I think it might work in many cases, but in Lithuania, for example, we have many, many churches where an organ has only one manual, one single manual, so that technique simply wouldn’t work. And in that case, I would suggest if you want to really make a melody very prominent, you need to play it in octaves on that single manual. V: No other chords? A: No other chords, yes. No supporting harmony. Mainly to play the hymn melody in the pedal, and then to do it in octaves with your hands. V: So for example, if the starting note of the hymn is, let’s say, treble C, your left hand would play tenor C, and pedal would play bass C, the lowest note. A: That’s right. V: In three octaves, basically. A: Yes. V: Mm hm. A: Because, this is like a dream, when Dan talks about Festive Trumpet. How many organs in Lithuania have a Festive Trumpet that is in shape good enough to be able to play it? V: Yeah. First of all, reeds need to be tuned regularly. A: True, true. But of course, you know, we are living in a different world. And each time when Vidas and I go abroad to give recitals, the most amazing thing for me is how well organs abroad are taken care of. Because, whenever you go to France or to Scandinavian countries, organs are in the best shape, although some of them stand in unheated churches, and still everything is right in tune. V: Well, it’s very simple actually. Organist takes care of regular maintenance that you need to work on, for example, tuning the reed or a flute or two if it’s out of tune a little bit. But less often. Reeds are more often, right? Most often, organist has to have an assistant helping him or her. So just one person has to press the keys on the organ console. The organist has to go into the pipes and tune those reeds. Sometimes reeds are not far away. They can reach, he can reach it from the organ bench or from the ground floor, too. But, if organist takes care of regular reeds maintenance, then he or she has to have a good training in this. It’s not for everyone, right? A: True. And in Lithuania, we lack that sort of training. Most of organists just have no idea what is inside of the instrument, and have no idea how to maintain it. V: And no interest in it. A: True. V: Basically no interest in finding out even how the organ functions. A: And this is jsut too bad because we have so many beautiful churches. Especially in Vilnius, most of them are built in the Baroque style, and we have wonderful acoustics. But organs aren’t in good shape, many of them. V: And for example, organists write their registration without any regard of what stops they’re using, right? They would write down numbers. A: That’s right. V: But they don’t know what those numbers mean. When they go to another organ, they have to start their registration process all over again. Because number 5 or number 18 doesn’t tell them anything. A: That’s right. V: So that’s one thing. They’re not interested into technicalities of the instrument. And another thing is that a church has to have a contract with an organ building firm. A: Well, you need to have an organ building firm. Do you remember when we tried to get hold of some organ firm that would take care of our organ at St. John’s so that we wouldn’t have to do it regularly? V: Nobody wanted it. A: Nobody wanted it, nobody took that position. So we do everything ourselves. V: Mm hm. A: Basically, it’s because we don’t have many organ building shops in Lithuania anymore. V: Only about two, I would say, are left. A: Yes. It’s not enough. V: There is some sign that one or two younger people are more interested in this, and in the future might open their practice. A: Well, but you know, how will you make a living? It’s very hard. They would not receive many new contracts, and only take care of old instruments. Who will pay you for doing that work? Usually, you know, church doesn’t want to pay for it. V: If you travel around the country just doing maintenance, let’s say on weekdays, right? Five days a week, you can travel to five organs. A: True. And I think that what makes this all issue, is that so many people don’t understand about organ at all. And even well-educated people don’t. Because I remember maybe ten or more years back, we had this question risen in Vilnius, because of St. John’s church organ. I think the rector asked, “So, we built an instrument, we paid so much money, and now it needs tuning, it needs maintenance?” He couldn’t believe it. So, it’s just such a narrow-mindedness, I would call it. V: Yeah. Organists have to do more education. Educating activities, showing for the general audiences how their organ works, how much is needed to maintain it, right? And even organ builders who are left here still active in the country need to open their shops for the society. For the general audience, once in a while. And invite and give tours to show how the pipes are constructed, how they work on new organs or restorations of old instruments. That would be very interesting. A: Yes, it would be. V: Excellent. So we started this conversation with a question from Dan, right? A: And finished it very differently. But anyway, it’s so nice that Dan has listened to our podcasts since the first episode, and that he now wonders about us doing 500 already. V: Yes, this is number 507. So we already passed number 500. By the time you will hear this, guys, we might be recording 520 perhaps. A: Yes, that’s a possibility. But anyway, I think Dan’s idea about soloing out the melody is very appropriate. And if you have larger organ and have possibility to do it, then please do it, because it really works. Of course, the hymn has to be in sort of festival character. It shouldn’t be, you wouldn’t use solo trumpet for, let’s say hymn that is in a soft character V: Yes, because… A: ...or a sorrowful character, because reeds provide festive mood, festive atmosphere. V: Yeah. If you need to solo out a melody on a gentle hymn, then maybe use some kind of principal combination. A: Yes. V: Or maybe flute combination with flutes 8, 4, maybe Tierce or a 5th, or like a cornet. A: Yes. I thought about cornet if you don’t have a trumpet, for example, you can use cornet instead of it. It will sound probably more gentile than trumpet, but would still work really well. V: You mean gentle. A: Yes, gentle. V: Good. 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.
Vidas: Hi guys! This is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 506 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Brendan. And he donated us £10 and we were so surprised when we received his Paypal donation. And I wrote a thank you message to him, and then asked him about his organ playing, too. So he writes, Hi Vidas, Just thought I'd be able to buy you a coffee! You guys put in so much work! My playing is improving - which is good news - but slowly. While I was working regularly, it was hard to practice as I worked away from home. Now that I'm approaching retirement I've space to practice daily. I'm going back through your sight reading material - which is very useful. I've even been able to cover in church services while our regular organist took a couple of short breaks. Might not seem much - but a huge milestone for me! Enjoy the coffee. Best wishes to you both. ~Brendan A: Very nice. We are very grateful. So now, we can go and get some coffee. V: And then work in the garden. A: True. V: Wonderful. You know what fascinated me the most, that he was able to substitute regular church organist for a couple of times. A: It means he is doing progress! V: Yes. It means that he is not panicking when mistakes occur, he can keep going. Not to freeze, doesn’t freeze. A: And it’s nice, because if you can substitute for somebody it means that in time you can take a regular position as a church organist. V: Yeah, for example part time position. Even when you are retired. I know many people do that, and it’s a good supplement. A: True. It goes both ways. You can learn some, you can earn some additional income which is always nice, and you can also have some things to do, which slows down you getting old. V: Yeah, you postpone your aging process by having more interest in the world, and more specifically, in organ music. And this external motivation when you have to show up on the organ bench at church every week or even less often gives you boost in productivity and practice efficiency, because you know many people depend on you. A: Plus, being able to play organ shows that you are also keeping some sort of physical health, because you cannot be completely cripple and still play organ. You still need to sit down on the organ bench, and play pedal, and use both your hands and feet together. V: Yeah, it’s a total body and mind coordination. Good. Do you think, Ausra, it’s a challenge at this age, when he’s approaching retirement, to do this? Because, when he had to work, and he didn’t have time to practice, it was one thing, but now when he has more time to practice, maybe he has even other interests, maybe his other hobbies might take more time than organ playing. A: That’s true. But usually it’s the case that the more you do, the more you can do, and when you do just very few things then you might stop doing anything at all. Because usually busy people do enormous amounts of various things. Don’t you think so? V: Yeah, but they lack sleep. A: I know. But sometimes, when you are thinking, “Oh, I have a free day - I will do this and this and this and that” and finally the day comes, and you do nothing. Have you experienced it? V: Not recently, because I’m always running around like a squirrel with all those activities that I have to do. For some people, my activities might seem very unworthy of attention, right? A: That’s what I thought when you said it. V: (laughs) And that’s why I replied before you commented. I know how you think. A: I know, yes! V: We know each other too well. A: That’s right. V: So anyway, thank you so much, Brendan, for sending us some coffee money, and we really appreciate your support. You’re very generous. And to other people who are supporting us, we really are very grateful 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 505, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Diana. And she writes: I’ve been struggling with fingering the most this week. I didn't have piano lessons, so I don't know when I can cross fingers, how to change positions. V: Do you know Diana, Ausra, from our organ studio? A: Yes, of course I know her. V: Unda Maris. A: Yes. V: And she is very active on Steam, submitting her videos to our Secrets Of Organ Playing Contest, and actually she also everyday shares her organ playing experiences. Basically she is starting to adopt this sharing mentality. And she only started playing the organ last year. But she has some experience with playing violin, but no piano lessons. How can [a] person like this learn fingering? A: Well I would suggest that she would play organ compositions from finger score. That way she could save time and be learning from right fingering. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because it might be too hard for her to do her own fingering yet. Basically when you practice piano, the best notion of right fingering gives to playing scales, chords and arpeggios. V: And I suggested [to] her to basically look at the examples from more experienced organists. So I assigned her to the fingering and pedaling team so that she could transcribe fingering and pedaling for us while looking at my videos recorded above the keyboards. My hands are visible, sometimes even feet, and she can study my own fingering while I’m playing, and transcribe, and get access to Total Organist this way. A: I think that’s a good way of learning, too, when you see master player playing. V: Mmm-hmm. She has already produced, I think, two or three short trios by Lemmens, fingering and pedaling from these videos. And I hope this will be useful to her. A: Excellent. V: So, guys, if you are struggling like Diana with fingering and you don’t have an experience with piano playing scales, arpeggios and chords, you need to study how more experienced organists do, from up close. Obviously you can find some videos on Youtube where other organists are performing and recording from above so that hands are clearly visible. But they are not necessarily practicing. They might play fast, and I strategically sight-read course very slowly so that people can learn. A: Excellent. But I think that she still needs to play skills on the piano because she talks that she doesn’t know when to cross fingers. V: Uh-huh. A: And I think skills really teach you how to do it. Especially when you have to put your thumb under. V: Yeah, it’s just a simple system but you need to learn it. Once you learn it you can apply it to many, many organ pieces. A: That’s right. 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!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas!
Ausra: And Ausra! V: Let’s start episode 495 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Andrés, and I asked him how his organ playing is going these days, and he writes: “Well... unfortunately the organ music is almost dead here in Costa Rica, learning organ playing here is almost impossible. Fortunately I have access to a pipe organ and I give the maintenance but I don't have a teacher who can guide me in organ playing." V: So, Ausra, I think this feedback applies to a lot of people around the world who live in countries where there is not much interest in organ music. A: True! And in general, some how, when I read the name Costa Rica, other things came into my mind. Maybe I’ll tell this funny story, V: Sure A: Because my school of art is desperate for all kinds of foreign relations, and one of the piano teachers has an old Russian friend in Costa Rica who teaches piano there. So she made all this big international relationship with Costa Rica, established it, and she’s so pompous and so proud about it, but it makes me sort of smile all the time, because I don’t think Costa Rica has an old classical music tradition. So, maybe if you would establish relationships with such a country such as an Austria, or Germany, or France, maybe that way you could be so proud and pompous about it. V: Yeah A: Of course, for money, you can get good teachers there as well, but still, I don’t think it’s a country that dictates a fashion of classical music, and of organ music, too. V: Plus it’s a personal relationship. A: Yes, it is. V: Person to person. Exactly. I was thinking about this when Andrés writes that he has a pipe organ. This is a privilege, right? A: Yes, it is, and I think that he is lucky to be living nowadays when there is this great Internet connection with the global world. So, I don’t think it’s a problem getting information nowadays, and studying online. V: He has access to a pipe organ. It’s not the same as owning a pipe organ, of course, but still, if he can use it, it’s very convenient. A: Yes, it is actually! V: And, he mentions pipe organ, not electronic organ, so, it’s a double privilege in my mind. A: True. V: And, as you say, Internet can be a great help. Information is abundant today, and with our Website, with our courses and training programs that we offer through the Total Organist, for example, it’s really possible to advance in your organ playing using nothing else; only online material. A: Yes, and of course, you have other advantages in Costa Rica. I think the country in itself must be very beautiful. V: And it’s relatively well developed! A: Yes, because our principal and some other ….. of the staff from administration went to Costa Rica, pretending also on these deep scientific relations. V: Part of the project. A: Yes, part of the project. So… V: And probably, they had a good time. A: I guess so, yes! Enjoying the nice nature of Costa Rica, the friendly people… V: Yeah, all of us should go there if it’s so nice. A: Yes, maybe you could give some master classes on that pipe organ. V: Yes. A: that Andrés is mentioning. V: Well guys, I think you get the point, that today, of the Internet age, sometimes we even have 5G Internet in some countries already, but in other countries, 5G will come quite soon. So, if you have a lesser quality Internet, not as fast, it’s still fast—much faster than it was in the 19th century, for example. A: True. V: You guys can laugh, but if we think about it, we all have, even the poorest people today, have more resources than the king of France had back in the 18th century. A: I think you are right, actually! V: King of France! Yes. So, if you are reading this or listening to this podcast, you have more resources than the King of France back in the day. A: Yes! I think the trouble is that sometimes people don’t know what to do with these technologies, and they just use them for nonsensical things. V: Yes, cat videos! A: Well… Sometimes maybe you… V: We need them, too… we need to smile sometimes, and laugh. Alright guys, 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 503, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Maureen. And she writes: Vidas and Ausra, My three dreams are these. I would love to be able to play Widor’s Toccata, Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D minor and to be a very good organ player for Mass including the Mass music and hymns. Thank you, Maureen V: What’s the deal with Widor’s Toccata? Why people want to play Widor’s Toccata? A: I guess this is probably the most known organ piece besides Bach’s D Minor Toccata and Fugue. V: But she doesn’t want play Bach’s Toccata in D Minor. She wants to play Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D Minor. Which one? A: I don’t know. I guess she might mean Toccata... V: Toccata, right? A: and Fugue in D minor. Because there is really not such a famous D Minor Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach as his Toccata. V: Mmm-mmm. A: I guess what that might mean maybe people who like these two pieces, it’s okay. It’s sort of common way. V: Imagine what would happen—she will learn to play Widor’s Toccata and Bach’s D Minor Toccata, and become a very good player for Mass including music for Mass and hymns, right? She can play the hymns and everything else that is required for Mass, plus Widor’s Toccata and Bach’s D Minor Prelude and Fugue. So imagine she will play Bach’s D Minor Prelude and Fugue for the beginning and then Widor’s Toccata at the end. And then hymns and other Mass music in the middle. How would that sound? A: Well, after a few Sundays of these I think… V: Right! A: people will get tired. Because even the best piece doesn’t have to be played all the time, over and over again. V: Yeah. I think there is such a variety of organ music, vast variety that people don’t even, not only know about but don’t even, are not aware of them, right? You cannot know if you like those pieces because you even don’t know they exists. A: True, that’s true. And while talking about Widor’s Toccata, well, if you would listen other great French masters, and their toccata’s, such masters and Duruflé, Vierne, well, then might this Widor’s Toccata wouldn’t seem to nice to you. Because, honestly, what I think about for me, it sounds quite primitive. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And the same over and over again. V: True. It’s the most popular organ toccata, obviously, besides D Minor Toccata by Bach, but not the most artistically interesting, I would say. A: True. V: Mulet Carillon Sortie is much more interesting to me. As you say Dureflé’s Toccata is such a fantastic piece. But all of them require at least intermediate organ skills. A: True, and you should know really one thing—when you are picking up and playing the piece that the whole world knows by heart, such as Widor’s Toccata and Bach’s Toccata, you need to be brilliant in it. Otherwise it will be just a filler. V: Yeah, it will be a joke. A: True. Because in our school we have all these, such concerts, its traditional concerts. It takes place each year before Christmas break. It’s called Viva La Musica. And we have big competition because everybody wants to participate in it, and what teachers do, they select very well-known pieces for various instruments. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And I stopped going to that concert because then you are picking up really popular repertoire that everybody knows. You need to do it on the highest level. V: Yeah. I just remember this summer, I think, was one concert at the cathedral where one organist played something really recognizable to general audience, and there were two tourists from Russia. And Russian tourists are generally musically quite… A: Advanced, you mean, yes? V: Yes, advanced, and they have… A: Knowledgable. V: Yes, knowledgable, and they have good taste in music because of Russian music education obviously. A: And organ recitals are very popular in Russia because we don’t have organs in churches, obviously… V: Yes. A: because of the Orthodox of traditions. So they know that this concert repertoire. V: So this organist played the D Minor Toccata, and… A: And she was really sloppy. V: and very, very sloppy. Was it a lady or a man, do you remember? A: A lady. V: Lady. Okay. So then those two tourists left in the middle of the recital. A: True. V: Right? I’m not saying Maureen will play those pieces at the recital, perhaps not yet at least, but if you ever want to play them in church, then consider raising your skill level at least to the intermediate level. Basically before playing Widor’s Toccata, you need to be able to play in public, at the good level, easier toccata’s, like Gigout Toccata, Dubois Toccata, Boellmann’s Toccata. A: That’s right, yes. V: And before playing Bach’s D Minor Toccata and Fugue, consider playing in public at the good level, easier Bach’s free works, easier preludes and fugues. Maybe not even Bach’s, but maybe Eight Little Preludes and Fugues, and progressing through a little bit longer preludes and fugues, 533, 535, maybe Fugue in G minor 578, something like that. And then you might be ready for BWV 565, D Minor Toccata and Fugue. Right? But since Maureen has a dream besides those two big pieces to become a good, very good organ playing for Mass and play hymns, it means that she’s not there yet, right? So she needs to focus first on the hymns and easier organ music which could be played during Mass, as preludes, postludes, offertories and communions. A: True. And by expanding that easier repertoire, she can start to practice some harder organ works. And another thing that struck me, always strikes when people mention Bach’s Toccata in D Minor—it’s so funny because it’s possible that it’s not a Bach’s piece. V: Yes, it is possible. A: Because it’s so bizarre… V: It might be… A: comparing to his other pieces, other toccatas. V: It might be his youthful work, right? His student time work when he was maybe 16 years old. What kind of masterpiece is this? A: I know, so even while comparing Bach with his other works, I don’t think D Minor Toccata is the greatest piece, that… V: Yeah. A: J.S. Bach has written. V: It was made popular from 1940’s, Walt Disney Fantasia, when it was arranged for the organ and performed as a soundtrack of the movie. Hollywood made it famous, so it’s not Bach’s masterpiece that, not Bach’s genius that made it famous. A: I know because when you are thinking about pieces like E Minor Prelude and Fugue which, or Eb Major Prelude and Fugue from Clavierubung Part 3 and other great works, I think it’s, you cannot even compare those. They are so different. V: And Bach would have thought of this piece as a masterpiece. He would surely have... A: Published it. V: preserved and published for future generations, like Clavierubung. And we have Eb Major Prelude and Fugue from this collection. So. And the last thing that is missing from Maureen’s answer to me, I usually ask people about their dream in organ playing and challenges that they have to overcome in order to reach their dream. And she didn’t write anything about the challenges. A: True. V: And that’s what is the most important thing. We might talk for hours, right, about what she needs to do, but we don’t know anything about her. A: Mmm-hmm. V: What’s stopping her? Why she cannot play hymns now? So, guys, please be more—I wouldn’t say more specific, but be more honest, right? And tell us everything that you want to, that you want to say. Tell us everything that you wouldn’t say to anybody else, because we might know your situation then better and be able to recommend some things for you. Otherwise it’s just theoretical talking which may or may not help. 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! |
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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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