Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 385 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Damian and he writes: ” Thanks for today's podcast, I have to admit that everything you talk about works in my case. As far as memory is concerned, usually, I know the words of the first few verses of hymn, and thanks to that I have a little easier in most hymns. Your comments about the divisibility of attention and "disturbances" from other people are very accurate, exactly how I feel. I will try to switch tenor with alto and "free" my left hand sometimes ;) I think we have to try to make it easier to do many things at once. I've made it easier for myself to switch verses on the display. In my church the screen is operated by a laptop, and the verses are switched with the mouse. Right button forward, left back, you can also use the arrows on the laptop keyboard, but it is very uncomfortable. You also have to reach the mouse quite far, and doing it quickly you can confuse the left button with the right, etc. So I constructed a mini-keyboard with two buttons, mounted under the manual, next to the thumb pistons and connected to the USB port of the laptop. Thanks to this, I can switch the verses with my thumb without taking my hands off the keyboard, left or even right hand if it's more comfortable. It definitely made my life easier. Damian” V: Don’t you think Ausra that Damian should patent it and make it available for sale. A: Yes, I think that’s a very good idea. V: Similar tools might be already on the market but there is still room for this tool too I think. A: Sure. Don’t you think it’s so impressive that there are no technologists like this who could have thought about it thirty years ago let’s say. V: Umm-hmm. Thirty years ago probably churches didn’t even have those screens with text. A: Well, we don’t have them in Lithuania yet. It’s not common. V: Right. This is advancement. People are already living in the future and sometimes the future is not as friendly as it seems. For example, a few days ago I was playing a funeral mass for one famous business man who was also a supporter for the arts in Lithuania and at the end of the mass there came a pianist who was preparing to play an accompaniment on our organ tomorrow when the real funeral would take place and I showed her the organ and how to use it a little bit. She isn’t an organist so she needed to write down the stop names, what to choose, and actually curiously she didn’t write down numbers of the stops but exact precise names. That was impressive to me to see. She wrote “Principal 8”, “Salicional 8”, you know like that. A: Not like most of the organists do in Lithuania. They just write numbers and then you don’t know what stops you are actually using. V: So this lady told me that I think in the summer she visited Austria and in Vienna they have this famous St. Stephens cathedral and she went inside and it was a Sunday mass and guess what she heard. She heard not organ music but recorded organ music from recording. A: Well things like this happen in the Stephansdom as it’s called. You know I always thought that Austria is sort of a heart for classic music. V: Exactly. We know that orchestral masses by Haydn and Mozart are performed regularly there, at least on Sundays, but it was sort of disturbing to know that situation with recordings could be done in public. A: Well I have known things like this have happened in Lithuania but maybe not during mass but during for example wedding ceremonies and many years ago I heard about one of our acquaintances went to perform I think to small town called Kretinga and that’s what she saw when she went upstairs to the organ balcony and there was the wedding ceremony and the local organist was not playing but when she had to play she would just push the button and the recording would play. V: Umm-hmm. People make their lives easier this way. A: I think it’s ridiculous. V: It is, absolutely. A: Although you know in some cases for example when we were back studying in Michigan and I was playing in Christian Scientist Church in Ypsilanti which after that bankrupted. But we would have two services, one on Sunday which I was playing and one I think on Thursday nights, evening service, and they wouldn’t hire organist to accompany for that service so they just bought CDs with all Christian Scientist hymnal recorded and they would play hymn recordings. V: Because they couldn’t afford to hire you on every occasion they needed it. A: Sure. Because the congregation was so small I don’t know if they would get 20 people on Sundays. V: Umm-hmm. A: And then they were already bankrupted and they were selling the church and I think they waited another month or two until I graduated and I think that was extremely nice that they did it for me. V: And only after that they went bankrupt. A: Sure and shut the church down. It was really nice. V: Do you know what became of the organ? A: I’m not sure but it was quite a nice electromechanical organ. It had some really nice string stops but it was funny because the console was put in a tiny room but pipes were upstairs and were covered so you could actually not see them at all. V: It was hidden. A: Yes. V: Umm-hmm. I guess Damian’s idea about technology inspired us to talk about what technology dark side is sometimes. What kind of replacement to the real organ music can be when they have not enough funds. I have a suggestion but you were almost making a comment, right? A: Yes, I just wanted to comment that now some of world famous orchestras will not buy new scores but will just play from a tablet so I don’t know if it is good or not but that’s the thing that now a new tendency to do it. It saves trees, of course. V: Umm-hmm. But it eats up electricity. A: Sure and they think it is not so good for your eyes, your vision. V: You know there is this digital ink which is OK for your eyes. It doesn’t have this constant refreshment of data on your screen therefore your eyes won’t be tired too much. There is not glare like on the phones or on the laptops. I’m talking about Kindle for example. But tablets sometimes have this defensive shield against glare too which is good for your eyes. I guess technology can solve many problems too. So I had just one final advice for churches that don’t have budget enough to hire good organist to play hymns or organ music. I have suggestion for them to choose a volunteer from their own part and this volunteer might teach himself or herself how to play the organ and play for them at minimum a few hymns, maybe not all 4 parts for starters but maybe the soprano and the bass just like we are teaching beginners who are starting to play in churches and maybe better music will attract more people to the church and they will be able to afford later to pay. What do you think about that Ausra? A: Yes, I think that’s a good idea. V: It’s at least doing something other than pushing the button and playing the recording. A: That’s right. V: Trying to improve the situation. OK guys, thanks for listening, we hope this was useful to you and please keep sending your wonderful 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 382 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast and this question was send by Hanna and she writes: “Dear Vidas, I started with the Virtuoso pedal course. It took me 30 minutes to do the 10 reps each and was very hard for me with my short legs. After struggling for a few months, unfaithful practicing, I decided to switch to this course (Organ Playing Master Course Level 1) because it was easier. Interestingly, the Virtuoso 30 minute exercise had an effect on my brain. It was like my brain had been formatted after I practiced. I am 69 ½ years old, female, struggle with short-term memory loss to some degree. But after this rigorous organ practice in the morning, for the rest of the day I could remember things in order and functioned with much more calmness. Sadly, I don't get this effect from the master class. I am out of state babysitting for my daughter for the next 10 days. But I am resolving to do both when I get back home. Work on this beginner one to get the scales down better in my mind, then challenge myself to do the virtuoso. I might do the easy one in the evening, and the virtuoso in the morning when I'm fresh and need to format my brain. Thank you for the challenge and this unexpected health benefit. -Hanna” V: Well Ausra what do you say? A: Well it’s amazing how organ can help you to improve your life, but actually I wasn’t really surprised by what I read in this letter, in Hanna’s letter because let’s say I know it from myself that playing organ is very beneficial for people that have neurodegenerative diseases. This is the right way to say it because it’s when you are playing with your hands and your feet it means that you coordinate things in your body and it means that your brain needs to work too and I think that it slows down all kinds of bad diseases and keeps you going. V: It’s in a way it’s like physical / mental therapy too. A: Yes. I think it’s very, very beneficial. V: Because it’s all body experience, body and mind experience. A: Of course, in cases like this when you have certain medical issue you need to find what works for you and what does not. V: Umm-hmm. A: Maybe not all kinds of practicing will help you but I’m sure that you will find something that works for you. V: And a good thing that Hanna can easily switch between the easy and challenging courses because in our Total Organist group and you can easily pick and choose what works for you. We have organ repertoire, we have courses with exercises and some people like those, some people like repertoire, some people like improvisation, everything is different here and we cannot force everyone to do just one thing according to their level, right? It’s the taste that matters too and the choices and the goals and dreams that matters. Some people like hymn playing, right? A: True, I like to do that myself. V: Umm-hmm. A: Sometimes when we came back from the United States we brought with us a few hymnals. V: Yeah. A: And sometimes that what I do. I just put a hymnal on the organ and sight-read hymns. V: I sometimes put the hymnal in front of me and put the melody in pedals, pedals in the soprano, and alto in the tenor, tenor in the alto… A: Yeah, you are very creative and you like to improvise but sometimes I not such an imaginative person so sometimes I just play straight through the hymns and it’s very refreshing. V: And calms you down, right? A: Yes, true because I think that music affects people in a positive way and because when we sit on the organ bench we play, perform music it has that sort of positive affection but also you have to move because as we talked before, you have to move your hands and feet and I think it’s a very good thing. V: Umm-hmm. It’s wonderful. You know people of all ages can listen to organ music and sometimes younger generations don’t like to do that because they think organ is a thing of the past and they are forward looking but sometimes there are young people who get hooked with the organ too but for senior people it’s very refreshing to listen to the organ music but organists have another privilege, they sit and play and actively participate in the music making which it’s much more immersing experience than just listening to the organ music I would say. A: Yes, but definitely playing organ and in general making music I think makes you feel better and live longer and healthier. I have heard stories that even very old people in the retirement home that they cannot remember their name even or have such a great dementia that they can still sit at the piano and play some tunes from their childhood. V: Right. A: It’s unbelievable how the human brain works. V: I remember when Dr. Faulkner and Dr. Ritchie took us, entire organ studio I think, to one of their retirement homes near Lincoln. A: Not Ritchie and not Faulkner took us there. We went there with our music director from our church. V: Sarah Schott. A: Yes, so we were performing a recital for the elderly people. V: Uh-huh. I think that was a very moving experience. A: Yes and some of those old ladies were so excited and thanked us and we told that we are returning back to Lithuania in a month or so because I think this was the very end of our Doctoral studies. V: Um-hmm. A: And they were so upset and said “Oh no, we need you here” and actually that retirement home had that very beautiful Bedient organ in the chapel and it was very nice to play. V: French style two-manual instrument. A: Yes, very, very nice. V: Wonderful experience for everyone involved, from us who played and obviously for listeners who attended the event. As Ausra says “they might not remember even what they ate for breakfast but they have those long-term memories from their childhood perhaps, the hymns that they want to sing or love to sing, and when they recognize the tune someplace then it has a wonderful effect I think.” It eases their experiences in the retirement home when maybe they feel they are neglected perhaps, they don’t have anything to do and that’s why its so important when you are reaching retirement age to find as much to do as possible, volunteering work, work with your hobbies, when you no longer need to go to work sometimes people feel like empty, like your life is finished, but it’s simply not true. A: That’s right. Nothing is finished until you are really dead. V: It’s not over until it’s over. A: That’s right. So keep going, keep practicing. V: And thanks so much for sending those wonderful 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 383, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. And this question was sent by Gena, who is our Total Organist student. And, she wrote in the Basecamp communication channel as a reply to the question, ‘What are you struggling with the most this week?’ And she wrote: Forcing myself to practice slowly to be very accurate V: And then, she received a few comments, obviously because our students are writing there too. For example Dianne wrote: This is my biggest struggle too, week in and week out. It is so hard for me not to want to rush ahead. Still working on my patience! V: And Jay wrote: I agree too. I think I could learn some things quicker if I could be more consistent in slow practice. I’m glad I’m not the only one struggling with this. V: And Jeremy wrote: The struggle is real. Keep being persistent. V: And I wrote Even after 25+ years of playing the organ, I have to be careful with this too. Don't worry! Slow down 50 percent and you will be fine. It's easier than it sounds. V: And Ausra said later? (Laughs). Okay! Ausra, could you add your comment now? A: Well, it’s a very common struggle for many musicians. Think about your childhood. I can guarantee that if you took piano lessons when you were a child, your teacher told you to practice slowly. V: Mmm-hmm. A: But did you do that? I’m almost guaranteed that you did not follow his or her advice. Because that’s a human nature—we want to get things as fast as we could. V: Because if you did, you would never need our advice, by that time. A: That’s right. So it’s a common human nature, to rush things through. V: Mmm-hmm. We need instant gratification. Not need, but maybe want. A: For example, most of the teachers tell you that you need to play the hard spots first, and don’t play everything from the beginning to the end, and you don’t need to rush in the tempo, and be mindful, but who listens to your teacher. Maybe some but I guess that not too many. V: And it takes me to the idea that everybody needs to make their own mistakes and learn from their own mistakes, not from mistakes of others, right? Of course it would be wise to learn from others mistakes but that’s human nature. A: I think this psychology of human nature—we think that if we will play things fast, we will learn faster, but that’s actually quite an opposite effect. Because you need to internalize that the slower you practice, the better results will be at the end. V: And talking about Gena—she needs to ask herself, ‘what is forcing her to practice faster than needed’, right? What keeps her from practicing slowly? There is some kind of maybe stress or something—anxiety. A: Well, this might be one of the issue, but there might be that maybe she doesn’t have enough time and, if you don’t have enough time to practice everything slowly, just work on one piece or on one episode, at that practice session. You don’t have to play everything at once. V: I can imagine if, for example Gena has planned a recital, or a few recitals in a row, and they’re approaching faster than she wanted to, and she feels those deadlines, and that is very stressful, and when she gets on the organ bench, this stress level arises and she feels the need of speeding up, maybe practicing everything. If that’s the case, I think there is an issue with planning. A: True. And also I thought that all the people might be divided into four groups of different characters. V: Oh, okay. Interesting. A: I think everybody knows that. V: Okay. What group would I belong to? A: Well, I think you know. V: I don’t know exactly what you mean, so there are many groups in my mind. A: Well, but two groups are, lets say faster and two groups are slower. V: Uh-huh. So I’m faster, right? A: No, I think you are slower. V: Uhhhh. Okay. A: So if you belong to those faster group people… V: Mmm-hmm. A: It might be harder for you to play… V; Oh, I see. A: in slow tempo too. And you don’t have patience to... V: Uh-huh. A: do slow practice. But in such a case, you need to overcome yourself. V: Can you change your own nature? A: Well, you cannot I think change it completely but you can, well, a little bit influence, you nature... V: Or I would… A: As a mature adult. V: I would say you could learn to live with the strengths of your nature and ignore the weaknesses, right? Develop the strengths of your own character that for example, if I’m a slow person, I have the strengths of that character and weaknesses of the same character too, so I could develop the strengths more, like maybe calmness, maybe stability, right, that would be my strength. And weaknesses would get in the way less then, I would say. And for quicker people, this might be the opposite. For example, what your strong points will be, Ausra. A: That I do things quick. V: Quick. Exactly. And you can develop that even further by doing them quicker, even quicker. No probably… A: No. I need to do them slower. V: Slower… A: And to be calmer. V: Ah. But what gives you pleasure, when you for example, practice the organ—faster or slower, tempi? A: Well, that’s a good question. When I was young, I think faster tempo gave me more pleasure. But now just the age—I think I’m slowing down. V: When you were young and beautiful. A: That’s right. V: And now you’re only beautiful. A: If you say so. V: (Laughs). Okay A: Look guys, what I have to… V: Put up with. A: Put up with, yes. V: Am I beautiful too? A: Yes. V: Am I young? A: Definitely. V: Forever young. Excellent. So I’m really am glad that the people are supporting each other in our Total Organist Community, and have the way to interact with each other through Basecamp. And just when I think about it, I had an idea that maybe people from not Total Organist Community in general, but from our Secrets Of Organ Playing Community, right? People who don’t belong to Total Organist sometimes write letters to us and in response to the questions that other people send to us, and they want us to sent their answers to these people, so we are like mediators of this conversation, being in the middle. And sometimes it’s really inefficient. Ausra, do you think that having a way to communicate as a community of Secrets of Organ Playing would be better, like a group chat? I’m thinking about Telegram for example? A: Well, sometimes yes, I think it would be beneficial to have that direct contact… V: Mmm-hmm. A: with people. V: Because emails are quite limiting in direction, right? You can easily communicate with one person, or two, right? But as a group, it slows things down. So let us know if this initiative would be appealing to you. Would you be willing to join our, for example, communication channel on Telegram? Telegram is a desktop and phone app that works very fast and it has encrypted messaging services, and your messages are secure, and stay on your device, right? They’re not stored anywhere else. And it’s very quick. People from around the world can join in conversation. Okay, thank you guys. We hope this was useful to you. Please keep sending us your wonderful 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 380 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by John, and he writes: Hi Vidas, Thanks so much for the podcast and chat today, you are incredibly inspiring! I feel so motivated after that chat. As we discussed, I really want to go to the next level with my organ playing, but you are right this needs to be part of a balanced lifestyle, I have a full time job, I play hockey plus training, and Eliza and two young boys to care for and a new baby on the way, my family is top priority. Could you please discuss this with Ausra, and give me your advice? It could be a podcast discussion if you want, I don’t mind the general questions being discussed publicly. I would like to write up a practice plan for say 60 minutes a day Monday to Friday, and maybe 90 minutes on Saturday & Sunday. To summarise how I feel: I think I’ve hit a wall of being able to self diagnose what I’m doing wrong. I have done well so far to be aware of what I’m doing, and ask you the right questions to get your help, and then correct it. But right now I don’t know what I don’t know if that makes sense. I don’t know of a ‘better’ way of doing things. For example, sometimes my choice of fingering isn’t good, but I don’t really know what the rules are, or what other options I have. The older retired organist has been helpful, but his communication style isn’t great, he is quite dry and uninspiring, and we have a lot of arguments over historical fingering and pedalling. And although he is retired he only seems to be available about once per month for 1 hour. Do I need a local teacher? Or should I go to a teacher in Melbourne once a month? (Cost is around $50-80 per lesson, plus 4 hours of my travel time). Do you think my progress studying with you online is satisfactory and just keep going this way? Personally I trust you guys so much because you have helped me with every problem. Other organ teachers might be dry and boring too. I don’t know what I should do next, but I think it’s something like: Rebuild foundation of finger technique (start with Hanon exercises, but what else??) Work on improving focus / staying in the moment / get in the zone and stay in the zone from the start to the finish of the piece. Breathing and phrasing of music. I have the book “The Organists’ Manual” by Roger Davis, should I be working through this at my own pace or follow a teacher? Understand why I am so slow at learning new pieces, and improve. My sight reading is poor, I might start on another 30 day challenge of sight reading a hymn each day. Broaden repertoire, I need some help with deciding what to play next. I would like play pieces I enjoy if possible, and pieces I can play in public that will engage and inspire audiences). I’m thinking Suite Gothique by Boellman, Fanfare for the Common Man by Lemmens, O Mensch BWV 622 by Bach, maybe Bach’s Little Fugue in G minor BWV 578 or the Prelude and Fugue in C Major BWV 531? I have started on Hanon, at the moment I have been doing exercises 1-10, repeating each one four times, but this is taking me 40 minutes, which doesn’t leave much time for anything else, and sometimes I struggle to focus the whole way without going into autopilot and messing it up or not doing it properly/precisely. And I haven’t done any scales or arpeggios yet. Maybe I could do: 5 mins sight reading for warm up 25 mins Hanon 15 mins learning hymns for church services 15 mins learning organ solo repertoire Extras: music theory and harmony? Improvisation? Scales/arpeggios? Pedal scales? I like the idea of submitting videos to you as part of the organ competition, as I feel I really need some more specific help and critiquing, and I want you to feel free to tell me how I can do better and what to work on. I really need some specific instructions not just a general idea. Thanks again so much for your time, and for being such wonderful friends and mentors! Take care, God bless John... V: This is something that I really enjoy that people do. You see, Ausra, how John not only asks us for advice, but he is also thinking about his own plan, and lists some choices of possibilities, and we can say whether this works or not this way. Otherwise, if we prescribe some medicine for him and he just follows it blindly, then he will never learn to plan for himself. And if he does like he is doing today, he’s writing a plan for us, and maybe we’ll adjust this plan here and there, if we think we need to do so, then he’s already on the way to becoming independent, and I think that should be his goal. A: Sure! And I think this plan that he made: 5 minutes for sight reading warm-up, 25 minutes for Hanon, and so on and so forth, actually sounds for me like a good plan. Because, what I noticed from his performances from his DVD is that right now, what he needs the most is to strengthen his finger muscles, you know, to strengthen his finger independence. And, I think that the Hanon exercises and the general playing exercises will help him a lot. V: And do you think that 5 minutes of sight reading, 25 mintues of Hanon, 15 minutes of hymns, and 15 minutes of repertoire is a good plan for weekdays? A: Yes, I think it’s a good plan for weekdays, and I think then, on weekends, when he can practice more, he could, you know, that last section of playing and learning solo repertoire, could expand that. V: Or learning extras, like learning music theory, harmony, improvisation… A: Yes. But I think that building up the technique is crucial right now, because even when you are 80 years old, you can still be able to work on music theory and harmony, but building up the finger technique is crucial, because the sooner you do it, the easier it gets. So, I would not suggest for him to go to Melbourne right now, to take lessons with somebody, because if it would take him an hour to go back and forth, then I would say, “Of course, do that.” It would be very beneficial. But now, it would take just too much time! V: An entire day! A: I think it’s much better to spend that time at home, practicing. V: Yes! Imagine what he could achieve once a month if he practiced for the time that he has to commute to Melbourne—several hours. Obviously, it doesn’t make sense. Four hours of his travel time is not worth it, I think. A: I know, it’s much preferable to spend that time practicing. V: And, plus, it’s a $50-$80 investment per lesson. I’m not saying the investment isn’t wise, you get what you put, right? If you put some money up front, you get much more, because you value your hard earned money, and then you try to take the teachers advice much more seriously. That’s why people who subscribe to our Total Organist course tend to progress much faster, because they have invested their own money! A: That’s right. V: Whereas others rely on free advice, and that doesn’t necessarily give them the strength of will to persevere every day, because they always can feel, “Oh, I can make it up tomorrow,” because it’s free. But when you are paying, you strive to do the best you can every day, because it’s your money! You need the results! You’re paying for results, basically. Not for our time or anything. But you need results. So the same is with John. I think he could improve so much while learning those pieces that he lists. All of those are wonderful! He needs to play a diverse repertoire, basically. He needs to learn legato playing, which is Romantic music and Modern music, and also Baroque articulation, which is Bach and other composers of that day, and maybe earlier, too. So, what he lists, “Suite Gothique” by Boëllmann is wonderful! “Fanfare” by Lemmens, and then Chorales and Fugues and Preludes by Bach, wonderful! They are not too easy, but not too difficult at his level. A: That’s right! I think they are quite well fitted for him at this stage of his learning. V: Do you think, Ausra, that he might supplement his menu with some modern music, as well? Not only Romantic, but Modern? Or not necessarily, at this time. A: Well, each of us has his own… V: Preference? A: …connection with the Modern music, so… Somebody loves it, somebody hates it, so I don’t know what John feels about contemporary music, so, I cannot really tell. V: And probably, he’s not into it as much, because he never really played it, right? Never displayed interest, I think. More of a Romantic and especially English Romantic. A: True. V: It doesn’t hurt to have variety, but with the limited time that he has, maybe he can do it later. A: Sure! V: It doesn’t matter actually. Whatever he decides is fine. And in general, whatever plan you have, don’t look for us for salvation. We’re not gods, and we don’t know everything, but if you think that you need 5 minutes of sight reading, or 10 minutes of sight reading, or 1 hour of sight reading, if it’s your passion, go for it and stick with it for a month, or 2, or 3, or a year, and you will see results this way, too! A: True, because it’s the same when people realize that, “Oh, I need to exercise. From this day on, I will continue doing my physical activities.” And then, they will make this unrealistic plan, and let’s say that they will be running every day for let’s say and hour, and then they will do whatever. And they cannot keep to that plan because it’s unrealistic. So whatever you choose to do, it needs to fit your general lifestyle and your life plan—your schedule. Because the most important thing is that whatever you do, you do it on a daily basis. V: Exactly. Exactly, Ausra! This is very well put. And, just look how many things I have dropped—many physical routines didn’t stick with me. But, I’m doing those pullups now, since last summer, every day. And at first, I couldn’t do even 1, but now I can do 11! It only takes me...what...1 minute to do? A: More than that. V: More, a little bit, yes? But I do it every day, maybe in the morning before breakfast so that my stomach isn’t full. Maybe I could do more, other exercises, stretching, of course I could do more. But if I feel like I’m overextending myself with too much training, I might just quit! And now, with this short pull-up routine, I know I can do it, even on a rainy day. A: Well, of course, practicing organ will take more time than doing 10 pull-ups, but still… V: Yes, at least 15 minutes a day. That’s our rule. And even the busiest person in the world, I think, can sacrifice something that they would find 15 minutes a day. Because, if you don’t have enough time in your day, what’s the rule? You should have enough money, because you are working, working, working. But if you don’t have enough money, and you don’t have enough time, that means that somebody is abusing your time and energy. You have to think about your priorities. Ok, thank you guys, this was Vidas! A: And Ausra! V: Please keep sending 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 379 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast and this question was sent by Ariane and she writes: “I have been working on chord progressions in F Major and tried to find the right chords for hymns in the same key. I need to recognize the patterns, so rather than playing the progressions in all sorts of keys I try to stick to one at a time.” V: Wow Ausra, it’s so nice people are actually practicing harmony exercises. A: Yes, that’s so rare. V: Umm-hmm. A: But to be honest I’ve not quite comprehended this question. Could you explain it to me how you understood it? V: Yes. It doesn’t mean that I am understanding it correctly but I will try. So let’s say Ariane is working on hymns, right? And she needs to understand the chords that are built for the hymns. Maybe she even wants to harmonize those hymns. So she practices chord progressions in F Major because a particular hymn that she is working on is written in F Major and she then takes some of those chords from the progressions in F Majors and applies to the hymns in the same key. So she needs to recognize the patterns basically and stick to one key. Does that make sense? A: Well, yes and no. V: What does make sense, Ausra? A: That she tries something from F Major to apply to F Major of a different melody in F Major is what you are trying to say. V: Yes, yes, exactly. It’s a long way that she’s taking, right? A: I don’t think that’s the right way to the harmony and to learn things because it doesn’t make sense to me. V: It reminds me of how I was approaching improvisation actually at first when I was studying Jan Peeterszoon Sweelinck’s treatise on counterpoint and composition. It’s called Composition's Regeln and it was notated or written down by his students. I believe it was Weckmann and Reincken and maybe even Jacob Praetorius who joined in writing them down but basically those rules come from Sweelinck. And at the time I was so fascinated by this polyphonic writing and this treatise that I thought if I for example take a piece by Scheidemann, which is in a similar style, right? And I deconstruct the motives and fragments and memorize and transpose them into different keys that I would be able to recreate Scheidemann’s style on my own hymn tunes or chorale melodies and remember I did this lecture-recital when I played 4 or 5 versets based on one Lutheran chorale and my patterns and polyphonic texture was entirely based on Scheidemann’s works. Did that work Ausra? A: Well I think it worked for that occasion. But I still don’t think this is the right way to learn improvisation, to learn harmony. V: Right, because if I understand correctly Ariane also for example tries to recognize the patterns from chord progressions, take those patterns and apply to F Major hymns, right? A: Well if you would learn keyboard for once you wouldn’t have to do that. V: Uhh-huh. A: Because if you would learn certain patterns you could apply it to any given key. V: Exactly. What I didn’t understand at the time when I was trying to teach myself improvisation was that this treatise teaches me how to think in musical ideas, take a motive and how to develop it, take a polyphonic texture and how to compose it or improvise it so it sounds convincing in that particular style. It teaches people how to think in musical ideas, right? It doesn’t teach us how to imitate the same thing but to think basically, to work with our brains. The same thing I believe happens with harmony. When we teach people how to harmonize first of all they play progressions and we don’t require them to memorize those progressions in a way that they won’t understand what is going on but basically for themselves they will be able to think in musical terms and figure out other chords that fit that particular hymn. Does it make sense? A: Yes, it makes sense. V: It’s not an automatic way, you have to think about it but I think it’s much faster and more musically pleasing too. A: I think so too, yes. V: And you are not stuck to one particular pattern or progression that you know. You can come up with 10 or 20 or more different patterns on the spot. Whatever comes in front of you, you can react, right? A: Yes, that’s true. V: It’s sort of free thinking in musical ideas which is much more applicable to real life situations when Ariane needs to harmonize a real hymn tune or a chorale. OK. Do you think this idea will help Ariane and others? A: Yes I hope so. V: So guys please keep sending us your wonderful questions, we love helping you grow and remember when you practice… A: Miracles happen.
Before we go to the podcast for today, I'd like to remind our listeners that there are less than 24 hours left to participate in Secrets of Organ Playing Contest Week 3. The details are here.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 378, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. And this question was sent by May. And, May writes: I was working on BWV 605 and BWV 613 yesterday. I find it quite challenging to bring out the melody of BWV 613 and other similar compositions by Bach in the Orgelbüchlein (for example, BWV 606, 623, 630 etc). V: So Ausra, we have just checked what those pieces are, right? And it appears that they all have some things in common. A: Sure! They all have quite a thick texture. Most of them are written for organo pleno registration, and are played on one manual with the pedals. And usually the cantus firmus or the choral tune is in the soprano, but it’s not alone on the soprano clef. V: Mmm-hmm. Not to be played on a separate manual? A: That’s right. It’s not like ornamented choral, for example, like Schmucke Dich or something like this. Well, since in organ, we doesn’t have the capability of playing louder and softer on the same manual at the same time, unless it’s divided keyboard but it’s another matter completely. It’s not a piano but you could sort of put more emphasis on that solo voice—upper voice. So what can we do actually to articulate everything as it should be? And since in most of these cases that the hymn melody is written in a longer note value, and in the upper voice, you will still be able to hear it. And there is no other way to project it, only to articulate everything and listen to that upper voice... V: Mmm-hmm. A: Maybe try to sing it. Because we listen from recording. Obviously it’s not so profound as in the, let’s say ornamented choral version, but you can still hear it quite clearly. V: Mmm-mmm. And the way this constructed is that the lower three voices basically talk to each other, imitate themselves, based on one particular figure, and that figure could be based on some rhetorical symbol, or on the choral motive, from the choral, from the excerpt of the choral. And so the bottom three voices—sometimes the inner two voices, like alto and tenor—imitate themselves, and the pedals have something else because they usually are moving in slower note values. But not always. Sometimes all three parts in the bottom, they imitate themselves while soprano plays the tune in larger note values. And from time to time, joins in imitations with the lower three parts too. A: So I guess that cantus firmus might not be heard as good as it should, if you will not articulate other voices, that have smaller note values. V: Mmm-hmm. A: This is very important. Because if you will play everything legato, or almost legato, then yes, definitely will not be able to hear the melody. V: Mmm-hmm. So just observe the general rules of baroque articulation, which we call articulate legato… A: Or ornamented touch, probably, too. V: Yes. This is how it was called back in the day. And what we mean probably is to try to play the top notes with one finger—top melody with one finger—as legato as possible, but not connected, obviously, and not to choppy. Make it sing. And then, imitate the same thing, same articulation with normal fingering, with fingers that you use in the piece. And then you will have ideal articulation, and this is how you will bring out the melody. A: Yes, and don’t forget that rules that you are applying for top voice, you need to apply for other voices as well. V: Yes. Sometimes we observe our students make this mistake—that they pay attention to the soprano only, and middle voices and even the pedals get slurred to much. A: And that way you will really lose the sense of the melody. V: And the best way I know to solve this problem, is probably to start working on solo voices first, not jumping to four part texture right away. Start practicing soprano, alto, tenor and pedals separately, and then work on two part combinations, once you are ready. And then three part combinations after that. And after fourteen combinations you will have reached the level when you can play all four parts correctly with desired articulation and understanding what’s going on in the middle parts as well. A: That’s right! V: Great question, right, that May sends. And 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!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas
Ausra: And Ausra Vidas: Let’s start episode 374 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Ariane, and she writes: I am only in my first week, but what I like already is the fact that I have some sort of schedule which I can work along. Practicing seems more focused and also, I feel part of something. I certainly haven't regretted joining! Thank you. V: Ausra, why do you think Ariane feels that way about having Total Organist subscription? A: I think it’s very important to feel a part of something—of a group, or people having the same goal. V: Not to be alone. A: True. I think it gives greater motivation to anybody. V: Do you think our Basecamp communication channel has something to do with it? A: Of course, yes! V: And people get asked those questions at the end of the day. “What have you been working on today?” And they can respond, and moreover, they can read others’ answers—answers by other students from the same group—which is very motivating and empowering. To me, it’s really like a forming of a small community within the Secrets of Organ Playing larger community that we get questions from, several thousands of people. But here, this unique group of individuals who are rather tightly connected because they are taking the same courses, practicing the same pieces in many instances, and largely having the same goals, too. A: Do you think it is possible for a person to achieve his or her goal without being in a group, without any support? V: Certainly, I believe it’s possible, but it will probably take ten times as much energy to do this, and motivation, which has to come from within a person. When nobody is helping you grow, nobody is taking you by the hand, then you have to find this inner strength. Right, Ausra? A: True. V: Would you, Ausra, play the organ if nobody else were applauding you after the concert? You might actually play the organ, but at the beginning, when you just started 25 years ago or so, would you do it? A: Well, I don’t know, but nobody was applauding my playing at first. V: Well, of course, it’s Lithuania, and people are not so supportive. What was your beginnings? A feeling? A: Well, it was hard. It was a hard job. Hard, heavy work. V: Without recognition and support. A: True. V: How did your teacher support you? A: Well, not very well, actually. V: The situation with professors and teachers in general in Europe is different from, let’s say, America, right? A: True. V: They tend to motivate you with a stick, rather than with a carrot. A: Would a Carrot motivate you to practice more? Or do you mean candy! V: Carrot! Carrots are… well, if I am a bunny. A: Well, are you our bunny? V: That’s the question! A: But yes, I think this European system is very demotivating for myself, because I’m not that kind of person that if somebody will beat me that I will do things better. Rather, the opposite. I won’t do anything then. But if somebody will give me a candy or say a nice word, then I do ten times more. V: So, the fact that you are still practicing after 25 or more years means that somebody is giving you candy. A: Yes. V: Literal or not literal candy. What kind of rewards are you getting today from playing the organ? A: Well, it’s a very complex question. Certainly I’m not doing it because of getting a candy from somebody. I’m doing it for myself, basically. Organ in itself is good enough motivation for me, now. V: And obviously, that’s the kind of question that professionals would answer like you. They don’t need external motivation for the most part, but obviously, applause and a feeling of exhilaration after a recital gives you another boost of willingness to practice even more. To plan ahead for your next recital and next recital—to choose the music and sit down on the organ bench. Right? A: Yes, I think that’s how a reward works. V: What about me? A: What about you? V: Yes! Ask me! A: So, how do you feel about it? V: Well, when I first started playing the organ, it was kind of interesting. My former...the first teacher that I had in Klaipėda, called me on the phone and asked me if I wanted to start playing the organ, taking lessons with her at school, with hopes of applying to the Lithuanian Academy of Music in a few years. And, even with the prospect of studying with the famous professor, Leopoldas Digrys! And of course, Digrys’ name was very well known to me—I mean… even to me! Because I was little, but still my mom used to go to his recitals in Vilnius when she was studying art, when she was a student at the institute of fine arts. So, of course, she was very happy that I chose organ lessons. And then, of course, the reality was a little bit different when I started studying with Digrys. He was very strict and his students were afraid of him, actually. Today, I’m continuing to practice like you, probably, because organ in itself is a wonderful instrument, and gives me pleasure and joy. It’s like self expression; if I’m not playing something everyday, I don’t feel well. I have to play at least something, create something on the organ, at least improvise. Then I know that my day isn’t wasted. A: Nice. V: Right. So, for Ariane, who is just joining our Total Organist community, it’s obviously important to get this feedback and motivation from the group, and from us, and feel like she belongs to a higher cause. Not like she’s practicing for herself, but she sort of has this passion, and actually a purpose. Without a purpose, it’s a very temporary hobby. A: Yes, I think you always need to see a purpose and to have your goal. V: Because when you don’t have a purpose, and it’s just a passion of yours, then the passion will probably fade as soon as you get the first roadblock. A: Yes, that’s how many people will not finish up what they have started. V: Right. Thank you guys, we hope this was useful to you. Please think about your purpose when you are playing the organ—the “why.” Why are you playing the organ? And this “why” will help you continue through the hard times. Keep sending your wonderful questions to us. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas
Ausra: And Ausra Vidas: Let’s start episode 371 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Lorelei, and she writes about Basecamp: I logged onto basecamp. When did that start? I don't understand. How does this help me? I'm not sure how to use it... V: Well, Ausra, for starters, let’s define Basecamp. Basecamp is a project management platform that we’ve been using for the Total Organist community since, I think, last August. And the reason we started to use it, together with our regular training materials, is because it helps people to communicate with each other, and for us to communicate with them, and with this tool, we can all grow together much faster. Do you know what I mean? A: Yes, and it’s easier to communicate in such a way, because if people have questions, problems, or something to share, that’s what we do on Basecamp. V: So, if Lorelei logged onto Basecamp, she probably would see something like the Home dashboard, and she is on the team of Total Organist. We add subscribers to the Total Organist program into this team, and here you will see a Message Board, ToDo list, Schedule, Campfire, Automatic Questions, and Docs and Files—all those lists. So, we use Message Board, we use Campfire, and we use sometimes Docs and Files for other purposes, and Automatic Questions, also. So what Message Board does is we could make announcements. Or other people can make announcements. For example, Mic just wrote about Melodic Dictation videos missing. He didn’t find those videos in the Melodic Dictation course and he wanted to ask us this question. Of course, this kind of question can be asked in the Campfire as a chat, but it doesn’t matter. The Message Board is great, too. For example, on the Message Board, we also put an announcement when we were ready to go to London to play at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, so that everybody in our community would know that for a few days we will be gone, and we will not know if we can respond to their questions on time, very soon. It turned out we had WiFi in the hotel and everything was fine. On the Message Board, you can also see Total Organist Training materials. This file is a sort of a backup from the Total Organist Website. If you log into Total Organist and want to download some score to practice, or subscribe to some training program, you can use the Total Organist Website, but you can also use our Message Board materials for Total Organist training materials as well. It’s like a backup file for those who have trouble, for example, logging into Total Organist. How does it sound so far, Ausra? A: So basically, this platform is created to make things easier for you. Easier to find, easier to connect with us, and easier to communicate between yourselves, because as we have talked before, that sometimes people who are at the beginning or intermediate level might help other people who are at the same level even better than we are. So, sort of a helpful tool for you to communicate between yourselves. V: Exactly. For example, there is this chat….basically column, and you can actually write any type of question or feedback there to me, or to any people there on our community. It’s really great, it’s like instant messaging within our group. Short messages are delivered right away, and you get notified. Concerning notification, you can specify how you would like to receive those notifications, because some students wrote to me that their email inboxes are overflowing with notifications, because people are messaging and giving feedback, asking questions, and everybody is being notified by email. And, I understand that, because SPAM is not okay. And here is the thing… you can adjust when, if, and how you want to be notified in Basecamp under menu item, “Me.” You just find “Me,” your own settings, basically, and you can adjust. For example, I don’t like to be notified right away; I only am notified once a day in my email inbox. But whenever I open the application of Basecamp on my phone, I have those unread messages, also, notified, so that I won’t miss what happened overnight, for example. I hope this helps. Do you think, Ausra, this is helpful? A: I think so, yes. V: Another thing about the Total Organist community on Basecamp is automatic check-in questions. For example, at the end of the day, people get this question: “What did you work on Today?” All the community. And, you can write like a short report. Like, a sentence or two--”what did you achieve?” “What were your struggles?” “What challenges have you overcome?” Basically, anything you worked on either in organ playing, or you can just share your day with us if that’s okay with you, of course. Nothing too personal. Right? Another question that people get asked at the end of the first Wednesday of each month is about the Total Organist! “How do you like Total Organist so far?” Because I need, and we need, with Ausra, people’s feedback! A: Yes, sort of a guidance for us. V: How can we improve, what is good about that, and how we are helping people, basically. On every Saturday in the morning, people get this question: “What have you been struggling with the most in organ playing this week?” Basically, at the end of the week, you get this question about your struggles. It’s a good review, right Ausra? A: Yes. V: And you could share them, and if we find your answers applicable to other people as well, we might be able to discuss them on the podcast, too! For example, people like to read books, right? So on the first Monday of each month, you get the question, “Have you read any good books, lately?” And other people might be enjoying your recommendations of books. Every Monday in the morning, you get the question, “What will you be working on this week?” At the beginning of the week, it sort of sets you on the right path. A: Yes, so it’s sort of you’re making goals on Monday, and then summarizing what you have done… V: On Saturday. A: Yes, on Saturday. At the end of the week. V: Exactly. And then, another question is like, “Seen anything recently that others in our Total Organist community would find inspiring?” And people like to share. You know, various things. Sometimes, I might share my own blog from Steemit, and other people might come across a video or something—a link—that they might share. Various things. It’s really interesting to see. And the whole point is that the Total Organist is like a little community. Right now, we have… how many people in our community… maybe sort of like about 90 people. Around 90 people in our community. That includes people who subscribe directly through paypal, that includes people who are on our transcription team, and that includes people who help us with fingering and pedaling transcriptions from the videos, also. So around 90 people are watching those questions, and reading them. Some people are just reading, some people are responding, you know how it is. Some people are more active than others, but that’s OK, because this is how communities work. A: That’s true. V: And what’s the entire why we are doing this, Ausra? A: To help us to improve this program Total Organist, and to help for you to improve. V: Faster. A: Faster. V: Because, we might have many hobbies. Organ playing is just one of the possibilities, and I had many hobbies in the past, and I still have some today. And, I can notice that whenever I am a part of the community, I can improve and practice regularly—almost daily—this hobby. For example, drawing these comics. We’re sharing this on the Steem blockchain with Ausra, and other people are commenting and giving us feedback, and also it’s a little community there. So we’re not alone, obviously, if we drew those comics for each other, this would in itself before fun. But since other people are also watching, then the results are more apparent. It motivates us to continue. In the past, I had the hobby of learning a language—Swedish—I would love learning Swedish. But, I was alone, and I didn’t continue for too long. A: So I guess feeling that you are not lonely and feeling that there are people who support you, who understand you is very important—having that sense of community. V: Because until last August, the way Total Organist was set up is everybody would get emails with training materials, or they could log into Total Organist website and download something on their own. Which is fine, but again there is no communication, no feedback, and unless they wrote to me directly, they don’t know if they are improving. And this is crucial… to know if your practice leads to some results. And we believe that with the Basecamp communication channel, you can quadruple your results in organ playing. Thank you guys, this was Vidas, A: And Ausra, V: Now we are ready to go to practice, because when you practice, A: Miracles happen!
First of all, I want to remind everyone who is planning to enter our Secrets of Organ Playing Contest Week 2 that less than 24 hours are left to submit your entry.
And now let's go to the podcast for today: Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 376, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Damian. And, he writes: You once asked me what is my biggest challenge in organ playing. I play in a church, and in Poland a church organist must play at the same time (hands and feet of course), sing and switch song lyrics that are displayed on the screen. This is the biggest challenge for me to do all these things at the same time, and to do all of them well. As for the technique itself, I'm not very advanced, but I happen to make mistakes in very easy fragments of songs that I know well, which I've always done correctly and I never know when I will stumble somewhere. Eliminating this is the biggest challenge for me right now. Thank you for all your work! V: And Damian is from Poland, and Poland is our neighbor. A: Yes. Nice to hear from him. And when you were reading Damian’s letter, I just remembered how I started to work at church, and I had the same things to do as he does now. I had to play and to sing, to lead basically congregational singing. V: Mmm-hmm. A: Because there were a few elderly ladies from downstairs who would sing too. So I would sing and try to keep the tempo because they would try to drag me down and slow me down, and all the struggles, so I know how he feels. And it would be easy for me to sing the soft verse because the text would be right behind, written right below the melody. But then for the second, the third and other stanzas I would have to look at the bottom of the page… V: Uh-huh. Yes. A: to see what comes next. And this was a hard thing for me, at least at the beginning. V: When did it start to become a little easier? A: Well I guess when I didn’t have to think so much about pedal. V: Hmmm. A: Because I started to work at church on my second year of organ studies. So at that time I was still not that good with pedal playing. V: But in the third year, you were relatively well advanced. A: Yes, that’s true. V: So you struggled for one year. A: Yes. But what helped my life easier and I would suggest Damian made you something similar; I tried to play three voices with my right hand, and bass line with my pedal—with my feet. V: Mmm-hmm. A: And then I would have my left hand free, and it would make life so easy. V: In the hymns. A: Yes. In the hymns. V: But then you have to rearrange the inner voices. A: I know. But it’s not that hard to do sometimes. V: Oh, you switched tenor with alto. A: Yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: So that you would have a close position. V: Mmm-hmm. That’s possible. It’s sort of cheating though. A: Well, but do you think somebody will notice from the church, that you are doing that? V: Angels will notice! A: Well, who cares! V: Angels, care. And, of course, you are the boss. A: Well, another thing that would make life easier; I don’t know which way is easier for Damian;if it’s easier for him to memorize music, or is it easier for him to memorize text... V: Mmm-hmm. A: word text. So if it’s easier for him to memorize music then just memorize the hymn, that you could play it from the memory and look at the text. Or do it vice-versa. V: And it seems to me that this is the struggle that every beginner organist faces in church. And, as you said, it will pass, if you persevere after one year or so. A: Also remember, if you will continue working in church for, let’s say many year, well hymnals of course they are huge, but you will see in time that you will start repeating hymns, and as you come back to hymn next time, and the next time, it will get easier and easier and easier for you. But of course I agree that it’s really hard job to play and to sing at the same time, and do things right, and because it’s important. So it’s like in Lithuania it’s cold in winter time, and it gives, it makes things even harder. V: Right. And Lithuanian system is very similar too. We also have to sing and play at the same time, unless of course there is another choir director and there is a separate choir, but only on festive occasions, maybe on Sundays. A: But sometimes what happens if you have a group of people who are helping singing, you need to conduct them as well during your playing. V: Oh that’s another burden. A: So that’s what happens—that you play, sing and conduct with your head at the same time. That’s very often the case in Lithuania too. V: Uh-huh. Right. So lots of multitasking. Exactly. And he also wrote that he happened to make mistakes in very easy fragments of songs that he knows well, which he is always done correctly. That’s the situation that a lot of people with limited experience, struggle with, right? A: True. Because I think if you can do that hymn very well, but think about mass setting. You need to always to follow what is happening in church, actually. And you need also to think where you will end with certain hymn. So maybe that also takes some of your attention away and… V: Mmm-hmm. A: that’s how you make mistakes. That could be one of the reasons too. V: Exactly. When you are just practicing on this organ bench, nobody is disturbing you, you are focusing on the music and the text. And you can even practice singing at the same time as playing, and it might go well. But in live situation, congregation is downstairs, probably choir members are around you, there is a little bit of noise, and things are happening with the priest, everybody is doing their own business, and you have to be aware as you say, of all these changes, and where to stop and how to play it. And if you don’t have much experience, you’re starting to lose focus and as a consequence, making mistakes. Right? This is normal. This is not Damian’s cause. This is everybody’s situation, I think at first, for the first one, two, maybe three years. A: That’s right. V: So, what I recommend is just to stick with it and in a year or two or three, it will pass, I think. He will start to feel more secure in church. A: Sure. I just could say that he’s doing extremely valuable job. I really respect those church organists so much. From my own experience, how hard it is to do things. V: Mmm-hmm. Right. Of course we’re only talking about playing hymns, not playing real organ music, which adds another layer of complexity. A: That’s right. But I guess that this kind of experience that Damian has and we had in our youth is, it’s unforgettable actually. And I think it’s people, let’s say in the states probably, who have well organized church music, they even don’t understand what we are talking about, I think. V: They even have this title, Director of Music, or Director of Parish Music, right? Parish Music Director. Your title makes you an officer in the church, basically, and you have your own office, heating, your practice… A: Yes. V: instrument, separate from the church instrument. You have separate rooms, right, for choir rehearsals and everything. We don’t have those very often in churches in Lithuania and I presume in Poland too. Mmm-hmm. But people still keep playing, keep practicing and keep perfecting their skills, which is really nice. A: So let’s just wish good luck to Damian and other church organists around the globe. V: Yes. And remember, when you practice... A: Miracles happen!
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 373, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Emese. And, Emese writes: Dear Ausra and Vidas! Today I've played Das Alte Jahr... as well. It's so nice. Have you known that it has 12 measures and 365 notes. The genius of Bach. I started playing the organ aged 53 (earlier I played the viola)—this means 5 years ago, but we had no proper instrument. This year the renewal of our church came to an end and at last I've got a real organ. It's not a big instrument—it has got 8 stops=two manuals and pedal, made for our church. It was ready a week before Pentecost. So a real exercise started then. From September I have less time for exercise—but at least once or twice a week I try in the evenings. In these few months, I've learned mainly Bach works, pedal playing was new for me, but I enjoy practicing it a lot. So I have learned: three Schubler chorales as BWV 645, 646, 649. I am still practicing BWV 655—it's one of my favorites. I can play it already by heart, but there is still a lot of work. My next aim is Cesar Franck—Prelude in h moll op. 18 Instead of a postcard—my beloved organ. Happy New Year! Many thanks for the pieces of advice. Emese V: Ausra, don’t you think that Emese is lucky to have a new organ installed in her church? A: Sure, it’s wonderful. Because although it’s not a big instrument, remember still, it’s a real organ, so it’s very exciting. V: Two manuals and pedals and 8 stops is plenty for a little church, I think, and for practice purposes. A: Sure. Because I think the worse thing is that you have sometimes too large instrument in a given room and then you cannot use more than half of the stops. V: Exactly, and… A: Remember we had that experience at Eastern Michigan University, where we had that large tracker organ in organ loft… V: Studio. A: Studio. But that studio room itself wasn’t large but instrument was good size, three manual instrument. V: It was by Canadian organ builder Gabriel Kney. And did you like by the way, the touch? A; I liked it, yes. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I liked that instrument but it had to be in a room maybe ten times larger than it was. V: Yeah. It was too loud. A: Sure. V: But it’s a tracker instrument so it’s kind of rare to have trackers in the states. Of course, this situation changes, little by little because people understand that, obvious, probably called this of tracker organs more and more. A: Yes it’s like eating healthy food and eating fast food. V: Mmm-hmm. But of course electro–pneumatical action has it’s own advantages. A: Sure. V: So it’s kind of… You have to choose, I think organist has to choose. A: Well it depends on what kind of repertoire do you like to play. V: Mmm-hmm. A: But of course if you like J.S. Bach then tracker is your first choice. V: So, Emese seems to be very fond of Bach’s works, and Emese studied Schubler Chorales—so far three of them, BWV 645 is "Wachet auf". A: Yes, it’s one of everybody’s favorites, I believe. V: Wonderful choice! It’s not an easy piece to start with but if Emese is practicing five years, since five years ago, so maybe it’s about time to take a trio texture. A: Yes. I think its fascinating that people realize and want to play the organ, to start to learn organ, at such an age. It shows it’s never too late to learn something new. V: Do you think, Ausra, that it’s too late for you to start something new? A: Well, as Emese wrote, the main instrument was viola. V: Mmm-hmm. A: We are so, I guess, maybe I need to start to learn to play viola. I don’t think I would be so successful. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I don’t think I would be so successful. I don’t think I would be able to play something as hard as Schubler chorale in such a short time. V: Right. Organ playing is like a second nature to us now, but it took twenty plus years, twenty five maybe years now. And... A: And don’t forget all that piano background that we had as a children. V: Exactly. We started playing since the year of six or seven, I think. A: Or five. V: Or five, as you. It doesn’t mean that everybody has to start so early or if it’s, if they start at age 53 or later, that it’s too late. It just means that you have to figure out the path for yourself and not compare too much yourself with others, especially prodigies. Sometimes we see on Youtube, children playing virtuoso pieces, not necessarily the organ though… A: Especially Chinese children. V: But piano for example, or violin. A: Like five years old, lad sits at piano and plays Rachmaninoff or Chopin. V: Exactly. A: It really amazes me, all the time. Although I’m not sort of fond of youth like this. V: And then, if you’d ask that kid, ‘what are you playing?’ Probably… A: Probably he or she probably wouldn’t know. V: Wouldn’t know even the composers name. A: That’s right. V: Or what else he has written. But anyway, I think Schubler chorales are very nice because they develop your coordination, hand and feet coordination, very well, because they are written in three parts, and each part is so independent. It’s written in a trio texture. It’s not like a trio sonata, where left hand imitates right hand, and vice-versa. A: Have you played them all? V: I have. Not necessarily in a concert setting but I have. A: I have played three of them. V: But they are good as an introduction to trio sonatas I think, if you would play like Emese did, three or four of them, or entire collection. Then after that, you might pick up a slow movement of trio sonata quite easily. A: Yes, that’s right. And let’s talk a little bit about symbols in Bach’s music because as Emese wrote, there are twelve measures in that chorale, ‘ Das alte Jahr vergangen ist’, and 365 notes, so it resembles a year, entire year. V: So you think it’s a coincidence? A: No! It’s not coincidence, and it’s twelve measures long because the year has twelve months. I believe that there are so many symbols in Bach’s music that we cannot grasp them all. V: Mmm-hmm. A: But I think it meant for people in that time, something more than for us because we simply don’t see these things anymore. V: And it means that this piece was also created as a kind of study, right? If you just play this chorale prelude, first of all, if you just copy it by hand, as his students might have done, and then if you practice it and then play it for your church service as an introduction for example, of the hymn at the end of year service, obviously, you wouldn’t notice any of it while playing. But while writing it out and maybe discovering clues like that, you would get a glimpse into the mind of the great composer. A: That’s right! And just think how many other symbols there are in his music, such as his signature and his name signature and sign of cross, and all those other Baroque time rhetorical figures. Because usually the decision what key to use, already can tell a lot about the music. V: Mmm-hmm. It is said that Bach’s music is like musical sermon—sacred music, I mean cantatas. In some sense also chorale preludes served this purpose as a commentary of the text of the chorales. And since those chorales were sung in Lutheran mass, then it’s really easy to see how composer created the musical commentary, I think for an intelligent audience, or even for himself to elaborate on the meaning of text. A: Yes, that’s what I’m thinking too. But probably his music was intended first of all for himself. Because not everybody, even advanced musicians can comprehend his music so easily. V: Right. And his contemporaries created much more, simpler compositions. Which means they knew the symbols but to some degree, not all of them probably. And, plus if you just add the polyphonic complexities that he’s writing, then this compositional style is well beyond the normal musician of the day. A: I’m just wonder, if such a great mind as Bach’s would have chosen another subject for his research, not music, for example, science, what could he have achieved? V: Well, it’s not a coincidence that Cristoph Wolff compares the great Johann Sebastian Bach with philosophers and scientists of the time, right? A: Because surely, I think his works are equal with those great minds of the world. V: Mmm-mmm. His musical discoveries are equal to those of Sir Isaac Newton, for example. And Bach’s influence for future generations also could be compared to those of great scientists. A: And I guess we all are very lucky that we can touch Bach’s genius through his music. V: And we continue to carry on this tradition to future generations, right? Because this lineage can be traced back to Bach directly, if we count, right? A: So we are all somehow related. V: To Bach. And through Bach to Sweelinck too. Okay, guys. We hope this was useful to you. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice... A: Miracles happen! |
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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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