Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 316, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Regina. And she writes: I enjoy reading your blog and find your responses to be absolutely spot on. I am a retired music teacher and choral director. Piano was my primary instrument (began lessons at 4). Upon retirement, I decided to pursue a life-long dream (the number one item on my “ bucket list” lol) to learn to play the organ. I have been studying for almost eight years and have tackled some of JS Bach’s most challenging masterworks. As a pianist, I found that the most difficult aspect of learning to play the organ was not the pedals but, rather, the left hand. If I made mistakes, it was usually in my left hand! I’ve recently gotten the St Anne’s into performance- level shape. I will probably use the Prelude as exit music for my next wedding gig (I work as a substitute organist for two Lutheran Churches here on Long Island, NY) . Again, I enjoy your blog tremendously and always find some piece of advice I can utilize in my studies. Sincerely, Regina V: So it seems that Regina is struggling with playing left hand parts, more than pedals. Why is that Ausra? A: Well, I think everybody who hasn’t played organ but is going to do it, fears playing the pedals. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I remember myself before starting to play pedals, I was afraid of how I will do it. And actually I felt just like Regina; I felt that it’s really not the hardest part to play pedals. And actually left hand was less really a problem at the beginning, until I was able to master it and to coordinate between left and pedals. V: It seems to me that the most difficult combination when you play two parts, is not the hands alone, the right hand and pedals, but rather left hand and pedals, for most people. A: Yes. And even now, for example, when I’m playing hymns, let’s say, I still have to think about tenor voice. Not about alto and soprano and the bass. I need to follow carefully the tenor line, because I’m playing it with my left hand. V: And I’ve heard that people who are playing hymns, and starting to play them with pedals, they easily omit the tenor line and play the right hand and pedals more often. And only later brave enough to add the left hand part. For those same reasons, I think, that you were mentioning before. A: And I wonder, I think these problems are for right-handed people. I’m wondering what, how things work if you have left hand as a main arm, hand. V: Mmm-hmm. If you are left-handed. A: Yes. Maybe then the hard thing is to play the right hand. V: I think then it becomes sort of easy enough to play both of them because the melody is usually in the right hand part, in most pieces. So that’s why this right hand is rather well developed for many people. And if you’re naturally left-handed, then left hand is easy for you too. So it compensates. A: Yes. And another thing when I thought about Regina’s case, that she was a pianist, yes? Piano was her primary instrument. And if you think about most of piano repoirtore, I would say that left hand is accompany hand. But in organ music, especially if you are talking about J.S. Bach music, they have polyphonic music where both hands are equally important and both hands are equally complex and difficult. So that might be a problem too by it’s harder for her to play with left hand. V: I find myself too struggling with left-hand part in advanced modern music. The one which I’m practicing right now for Teisutis Makacinas organ music recital is pedal part could be difficult. But if i’m playing it alone it’s okay. Right hand is okay. Left hand, if I’m playing it alone, is also sort of okay. But when I’m playing everything together, I think left hand is the first one to see mistakes, I think. Yes. So I need to work on left hand. Just like Regina, I think, does. And that’s so natural. I think people could practice etude’s for the left hand, don’t you think? A: But still, at first, you will not get the same texture as you would get, let’s say, in Bach’s fugue. So my suggestion would be when you are picking up a new piece and starting to learn it, learn the left hand first. And then left hand and pedals. V: Or if you’re playing in separate parts, practice them twice as many times. A: That’s right. V: Let’s say if you are playing ten times, right hand, and ten times the pedals, maybe twenty times for the left hand then. A: True. V: But for other people pedals is also problem so maybe not ten times for the pedal but fifteen times for the pedals. Or as many times as needed until you can play three times in a row without mistakes. A: That’s a good suggestion. V: That might be much more than twenty times. A: True. V: Right. A: But anyway, I think it’s normal that everybody has sort of a weak spot in their playing. For somebody pedals are harder for somebody [with] the left hand. So I think it’s normal. V: I think it’s also sometimes different when you go from organ to organ. Right now for example, I’m playing on two instruments; at home and in our church. In both places we have mechanical action organs. But at home it’s a small practice organ and in the church it’s 64 stop, three manual instrument with really difficult mechanical action. Difficult to depress keys. So, naturally, at home it’s easier, I think to play, to depress keys. But I think at church, it’s more convenient for me, don’t you think? A: Why? V: Because this resistance gives you sort of—foundation. You’re sort of grounded in those keys, when the keys are resistant. A: But you know, with this, I find it harder and harder to play in our church. I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting weaker with age. But sometimes I, even saying all kind of bad words in my mind. V: You’re cursing! A: That’s right! V: What kind of curses? A: Oh! This is the last time that I’m performing on this organ. I won’t do it anymore. I’m just getting really, [really, really] tired of doing all that hard mechanical work. Because, and it’s not that tracker action is so hard. Yes it’s hard, but we have trouble with a few keys that are harder than everybody else. And it’s too hard because you cannot separate when you are playing complex music and in fast tempo, you cannot think, ‘oh, okay, I will depress this F and this E harder’, and put more power. You cannot do that. And after a while you simply starting to play everything with such a heavy touch, that after practicing for an hour, you are feeling like you will just fall and die. V: I think this instrument really needs to have some sort of ‘barker’ machine. A: True. Because I’m sort of used to mechanical instruments and I love them. I like heavy action, but not in this organ, not any more. I’m getting too old to struggle with it. V: The keys the second manual and the first one also, would really benefit from some kind of ‘barker’ system. Maybe with variation that would make playing on those manuals much easier. It really is a pain for virtuoso music, I think, to play this instrument. And maybe that’s the reason why not too many Lithuanian organists love to play there. A: I know. I remember when last I was playing that huge chorale fantasia by Johann Adam Reincken, ‘An Wasserflüssen Babylon’ and it’s in the key of F Major. And I played a lot on the first and on the third manual because they are sort of baroque-based manuals, baroque-like based manuals. And imagine I had to hit those two, the heaviest keys on the first manuals, E and F. They were repeating themselves, over and over again, because the key is in F Major, and I had to play so many trills, that would be start on the G, and I would trill this F, then go to E, and to resolve it on the F. I thought I will really die, or break my fingers. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I was feeling while playing those trills, that I’m sort of chopping a meat, with a hammer or something like this, or with an axe. V: And as always, I have a solution to you, my dear. A: What? V: You could always transpose to F# Major. A: Could you do that? With Reincken?. I doubt it. I highly doubt it. V: Guys, on this optimistic note, I think we’d rather finish this conversation. A: Yes, just before I just would start telling nasty things to Vidas about his solution and transposing Reincken to F# Major. V: Okay. Please go ahead and practice. Because when you practice... A: Miracles happen!
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Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 315 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Dianne and she writes: “I’m struggling with the pedal exercises that call for playing a fourth with heel and toe of one foot... And doing so legato without playing pedals in between. Some of the 3rds, depending on octave and foot called for, are difficult as well. My feet don't bend and stretch that way!” V: This was a discussion in our Total Organist communication channel on BaseCamp so David jumped in and added a comment… David: “That really seems an issue for me, too. When I first started, 3rds were nearly impossible... Especially on the organ where I had my lessons because those pedals traveled farther down than the pedals on my practice organs when you press them. Over months, the 3rds got easier and some 4ths are finally easy for me, but not all 4ths. The flexibility does eventually come. One thing my teacher always cautions me about is making sure to point my knees with the toes so I don't get injured.” V: And then Jay added a comment to Dianne: Jay: “I have that same problem as well. I just thought that maybe I need more exercise with the pedals. I’ve also been trying a bit harder to keep my knees together, as we’ve been instructed. I really like David’s comment about pointing your knees with the toes. That’s a great tip. Thanks, Dianne, for helping me not feel alone with that, and David, for the tip.” V: And then Dianne answered: Dianne: “Thanks to you both! I feel better now as well and more hopeful that the flexibility may actually come someday. I will keep trying!” V: That’s a nice discussion, right? A: Yes, it is. V: I think I added to all of them “Don’t hurt yourself.” A: True. And Dianne you are not alone, I have the same problem too because my foot is quite short so when I have an interval to play legato with one foot it’s really not an easy task for me. But what I do sometimes if let’s say I’m playing in a big acoustics and tempo is fast of a piece I might not be playing such a spot complete legato. And you wouldn’t notice that if the tempo is fast and you have larger acoustics. And another thing if the tempo is slower then I just try to substitute with another foot the same note and then jump to that next note with the other foot so I’m sort of cheating a little bit. V: Example would be from the note G if you have jump to C up a fourth, you would play G with the left foot and C with the right foot and substitute right away with the left foot, right? A: That’s right. You know if the tempo allows me to do that. And if as I told you before if acoustic is larger and tempo is really fast then I don’t think anybody will notice that I don’t play both those notes completely legato. V: This is true I think. For me too I don’t particularly enjoy playing with one foot wide intervals. A: But you see your foot is much longer than mine is. V: Part of the solution might rest in playing with higher heels because when you want to play a wider interval without hitting notes in between you need that space between the toe and the heel and that is only possible when you have a higher heel. A: That’s obvious, yes, you need to have a higher heel. But when you have single melody in the pedal you still can do some tricks. The hardest thing for me is when I have to play two notes with one foot at the same time like for example now I’m playing the second fantasy by Jean Alain and there are a couple spots like that and I’m having a hard time. V: I think majority of organ repertoire doesn’t require that kind of flexibility. A: No, but if you would take French music then yes it does. V: Then you need to be a virtuoso. A: That’s right, or do a plastic surgery on your foot and make them longer. (laughs) I’m just joking. V: A good exercise which prepares you for passages like that is to play scales and arpeggios with your pedals. We have this Pedal Virtuoso Master Course with complete major and minor scales in the 24 keys and arpeggios too over one octave and two octaves. So people tell us that it’s really strenuous working. Not too many people finish what they start but those who do always are very happy with their flexibility afterwards. A: Well, yes, maybe I need to work on your course too. V: Or choose easier music. A: That’s right, but I like hard music. V: Where will you be playing this, Alain’s fantasy? A: At Notre Dame in Paris. V: Notre Dame. A: Yes. V: I see, nice. What else will you be playing at Notre Dame? A: The second chorale by Cesar Franck, the one in B minor and E flat major Prelude and Fugue by J. S. Bach. V: E flat major, BWV 552. Which of those three pieces is your favorite right now? Which of those would you take with you to uninhabited island if you didn’t have food or drink? A: Maybe not Alain although I really much like that piece but it would be hard to decide for me because I really like Bach E flat major, that’s one of my favorite organ pieces ever written, but I also love Franck’s B minor chorale, it’s my favorite out of all three of them. V: Imagine if you actually are on this remote island and you have all three pieces with you, Bach, Franck, and Alain and this boat with indigenous people is approaching and you have only one piece to offer them in exchange for water or food. Which one would you trade? A: (laughs) V: A bunch of organists is coming by in a sightseeing boat for the remote islands of Polynesia, they want to visit their local organs and here is this stranded organist offering one of those pieces, to organists. A: You are asking tricky questions and you have such a fantasy that it scares me. V: Which one would you betray? A: Probably Alain, because it’s the shortest out of three of them. V: Would you feel guilty about that? A: Sure, yes I would. V: Would you go to confession afterwards? A: To whom? V: To me, when you come back home. You could tell me and I say you’ve been forgiven. I won’t tell Alain that. Nice. So we are sort of riffing on this theme of playing wide intervals, right? A: Yes, that’s right. It’s really a hard thing but somehow you can work on it and make it work. V: Umm-hmm. Thank you 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.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 314 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Dianne, and she writes: I am struggling with keeping the practice slow. I am too goal oriented for my own good. And then of course I am more easily frustrated when I make mistakes. Working on patience and enjoying the process! V: So, Dianne seems to have partly answered her questions, too. A: Yes, that’s true. V: Because she needs patience, and to enjoy the process. Why do you think, Ausra, people sometimes lack this patience and want to practice too fast? A: Well, I think it gratifies one more when you are playing fast, and sometimes it’s so hard to work on a slow tempo and to practice slowly. But you know, if you won’t do it, you will be sloppy and make mistakes. And actually, you know, sometimes, I think about that story, do you know it, about how a hedgehog was competing with the rabbit? V: A hedgehog or a turtle? A: I know one version there was a hedgehog, and one version there was a turtle. V: Okay. A: That they were competing in a race competition, and the bunny was just running back and forth very fast and he thought he will win, but actually, the hedgehog asked his wife to help him, and one was placed at the beginning of the race, and another at the finish of the race, and actually hedgehog won! Of course, he cheated, but he won, in a way. V: I know a different version of the story. A: Okay, tell your story. V: That the rabbit was competing with a turtle, and that the rabbit, of course, was really fast, and almost finished the race, but before he finished, he looked back, and since the turtle was so far back that he couldn’t even see him, then he thought maybe he should take a nap. And, he did. And actually, this nap turned out to be a deep sleep for a few hours, maybe longer, and when the rabbit awoke, then he saw that turtle little by little, step by step, he approached the finish and actually won the race. A: So, I guess in my story, you can learn that the smarter people win. Think about the strategy, and not necessarily doing what we want to do without thinking about it. And in your story, of course, you know, it’s a good story about slow practicing, I think. It shows that if you practice slowly, you will finish the race first, and you will win it. V: That’s right. You know why I like your story, also? Because I think there is another hidden meaning here, that you should always strive to work on things that matter or are important. Like, in the race, the beginning is important and the finish is important. The middle of the race is not that important. Nobody sees the hedgehog, with his running around, the ending is important. So that’s how he won by placing his wife at the finish line. In organ practice, of course, we could think of things that make up the 80% of the practice with 20% of effort, maybe, and that could maybe be slow practice. But even, probably, not necessarily the entire piece, but maybe if you take a prelude and fugue, or chorale prelude, or fantasia, or any other type of piece, you would probably discover that not every line is extremely difficult. Even in the most difficult pieces, there are easy lines. And maybe, we should practice more the difficult ones! A: True! We need to start from practicing the hardest part. V: Mhm! So, for example, right now I’m practicing for my upcoming recital, where I’ll be playing three pieces by Teisutis Makačinas. He is a composer who celebrates 80 years this year, and he was our teacher, professor, at the Lithuanian Academy of Music. What did he teach, do you remember? A: Harmony and Polyphony. V: And improvisation, too! A: It was part of those courses. V: Ah! Not a separate one! A: No, it wasn’t a separate one. V: Interesting. So, he wrote a bunch of popular songs, actually, which are widely broadcast on the radio, but he wrote a few of the organ sonatas and other pieces that are rarely performed, so he asked me to play for this concert, and his music is really advanced, in many places, but not always, right? There are easy spots, easy pages, and even easy movements! So, at first, I was sort of practicing everything equally, but now, I understand that maybe, those easy movements only need to be played once, and I need to focus on the difficult parts. A: Actually, I don’t remember you practicing so diligently for a long time as you are practicing now these pieces by Makačinas, and I’m so glad I told you, “No, I will not take part in this concert,” and, that I don’t have to learn this music. V: Why? A: Well, it’s so complicated, and, well, just not in my taste. V: It’s not in my taste, either, you know…. A: And with years, somehow I want just to spend time on playing what I really, really like, because I just realized that life is so short. V: But, it’s very difficult to say, “no,” because he was our professor. And, I think he deserves that kind of concert at least for his anniversary. And, since he asked me, then I said, “yes.” A: I remember how you tried to convince me to play that recital, too, and after I spent a couple of hours sitting on the organ bench and sight reading his music, actually, I think I got seriously sick. V: Right. A: And I took it as a sign that probably I shouldn’t do it. V: A sign from Heaven! A: Yes. V: Nice. So, when I’m practicing, I usually practice without sound at home, so that you wouldn’t hear it. A: Well, actually, I like how you’re practicing them, because you know what to emphasize and what to hide. And really, in music like this, I think, the more you play it and the more you listen to it, and the more acquainted you get with it, the better it sounds. And it’s just too bad that during the concert, the listeners will hear it only once. So, I don’t know how well impressed they will be, what impression they will get. V: Maybe that’s part of my assignment, too. If I’m used to the piece and I know the good side of the piece, maybe I can transmit this knowledge to them—to the audience—as well! It’s easier than if I were just sight reading it, right? Of course, you couldn’t sight read it, nobody could sight read this kind of music in a satisfactory manner. So, I have a hope, that people will kind of enjoy this performance, because I will deeply know how the pieces are put together. A: Yes, and I will be turning pages for you and changing stops! V: And I just also hope that the composer himself will be happy. A: I know, it’s always scary to play music by a living composer, knowing that he or she will attend your performance. It sort of puts pressure on you. V: If you wrote music, Ausra, and somebody else performed it, would you go easy on that performer, or would you be very meticulous A: Actually, I would be easier, because nowadays, there is so much music that is created, that you really need to be happy and really to appreciate somebody who is performing your music. V: Mhm, that’s what I’m thinking, too. If anybody would play my music in a different way from what I would imagine, I still would be very grateful, I think. A: True. V: And when you release the music into the world, I think you sort of let it go, and let it live its own life without controlling it too much. A: That’s right, and now, as we go back to the question about patience, I think if you will be patient in your practice, it will help to be patient in other ways in life, too. Because, if you will strengthen this good side of yourself, of being patient, I think you’ll benefit in other things as well. V: That’s right. And, I think it’s a good exercise for me to force myself to play this kind of music that I don’t enjoy right away—it has to grow on me—because I, too, have to be patient! Thanks, guys, this was Vidas, A: And Ausra, V: We hope this was useful to you. Please keep 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 313, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. We had a discussion in our communication channel on Basecamp recently. And Jay wrote that ‘he’s feeling a bit frustrated with seemingly little progress’. And then he wrote some details: “For one thing, I have a similar problem that Dianne posted about slow practice. I'm trying slow down things that are more difficult and go through many repetitions. Maybe I'm not going through enough repetitions. And, I know we shouldn't compare ourselves with others–it's easy to do though. I see others posting about getting perfect on things that I can't even play. I am enjoying practice though. I just would really like to improve faster. And like someone else who is 71 recently said, that at this age, it just takes longer to get things. Perhaps that's where part of the frustration is”. V: Diane answered: “I agree with everything you said. I tend to compare myself now to when I was younger, and I get frustrated that I can't play things perfectly the first time through the way I used to! It's bad enough to compare myself with others without also comparing myself with a younger version of me”. V: Mmmh. That’s a lot to take in, Ausra, right? A: Yes. It is. V: Well, first of all, let me say this: I’m so delighted that people are doing those discussions, having those discussions in our Basecamp channel for Total Organist students. You see, if people just study on their own, practicing from our practice course with fingering and pedaling, or studying from our courses, video or audio, that’s one thing, and that’s wonderful, right? This gives results. But not nearly as much results, or as better results, as if, when they share their feedback with others in the same circle. Maybe they’re studying the same things. Maybe they’re going through the same problems. Like for example, Diane and Jay are talking about slow practice and repeating many times the same episode. This is really helpful, Ausra, don’t you think? A: Yes, I think it’s very helpful to be able to communicate with each other. Because, let’s say, when I teach at school, let’s say I teach harmony, and for example we are having new theme that day, new subject to discuss. And I explain, I give examples, I play some examples, and then I give some time and I can still see that somebody can’t understand what I explained. And then somebody from the classroom tried to explain for her or his friend, what I just told them. And sometimes it works better. V: Because they can do this in their own words. A: True. True. Because they are going through the same problems. And sometimes when you are advanced in something, you might not see the problem from the bottom actually. V: You don’t have beginners mind. A: True. True. And sometimes you try to imagine that you have beginners mind but it’s not always possible. V: Plus you can imagine beginners mind, but you don’t remember how it was for you when you were little. A: True. True. And I think the same is with practicing organ. V: You might remember because you have better brain, but I don’t remember. A: You mean, better memory. V: Memory, brain, yeah, sure. A: Not better brain. Actually my brain is much damaged, so... V: But I mean, yes, memory, yeah, memory. Because I don’t remember many things what I did at school. A: Well, but that’s not a brain thing; that’s a memory thing. V: I see. So, yes. Being in the same circle of friends who are studying right now, currently, similar things and going through the same problems is extremely helpful. So guys, if you are in our Total Organist community but are not active in Basecamp, consider at least following discussions. Maybe you don’t want to engage. I can totally feel that. I can totally relate to that because some people are introverts and better keep their problems to themselves. And others are more easy going and share everything with others. So at least be observer, and that will be helpful too. A: Yes. I think everybody could benefit in something by reading these things. V: If you, Ausra, were a student of some study group, would you prefer posting your feedback, or not? A: Maybe I wouldn’t post my feedback, but I would be glad to read others feedback. V: Because then you would be more motivated to go and practice that thing, obviously. A: Sure. V: Mmm-hmm. That’s absolutely true. This is instant feedback. Sometimes people get notifications on the phone and if you write your struggles in the chatroom, then somebody will answer you right away, in a few minutes, perhaps, if the time zones are aligned. Because of course our community is global. When one is writing, another might be sleeping and vice-versa. A: True. V: But you could do this on your computer. Not necessarily on the phone. And if you are frustrated with too many notifications, you can actually go ahead and update your settings, adjust your settings so that you won’t get notified unless you want to. Unless you go in and check yourself. That’s good too, because our community now is more than eighty students so there is always some kind of notification going on and some kind of feedback. And sometimes it’s tiring too. A: Yes, it is. V: Okay, guys. What else we could suggest you with trying to be okay with slow progress. I think people get frustrated with their slow practice because they want to see a shortcut. Don’t you agree, Ausra? A: That’s right. V: Do you like shortcuts? A: Yes, of course I like them but usually we don’t mean anything good. We don’t give anything good. We don’t do good. Because usually after taking a shortcut you still have to back and then that way becomes even longer. V: There is no magic pill. If you eat that pill and suddenly you can play anything in the world, on the organ. There is no such invention yet. Do you think scientist will discover that later? A: I think in the future. V: Mmm-hmm. You know what will happen? I think if they can manipulate the brain a little bit, or let’s say, take a virtuoso, right, a scan of their bran, and their brain activities, and put it into a server someplace in the cloud. And then, if they could connect that server to another brain of beginner organist, like a microchip or something, like, plug in and upload that information or data to beginner’s mind. Then suddenly, like in science fiction movie, the person would have fantastic skills and superhero ability. A: That sounds scary. I hope this will never come true. V: Superman playing pedals. Nice! Thanks 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 311 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by David, and he writes that he is dreaming to play organs for fundraising concerts and for worship accompaniment, but obstacles in the way of his dream is a busy life, and that means that he cannot practice as often as he’d like. Ausra, have you ever played at fundraising concerts? A: I don’t remember, now, actually. I might have played some in the United States, but that was a long way back. V: I remember playing for Casparini organ in the Holy Ghost Church in Vilnius for members of a local Rotary club, and they tried to gather funds for the restoration of this instrument, but that was, I think, a small sum of money, in comparison to what was needed at that time. A: Do you think such a concert is a sufficient way to raise funds? V: It seems that everybody is doing them, right, like it’s a socially appropriate way of gathering funds involving community, congregation, perhaps. Why not? It’s one of the ways. David has a good idea for that. Of course, it depends how much a congregation is involved in general in the cultural life of the parish, of the church, and how much they feel ownership of the project, right? A: True. V: If, for example, they are alienated by some politics going on inside of the congregation, people won’t bother joining in those fundraising efforts so much. I think the important thing is for them to feel welcomed and appreciated. A: Yes, for example, in Lithuania, I don’t think you could raise money by playing an organ recital. Somehow, I doubt it. V: In general, I think, in Lithuania, culturally acceptable ways to gather funds are somewhat different, right? A: Yes. V: We always see on TV… A: Usually it’s through pop music. V: Pop music concerts, which are broadcast on TV. A: Yes, and advertised all over. V: Yes, and then people can call in, and a fraction of their…. A: Call would go to… V: ...amount of the money that they would make on that call would go to that project, but I think it’s a very tiny fraction. A: I’m not sure about that. V: I’ve read it, that in general, some of those telephone companies are taking the big chunk. What else can people do to gather funds involving organs? How can we maybe think creatively in today’s environment with technology going across the board globally even, right? When you play a fundraising concert, this is just a local event. How many people will come? That many people will hear, and even a smaller portion of them will react and engage and give donations. But, what if people went globally with this, like.. platforms like Patreon, or Kickstarter, or Indiegogo. A: Well, I don’t know. That might work, and may not. V: It works for many other projects, right, for technology oriented projects. Let’s say you are a startup, you have some nice invention in your mind, and you want to gather funds to complete this idea, so you first create a prototype, and then show the people like a demo version, and then people get excited about that, and what happens later, they start to donate because the demo version is incomplete, and that way it could be done. But with organs, I’ve seen people do it for organ restorations, for example, and I’m not sure if David is planning to do fundraising for organ restorations, or just to play organ in fund raising concerts, which is different. A: Yes, it is! Because, for example, I don’t think you would fund-raise in Lithuania for building an organ or restoring an organ, because in our country, it’s more common to raise funds for poor, for sick people. For example, we have this huge food gathering thing. I think at least 5 each year. There are more than, I think, 100 grocery stores that are involved, and there are two or three days that you can buy long lasting products and donate them. V: Why do you think this campaign is so successful? A: Well, I think it’s because it’s so widely spread, and nobody wants to be hungry, so I guess that everybody thinks that, “today I have food but maybe tomorrow I will not have it, and I will need support.” V: Like, they have compassion. A: Sure, because truly, we have too many poor people, especially elderly and of course lonely mothers with children. V: Right. You know what I think, also? Social media might be a good catalyst for inspiring people to donate, but now, social media is no longer that effective as it was before, because Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, they all changed their algorithms in favor of paid advertisement, or communication between friends. So, what you see in your Facebook feed or what I see in my Facebook feed basically reflects my friends to whom I’m connected more strongly, right? I’m not seeing all those pictures and posts from all my network, just a fraction of it. So, if a person has a fund raising event, they might not involve their entire network, just a small portion of it, unless they decide to go the paid advertising way, and pay to Facebook to show the ads. But, somehow it contradicts the idea of raising funds, right, because they don’t have funds first of all to begin with? A: Sure. V: What about those new platforms based on Blockchain? We’ve been using Steemit for a while now, and just recently, I think since October, we started posting on ONO network. O-n-o it is spelled, and the idea is that with every post, with every like, with every share and comment, you get back cryptocurrency called ONOT. A: But it is worth nothing yet. V: Yet… it’s worth nothing A: So I think it’s like play for adults. V: But wait until they allow people to trade on exchanges! A: Well, let’s see. And I think you are judging false hopes. V: Maybe. Could be. But imagine if I’m right, right? If people can really transfer those funds and convert them into real currencies somehow later on. That would change, a little bit, the landscape of fund-raising, too, because let’s say David wants to raise funds playing organs. All he has to do is just document his life, post in pictures and articles, and then people will like and share and engage, it could be with organ playing, of course, for organists, and he will start gathering cryptocurrency. A: I don’t think he will get a sufficient amount. V: We’ll see in the future, but that’s the idea, you see! The worth, of course, of that token “Onot” depends on the market itself—on demand—how many people will buy it. A: So you see, this is optimistic, and I am pessimistic, or realistic. V: So maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle, right? A: I just believe that the world is full of social injustice in general, and some are very poor and the others are very rich—bloody rich. V: The rich get richer with any system. A: Yes. And I think we have more poor people with each year. V: Right, but maybe that’s the reason they created such social Blockchain based networks, that people from poor countries could join in and become more financially independent. A: Well, let’s talk about it maybe in two years. V: In a few years. Yeah, we’ll see. Right. Every system has its own flaws, of course, it’s not perfect, and of course people, once they find out that it’s money involved, that you can gather money for your posts and likes, then they try to cheat the system, right, with spam comments, spam content, bots like software, posting instead of humans, and if the system itself cannot get rid of those fake accounts and abusers, then everybody suffers, you see? A: Yes. V: We’ll see in a few years, how it develops. But, I think it doesn’t hurt to try, right? What if I’m right in a few years, and people will wait for a few years to see the results. Of course, the early adopters like we are will benefit more than late comers. A: But, you know, if you have needs today, you cannot wait for a few years. So, that’s the problem. If you are rich enough to be able to live well today, you can do experiments and wait for a few years. V: I read that people in Venezuela, for example, a very corrupt government, and it’s politically unstable, and financially basically very struggling country. People get a monthly salary of about $10 per month. Not per day, but per month! So, with this scenario, earning cryptocurrency, like $10 per month, is pretty easy actually. And I’ve seen people do that from poor countries as well. We’re not talking about hundreds of dollars, but just tens of dollars. So, that could really change the game for those people. And they are changing the game! Maybe there is hope, you see! A: Well, let’s hope for it. V: Thanks, guys, for listening. We hope this discussion raised a few more questions, right? Maybe more questions than answers, right now, which is nice, because with this, the more we think about this, the more we can take action and not be a passive observers, but take initiative and maybe take advantage of those new tools. Whatever happens in the future, we don’t know, of course. The value of those cryptocurrencies can go to zero, right? Or they can go to the moon! We don’t know. But, that’s the world. Nobody can predict the future. But, of course, if we sit on the couch, the real result will be nothing. Right? Those who never try, they never lose, of course. And as a disclaimer we have to add we are not financial advisers so you have to do your own due diligence. A: And now, let's go and practice. V: Yes, because when you practice, A: Miracles happen.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 312 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. Today I’d like to share with you the discussion that was going on our communication channel on BaseCamp between Total Organist students. Annabelle wrote the answer to the question “What is she currently working on?” and “What is she struggling with?” So she is playing Wedding March by Wagner and she writes: Annabel: I'm playing for a wedding in October and have some issues with performance anxiety. So I thought it would help to learn it by heart. David: Great idea I have the anxiety issues, too. 2 bananas 30 minutes before performance has been helping me keep my hands and ankles from shaking so badly and slows down my racing heart. Recently my doctor suggested trying a medication called Propranolol, so this Sunday will be the first run with it. I don't always need that kind of help, but when my performance anxiety gets out of control, I need just a little help. Annabel: I’ll try bananas, that's very interesting. Is it the potassium? I'm fine accompanying hymns, I just don't like being a soloist! David: Potassium for the heart rate, but allegedly they have a natural beta blocker in them to help with shaking hands and ankles. It's folk lore, but there seem to be a while lot of even professional musicians who swear by it. I opted for Propranolol because I can't have too much potassium. Annabel: Fascinating, thanks David. I've started reading quite an old book called "Tensions in the Performance of Music" edited by Carola Grindea. It was recommended to me by a professional harpist. David: Thank you! I will look for that Vidas: I once ate bananas and drank mineral water entire concert day. When my turn came up to play, I felt as light as an angel. V: Do you remember Ausra that time when I experimented with bananas? A: Yes, I think bananas are good. V: Have you had experiences with bananas before concerts? A: Yes, but not like eating them all day long but if I have performance that day I try to eat two bananas. V: Do you have performance anxiety which goes out of control for example? A: Well, not now, but yes I have performance anxiety. I think anybody who tells that they have no performance anxiety at all they are lying. V: Or tried to convince themselves. A: I think it would be wrong if you wouldn’t get any performance anxiety. V: Robots don’t have performance anxiety. A: That’s right. V: What did you feel when you ate bananas before concert? Was it a small reaction to them or a very significant one? A: It’s hard to measure that help of bananas but at least I felt better myself for doing something good for myself, for my anxiety. So I think anyway it will not hurt to eat bananas. V: For people who are not allergic to potassium or bananas in general. A: And of course now you have to be especially careful when eating bananas because I’m sure you guys read in the news that there is a new mania spreading throughout the world. V: Tell us more. A: Putting needles into your foods. I think it all began in Australia where some supermarket people bought strawberries and tried to eat them at home and they were filled with needles. And now we have had already a few cases in Lithuania where people found needles in bananas. So be careful before eating them. Maybe just slice them down in small pieces. V: When you slice them then the needles would appear? Wow, crazy people. A: I know. V: Instead of hurting others and making fun of them obviously they should do some other creative work. A: I think you really need to be mentally ill in order to do such a thing. V: Right, the world is a dark place sometimes. But yes, if you have a nice pack of bananas, you peel them and you check for needles, and you have performance anxiety you could drink mineral water and that day, concert day or public performance day, you will start feeling really light just because of that healthy food of course, and lots of water. And that helps to clear your mind as well, don’t you think Ausra? A: Well, yes, but think about it if you have performance late at night and all that long day you will just have bananas. V: No, that was me with my crazy experiments on myself being like a human guinea pig, but take moderation of course with those things. Eat one or two bananas and see what happens. A: Yes and the other thing if you have really, really bad performance anxiety, if you really cannot play because of that I think you might need to consult your physician. Maybe they will have some medications for you. V: Don’t choose the medications for yourself, right? Because… A: I don’t think you could get medications without prescription for that purpose. V: Umm-hmm. Right. But even if you have some at home you better consult the real physician because for your purpose, for your situation, maybe you bought it for another condition, right? And if you want to reduce anxiety for organ playing maybe you need to tell the doctor. A: Because usually what performance needs we need to know that our hands and feet wouldn’t shake but some of those medications just simply suppress your brain function and you might not be able to play at all. V: Right. I guess breathing helps. I found out sometimes 10 or 15 minutes before the concert if you are alone backstage or next to the organ bench and nobody can see you. You go into the corner if there are people around. Try to be alone for a while. Sit there and take deep breaths while closing your eyes and I think that helps to calm down a little bit, stay in the moment, right? A: But you know if you take breaths that are too deep you might be in trouble as well. V: Yes, you can faint. A: (laughs) Can you imagine during your performance you start breathing deeply and slowly and suddenly you just faint. V: But if it’s during your performance that you start to panic then actually reminding yourself to breathe helps to get out of this situation and control your music. Ausra, before we end why do think people are afraid to perform in public, it’s like public speaking also, people are very frightened? A: You told me statistics that some people are not so much afraid of dying. V: Yes, peoples number one fear is public speaking, dying is number two. A: Work as a teacher for a while and then after a year or two you wouldn’t get that fear. V: The more you practice, the more you appear in public, the less risk it appears because personally I believe people are afraid because of high stakes, what would happen if you make mistakes, what happens in your head. You think people will start to make fun of you, maybe your career will be over. If your career will be over then you won’t any more invitations to play organ concerts. If you won’t get any more concerts then you won’t have any money. If you won’t have any money you won’t have anything to eat, no money, no food, no shelter, then you will die. You see because just making a mistake or two playing sharp instead of flat there is a sudden thought process going subconsciously basically into dying. Fear of death basically what it is. But it’s all in your brain, you can control it I think mentally while staying in the moment, or trying to stay in the moment as much as possible. Ausra, what do you think? A: Yes I agree, but it’s not as easy you know. V: It’s constant struggle, right? With each practice you get a little bit better I think but you have to remind yourself to remember to stay in the moment and keep your eyes fixed on the music if you are playing from the sheet music, on the current measure. A: That’s right. V: OK 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.
Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 310, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by C.K. And C.K. writes: C.K. Hi Vidas, 1. My dream is to become a competent, versatile and creative church organist. V: And the obstacles toward this dream are, C.K. 2. Modulation skill; improvisation technique; setting registration. Regards, C K V: Uh-huh. So, C.K., basically wants to play in church, very creatively and confidently. And in a varied fashion. But he struggles with modulating, improvising and registration. A: So this goes to shows that he needs to deepen his music theory knowledge. And the last one, setting registration. I think it’s the problem of probably understanding the organ itself and maybe what fits what. V: Yes. If you were to start answering this question, I think starting talking about the last one would be the easiest starting point, right? A: Yes, I would think so. V: Registration. Let’s imagine, Ausra, you are summoned to St. John’s church today because we’re recording it on Sunday, to play for a mass, right? In the Catholic mass, we have a number of hymns to sing sometimes. Although I usually play organ music improvised, but other people do sing hymns. If you were to play hymns, what would you think about when setting the registration? A: Well, I would be thinking how many people are attending church; are they all singing hymns or am I singing solo. And I would make up registration accordingly. V: Would you use all manuals in that organ, or just one? A: What, for hymn accompanying? V: Yeah. For one hymn for example. A: Well, you could use one, but it would be nice to use two, or three especially if you don’t want to change the stops in the middle of the, during verse. V: If the hymn has three stanzas, you could easily play on one, two and three. A: Yes, and do them in different volume. V: Or even if you have four stanzas, you could play one, two, three and one again. A: That’s right. V: Basically jumping from manual to manual is a good way to change colors, because when playing on the second manual, you could change the first manual also, a little bit. With one hand you could still play and with another you could draw one or two stops. A: Yes. That’s when you are playing mechanical organ but if you have electric organ or something with piston system then it’s much easier. V: Mmm-hmm. A: You just push a button, that’s it. V: I think for C.K. to understand registration of hymns and accompanying them in the liturgy, the starting point probably needs to be, to use principle chorus, right? A: That’s right. V: If the congregation is big you could play with mixtures. If it’s not big you could play actually 8’, 4’ and 2’ or just 8’ and 4’. 8’ and 4’ would be enough for a small congregation probably. Don’t you think? A: That’s right. V: What about 16’ in the manuals? That would be nice too. A: Yes. You could add that too. V: If you have mixtures, right? A: Yes. V: Probably not before. Do you think that he would need to have pedals too? A: Definitely, for accompany congregational singing too. Definitely need pedals. V: Mmm-mmm. So Principles, 8’, 4’, 2’, Mixture, before Mixture you could have a fifth, 2 2/3, and 16’ principle, if it’s a big organ. Flute, if it’s a smaller instrument. And similar things in the pedals, I suppose; 16’, 8’, even 4’, right? And if you have Mixture in the pedals, you might add the Posaune in the bass, like a 16’ reed in the pedals. A: Yes, it’s nice. I like Posaune. V: Why? A: It’s my favorite reed stop. V: It’s so low and rumbling, and very scary to listen to. A: But I like it more than the trumpet 8’. V: It gives gravity. A: True. But in order to play the Posaune in the pedal you need to make sure you will not do a mistake in the pedal line. Otherwise everybody will notice them. V: You might have some things in common with Johann Adam Reincken. Because remember in Katharinen Kirche, in Hamburg, he advocated and added 32’ Posaune in the pedals. A: Wow! V: For more gravity. Or was it the Principle, I don’t know, but,,, A: Maybe not the Posaune. V: But it was definitely 32’ stop. Because he wanted more gravitas as he wrote, as he said maybe. So that’s suggestions about registration. Would do you think should go first; modulation, or improvisation when you are developing your techniques? A: I think modulation. V: Modulation, right? A: And even I will go a little bit back. Before modulation you have to be able to play cadence very well, cadences and sequences. Then after these two steps, then modulations come. Because modulation skill is a little bit more advanced skill than playing sequence or playing cadences. V: Would C.K. and other people benefit from your Youtube channel? A: Yes. You could try to play some of my sequences and cadences and some modulations too. V: Mmm-hmm. That was really helpful that you did. A: Because when you play sequences you get acquainted with various keys very well. Then it doesn’t matter for you if you are playing in C Major or in C# Major. I mean you feel equally well in each key. And after that you can start to modulate from one key to another key. V: I have a question, Ausra. A: Yes. V: How did you feel about making those videos? At the time? It was like a couple of years ago, probably. A: Yes. Well? I felt, interesting. V: Interesting or interested? A: Interesting. V: Uh-huh. A: Because usually that’s what my students do for me. I sit and listen and count the mistakes and make suggestions for them. And briefly sequences, cadences and modulations for me. And at that time I felt like a student myself. I had to play and also to talk at the same time. V: Do any of your students ever told you about, that they watched your videos? A: No. I don’t think they are interested in harmony. V: Uh-huh. But you could say them, ‘oh, guys, if you struggle with cadences and sequences and modulations, watch my Youtube channel’. A: Well... V: Some of them might, you know. A: Some of them also might. Some of them might not. V: Mmm-hmm. A: So but, it was for me, I don’t know, a hundred time easier for myself to play it, than to listen they playing. Because it’s quite annoying when we are playing very slowly and making mistakes over and over again, and come unprepared. V: I think our Secrets of Organ Playing students would play better. Because they have motivation, at least. A: It’s very important. V: Right? A: To have motivation. V: Do you have motivation to continue making those videos in the future? A: Yes, but probably not this year. I have too many,,, V: Too many classes to teach. A: Classes. V: Plus you additionally, have harmony classes with National Association of Organists. A: That’s right. V: I bet they will find them useful too. Okay, so guys, keep listening to our conversations, keep looking forward to new installments, and maybe, when Ausra is less busy, she can also create something new for you in terms of harmony too. And in terms of improvisation for C.K., if he wants to play in church, I think the most helpful thing to do would be improvising hymn introductions first. Right Ausra? A: Yes. V: In variety of ways. Could be simply re-harmonizing the hymn, or playing in two parts without the middle parts, tenor and alto. Could be a fuguette, taking the first phrase and treating it fugally, in three or four parts. A: Could be toccata. V: Toccata! A: Yes. Playing like melody in the bass. V: Uh-huh. A: Hymn melody for example. Toccata based on a hymn tune. V: But that’s for probably postlude, more. A: Yes. V: It’s very useful to impress your congregation. A: And do some fast figurations with hands. I think it would sound nice. V: So guys, if you feel that your congregation doesn’t support you enough or doesn’t clap after, doesn’t applaud after your playing churches, church service, just play a toccata, hymn improvisation based on toccata figuration, and we can personally guarantee that you will get some applause after that. A: Yes. Usually people like loud and fast. V: Right. And please, write after you do, write your feedback, how it was, and how congregation reacted. It’s really interesting to discuss that, and maybe you will get a lesson or two from that in the future, for your future performances too. A: Yes. V: Okay. Please keep sending us 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 309 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Michael and he writes: "Hi Vidas, You're very welcome! I very much enjoy your music scores, and I intend to purchase more in the future. Thank you for making them available for purchase! They are all excellent works. I was hoping you and Ausra might consider discussing the following organ history subjects in future podcasts: 1. When was the organ introduced into the Christian liturgy? Where were the first church organs installed (e.g. in which regions of Europe or Western Asia, etc)? How did the earliest organists serve in the context of the liturgy? Were the service-playing responsibilities quite different from that of a parish organist today? What was the medieval (pre-Tridentine) mass like? 2. Historical tunings/temperaments: Pythagorean tuning, Mean-tone temperament, the "well-temperaments," etc. When and were where these tunings were used? 3. Compositional practices/features of organ music prior to 18th century? Who were the key composers in the development of organ music composition from the medieval period to the 17th century? Thank you for your very helpful and informative podcast and blog posts! Most sincerely, Michael" V: What do you think for starters, Ausra? A: Well I thought how many dissertations one could defend on these subjects. V: This is like an outline of at least several organ literature classes and workshops too. Organ literature, organ building, what else? Organ composition probably, history of organ composition. So these are all questions that Michael is very interested and we really appreciate the broadness of these topics. A: I think we might have to divide them somehow. V: Obviously it’s impossible to cover even in a detailed manner at least a few of them in one sitting. Even in one sitting it would be impossible to do detailed analysis of one question because for example when Michael asks about how did the earliest organist serve in the context of the liturgy we could talk for hours about that. Or what was the medieval mass like? These are very broad questions. For this conversation what would you like to start with Ausra? A: Maybe from the beginning. V: When was the organ introduced into the Christian liturgy? This is a riddle. A: This is a riddle. I don’t think anybody has solved it yet. But, from what we know now, that organ came to the monasteries first. V: Remember that book by Peter Williams. He wrote many books but I’m thinking that actually any book that he wrote about the history of the organ would deal with that question because he kind of specializes in that history of the organ art and I think that I read about a gift by the Byzantine emperor to the father of Charles the Great, Pepin the Short was his name, in the year of 767 I think and the history was that he gave a gift of organ, probably positiv organ, and Pepin the Short was so impressed that he asked his monks to dissect how this organ was constructed and build more of them for him. A: I don’t think that right at the beginning they were used for liturgical purposes. V: So that’s into the western part of Europe from the Byzantine empire. If we’re talking about ages before that how did organ come into the Christian liturgy in general, let’s say into Byzantine liturgy, we don’t know for sure obviously, but we might guess it was like maybe 1000 years ago. A: I think naturally because you know Byzantine culture took over classical tradition, Greek and roman empire, so that’s how we inherited the organ in general. But I’m not sure that we used much also organ in the liturgy because look at the Orthodox church now. We don’t use instrumental accompaniment at all or instrumental music in the liturgy. Basically we just sing. Voice is the main instrument. V: I guess it was introduced into the western tradition more deeply about 1000 years ago and they have a theory that it was because organ represented the harmony of the universe in some way, maybe because each pipe was like a human being and together like in a choir they make harmony, those pipes. It’s a complicated theory. A: Yes, it is. And in general I think that organ was started to use more often when liturgy needed it because in the early time in Catholic churches too basically Gregorian chant was sung and it didn’t need much instrumental support at that time. V: Umm-hmm. And I guess when we are talking about early Christian liturgy organ was like more of a signal instrument at first. If you look at paintings or representations of early organs in frescoes, medieval paintings, they are small, they sit on a swallows nest on one column and they are very narrow. I think in that case they didn’t have stop handles. They didn’t have possibility to change organ colors. What was this term called? Blockwerk, right? A: Yes, it was Blockwerk. And I think in Blockwerk you could not use separate organ stops, everything would sound together. And only in the Renaissance I believe this big discovery or organ mechanic was made where you could have separate stops. V: So if you play on the medieval organ the sound would be like a big, big organ, principal chorus sound with powerful mixtures up to 25 ranks or something like that. A: And I think with Blockwerk, especially if it was portable it was used during processionals. V: Right. Do you remember the story of how organ came into Lithuania? A: Yes, I remember Ulrich von Jungingen. V: Grand Master of Teutonic Order. A: Yes he gave us a present to our Grand Duke Vytautas Magnus' wife. Organ and clavichord too, not only organ. V: Umm-hmm. Clavichord was a novelty at this time and he gave also a portative organ to Vytautas' wife Ona. And it was usual to exchange gifts. I would presume Vytautas would also give gifts on other occasions when he visited Teutonic order too. But remember it was in the year of 1408, two years before the battle of Grunwald in 1410. In the current territory of Poland joined forces of Poland, Lithuania and other united alliances defeated Teutonic order. So maybe Teutonic Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen was trying to avoid this battle. A: Probably organ was too small to avoid this big war. V: Right. And those battles actually were part of the expansion politics of Christianity, at least officially. A: True, true. But it’s funny because our country was already Christian country by this time. It means that all those wars were just somebody’s cover up for basically expanding the territory and taking of money and treasures. V: Although they were probably officially declared as crusades but… A: There were no pagans at that time in Europe anymore so… V: Umm-hmm. They have little to do with religion literally if were talking about religion expansion of Christianity. More about politics. A: Yes, not let’s go back to the organ. And I think that’s the end of middle ages and renaissance was sort of a very good period for organ to develop and I think it advanced a lot. But still if you look at different countries I believe that basically reformation, especially Luther’s’ tradition gave the biggest inspiration for organ to develop and expand especially if we’re talking about pedal section because if you would take catholic countries such as Italy or France in the early ages the pedal is very undeveloped. V: Umm-hmm. A: But if you look at Northern Germany, look at those big huge pedal towers. Because Catholics at that time didn’t sing I think altogether. And liturgy was more for clergy and people would just observe things what was happening because everything was in Latin and nobody could understand anything so we could just watch. But in Lutheran tradition people became an important part of liturgy itself and congregational singing began to develop and that’s why we needed these big organs, to support congregational singing. V: And still today in Lithuania congregational singing is not a very strong part of the worship because of that Catholic tradition of Gregorian chant. OK guys, I hope this was useful to you for closing our conversation I think I might add to Michael that if these questions are interesting to him, what he could do, when he’s reading books about that, obviously our Podcasts cannot be the only source for information on such subjects, right. You have to dig deeper but when you dig deeper, and for everybody who digs deeper I think it’s wonderful to a little bit document your discoveries and maybe do it online in the form of little blog or on social media you could have a public record of your discoveries and also you could leave a trace online for other people to follow when they are interested in these subjects in the future. A: Yes, I think it would be very helpful for others. V: I know Michael has SoundCloud channel too so he could do a Podcast like we are doing but maybe more about organ history side about what he is studying with. He could do it in written form as well. Alright, wonderful questions brought topics for discussion in the future and please send us more of your feedback and stories. 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 308 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Jaco, and he writes: Dear Vidas Thank you for your daily posts - it is really an inspiration! I really like Bach's Toccata in d (Dorian). It is a piece that feels like it has perpetual motion - something always keeps moving in it. It is quite a difficult piece to master, but I decided to learn it. The edition I am playing from is the new 2012 urtext Breitkopf & Hartel edition. It indicates a trill in measure 29 on the top e in the RH (please see below). However, it does not indicate when this trill should stop. The note is held on for another 2 measures. When should that trill stop? I don't know how to play the RH in measure 30 if trill has to continue, since a lower voice starts with that hand halfway through measure 30. Another question - I know the piece has to be played articulate legato. However, it does sound quite nice if the first 2 semiquavers on the motive on beat 1 and 3 are slurred (played legato). I have heard it on some recordings as well. Would this be considered acceptable to do? Looking forward to your reply! Kind regards Jaco V: So, in measure 30, on the second half of that measure right hand, 16th notes enter. And, if you were to continue this trill, it would be impossible to play double-16th notes in the left hand in parallel 6ths, Ausra. What do you think? A: Well, unless you would use the 5th and 4th finger to make the trill. V: Oh, that’s...that’s torture! A: It is! Or maybe you could play those 16th notes with your left hand. V: But you see, can many people play double-parallel-6ths in that tempo? In the really fast tempo? A: I don’t think so. But it would be so nice, you know, to have that trill until the measure 31 where you have those chords in a cadence. V: At least in the middle of 30, when the right hand enters with 16ths, too. But, you say you would try to play it with the left hand, right? Both voices that move in 16th notes. A: That’s one of the possibilities. V: Technically, it could be done, A: Yes, it could be done… V: Because the distance between those two parts is not more than one octave. So, technically, if you are good with your left hand, it could be done, but, in reality, not too many people can do this. Yes? So then, you sacrifice something. A: Well, yes, but in general, while using the sense of your mind, I think you would stop playing that trill when the second voice in the right hand enters. V: That’s what I’m thinking, too. A: In the middle of the measure 30. V: That’s right. A: Is it measure 30? Yes. V: Okay, so that’s our solution, and I think Jaco feels that way, too, because it’s impossible, really, to play perfectly the long trill and both voices in the left hand, unless you are a virtuoso. A: I think that’s what Bach meant, to play the trill until the 16ths enter in the right hand. V: What about playing a short trill, just like four or five notes? A: I don’t think it will work in this piece. Could you go back to the score, please? ...because, as Jaco already said, it’s perpetual motion in this piece, and this starts right away with both hands, and pedal comes in here, and then you have the trill in the right hand, and if you want to play it or you do it very short, then I don’t think it will do good for that sense of motoric movement. V: I just have to double-check the older edition from the 19th century, from 1861, Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe. What does it say? If it’s a long trill or a short trill….it might be something different. And sometimes 19th century solutions are better than 21st century solutions. A: Well, it’s good to know more ways than one, you know? And to check more editions. V: Okay. Let’s see...we’re looking now, and trying to find… this trill is in parentheses in Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe on which our version with fingering and pedaling is based! So you could play it, or you could not play it, I guess. A: I would play it, because if you would just hold that long note… V: True.. So then, Jaco has another question. He writes: “I know the piece has to be played articulate legato. However, it does sound quite nice if the first two semiquavers on the motive on beat one and three are slurred—played legato. I have heard it on some recordings as well. Would this be considered acceptable to do?” That’s a very fast tempo, and… A: It is! V: in such a fast tempo, A: It might sound legato. V: Right. A: Actually, I don’t believe that somebody on purpose played those two semiquavers legato. I think it’s just a feeling you get when it’s played in a fast tempo. And because you have to emphasize the strong beat, that’s why it sounds legato, too. V: Because you make the first note longer. A: Longer. That’s right. But, somehow to try on purpose to play it legato, I wouldn’t do it. V: Plus maybe the acoustics environment will make it sound legato. A: True. V: But the organist probably would still play with articulation. It’s different from what the organist does and what the listeners hear A: That’s right. V: Interesting piece! A: Because, if you play legato on purpose, then you might get a mess, or your listeners might hear a mess. V: I played this piece many years ago, when I was still a student, and I struggled with playing it in an even manner, because it’s a motoric piece, like a toccata, and after a while, after a few pages, it gets quite difficult, just like in Vivaldi-Bach Concerto, D minor, the last movement. A: And it’s like C minor Prelude from Well Tempered Clavier, the first volume also very motoric. V: Yes. Organists have to develop good patience while working on this piece, otherwise, we can lose a sense of meter! A: True, and I think it would be a crucial point in a toccata if you would lose your sense of motion—that sense of meter. Your toccata would be lost to it. V: I wonder how Jaco is practicing the fugue. He doesn’t say anything. Because, the fugue is, I think, more complex! A: True! V: With so much canonic motion. A: Yes, because the toccata, there, is not much of polyphonic devices, but fugue is another thing… V: And, sometimes the fingering is tricky. That’s why we made fingering and pedaling for both toccata and fugue, of D Dorian, and hopefully people can practice efficiently using our score, too. Okay guys, thank you, Jaco, for this wonderful question, and others, please keep sending us your feedback and your stories. 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 307, of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Tamara. And she writes: Hello Vidas– I have been following your Secrets of Organ Playing emails—very helpful, thank you! Do you recommend total legato for hymn playing in any situation? I did learn and follow the 4 ways to render a hymn in the Ritchie book (Chapter 7). It seems that the best, most efficient hymn playing is balance of legato and articulation, distributed among the SATB parts. Thank you. Tamara V: Mmm. That’s a very specific question, Ausra. A: Yes, it is. V: And the way I remember Dr. Ritchie teaches is, and Quentin Faulkner too—is if the hymn is created after 1800’s, then you play it legato. And if it’s an earlier hymn then your articulate. Very simple, or not? A: Yes. Sounds about true, but you always need to look at the specific keys and the specific hymn too. Because there are sometimes later, composed hymns that you also need to articulate. V: Right. It could be like Neo–classical style. A: That’s right. And there are also specific hymns that might be created, at least the melody might be created earlier, for example, based on Gregorian chant, that you want to play legato for example because it sounds better that way. V: Really? A: Really. V: Mmmm. So Gregorian chant sounds better with less articulation, you think. A: Yes. V: Oh. Interesting. A: I think so. At least for my ear. V: If I create, for example, a hymn tune today, but it’s in baroque style, or ancient style, this too should be played probably with articulation, or not? Because it’s 21st Century. A: It depends on the style. V: If the style is earlier than,,, How would you play my music, Ausra? Would you play my music at all? A: Which one? V: (Laughs). A: I don’t think so, but,,, V: Nobody wants to play my music. Not even Ausra. Okay, guys. Let’s stop for a second to cry, and then after we done crying, we’ll continue. Okay! I’m done crying. Now, Tamara says that the “most efficient hymn playing is balance of legato and articulation, distributed among [the] SATB parts”. What do you think she means by that, Ausra? A: I think that what she says? V: Balance of legato and articulation? A: Maybe by that she means that you play, I don’t know, soprano legato and you articulate other voices, or maybe that you take breaks, articulate between phrases. I’m not sure. V: Or maybe, it’s articulate legato. You know,,, A: Oh. Could be. V: Mix between legato and non-legato. A: But in general, I always look actually, when I take a hymn, I look not at when it was written. I look at the musical structure. I look on the particular organ that they had to play that hymn. I look in the space if it’s reverberant, or if it’s dry. I’m thinking if I will be singing it solo or congregation will sing it too. Because in general, the more reverberant room is, the more articulate you have. Even if a hymn is written legato, you will have to do some articulation between phrases. Because if people are singing, the need to take a breath. Music needs to breathe. V: The monster never breathes. Who said that? Stravinsky, I think, about organ. A: Well so maybe... V: Stravinsky didn’t know that articulate legato playing style at that time. A: Could be. I think it was part forgotten during his lifetime. So... V: Mmm-hmm. So let’s make organ breathe, right, guys? Let’s make it actually sing. Without breathing there is no singing, right? You have to sing yourself. Imagine you are singing with the congregation. That’s the easiest thing. You don’t have to sing soprano part, you can sing middle voices, or the bass. That’s up to you. But if you sing, you naturally have to breathe. A: That’s right. And of course, it also depends on the tempo that you are playing the hymn to. The slower you play, the more breaks you have to take. V: Does it, come easily, this type of articulation or not, Ausra, for people, or for you? Let’s say for you personally. Do you remember your first attempts at hymn playing? How did you feel? A: Well, when I just started to play hymns at church, I actually didn’t think so much about either to play them legato or non–legato. V: Mmm-hmm. A: I had other concerns at that time. V: Such as? A: How do not miss the place in the mass where the hymn should sound; how don’t miss pedal keys, and don’t mess them up. And all that liturgical struggle. V: Will the people complain to the priest after your playing? A: No. Well... V: (Laughs). A: There was one lady who thought that especially you play too fast. V: Mmm-mmm. A: Because... V: You mean myself? Vidas? A: Yes. And I’m playing a little bit better because I’m playing a little bit slower. But still not slow enough for them, because he wanted to drag the hymns, and to slow them down as much as possible. That way mass would never end. V: This was one of my last church service playings in that church. A: Yes. That’s right. V: (Laughs). Yes. I guess in every congregation you have people like that—complaining and going to the priest or pastor, and telling them how things should be around there. Because they know better. A: True. V: So you say you didn’t think about articulation at the beginning? A: Yes. At that time, yes, I didn’t think about it because I had much more things to think about. V: For me, I don’t remember, maybe in America I started to think about articulating hymns, more, than in Europe. Is the same for you? A: Yes. True. V: Everything changed when we went to America, somehow. We started thinking differently. Maybe teaching style was different, right, and more clear, and more specific, and things were explained to us in a way that, at that age and stage of our development, we could understand. Of course we already had masters degree from Lithuania, so we weren’t beginners there, but it was good to do a second masters degree, and doctoral degree after that too. Don’t you think? A: Yes. V: Okay, guys. Try to experiment with many playing styles when you encounter hymn playing. Because every century requires its own rendering of legato or articulation. Don’t you think, Ausra? A: Yes. That’s right. V: Mmm-hmm. So, thank you guys for listening, for sending these thoughtful questions. We think that when you apply our, sometimes advice, sometimes feedback, sometimes just experiences to your playing, for some people it’s really helpful. Not for everyone, right? Because some people have their own opinions and that’s okay. Because we also have our own opinions about things. And Ausra’s opinions sometimes are different from my opinion, right, Ausra? A: Yes. V: Would you, Ausra, like that my opinion would be the same, like yours? A: I can’t imagine that! V: (Laughs). What about me? Do you think I would love that? A: I don’t think so. V: We like to argue. Then we wouldn’t have anything to argue about. A: Yes. We love to fight. V: Yes. At least in drawings. A: That’s right. V: Okay. 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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