AVA247: The improvement I’m feeling may not be apparent, but I have pushed through several things7/7/2018 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 247, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. This question was sent by Ron. He wrote: Hi Vidas and Ausra, Thank you for the nice comments on the post. The improvement I’m feeling may not be apparent, but I have pushed through several things in my contest attempts. I’m starting to learn and mentally catalogue groups of note fingerings. Speed is still a problem, but I know that comes with time. Keeping to the correct notes is becoming second nature, and I’m starting to get a kind of grip on forms I can re-use. The recent lessons you posted, like the 9 day Bach style improv is one of those things, and helps to make sense out of a sort of chaos—when you first start out you think you have to do everything, when in fact.. it seems that just to get one or two things down well is an actual accomplishment. I’m also learning how to record the entries better, so’s not to make people have to listen with difficulty, while not making my early attempts too long, either (in hopes I don’t drive people away!) I do hope the others continue to send in contest recordings. This is too good of an idea, and I know that there are a lot more people out there far more advanced than I who could really add to this and make it a great teaching tool, where we learn from others. You two put in a lot of hard, careful, and considerate work. Cheers, Ron V: So, Ron, Ausra, writes about our series of organ playing improvisation contest. And he participated in several weeks in a row. A: Yes, I remember his performance. V: Do you think that he made progress each week? A: Sure! I found it remarkable how much he improved actually, even the first week. How carefully he responded to our comments and changed his performance. V: Mmm-hmm. We thought that people are traveling and having vacations during the summer so we kind of postponed the next entries until the fall comes, right? A: True. V: But it’s a great opportunity for people to learn together, improvise on the same theme together, and upload those entries and listen to those and receive support too. So during the summer when we don’t have improvisation contests, what would your first recommendation to Ron be? A: Just keep working. Keep improvising. Because it’s bad to have too long breaks of anything that you do. V: Why? A: Well, because you might need to start from the beginning. V: And you lose motivation too. A: True. V: When you don’t practice one day, you just yourself notice that, right? When you skip practice for two days, your friends and family notice. And when you skip practice for three days, everybody.,, A: Everybody will notice. V: Mmm-hmm. So that’s why I’m improvising too, regardless whether I continue to create those improvisations contests or not. Every day I try to sit down on the organ bench and play something interesting. Maybe on those four notes. Maybe based on a hymn tune or choral melody. It doesn’t matter which one you choose. But I found really motivating is to record myself and actually live-stream it when people on Facebook can join in and listen to my playing. Then this act of live-streaming prevents me from stopping in the middle of unfinished improvisation. I have to finish because I know that people are listening. And it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad but you have finish what you started. A: But it’s good that you can handle the pressure. Not everybody could do it probably. V: I know what you mean, but,,, A: Do you feel nervous? V: No. It’s so relaxing. I kind of, if I have only four notes to worry about, just four notes, C, D, E and F, let’s say. Then I know that I can handle this texture well, and the only think I’m worrying about when improvising like that, is to keep things interesting all the time. So I kind of, try to listen how my listeners are hearing at the same time, sort of from the side, and not to be too immersed in improvisation so that I won’t be able to get out of it in time. A: Yes, and it’s amazing how much you can achieve actually, when working with four notes. I listen to Ron’s recordings and to Mindaugas’ recordings and to your improvisations, and it’s quite remarkable. V: Mmm-hmm. Yes, and especially if you have an organ with a decent acoustical environment. Then those four notes become like four colors, and they work together very well. Any type of color, any type of notes, group of four notes will work well if combined together. It doesn’t matter which ones you choose, it’s just a matter of using them often enough. And then they sort of blend. A: True. V: So, that’s what I’m doing. I’m also trying, I think today I’m going to improvise based on the Genevan Psalter. I recorded those improvisations maybe six months ago or more. But then got distracted from that practice so I think I’m going to come back to those delightful Genevan Psalter tones and keep improvising too. That’s very interesting, especially with the manuals. A: Yes, that’s a good source for hymns. V: And if you don’t have Genevan Psalter, of course, your hymn book is ideal way too. A: True. V: So, guys, let’s keep this day creative, okay? Because when you just play from the score, you are developing one sort of ability. It’s very good, it’s very handy. It’s actually indispensable, right? We need to sight read and play from the sheet music. But, also, if you only play from the score, you are missing something very, very important, something that you have to let out of yourself. And for a second, if you haven’t done this before, for a second, forget that you don’t know how to do this. Forget your fears. Forget your insecurities. It doesn’t matter, right? But, can you trust me when I say that you need to let it out, and of course there plenty of people who are doing this and you would say, ‘Oh, I am not good at this. I’m not Bach, and I’m not a virtuoso performer and improviser’. But it doesn’t matter at all because your improvisations will be unique and they will be yours, and that’s all that matters. Would you agree, Ausra? A: Yes, I agree with that. V: Okay guys. Thank you for sending these questions and for taking action on our advice. 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 246 of Ask Vidas and Ausra podcast. This question was sent by Michael. He writes: Hi Vidas, I had private lessons with Michael Schneider in the 70s and 80s for 13 years - I am very satisfied with my playing technique and don’t have serious difficulties with the literature. I had a 30 years break - settling in my job and having a family with 2 kids. In 2010 I discovered the Hauptwerk software and bought a three manual console and several sample sets. I took up practicing again and brushed up most of my repertoire. A few pieces are still open: JSB Toccata in F, P&F in E flat and in E minor, Dupré op. 7 - but this is only a question of time, not of difficulties. At present I am studying Carillon de Westminster - it is almost finished. My challenge is to keep all these pieces warm, so that I can play them without too much preparation time. If you are interested in my performances, go to contrebombarde.com and search for bartfloete, my musical nickname. All the best for you and Ausra and thanks again. Best regards Michael V: So, Michael can play quite a difficult repertoire, Ausra, right? A: Actually very difficult. All the pieces that he named are the top difficulty level. V: Dupré Opus 7, those Three Preludes and Fugues in G minor I believe, A: It’s B major, then F minor, then finally G minor. V: G minor. So difficult to play, especially G minor, I think. A: Yes, and I played B major. It’s challenging, too! Fugue, especially. And we have heard some not very successful performances of these three pieces by quite famous American organists, so, that’s quite a challenge. V: Yes, and Toccata in F major by Bach—it could be a very long and tedious piece to play, if you are not careful, if you are not playing musically. A: And those cadences in the Toccata section, I think are the hardest thing in that piece. V: And of course, E flat major Prelude and Fugue, that’s probably a pinnacle of Bach’s writing, in general, for organ. So, you would probably enjoy, tremendously well, just practicing this piece, not only performing it. A: True, and then, he mentions the Prelude and Fugue in E minor, and I believe he means, probably, “The Wedge,” V: “The Wedge,” yeah. A: Yeah, which is, I think, one of the hardest pieces for organ that Bach wrote. V: Even harder than E flat major Prelude. A: I would say so, yes. V: Because of the fugue, probably. A: True. V: Running passages and virtuoso texture. A: True, and it’s also long, as is the E flat major. V: So, his challenge is to keep all these pieces warm, and be able to play them without too much preparation time. That’s very simple, right, Ausra, because, A: Yeah… he has to play them. V: Play them all the time, and let’s say he has a repertoire of about one hour, right? Toccata and Fugue in F major, that’s 15 minutes, E flat major, another 15 minutes, A: Well, perhaps 17 V: A little more, then E minor, so 3/4 of an hour more, probably, and Dupré Opus 7, so that’s more than an hour, I think. A: Oh, it’s much more than an hour. V: Mhm, because Dupré 3 Preludes and Fugues is more than a half an hour already. A: Well, I would say probably more, because that F minor, the middle one is in a slower tempo. V: And Carillon of Westminster, by Vierne, so that would conclude his hour of Bach and Vierne, and Dupré, in addition, a half an hour set… A: Well, that’s like two recitals, I would say... V: Almost two recitals. A: Almost two recitals, yes. V: One and a half, at least. So if he has to keep these pieces warm, he has to play them, not necessarily every day all things, but to have a plan to play them regularly. A: Well, let’s say you choose two pieces for each day that you will work up on and repeat on, and the next day you will do another two pieces and just keep going like that, and keep rotating. V: Yes, Bach F major, E flat major, and then E minor—three. Dupré, three more, that’s six, and seven, Vierne. So, basically yes, in three days, he can do brush up. A: Yes, and you know, it doesn’t matter, there is no magic trick that you learn pieces and you will be able to play them after ten years without practicing them. No, you need to keep practicing and to keep refreshing them. Of course, it always depends on how well you learned them for the first time. For example, did you play them with the same fingering all the time? Because this makes things easier for you to repeat and to keep it in good shape. V: Let’s suggest to Michael to memorize. Would that be helpful in the long run? A: Yes and no. Don’t you think it’s harder to keep things in memory than to read it from a score? V: Yes, he doesn’t have to perform from memory, he just has to learn it inside out. And then, when it comes time to perform from the score, it would be easier. A: Yes, true, but you can do that if you have a lot of time. So, it depends on your schedule. And, for example, for some people, when you learn to play something from memory, it’s very hard to go back and to play it from the score. You need to keep that in mind, too. Not for everybody, but for some, yes. V: I see. Interesting. What else could Michael do? What would you do in Michael’s shoes if you had plenty of time and would like to learn those pieces and keep them warm in your repertoire, in addition to practicing them regularly, maybe twice a week. A: Well, what helps me, actually, is to play my repertoire in a slow tempo. This sort of keeps everything well under my fingers and then I can play pieces for a very long time without ruining them. V: If you play them in the concert tempo, you can get carried away and don’t notice details and ruin the performance. A: True. Yes, because things might get muddy when you practice all the time in a fast tempo. Of course, people think, “Oh, if I play it fast, then I can play more pieces,” and that’s what we do, but I don’t think that’s a good way to do it. V: You have to think long term. What would today’s practice mean for you three months later? A: And I think it especially applies for practicing Bach’s works, because they are such polyphonically complex pieces, and you can miss many important details while practicing in the fast tempo all the time. V: And one last thing. Obviously, if you are so good with those pieces, like Michael is, probably, then it would be wonderful to go out and play in public. Don’t you think? A: Of course, and I think that’s what he does. He has his page on YouTube. V: But that’s in public… he records himself and publishes, but I mean in live performance, maybe in a church setting, maybe in a concert settings, even. Go out in his area, make friends with local organists, and arrange recitals! A: Yes, and another suggestion for him would be that since all the pieces that he mentions, he played them a long time ago, and now he is repeating them. So maybe it’s time to learn something new that he hadn’t played before. V: Ah, I see. Yes, if you only repeat your repertoire from the past, you are not really advancing. Right? A: Well, you are advancing, but you are not expanding your repertoire. V: You are advancing, but not expanding your musical horizons. So that is great final advice, Ausra. A: And he studied with Mike Schneider, as he mentions in his letter, and sometimes we think that we will not be able to learn new pieces without a mentor or a teacher. V: Which is not true… A: Which is not true. Because, if you have already learned so much hard repertoire, I’m sure you can do something on your own, too. V: And teach others, if you like. Thank you guys, this was Vidas, A: And Ausra, V: Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 245, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. This question was sent by William. And he writes: Do you have any advice for organists who have never played hymn melody in feet or in tenor range? I have been trying all week to do this on hymn amazing grace. I am having hard time. Is it a waste to learn this process? I am trying to begin to improvise and so much I read say to do this and then practice in different keys. It is really hard for me. Is this a God given talent or something that I can learn by practice? Someone told me today if cannot do it it is you can not learn. Another I read to transpose everything to C Major and then you can eventually play by ear instead of thinking about intervals. Do you have as part of your course a step by set way to learn to improvise? I just want so bad to learn improvisation. Is ear training the basic problem? Thanks. William V: Where to start, Ausra? A: Well, that’s a very broad question actually. William brought up many problems that many organists encounter. V: So let’s unpack this a little bit from the beginning. He wants to play hymn melody in the tenor range with his feet, on the hymn, ‘Amazing Grace’, right? A: Yes. V: And he’s having a hard time. Obviously this is not a simple solution, right? Because most of the time people are playing bass line in the pedals. A: True. V: Especially in hymn playing. But then if you want to play a melody with your feet, but a little bit higher, not in the bass range, you have to get use to it, right? How long would it take, I think, in your opinion, Ausra, with everyday practice for William? A: I think it depends on individual abilities so it’s very hard to prognose, how fast he would advance, but definitely he could do it, if he would work regularly on it. V: Is it a waste of time or no? A: No. It’s not a waste of time, but in terms of starting to improvise on the organ, if you don’t have particularly pedal advanced, pedal technique, I don’t think it’s a good solution to start to improvise from things what William is doing, like playing the melody in the pedal, of ‘Amazing Grace’. It’s not such an easy tune to play in the pedals. V: No, not easy. A: So, and if he’s just a beginner improviser, I don’t think that this is the right way or easiest way or the right way to start to improvise. Because, let’s say, for starters, I would definitely improvise something on manuals only, and if he wants to include pedals, he needs to support harmony, at first. V: Mmm-hmm. A: But not to play a solo part. What do you think about it? V: Well there are many approaches to start. Some of the easiest ways to get used to the pedal board and to keyboards, I think, it’s good to choose just four pitches. Any random pitches that you like. It could be adjacent like C, D, E, F, or really random pitches like D, F#, B and G#. It doesn’t matter which four you choose but if you use them explicitly in you improvisation they will sound nice. It’s like one mode, one color in paintings. A: Yes, so improvisation on these four pitch base melodies could work well, nice for many things. For Offering, for example, for Communion at church service. But what if you need to improvise on a particular hymn for example, ‘Amazing Grace’. What would you suggest for a beginner? V: Then, if you really badly want to play the hymn melody with the pedals, then do it just like a normal organ composition. Play it voice by voice. Pedal solo would be ‘Amazing Grace’ melody, with you feet alone, without any accompaniment first, right? And then, even you can play the melody in three parts; in soprano, in tenor and in the pedal. It would be steps one, two and three, without accompaniment, without any additional voices. Just one voice texture, solo melody. Once you get used to this, yes, you could improvise maybe transpose first, not improvise, transpose it to other keys, to really get the hang of it. And then, add the second voice. Like if you play with the soprano add the bass. If you play with the bass, add soprano. What do you think? A: Yes, I think that’s an excellent suggestion. Do you think, is it necessary in your improvisation since it’s improvisation, not a hymn accompaniment, would you necessarily use the entire melody, or could you just extract some specific motive or some motives from the hymn tune? V: Obviously you would choose just fragments of the hymns that would be even more creative, I think. A: Do you think that people would still recognize the tune that you are improvising on? V: If you use it often, in various voices. I wouldn’t recognize it. I don’t know about people. I’m not an ordinary listener, you know. But it’s not important as much as they understand it or recognize it. It’s important that they enjoy it, right? A: True. V: …for people. So, I have this course, Hymn Playing Improvisation Level One, or Organ Hymn Improvisation Level One, where I improvise a second voice in addition to the choral melody, in the right hand or in the left hand. And then I switch. And I first do it note by note. Basically, for one note of the melody, you supply one note of the accompaniment. And then the second step would be, two notes against one. And then three notes against one, like triplets. And four notes against one like sixteenth notes. And gradually it becomes faster and faster and you can really create an entire cycle of variations on any hymn tune based on this course. A: Very interesting. Now what about the second half of the question? As I understand, William is wondering either you need to know theory well enough or you can play by ear, if I understood it correctly. What do you think about it? How much improvisation needs to be based on the theoretical knowledge? V: It’s really hard to say for me because all my life I was involved in theory in one way or another. A: But do you think it helps or it slows you down? V: Theory? A: Yes, learning theory. V: I would say it helps. It helps a lot. Like when I improvise, I always think about key signatures, about modes, and that wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t know the theory behind those modes. I would probably play by ear but then I would create some unnecessary dissonances and basically wouldn’t understand what I am playing. And would only play nicely by accident, you know. I could not repeat it. I could not even teach it to somebody else. A: And I know that you have perfect pitch. Does it help for you to improvise? Is it necessary to have perfect pitch to be able to improvise? V: No, because you still are looking at the fingers and manuals and pedals when you’re improvising. You seeing what you playing. I think it’s okay, but, if I didn’t have this perfect pitch, who knows. Hypothetically maybe it would slow me down. A: But it’s possible to learn to improvise, what to you think? Without having perfect pitch? V: Obviously yes. You just have to think about what exactly you would like to play with your mind, you know, theoretically. Your mind goes first and then fingers follow, not the other way around. Although, there are some improvisers who would disagree. You could close your eyes and play whatever comes out of your fingers. A: Interesting. V: What do you think? A: Well, hard to say. I think that improvisation is sort of a combination of all these things; your ear, your theoretically knowledge, your technical skills. Of all those things. And of course your personal taste. V: If you think too much then it might become too predictable and too boring, you know. You have to leave some space for surprises. A: Don’t you think that sometimes, improviser who improvise in historical, sort of limit the imagination, or not? V: It’s a complicated question because what they do usually, they adjust to the instruments. The reason probably why they do it in historical styles is because they love historical instruments. And to play a modern imaginative improvisation on a historical instrument, it’s much, much more difficult than just to copy somebody else’s style from the past. And these people of course, fall in love with early music, and want to recreate them, sort of imagine them in the real life. Imagine what Sverlink would do today, you know. Imagine what Krebs would do today or Couperin or Bach. So I think instruments dictate the style for them. And when they switch instruments they could switch styles too. So it’s really a fascinating subject. You should really try yourself, even if you have a modern instrument, it doesn’t matter. Just play something interesting for starters on four notes. Or on ‘Amazing Grace’ hymn tune. Thank you guys. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Please send us more of 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 244, of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. This question was sent by John. And he wrote: Dear Vidas, I improvise at every service. I often improvise before the start of Solemn Mass (generally an improvised prelude on the first hymn) and always at the Offertory - during the censing of the altar. The only times I do not improvise at the Offertory are during the seasons of Advent and Lent. On Palm Sunday, I improvise on Stations of the Cross at the evening service. [On Maundy Thursday, the organ is silent after the solemn procession until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil.] Best wishes, John V: So, Ausra, this seems to be a comment about when to improvise during a service, right? A: Yes, yes. V: Or when to play the organ. Because, yes, you can play repertoire, you don’t have to improvise. A: True, true. V: But you can. So John improvises quite often, right? At every service. Why do you think on seasons on Advent and Lent, it’s not really appropriate to improvise for the offertory? A: Well, because in general, Catholic Church does not allow or does not recommend to use pure instrumental music during mass, at Advent and at Lent. And of course during the Holy Week, starting from Maundy Thursday, the organ is shut down until the Easter Sunday, or Easter Vigil. V: I think that this tradition is still alive in some places, even in Lithuania, in smaller churches. But it’s not really, I think, required to keep silent, and not to play anything instrumental. A: Well, you can play instrumental but it can be only accompaniment of the human voice. So usually during Advent and Lent in Catholic Churches you sing more, than at other times. V: Do you think that it would be a problem if one would improvise during that time? A: I think it might be a problem in some churches with some conservative congregation and priests. V: Mmm-hmm. So then, of course, communicate better, if you want to do that during Lent and Advent in a conversation congregation. A: And I remember those times while working inside Catholic Churches, and I remember that Advent and Lent was, and especially Lent, because it’s longer than Advent, was a real challenge for organists because in Lithuania often an organist has to sing himself. So he’s sort of like double man, both organist and cantor. And all these seven weeks before Easter when you have to play and sing yourself at the same time, is just, you know, exhausting. V: Yes, and today, if anybody asks me to play for the service in church, I would generally improvise. And I would only sing Sanctus part and Agnes Dei part because they have to be sung. Sometimes Kyria too. A: And Psalm of course, yes. V: Psalm, Alleluia too, yes. But not Introit and Offertory and Communion hymns. I would improvise during that time. And people in our congregation at St. Johns Church, they start to appreciate it. And at the last time when I played it, it was on June 24, when the feast of St. John the Baptist was. I was invited to play there and improvised all the time. And at the end I played the fiery Sortie or a postlude you know. And people started applauding like crazy afterwards. A: So it means that there is need for organ music. V: Right. Because at that church we only work as university organist, not church organist, and we generally don’t play at services, unless they ask us in advance, in addition to other things. So they have they have their own ensembles maybe, guitars and synthesizers, but they don’t use pipe organ too often. A: Yes, interesting. V: So that’s of course the case with many Catholic Churches. A: True, but you know, I find it’s sort of peculiar because like this for example; law of Advent and Lent, not having instrumental music, is sort of very puritan like, yes? V: Mmm-hmm. A: But on the other hand, you have so many Catholic Churches have, you know, pop music sounding all the time during mass. And guitars playing and people almost dancing near the altar. And I think it’s sort of a big controversy, in my opinion. V: Yeah, liturgically speaking, it’s nonsense. A: I know. I know. Because if you want to be conservative in everything, then you have to be conservative and consistent about everything. So I don’t know how this sort of strict rules apply to modern pop music. V: They don’t think about that relationship, about this dichotomy too often, I think. They play and sing what is pleasing to their ears, right? Especially for the youth. They think that if they play a lot of pop music, then more youth would come to the church. That’s their argument. And if you would play traditional hymns, let’s say, and accompany those hymns with pipe organs and play organ music in addition to that, of course people will leave the church. A: Yes. Gregorian chant might kill you. I’m just joking, but… V: But then, don’t you attract the wrong kind of people to the church? A: That’s right. If the music is the only thing that attracts you, then it’s probably not your place in that church. V: On the other hand, we would probably go to the church which has high quality musical tradition, right? A: True, true. That’s a hard thing to find in Lithuania, in Catholic Church. V: Yes. But when we travel, for example to other countries, it’a always a pleasure to go to a church where is a high standard of music. A: But you know, in America in Catholic Churches, in some of that we attended, the music was very bad, actually. V: In protestant churches, it’s much better tradition. A: True. True. That’s true. Anglicans and you know, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists. V: Right. So I think for everyone is different, you know, their tastes, and everything. Those young people also deserve to have their own music in church somewhere. But not necessarily in the main service, you know. Maybe you have to have youth service, someplace in the morning or in the evening. That could be a solution, don’t you think? A: Yes, it could be. V: And leave the main service, the main mass for the choir and organ. That’s for catholics. A: That’s right. V: For other denominations it’s also different. So guys, don’t be afraid to improvise at the service. Of course, don’t go crazy on Advent and Lent, at least at first, when you,,, A: Unless you want that you would get kicked out of the church and lose your position. V: Right, but if you are improvising just let’s say once during the service, during the postlude, let’s say, or a prelude, when just people are gathering or leaving, they are not really paying attention actually, to the music. Then they are talking and communicating with each other and greeting and chatting, then you are free to do what you want. That’s a big relief, don’t you think, Ausra? A: Yes. That’s a good way to learn to improvise publicly. V: Without too much stress. A: True. True.. V: Okay, guys. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Please send us more of 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 243 of Ask Vidas and Ausra podcast. This question was sent by Luciano and he writes: Dear Mr Vidas, Thanks for your reply. Apart the mini course I have a question /big doubt and hope you can clarify. -I found your article "Steps in Composing Organ Sonata " of 13/09/2012 and found it very interesting and clear: it is a kind of Template which I'm using with satisfaction (I'm Composer Amateur and write music only for my satisfaction). - Many years ago I studied the Book of Marcel Dupré :Cours Complet d'Improvisation à l'Orgue" and find something similar but not the same : it is a Binary form exposition I'm sure you know this book and -my questions are 1)are these Templates (yours and the one of Dupré the same thing or not ? 2) Dupré explanation does not mention a secondary theme (is he referring to a monothematic exposition?) 3) In the Dupré Book 1 Page 59 there is a General Plan of "his" Form But now I'm confused since there are substantial differences if compared with your Steps Thanks in advance if you will have time to clarify Luciano V: So what Luciano is studying Ausra I think is from from the first volume of Dupre’s Improvisation Method Book on the organ. It’s a free form. It’s not sonata form but improvisation on the free theme. Basically improvisation on one theme because sonata form has two themes. A: Yes, it’s especially necessary. If there aren’t two themes it means that the piece is not written in a sonata form. V: Yes, so what he sees in Dupre’s first volume the form is used mostly in french conservatory settings for examinations for prizes for contests they have at the end of the year for improvisation. This is a good method to follow if you want to improvise in a strict way to have a binary or ternary exposition. It’s a good starting point I would say. A: True. In general I would think that there is no need to compare these two different materials because they are completely different. Because you are discussing different forms. V: Yes, Luciano probably read my article about improvising or composing organ sonata which is of course based on real life works and they must have two themes or even more. A: Yes. Two at least, you have to have two but you also could have another two themes actually in exposition plus introduction. V: Right. So I think Luciano is in a good way to advance his compositional or improvisation steps and techniques. Do you think that composing and improvising techniques are similar Ausra? A: True. I think that one is based on the other. V: You are absolutely correct and right now I’m currently composing every day first thing in the morning on my Sibelius software and I have a midi keyboard connected to my computer and Sibelius has the function called flexi-time input. You can play on the keyboard while metronome is beating and the music will be notated on the screen right away. It can be done with as many as two adjacent staves. So what I’m doing is first I’m recording right-hand and left-hand parts then later pedal parts, improvising basically them. So of course in earlier times it wasn’t very perfect, this type of method of inputting notes because lots of syncopations, lots of strange ties and rhythmical discrepancies were always present because human hands don’t play very rhythmically. Right? But now with later upgrades Sibelius has various plugins you can clarify and update your score automatically afterwards. Sort of clean up. A: Yes it’s good that technology advances so fast. V: And so yes you have to do some manual work and editing but not nearly as much as before. So that’s how I am able to create quite fast those pieces in the morning and dedicate to my friend organists. So I hope guys you also are creating right, Ausra? We are also recording this conversation. It’s a form of creativity don’t you think Ausra? A: Yes. Some sort of form, yes. V: Because you can have various ways of expressing yourself. In texts, in pictures, in audio like we are doing, or in sounds, maybe you are playing some kind of instrument, or in video, you are videotaping yourself. Or doing it even live. Now you could do many kinds of streaming online, on Facebook, on YouTube. It’s all there after your done and your listeners will start to enjoy afterwards right away. A: That’s right, so just keep creating something. V: Ausra what would be your suggestion or ratio between consuming and creating. Let’s say organ music. Sightreading and creating. A: I don’t think it could be a ratio that would work for everybody. I think everybody has to find his own way. V: For Luciano, OK. A: I don’t know. He didn’t tell us so much about himself except that he is an amatuer composer. I don’t know if he intends to play his own works or not. V: But when you play other works of other composers of past or present or both, your knowledge increases, your musical taste increases, right? A: That’s true. V: Then you can express your ideas in a richer way. A: That’s right. But you know as I found out in the United States while studying that usually during your study years you try to play as much repertoire as possible, to study as much different various repertoire as possible. But after that you sort of narrow yourself down into one particular subject or one particular area. Do you think that’s a good thing? V: Well that’s the system we have now. Creativity is not a big part of our educational system currently but it doesn’t mean it has to be that way for everyone. If the school or institution or conservatory or university gives you some things to study it doesn’t mean that that’s the end of your education, right? You could study additional works and you could create your own things in your spare time in the mornings or evenings. Because yes, it needs to be supplemented because it’s not complete. Creativity is just beginning to be incorporated into the normal academic curriculum. A: Yes and now things are changing so fast and life, new technologies coming out every day, new discoveries. I think that creativity will be the basis to survive. V: Yes because machines will replace everything. A: True. V: And even creativity too, eventually, but not as fast as a year or two. A: Let’s hope for that. V: Yes. We all know there are videos of for example fake videos with President Obama saying something which he even didn’t say. Artificial Intelligence created that video based on the speeches that President Obama made in earlier times. A: Yes, that’s a scary thing, that somebody can analyze your speeches and then to create something out of those speeches. V: So the ratio, I intentionally asked Ausra about that because I read in one article online or even I’ve heard on the podcasts, I like to listen to educational podcasts while I’m doing some kind of other activity because it doesn’t take my time. So on one podcast, the podcast was called The Solopreneur Hour podcast and they told that the ratio between reading and writing had to be 3:1. If you write for one hour, you read for three hours. So it could be less or it could be more. Don’t you think Ausra that it could apply to organ? A: True. Three hours of playing repertoire and one hour of creating, improvising or composing. V: That it doesn’t have to be three hours, it can be maybe one hour of playing repertoire and twenty minutes of creating something. A: Seems fair. V: And then don’t forget to share, right? Because what’s the point of creating if you’re not sharing, if you’re hiding under the table. Thank you guys, this was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: 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. AVA242: I love playing the organ but I never learned how to finger a piece so as to learn it well6/29/2018 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start Episode 242 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by David. He writes: Hello Dr Vidas I love playing the organ but I never learned how to finger a piece so as to learn it well. I lack confidence in fingering and get frustrated. Will your online course help me? I am learning Bach’s Jesus Joy of Man’s Desiring which I received from your website. The other piece is by Alexander Guilmant---Offertoire from 18 Pieces Nouvelles op 90. David So Ausra, how can a person learn to make fingerings efficient in their organ pieces? Is there a shortcut to this? A: Well...yes and no, because there are some rules that you need to apply when playing early music and fingering early music; and you know, it’s different if you are playing modern music, or Romantic music. So what do you think about it? V: I think studying other people playing helps a lot--for example, whenever I record a video in slow tempo practicing any organ piece that I want to later create fingering and pedaling for and then send it to our team. I remember somebody commented that it helps not only for them to copy what I’m doing, but they also get a general idea about the principles, especially if that piece is familiar to them; and they also sort of grow in understanding how to create their own fingering, when they transcribe my video. A: Yeah, it’s true. Because I would say that you have to get a few pieces that are fingered by a master; and then, while playing/learning/studying those pieces, you will see--you will adjust to those patterns; and you can take them and use them in another piece. V: Mhm. A: Because after a while, you will see that some of the motives, some of the passages repeat themselves. And you will develop a sort of right habit of fingering correctly. V: Were you always good at fingering organ pieces? A: No! Definitely not! Because when I started to play organ, I had no idea what early fingering is. V: I remember when Professor Leopoldas Digrys at the Lithuanian Academy of Music asked me to create fingering for my own piece that I was playing--it might’ve been some Bach prelude and fugue. But I didn’t know how to do it, and I actually didn’t bother to learn. And I thought, “Why do I need this, if I can pretend that I’m playing with the right fingering, and then sooner or later my fingers will pick up the right combinations?” What’re you thinking about that? A: Well, I just think that our muscles have memory, too. V: Mhm. A: And it’s very harmful to play the same page, let’s say, of music, in a different fingering each time, because it will slow down your progress. But if you will play it a few times in the same fingering, it will make things easier, because your muscle memory will work. And while talking about the beginning of my organ studies--I remember I took one of the pieces (I think it was Fanfare) to America, and I remember when Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra looked at that score, and she asked, “Who wrote that fingering and pedaling?” and I told her that, “Oh, it’s my professor from Lithuania” (I won’t mention his name!), she just told me that it’s “better to just throw that score away! It’s really bad!” V: Why? Because Fanfare was a Baroque piece, right? A: True, but all the fingering was like in Romantic time V: And pedaling too. A: And pedaling, too. Lots of heels--that’s not suited to Baroque music, and you know, lots of using thumb on the black keys. V: I think it’s a good time now to mention a few principles that David could use in fingering and pedaling his own pieces. For example, if he is trying to create fingering and pedaling for an Alexandre Guilmant piece--Offertoire, right? What are the things that he could use? A: Well, you could use--of course, you need to play legato, pieces like this, unless there are indications not to do it. So you can use the heel in the pedal, in order to make the pedal lines move; and also you can use finger substitution… V: Finger glissandos? A: Finger glissandos, and you know, you can put your thumb… V: Under. A: Under, and things like this. V: But finger substitutions--just like feet substitutions, like toe-heel substitutions--are never to be used in all places, right? They probably have their own instances and rules. Do you need finger substitutions when you have just one voice? A: I don’t think so. V: I don’t think so, either. Everything could be played legato by using 5 fingers, if you have just 1 voice. A: But generally when I’m talking about finger substitution, I keep in mind a thicker texture. V: Mhm. A: That’s when you really need to use it. V: Do you really need to play all parts legato? A: Well...sometimes it’s impossible. Then it’s very important that your upper voice would be played legato. V: And the bass voice, too. A: True. But that’s the pedal. So now I’m talking about the manual part; because if you keep your soprano playing legato, you can create the illusion that you’re playing everything legato. That’s how things work on the organ. V: Right. So, what about early music? What are some things that he could use? A: Well you know, when you play early music, you need to think about your hand position, and about, you know...position fingering. V: What does this mean? A: Well, it means that for example, if you need to reach wider--if you have a wider leap, you will not be able to play it legato; you just have to move your entire arm to that new note. V: Slide from one note to another. A: Yes. And of course, you need to use articulate legato, so you need to use fingering that will help you to achieve it. Because if you will use modern fingering while playing Baroque music, you could still do that, I guess, but it would be much harder to achieve the right touch. V: Because you have to think about it. A: Sure. V: With early fingering, you don’t have to think about it. A: True. And paired fingering is especially good. It works well. And of course, no [heel] in the pedal part. V: And try to avoid using the thumb and the little finger in hands. Play with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers as much as possible, unless there are some thicker passages and keys with more than 1 accidental. A: That’s right. V: Okay guys. We hope this was useful to you. Go ahead and write some fingerings in your organ pieces, and don’t worry if you make a mistake or two you can always correct it later--adjust, right? Because we don’t always get it right at the first try. A: That’s right. V: Or the tenth try. A: True. V: Okay. 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. AVA241: How one knows to play on the manuals or pedals if the notation is not the usual 3 staves?6/28/2018 Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start Episode 241 of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. This question was sent by Jan, and She writes: Dear Vidas, Thanks for answering my question. I was just wondering how one knows to play on the manuals or pedals if the notation is not the usual 3 staves. Now I know! Last question...does that then mean that organists also have the discretion of playing other early Baroque pieces (such as Titelouze) on manuals and pedals. I always wondered how my teacher knew what to play when there were only 2 staves and I was asked to play with pedals. V: It’s a complex question, right Ausra? A: Yes, it’s very complex. V: Remember in the 19th Century, Guilmant and other publishers at the time issued lots of early music editions, and many of them were with pedals…. Of early music, right? A: True. V: And today, when we look at that music with fresh eyes, it doesn’t necessarily mean they should be played with pedals. A: That’s right. But, you know, it’s a very complex question as to thought. You need to look at your complete piece of music, actually, and then to decide to play it with the pedal or not. V: And to look at the examples of the instruments of that time and of that period and of that area. A: That’s right, because the best thing would be to know for which organ the piece was intended, actually. V: Let’s say Titelouze, right? It was not like traditional French classic organ, right? Like Cliquot and Dom Bédos wrote about—it’s not like that. It was earlier examples, and of course, fewer capabilities. A: Sure! V: Especially with pedals. A: Sure! And then it depends on the piece. If you see that the bottom voice has many notes, so to say it’s virtuosic, then you will know it is definitely not suited for pedal. V: In general, long notes, such as cantus firmus or chorale melody could be played with pedals to make it more prominent in any voice. This means that if it’s in the bass, you could use a 16’ reed or an 8’ reed, such as a trumpet. If it’s in the tenor you could use an 8’ reed in the pedals. If it’s in the alto, what could you do then? A: Probably still would use 8’. V: But then the range… A: But yes, the range is… V: Maybe 4’ A: Maybe 4’, yes. V: Clairon, right? Or, not necessarily even reed, maybe super octave 4’. A: Yes, that could work, too. V: Or maybe for the soprano, cornet 2’ would work. It was rather common practice to play any voice in the pedal as long as it is a theme, like chorale melody, cantus firmus, and remember who wrote about that? Samuel Scheidt. A: Yes, in his Tabulatura Nova. The preface to his Tabulatura Nova, which comes in three volumes, I believe. So if, for example, we are talking about north German composers, baroque composers, then, of course, you have play the bottom line in the pedal. Because, if you would just look at the north German organs, and also organs in the Netherlands, they have such huge developed pedal towers, that it leaves you no doubt that pedal part was very important in that repertoire. V: Sometimes I even think that this practice could be applied in hymn playing, too. For example, if you have a four part hymn where the melody is in the soprano, you could actually learn the hymn setting in the way that this soprano part could be played with the cornet stop on the pedals. A: But isn’t it hard for you know, let’s say… V: Who said that it has to be easy? A: So now I’m talking about you are making life harder. V: I’m not making it harder for harder’s sake, I’m making it more interesting. A: True. But do you necessarily have to play soprano in the pedal? Is there no other way? V: It’s like transposing a piece in 12 different keys. Isn’t it fun? A: But couldn’t you play on the solo manual with the right hand to make that soprano line, and then alto and tenor in your left hand and the bass line with the pedal? Wouldn’t it be the same effect, but a little bit easier for you? V: Of course, you are right here, unless you want to use a specific stop in the pedals. Maybe you have a beautiful cornet in the pedals of 2’ pitch level, and you want to switch to a more colorful registration. That would be one of the possibilities. A: But don’t you think this cornet stop in the pedal is a very rare case, in general? V: Yes, of course it is very rare. But, maybe you will travel to Germany and play with the instruments there, you know? Maybe you will meet a local organist and he will invite, or she will invite you to try out the Schnitger organ, and what will you play then? A: Well, there are lots of repertoires suited to play on the Schnitger instruments. You could do any piece of Buxtehude, for example. V: Nobody likes my ideas—my crazy ideas. I see! Ok, let’s make it more simple, then. What about playing hymns in four parts, but with double pedals, yes? Yes, I like double pedals. The bass would be played with the left foot, chorale melody would be played with the right foot, and then you would need to add four more parts in the manuals. That would be a six part setting. A: Yes, but when I just imagine that to prepare for a service, it would take forever. I doubt that people have so much time to invest in one hymn. You could do it as an experiment. V: Yes, of course. Whenever I played this… I played some things like that, but I didn’t play for an entire month. I just practiced and see if it’s possible for one service. It was very challenging. But afterwards, my understanding of what’s possible really dramatically changed. A: True, but you know, if we are talking in general about for example Italian music or French music, I mean early music, you can almost avoid the pedal, or to do as little with them as possible. Don’t you agree? V: That’s what Samuel Scheidt wrote, also, in his Tabulatura Nova. Remember, all those pieces are written in two staves, so basically, it could be played with hands only. A: Yes, and it’s very handy, because then you could play them on the harpsichord, too, or only on the positiv organ that doesn’t have pedal. But if you have an organ with pedal, then why not use it as well? V: Right. And the only caveat is to look at the examples from the earlier times that that particular composer perhaps played, so that it wouldn’t sound strange in a modern setting with a modern organ. 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. Before we go into a podcast for today, I want to add that yesterday I forgot to share a video of Ausra playing Andante in D Major by Felix Mendelssohn, when I announced a score with fingering and pedaling so here it is now. Enjoy! Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra V: Let’s start Episode 240 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by Mark. He writes: Unfortunately I am not playing the organ at present due to a hand injury. I should be most grateful if you would cancel my subscription to Total Organist at present and not automatically renew my subscription when it becomes due. All being well I will rejoin your site once I am back playing in the future. V: I wanted to include this question about what to do if you have a hand injury. Should you postpone your playing, delay your playing, or is there anything you could do beside your hands. A: Well, if you have injury to only one hand you could still practice with another hand and of course your feet. V: I remember reading about Marcel Dupre when he was in his youth during one summer he injured his wrist and it was quite dangerous. A few centimeters off he would have cut himself to death. But luckily it wasn’t very serious but still he couldn’t use his hand so what he did, he practiced pedal playing entire summer until his wrist healed. And in his memoir he wrote that he played pedals with vengeance. Basically pedal scales and arpeggios and that’s where he developed unbeatable pedal technique. A: Yes, this accident, this injury could be thought of as a new possibility to improve your pedal playing. V: Yes, because it’s good dream for many people to perfect their pedal playing but a lot of people don’t even get around to this, right? Because they have so many things to do, so many things to play and they simply don’t have time for playing pedal exercises, right? But if you are in a position where you can’t play with your hands for a period of time, let’s say a few weeks or a few months even, right? You don’t know how long. Then that might be the ideal time to perfect your pedal playing. A: True, and since you still have another hand that you can use you could work in combinations too. V: Mark doesn’t write which hand he injured. A: It doesn’t matter because he can be both right-handed and left-handed so it doesn’t matter so much. But I think if you stop practicing at all through that time of healing it will be very hard for you to return back to playing. V: Yes, it’s not only like not practicing for a few months and your hands will become weaker, right? Or feet too. It’s not only that, it’s your will, right? You have to persevere. It’s difficult to even sit down on the organ bench in general, right? And if you leave that for several months and try to come back it will be even worse I think. A: Yes, but also you could draw a useful lesson from a situation like this because this situation shows how fragile the organist or any musicians’ life is. For example you could injure one finger, or lose one finger and wouldn’t be able to play again as you did before. So what I mean is that you need to have a backup… V: Plan? A: Yes, for example like I teach music theory but I can also play the organ. So in the case where I couldn’t play the organ, I can still teach. V: That’s right. In general I think organists are in a position to do at least three things. To teach, to perform, and to play in church services. A: Sure, and I would say also to conduct the church choir. I think it’s also part of organists job. V: Yes, conducting would include that too. But there are several other options that depend on your own interests and your skill set and your talents and even on your hobbies. Right Ausra? A: True. V: What is important is that you don’t stay for an extended period of time without creating anything, right? Because you will actually weaken your creativity muscles, so to say. So maybe changing medium, maybe it doesn’t have to be music for that time. Maybe see if you like other artistic ways to express yourself. Only you can know that but it’s important to immerse yourself in creating every day, at least for fifteen minutes a day, right Ausra? A: Yes it helps to be in good shape mentally and physically both. V: Excellent. So I hope Mark and other people who are struggling with hand injuries can still practice. The least they could do is to practice pedals. And in our courses we have Pedal Virtuoso Master Course which has complete set of pedal scales and arpeggios over one and two octaves and this will help you to perfect your pedal playing technique in twelve or thirteen weeks. So check it out if you haven’t seen this. Thank you guys, it’s really wonderful to receive all kinds of questions. It doesn’t have to be direct questions like in general we receive, but it could be like practice experience, it could be your feedback, it could be anything you struggle with. We try to find ways to improve, right Ausra? A: Yes, and by helping you to improve we actually improving ourselves too. V: Yes, it’s very selfish. We are very selfish. We are always helping ourselves. Because when we teach we think deeper about these questions, right? And how we practice, how we did in the past, right? For example, I also had a finger injury at one point, but many, many years ago and the easiest way out for my teacher would have been to just say “Oh, Vidas just skip practicing piano for three months.” But instead she gave me etudes for left hand because I injured my right hand and I played a few etudes for left hand alone for that period and I passed examinations in the school and practiced like everyone else. It wasn’t a vacation for me. A: True. And I remember reading about Maurice Ravel's’ friend who lost his hand in the war and he was quite a good pianist so Ravel actually composed a concerto for his friend for one hand so things happen in life. We just have to adjust I guess. V: I think the pianist was Paul Wittgenstein and he was an Austrian concert pianist and he performed Maurice Ravel's’ concerto for the left hand only when he lost his right arm during World War I. So there are always options to keep practicing, keep improving every day, right? A: True. V: That’s what we do. Thank you guys, this was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: And remember when you practice… A: Miracles happen. Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start Episode 239 of #AskVidasAndAusra Podcast. This question was sent by Koos and he writes: Hi Vidas, I am an organist that plays mainly organ in church services of a Christian commune in the Netherlands. Also I play at home on a classic digital organ, spiritual classics and music. Baroque and romantic. My biggest wish is that I can improvise. Although I do have time to practice I manage not to learn it. Apart from this wish I would like to be able to play better pedal; I make too many errors. I am searching for organ shoes, but can’t find them in the Netherlands. Also, I am learning to harmonize but that goes slowly. This is what I would like to pass on. Thank you for your articles on playing organ. Koos from the Netherlands. V: That’s a wonderful dream he has, right? A: True, yes. V: To be able to improvise, play better pedals, and learning harmonization. A: True. V: All those things will help one another actually. Harmonization will help to improve improvisation. Improvisation will help improve harmonization. And pedal playing will help to improve improvisation as well. A: Yes, because all these things are related between them. Yes, I would like to answer his question about organist shoes a little bit. I would say you know that if you cannot find real organist shoes you can buy other shoes as well because you could adjust them. Especially for men it shouldn’t be hard to find organ shoes because so many classical men’s shoes are suited to play the organ. V: You just need to check the heels, if they are even and not rubber and not plastic but probably leather. A: Well you cannot find often leather shoes. V: Souls. A: Souls, yes in just a regular store. But it wouldn’t be a problem if they wouldn’t be leather because for many, many years I played with no organ shoes and I played well. I played trio sonatas by J. S. Bach just having regular shoes. The front of the shoe needs to be not too wide so that you wouldn’t hit two keys instead of just one and the heel of organ shoes for women for example needs to be not too thin that it would slide off the pedal. V: Right. A: Yes, but sometimes people think that if you can access and get real organist shoes that all your pedal problems will be solved but that’s just an illusion. What do you think about it? V: Can’t they invent organ shoes that play themselves? A: (Laughs) That would be wonderful but you can just press a button and play a recording for service for example and just read a newspaper or surf through your phone. Actually I have seen things like this especially in the province. V: Ohh. What do they do during the service? A: Well it was not for service but I think for a wedding. V: I see. They press the button and then music will sound through the loud speaker system in the church. A: Not necessarily but sometimes an organist would bring a recording player with him and just cheat from an organ loft. V: And it sounds like real organ but it’s not. A: I know because acoustics are often so good in our churches but that’s not a nice thing to do so don’t do it. But I hope I convinced you that having real organ shoes is not a need. V: Some people play even without shoes and manage to play pedals quite well. About improvisation Ausra, Koos wishes to learn improvisation but he writes that although he has time to practice somehow he doesn’t see improvement. A: Well maybe he could combine learning harmonizing improvisation because this might be a problem that he does not know how to harmonize or what certain chords mean, how to make them, how to connect them. V: You’re right. There are several ways to go about improvisation and one of them is going through the basics first. Basics would be chords, learning chords and chord progressions and harmonizing them in four parts but at first it’s not easy because you have to learn voice leading and avoid parallel fifths, and maybe octaves and augmented intervals and other various rules in classical harmony. So what would be the easier way to learn harmony and then improvisation? Is there a shortcut? A: I don’t think so actually that there is a shortcut. V: Answer this Ausra. What would your answer or suggestions be to your younger self if you could go back in time maybe twenty years or not twenty years maybe twenty-five years? A: Well when I was at school I learned harmony very well actually extremely well. I could play modulation sequences, all type of cadences, in various keys just caused me no problems. But nobody taught me to improvise and nobody taught me to use these things in my practice. V: Although you had some keyboard harmony experiences right? When you had to play on the piano and your teacher would listen to you. A: I think this was a sort of crucial point. At that point I would try to improvise and somebody would teach me to improvise. I think I could do that very easily because I had such a great knowledge of theory and such good basics. V: Now you are teaching harmony for many years, right? A: Yes. V: You cannot say that you lost this skill right? You actually improved this skill to the level that you are an expert in this. A: But I think it’s always easier to start things and to do things when you are young. The younger you are the easier it is. Through the years it becomes harder and harder because when you study something you have more time for that and after that you have to learn how to do other things, you have to learn how to support yourself and money and all. V: I know what you mean. A: You have less and less time through the years. V: So learning as a child is much better than learning as an adult? A: True. V: What if Koos is not a child anymore and of course he is not a child anymore. Can he improve? A: Sure you can improve at any age except that your progress will be probably slower. V: It depends, right? It’s different for every person and since Koos cannot compare himself to Koos in the childhood. He only has this opportunity to practice today. So there is only one option, sit down on the organ bench at home for example or in church and just play. A: True. And you know if you have no time or patience to learn all the harmonic voice leading rules first, but you still want to learn to improvise and to improvise soon what you could do is study easier compositions by composers such as Bach for example. What I would do if I didn’t want to learn theory a lot I would take Prelude No. 1 from the Well Tempered Clavier by J. S. Bach. I would write down myself progressions, it’s not so hard to analyze them and then try to play it maybe in another key or try to play it by looking at the chord progressions not looking at the score myself. Then maybe I would pick up one idea from Bach and let’s say another idea from Pachelbel. Maybe I would take progressions from Pachelbel and texture from another composer and try to mix things. V: It’s an interesting thing you mentioned Ausra. That’s exactly how I created Prelude Improvisation Formula. From the preludes written in the Clavierbuchlein for Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and actually the C Major Prelude, the earlier version, is in it too. And I would analyze and find figures, patterns, that people could practice and give them different cadences, different chordal progressions and different tonal plan to make it a different piece, unique. In major and minor and they can transpose of course. It’s the same system you can apply it to any composition that you want. I applied it to Bach’s style but it works for any creative way you want to express yourself. A: Yes. V: So you basically have to learn as many “tricks” and put them into your pocket basically and later take out at a certain time and to use them. A: That’s right. V: Thank you guys. This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: We hope this discussion was useful to you and please apply our tips in your practice. We know it helps us and we hope it will help you. And remember to send us more of your questions because we love helping you grow. And sit down on the organ bench today before you go to bed because when you practice… A: Miracles happen. Vidas: Hi guys, this is Vidas.
Ausra: And Ausra. V: Let’s start Episode 238 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. This question was sent by Prince. He writes: I’m Prince from Ghana....l wish to become a great organist in future but my problem is my family can not afford to buy me an organ so l move from church to church playing the organ and l also cannot practice everyday because l don't have the organ in my house so my organ playing does not improve... So, having an organ (or any type of instrument) at home is a great privilege, Ausra, right? A: True, yes. But unfortunately not everybody can afford it. And if we are talking about organ--how many years ago did we get our organ at home? 10 years ago, probably? V: When we returned from the States. A: But not right away. We did it not right away. V: Mhm. A: I think this was like about 10 years ago, only. And at that time, we already had established careers, you know, and had our doctoral degrees. So before that, since my childhood, I had only a piano at home. And as for organ, I always practiced organ either at the Academy of Music or at church; and I did a lot of mental practice, too. What about you, Vidas? V: When I was growing up, I of course had a piano at home. And then, this piano had a feature that it had a middle pedal: you could press that pedal, and the sound would be quite soft. Or very soft, actually--I think too soft, for that instrument. But the good thing about that was that I could practice late at night, and nobody could hear me! A: I didn’t have such a pedal, so I would always have to practice at home during the daytime, because otherwise I would just bother my neighbors, and people would be complaining! So it’s not an easy thing to do when you are trying to become a professional; but that’s life, and you have to adjust. It only means that when you finally access an instrument, you need to make your practice as efficient as you can. V: What do you mean? A: Well, every day, know what you want to improve. What you want to do with the piece you are practicing. Or you know, with your technique. V: So, right now for example, we have an organ at home, and we can play whenever we want. A: But before that, you know, there were many years without an organ at home, or for example during our doctoral studies in the States… V: Mhm? A: We didn’t have any instrument in our apartment. Because we just rented an apartment, and didn’t have any instruments. So we did all the practice at school or at church. V: So, finding an organ or a church would probably be the #1 option for Prince. A: True, true. V: Or people who are in his shoes. A: Or maybe to get access at home to any type of keyboard--not necessarily organ, because organ is so expensive. V: Maybe it’s a temporary solution to buy a used electronic keyboard. And they could be quite expensive-- A: True. V: Used, you know, not new. Maybe not in perfect condition--you don’t need that. It’s just for practice, and it’s just temporary, until you will find something at least better or until you can afford to invest. Until you become a professional and you will have some savings, or you say to yourself, “Okay, I’m a professional at this, I have to have good practice tools, like a carpenter would buy good trade tools, and plumbers,” right? If they are professionals. But at first, if they are just starting out, they don’t know if they will be professionals or not, so they just probably use whatever they have on hand. A: And you know, Prince mentioned that he practices at church. V: Mhm. A: But not every day. So maybe for now, try to reach such a thing that the church would allow you to practice every day. And you know, do something nice back to the church that they would want to let you in to practice. Volunteer. V: Volunteer, or give donations. A: Well, as I understood, Prince’s family cannot make donations--they cannot afford to have an instrument at home. So then, volunteer for the church. V: Yeah basically--you either donate your time or your money. A: In this case, you will have to donate your time. V: Right. Whatever you have more of in your hands. And if you don’t have time and don’t have money--some people have that, right, Ausra?-- A: True. V: What does it mean, then? A: That either you don’t know how to plan your time, or you know, practicing organ is not so important for you. V: Or that other people are exploiting you. A: Yes, that’s also true. V: And you don’t know how to say no. A: True. V: So you have to learn how to say no to things that don’t really matter to you. Because otherwise, you will end up doing only things that matter to other people. I mean, it might sound quite selfish, Ausra, what I’m saying now. But I’m not saying from the selfish perspective, I’m saying from the perspective of an artist. Right? And artists need to find solutions how and when they could improve their art. Right? It’s a priority. I know, I know, I know what you mean, because for many many years I didn’t know how to say no to people, when they would ask me to do some favors for them. A: Mhm. V: And you know, for a while, I just felt exhausted after making other people happy, and working for them. But you know, then I realized that I would not be able to do anything for myself, or even rest enough. And that’s not good, actually. V: Yeah, you live only once, I think; and this saying-no skill is very very important, especially later in life. Maybe in youth, people can say yes to many many things, try out as many things as they even can, to find out what their true focus in life is, because not too many people know right from the beginning... A: True. V: What their mission in life is. But once they know the purpose, they must grab that purpose and never let it go. So, that’s what Prince should do, too, I think, with the church. Volunteer, maybe playing once a month for them. If he can play, you know--if he’s in this level of church service playing. A: True. V: Mhm. If not, he has to improve first, get experience. A: And of course, there are other jobs in church that you can do as a volunteer. V: Yes, definitely. A: Greeting people before the service and after the service, usher, acolyte and all other things. V: So basically, really become an indispensable member of the community, right? A: That’s right. V: So that people would miss you if you didn’t show up in that church. A: And then you will have access to an organ all the time. V: Right. It would be a very natural thing, if you just ask them, by that time, when you do for them so much that they would say, “Of course! Why didn’t you ask us before?” Right? A: That’s right, yes. V: “You’re doing so many things for our community!” And that’s the least expensive way to get access to the organ. A: Yes. V: Make friends from the local community, and help them. Be helpful. A: True. V: Okay, guys. We hope this was useful to you, because many many people don’t have an organ at home, right? I recently found out that one of our colleagues has an organ at home, but she said that since the time that she bought that organ, she’s practicing less and less, actually. A: That’s a paradox, but it often happens. Because you know that you can play any time, as you wish, it prevents you, actually, from practicing. V: Yes. It’s a great privilege to have access to the organ all the time, but it doesn’t guarantee you that you will sit down and practice. A: Yes, you have to have motivation. V: And motivation comes from knowing that your time is very very limited. A: True. V: Thank you guys! This was Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice… A: Miracles happen. |
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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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