Welcome to Episode 3 of #AskVidasAndAusra!
Today we are broadcasting from our car while going to the birthday party of our friend. Today's question was posted by Ana Marija who is our Total Organist student. Here's what she asks: "When you have really a lot of repertoire to be done, how would you organize your practice? The situation is like this: Beethoven piano sonata, Brahms Fantasy's, a Chopin Etude, Rachmaninov etude and for the organ Brahms Prelude and Fugue in g-minor, Bach Fantasy and Fugue in c-minor, Prelude and fugue in f-minor, Toccata and fuge in dorian mode... I want to play a few chorals too. And I simply must play the first keyboard concerto! Maybe i can find a way to play it with the orchestra somehow. Would be awesome. So, what would you do? Do you think it is manageable in about three months? Should I cut out some program (hopefully not)? I can not seriously practice all the pieces in one day... or do you think I should work on all of them at once? Does it happen to you, choosing much new program in a limited time? Any ideas? Do you make a plan like this: today I will practice exactly these bars, I am going to use following methods (rhythm variations, memorizing, harmony...). Do you make a plan for some time beforehand (a week, a month)? Or you decide on which pieces to work? And just do with them what you think it is necessary in the moment?" Listen to our answer. If you want us to answer your questions, post them as comments to this post and use a hashtag #AskVidasAndAusra so that we would be able to find them. And remember... When you practice, miracles happen. Vidas and Ausra (Get free updates of new posts here) TRANSCRIPT Vidas: Okay, guys, this is Vidas Pinkevicius. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: Wonderful, and we are now broadcasting live from our car, and this is episode number three of #AskVidasAndAusra. This question was sent by Ana Marija, and she wrote that she has a lot of pieces to practice, maybe ten pieces for piano and for organ at the same time to practice. It was Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Brahms, Bach, maybe a few chorale preludes, even a concerto for the orchestra, and she also wants to do this in three months because a public performance, as we understand, is in three months. So she asked for our help to help organize her practice, make a schedule prep, basically. How to organize this practice when you have limited amount of time, but a lot of pieces, maybe ten pieces in your program. Of course, she didn't write how much time she can devote per day every day to practice. What do you think, Ausra? Is it realistic? Ausra: Well, I wouldn't do it myself, personally. If it would be only on one instrument, then it's okay, but because you can't divide your attention between organ and piano, I wouldn't do it. Vidas: Every instrument that requires its own attention, right? So if you are a professional on the organ and on the piano, you have to divide equal time, probably, right? Maybe a couple of hours per day on the organ and the same amount of time on the piano. That's minimal, probably. Ausra: Well, with pieces like this, I would need to spend at least three hours on the organ and three hours on the piano every day. Vidas: We have to properly ask Ana Marija, for example, if she can spend six hours a day practicing. Ausra: Well, if these are new pieces, then yes, and if these are old pieces, if she performed them for them, then it should be okay, it should be fine, but if this is all new repertoire, then you have to practice a lot on the organ. Vidas: Right. And you really can't learn everything in three months, right? If it's new. Ausra: Yes, I would say so. Vidas: If it's new, it's really, really tricky. Ausra: Because, if you want to perform in public, you have to be able to play them fluently in public, again, for your recital. Vidas: Exactly. So, Ana Marija and other people who are in this situation who have a lot of pieces to prepare, but only a few months, right? Ausra: I don't know how she plays organ, from memory or from the score, but on the piano, I guess she will have to play from memory, and if these are new pieces, I don't know how fast will she memorize them. Vidas: Exactly, it's really, really tricky to play from memory, and to feel this pressure, that you have a limited amount of time, not enough time, basically, then probably she can't really relax and enjoy the performance because she knows that she's running out of time all the time. Ausra: But, I think it's when, if you really have to do it and devote it, then just do it, but you have to divide your practice. I mean, to be really prolific. Vidas: Every day? Ausra: Every day, yeah. Vidas: Don't make any excuses, right? No matter what. Sick or not sick, hungry or not hungry, tired or not tired. You're a professional at this. If you decided to play that many pieces in three months. But it's risky, it might not work. Ausra: Actually, what I would suggest, maybe it's possible to change the repertoire a little bit, like not to play only these new grand pieces, but to add, like, little pieces to the repertoire. Vidas: Chorale preludes, right? Maybe not everything new, but maybe half the program new. I remember because I play constantly regular recitals at St. John's Church her in Vilnius. I have a similar problem. I have to prepare an hour of music every month, right? But I never play everything new. I would improvise, or to repeat a lot of pieces. I repeat, and then I can learn a few new pieces during that month. I can do this. Plus, I can sight-read very well. Ausra: And, you know, I don't know how about her responsibilities, what else in life she does. If she only practices one, it should probably be okay, actually, be still on time. Vidas: But can you spend six hours on the benches? It's insane. It's really, it's not good for your body. Ausra: Yes, for your muscles, for your eyes, for your brain. Vidas: Right. You can only play with rigor and focus for 25 minutes, then you have to stop and make a break for five minutes, and then you can come back, right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: So it's really, really important to schedule and do a realistic, healthy practice. You know, what I suggest- I would recommend probably to reduce the number of pieces she wants to learn. We don't know. We don't even know if all this repertoire is required for her, or if she just practices for fun. She wants- she has a lot of wants and needs. That's maybe too much. Maybe she can do the same thing, but in three years, or in two years, right? Ausra: Because it's also important to spend some time, some real time with each piece that you are learning, because for some repertoire, I believe it's not enough only to play the notes correctly. Vidas: Right. You have to. The repertoire has to sink in into your body, basically, into your brain. Ausra: Because otherwise sometimes the result can be disappointing. Vidas: Right, if you do rushed practice all the time, you have to enjoy it and let it ripen, probably. Ausra: Because when I heard the discussion, it sounded a little extreme. Vidas: It seems like she wants to do everything at once. Right? But we have all the time we need in the world, why don't we play it in two years or in three years, and not in three months, right? That's completely realistic, I think. So Ana Marija is our Total Organist student, fairly new one and I hope she can progress towards her dreams faster than on her own, because we have, right now, a lot of organ programs in coachings, and videos of thousands of exercises, and of course, right now, 30 days free trial is possible to take. So, I hope she can benefit from that also. You know, she wrote that she has a lot of this repertoire to practice, but she's now Total Organist student, right? So she will be paying us for a number of months, but it's unrealistic to play our repertoire, our practices and coaching programs and study with us, plus to do this, all those recital things on her own, right? She has to choose, basically, or divide a healthy amount of time between piano, organ, and Total Organist. Ausra: Yes, because I'm afraid of traumatizing her arms. Vidas: Yeah, it's very, very dangerous. Ausra: Because, if you have the problems with your muscles because of over-practicing, then all those problems, they just won't leave you for the rest of your life. It's very easy to damage your muscles, but it's very hard to recover. Vidas: So, I hope people like Anna-Maria can take this advice very seriously, and don't push themselves too much, right? Take it one step at a time. Take things slowly enough and enjoy. Ausra: And, you know, if you will be practicing for so many hours, just be more careful and take some time off between your practices. Vidas: Every half an hour. Ausra: Just plan everything very carefully and notice. Don't forget to take walks, to relax, to breathe, to eat and to sleep. Vidas: Right. Okay, so, I think this advice is quite comprehensive now, and we are almost arriving at our destination. By the way, we're going to the birthday party of our friend, so we'll see you soon, and this was Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: And remember, when you practice ... Ausra: Miracles happen.
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#AskVidasAndAusra 2: Solving problems when accompanying the choir on the organ from the distance6/18/2017
This morning Ausra and I went to the woods for our 10000 step practice and we recorded episode 2 of #AskVidasAnd Ausra.
Today's question was sent by Rory who is our Total Organist student. Here's what he wrote: "Dear Vidas and Ausra, First of all, by the way, thank you for all you do and special congratulations on reaching 100 podcasts! My question: in our parish we are in the early stages of planning a musical event featuring choir and organ and also some organ solos. It is a small church with a low gallery (total seating about 300).The choir, about 25 people, normally sing from just in front of the organ, which stands at the back of the gallery. This is good acoustically. We do not have a conductor - the organ leads the choir directly. It works well, but for this concert type of event we find a problem. Both the choir and the organist would be invisible to the downstairs audience the whole time, so we have been experimenting with locating the choir on the altar steps, but at that distance it is difficult for the choir to hear the organ clearly enough above their own voices, unless the organ plays very loudly - which becomes out of balance for the audience. I wonder if you have any comment from all your experience? Have you ever used a camera to project a view of choir and/or organist, using a screen in front of the audience perhaps? Any thoughts welcome! Many thanks! Rory" Listen to #AskVidasAndAusra 2 IMPORTANT: If you would like us to answer your questions for #AskVidasAndAusra and share on this blog, please post them as comments and not through email. Make sure you add a hashtag #AskVidasAndAusra because otherwise your question might get lost among many other comments people leave. With the hashtag #AskVidasAndAusra we'll know exactly you want us to answer them in the correct place. We are looking forward to helping you reach your dreams. Are you excited as much as we are? You should be. And remember... When you practice, miracles happen. Vidas and Ausra (Get free updates of new posts here) TRANSCRIPT Vidas: Hello guys, this is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: And we are starting our episode number 2 of #AskVidasAndAusra podcast. We're taking our 10,000 step practice in the woods here, and you can hear the birds singing around us. It's a really wonderful Sunday morning. Mosquitoes are everywhere, but this morning I'm smarter. Now I'm wearing long pants and they have no chance of biting me. Ausra, how are you this morning? Ausra: I'm okay. Vidas: Are you ready to answer people's questions today? Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Did you have fun yesterday? Ausra: Yes, I did. Vidas: Good. We had quite a few comments based on our first episode, and it was really fun and people started to responding, and sending many other questions during the day with the #AskVidasAndAusra. If you are trying to reach us and send more questions, feel free to do that in the comments of this post, or any other post of this blog. Make sure you write a hashtag, #AskVidasAndAusra, because otherwise your question might get lost. Now, the question for today was sent by Rory, and he asks, and he has this situation. He's preparing for the event in his church. Around 300 people will be seated in this church, and usually they sing with a choir and with the organ. Organ is in the balcony, and choir is positioned in front, but they have no conductor there, so they have this issue of keeping the pulse together and singing together, but I think they can do this. His main concern is that people will not see the organist, because it's behind them, and the choir will be hidden, too. So Rory asks if it's a good idea to perhaps broadcast both the organ and the choir on the screen in front of the audience, in front of the congregation. We'll talk about that. First of all, Ausra, what do you think? Is it a good idea to record the organ and broadcast it on the screen? I think, for me, it would be very simple idea and quite doable, right? But you have to have cables for that, equipment. I presume Rory has the technology to do that in the church. For that they need, of course, a video camera. Ausra: I think I misunderstood this question, because the question I think was that, usually during like services, choir stands next to the organ and actually organ leads their singing. In this particular musical event, I believe that the choir will be downstairs, not next to the organ. Vidas: Okay. Ausra: I think. I don't know. Vidas: Let's continue. I think, yeah, the balance also will be the problem if the choir is downstairs. The organist will have a hard time of keeping the rhythm, the pulse together with the choir, which he will be positioned so far away, I think. They will have to rehearse quite a bit during that week leading prior to the event. Do you think, Ausra, that it will be possible for them to sing at such a distance? Ausra: Well, it's very complicated, actually. They definitely have to rehearse a lot. Like media technology would probably be a big help, and maybe the only solution they can do it. If it would be like a professional choir, I would suggest to use Alternatim practice, no while singing - to play like one verse on the organ, and then one verse do with a choir, but if choir is some professional, that's probably a hard thing to do because to sing a cappella is always very hard. Technology might be the only help. Vidas: By technology, what do you mean? Ausra: To project it on the screen and then the organist could see the choir and the choir could see the organist. Vidas: And the people could see everything, right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Right away. Yeah, that's what actually Rory also suggests. He has to investigate if they have technical means to do that. I presume they have to have a long cable to extend from the video camera, which would be positioned next to the organist on the balcony. This cable should go down the balcony and to the front of the church or the middle of the church, where the projector will be positioned. That's a long cable they have to calculate, but I think it's doable. Ausra: Yes, it is. In general, this is one of the hardest things how to stay together for organ and for choir when stand up apart in our churches. The larger the church is the harder it is to get the right balance. Vidas: That's why they have choir organs, right? Ausra: Yes. Another solution would be maybe just to rent an electronic organ, which I personally don't like so much and to put it downstairs next to the choir. Vidas: If they can't sing a cappella well without accompaniment. Good solution. Yeah. Rory has to investigate all those options and choose the one that seems least complicated for the present situation, right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Okay. Let's move on. Now, we're taking this walk further. Mosquitoes are not biting today. I'm now wearing my long pants and they have no chance of biting me. I'm smarter this morning, but still we have to move faster because they're all around us. Ausra, did you have a good practice yesterday of Piece d’Orgue? Ausra: Yes, I did have a good practice. Actually yesterday I practiced a lot. Probably I will skip my practice today. Vidas: How are you feeling today regarding practice? Your body hurts, or not? Ausra: No, it doesn't hurt, but I feel exhausted. Vidas: Would you rather skip the practice today altogether, or would you say create some of the duets that we are going to prepare for our upcoming- Ausra: We have to do it, because the time is pressing us. Vidas: Yeah, we have a few new duets by, written by Ad Wammes, the Dutch composer and our friend and Carlotta Ferrari from Italy recently dedicated a piece for us for four hands, which we will try to incorporate in our upcoming recital in August. We have to sight read this and see if it's fits the program. Ausra: Sure. Vidas: Wonderful. I didn't practice yesterday because I was at the funeral of the dad of my colleague. We have a number of organist friends there. Afterwards, we went to the recital of Hayo Boerema from the Netherlands, which was part of the Vilnius Festival. We heard so beautiful improvisation and wonderful other pieces. In fact, I interviewed Hayo for Secrets of Organ Playing podcast a few days ago when he just arrived in Vilnius. So guys, stay tuned for this podcast number 101, which will be wonderful interview for you to get to know Hayo and his thoughts about improvisation. Anything else you want to add and to wish, Ausra, today for our listeners and students? Ausra: Just to wish you to have a nice Sunday. Vidas: And should they practice today something or take a day off? Ausra: Many of them will play in church, so I assume so. Vidas: That counts as practice, right? Ausra: Yes, that counts as practice, yes. Vidas: Excellent. So guys, thank you so much for listening to this. Please, send out your questions to us by sending the comments to this post and make sure you include #AskVidasAndAusra. This is very important because otherwise your question might get lost. This will be a wonderful. Rory, of course, is a student of ours at Total Organist. Right now, we have a limited time offer, where you can try Total Organist for free for 30 days and see if you like it and decide to keep it, if you enjoy it. If not, if it's not for you, you will not be charged for the entire month. It's really, extremely great way to get to know the value of this membership program. You will find hundreds of programs and trainings and thousands of videos and exercises, which will relate to any area of organ playing, and actually, help you reach your dreams much faster than you would do this on your own. This was Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: And we wish you a wonderful Sunday. See you online very, very soon.
We're so delighted to be able to start a new podcast #AskVidasAndAusra!
We'll do a limited number of short audio episodes and share them on this blog. Our goal here is to help our most valued subscribers, people who support the most what we do. Sometimes we'll answer questions together, sometimes separately. So today's question was sent by Jan who is taking advantage of the free trial of our Total Organist membership program. Here's what she wrote: "Dear Vidas and Ausra, My most pressing question is... how can I keep a steady tempo? My teacher tells me every time I have a lesson, in every piece that I play, that I am playing with multiple tempos. I think that I am playing with a steady beat but when I test with the metronome, I am all over the place. I am stuck as to how to fix this problem. At present I do some of my practice with a metronome. I am not a beginner. This is frustrating and disheartening. Thank you for your help." Listen to what we had to say this morning about it while doing our 10000 step practice in the woods. IMPORTANT: If you would like us to answer your questions for #AskVidasAndAusra and share on this blog, please post them as comments and not through email. Make sure you add a hashtag #AskVidasAndAusra because otherwise your question might get lost among many other comments people leave. With the hashtag #AskVidasAndAusra we'll know exactly you want us to answer them in the correct place. We are looking forward to helping you reach your dreams. Are you excited as much as we are? You should be. And remember... When you practice, miracles happen. Vidas and Ausra (Get free updates of new posts here) TRANSCRIPT Vidas: Hello guys. This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: And, this is episode number one of our new show, #AskVidasAndAusra. We're very excited and we're walking here though the woods now in the morning, and you can hear the birds singing, correct? How are you feeling today, Ausra? Ausra: I'm fine. What about you? Vidas: Yeah, I think I'm quite ready to answer people’s questions. We received four questions so far, and we have four episodes lined up for you. And, today we're going to basically answer the first question that came to us, and it was written by Jan, and it was wonderful question, I'm trying to read now. And, she writes things about playing with a steady tempo. Here is "How can I keep a steady tempo?" That's her question, and I will explain. She writes "My teacher tells me every time I have a lesson, in every piece that I play, that I am playing with multiple tempos. I think that I am playing with a steady beat but when I test with the metronome, I am all over the place. I am stuck as to how to fix this problem at present. I do some of my practice with a metronome." And, she writes that she's not a beginner and that's, of course, frustrating and disheartening. So, Ausra, do you think that this kind of problem is common among organists? Ausra: Yes, I think this problem is common among all musicians, not only organists, because even pianists or violinists can have the same problem. Vidas: That's true. Do you remember the time when you had this problem? Because, it was probably a very long time ago. Ausra: Yes, I remember one time, when I was working on Bach’s C Minor Prelude and Fugue. Vidas: BWV 546? Ausra: Yes, I had that problem in the prelude. Vidas: And, especially in that episode, when the eighth notes change with the triplets, right? Ausra: Yes, that's right. Vidas: So, what helped you that moment to solve this problem? Ausra: I don't remember exactly, but in general I thought a lot about it. Because then, later in life I returned to that piece. I just could not understand how I could play so badly at that time, so arhythmically. Vidas: Yeah and our professor, we were studying by the same professor Leopoldas Digrys, I think at the time. And, he was very mad, actually, because of this spat episode, and- Ausra: I think he just kept shouting at me and I think I was scared of him, that I could not play it correctly, so never shout at your students. Vidas: That's rule number one. Even if you are frustrated with your students, you should not shout at them, right? But, of course, back to the question. Imagine Jan is having the same thing like you had back, maybe some 20 years ago, when you first started playing the organ. Or, other people around the world, also facing the same problem. What do you think, Ausra, keeping the steady tempo might be possible if a person plays with the metronome all the time? Ausra: Actually, metronome is only to check your tempo, what tempo you should be. But, it's not a good tool to practice with it all the time, because finally when you will have to perform this piece, during exam or during a recital, you will not have a metronome. Metronome doesn't let you to show the structure of a piece, actually, because keeping the steady tempo is not the only thing you have to do in the piece. Because, there are other structural moments, cadences where you might have to slow down a little bit, or fasten up a little bit to show the structure of a piece. To play like a human being, not like a robot. And that’s, I think, why a metronome is not such a great idea to practice with it all the time. Maybe time after time, you can do it, but not all the time, and I don't think that metronome will solve this problem of playing in steady tempo. Vidas: Hey, do you remember we have in Unda Maris studio, this wonderful lady who is practicing with us for six years now I think, from the beginning. And, she has the goal to master all the eight little Preludes and Fugues, right? And, she has mastered, I think five or six of them by now. Just a couple of them left, right? And she is really determined, but one of her major problems is really keeping the steady tempo in pieces, right? So, remember what we suggested to her too? I think to count out loud and sub-divide the beats. If, imagine she plays the piece in 4/4 meter. I think we said counting out loud those four beats, four quarter notes, and doing this loudly, counting out loud. Because, as Jan probably experiences, because a lot of people think they are playing in a steady tempo, and even counting naturally and evenly. But, it appears that when they listen to the recording, it's not true, right? Or, when somebody else is listening from the side. The only possible way that I found, is really to force yourself to count out loud steadily. Would you agree, Ausra? Ausra: Yes, it's very helpful, but you have to do it loudly. Or, to do it mechanically with your mouth, with your tongue, just sub-divide. For example, sixteenths, feel them, because otherwise if you will do it only in your head, it doesn't happen. It will not work. Vidas: Right, because you think you are counting steadily inside of you, right? In your mind. But, your music can be all over the place. Ausra: That's what I did when I learned Icarus by Jean Guillou. I sub-divided all the time, the smallest values, with my tongue. It actually really helped, because it's a tricky piece to play it technically and to play it rhythmically correctly, in a very fast tempo. So, that's what I did to beginning of learning that piece. I would just sub-divide all the time, and even do it in my performance. At a final stage, sometimes I would sub-divide at least some spots. Just to keep it in good tempo and rhythmically, correctly. Vidas: So, then probably the shortcut to this, for Jan and others, to master the piece at the level that she could really play fluently, in order to concentrate on the counting, right? Ausra: Sure, because another problem why the tempo can change. It might be that ... Although, she is not a beginner, yes? At the keyboard, but still, all of us have some harder spots in the piece and some easier spots, and sometimes when you get to the harder spot, you start to slow down. But, when you know you are playing an easier place, let see, where the sequences are going all the time, you sort of starting to go faster and faster because it's easier. You really need to make sure that places where you slow down are not technically harder than other places. Vidas: Right. All of the episodes in your piece, in your mind, should be of equal level of complexity. Although, some episodes might have 16th notes, or even 32nd notes, or triplets, or syncopation, right? But, you have to master those episodes so well that they should be as easy as playing quarter notes, let's say, or half notes in other spots, right? So, wonderful. I think Jan can now try this technique, and other people can try this technique. By the way, Jan is our Total Organist student and really tries to perfect her organ playing through our study programs and coaching, training materials, which also a lot of people have found tremendously valuable. And, right now we have this 30 day trial period, where you can really subscribe for free and try out all the material without any payment for 30 days, for one month. And, if you like it, you can decide to keep subscribing and if you decide it's not for you, you can cancel before the month ends. So, I think we will go on with our day to day things right now. As we are walking through the woods, I think the birds are singing quite loud, and mosquitoes are biting in my legs now, because I'm wearing shorts and my feet are basically uncovered. And, it's a really beautiful view, very green, wonderful morning. Ausra, what piece will you be practicing today, by the way? Ausra: I think I finally will learn the Piece d'Orgue. Vidas: Piece d'Orgue, right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: It's a fantastic piece. Do you need my fingerings that I am preparing for this? Ausra: I think it will be helpful. Vidas: And pedalings right? Ausra: Yes, especially nice that I don't have to write them down myself. Vidas: Right, right, because sometimes people don't like to write fingerings because it's a lot of work to do this, but if somebody can provide the fingerings and pedalings for you, that saves maybe 30 hours of work for some people, right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Wonderful. So guys, this was Vidas and Ausra talking to you from the woods of this vicinity of Vilnius, Lithuania. And, if you like this episode and would like to ask us more questions related to any area of organ playing, basically, we'd like to help you achieve your dreams. So, click on the comments section of this post and send us your question. But, makes sure we find this question, because a lot of comments we get is not related to our podcast, right? But, basically to anything else. So, if you want us to find and answer your questions directly on this #AskVidasAndAusra podcast, right? So, make sure you include hashtag, #AskVidasAndAusra and post it on the comment section of this blog. So, thank you so much, guys. This is Vidas. Ausra: And Ausra. Vidas: And, I hope you will have a tremendous success in your practice today. Ausra: Bye. |
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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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