Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 627 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Abe, and he writes, I had a stroke which hit my left hand very hard. It is slow and lazy. Any suggestions? V: Well, I’m sorry to hear about Abe’s condition. To have a stroke is always very painful, right Ausra? A: Yes, I guess so. I haven’t had a stroke yet, but my mom had sort of a mild stroke when we were studying at the United States. But because she’s connected with medicine, because she graduated from the medical school herself, and worked in the healthcare system for all her life, she understood right away what is happening, and my father took her very fast to hospital, and basically she didn’t have any... V: Complications? A: Complications, yes. V: Side effects? A: Side effects. And now she lives just a normal life. V: Mm hm. A: But the bad thing about strokes is that they tend to repeat themselves. V: What causes strokes, do you know? How to prevent them, I mean, in the future? A: If things would be so easy, I think nobody would have them. But in general, you just have to apply the healthy lifestyle, to lead the healthy lifestyle. To avoid stress, to eat healthy, to exercise, and of course to avoid stress, which is almost impossible, but… V: You said that twice. A: But I think this is the most important. V: (laughs) I see. So playing organ, is it stressful, or not? A: For some people might be. V: Why? A: Well, if you have important recital… V: Oh, if you are playing in public, you mean. A: Yes. V: And people depend on you playing well and they paid tickets perhaps - maybe not. But nowadays, public recitals are kind of, with real audience is kind of on hold, right, because of the pandemic? A: Yes. But you know to answer Abe’s question seriously, I think we should know more a little bit about his condition, really. How it happened, was it connected to organ playing? And in general, I think he needs to consult his physician, because maybe he’s not allowed to play the organ because of what might happen. V: You mean sitting in one position for extended period of time can cause some complications? A: Yes, I think it’s not good for your blood circulation. V: Uh huh. Well, if you’re sitting in front of TV, what’s the difference? A: Well, I think it’s healthier to sit at the organ because you’re moving your legs and your arms while doing that. Not like watching TV. V: And also thinking - your brain is working. A: True. But in any way I would suggest not to take things too hard on yourself, and to take things easy actually, whatever you do. Plus, we don’t know what kind of stroke it was. If it was one time of where you have your blood… V: Uh huh. I know what you mean. So basically, yeah, Abe should tell us more about it. Until then, he should consult the physician, and of course take physical therapy. Wouldn’t it help? A: Yes, it might help, but of course it should be measured by… V: Your doctor. A: ...your doctor, yes. Because as I said before, strokes tend to repeat themselves. V: Mm hm. A: So doing too much might do side effects for you. V: I would probably also have frequent breaks between organ practice sessions. Not practice more than 25 minutes at a time. Even less, probably. A: It might be too much, 25 minutes. Maybe 10 or 15. V: Yeah. Stop before you’re tired. Before, not after. When you’re still feeling good, you have to stop. Which is kind of counter intuitive. But that’s less risky. A: Yes, yes. But in general, I think it’s beneficial to practice still to keep practicing, and try to work with that left hand a little bit in order to improve it. It might never be the same as it was before, but it might improve. V: Yeah. You could take my left hand training course, right? A: If it wouldn’t be too hard and too much. V: With one hand only, you see? One voice. It’s an excerpt from Bach’s trio sonatas. What can happen from trio sonatas, Ausra? A: I think a lot could happen, because of the trio sonatas, they are very hard. V: What’s the worst that could happen? You can.. Yeah, but I transposed them in many keys. It’s not only in original keys, but throughout the circle of fifths, so sort of additional benefit is you will learn to play in those keys. You can obviously play it with your right hand and with the pedals if you want one octave lower or two octaves lower in the bass clef. But always keep listening to how your body feels. Right, Ausra? A: Yes, I think it’s very important. V: Probably it’s important if you’re relatively healthy, too - to always listen to your body. A: You know, strokes come really unexpectedly and suddenly. And you might not get any warning before that. It happens to healthy people every day. V: Drinking fluids - does it help in avoiding, preventing strokes? A: Yes, I think this is one of the things that you have to do. V: Mm hm. So you see, we are not certified doctors, but we have some suggestions. But obviously if you need more, or more specialized advice, consult your physician. All right, guys. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
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Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 622 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Brigitte, and she writes: “Thanks Vidas for the complete pedaling and instructions. It has created a great opportunity for me to focus on the pedal technique for early music beyond toes only.” Vidas: Ausra, do you have an idea what Brigitte is talking about? Ausra: Well yes, I guess she’s talking about your “Pedal Virtuoso Course.” The focus is on early technique, but then you have supplement material which includes the Romantic and Modern technique as well. Vidas: Well, could be. Interesting. Let me check. She’s in our Total Organist community. Yeah, I guess she needs to practice her “Pedal Virtuoso Master Course.” Yeah, and of course all pedaling really helps to have… do you think early music could be played with heels also? Ausra: Well, I think I have talked about this issue many times before, but, I don’t think you need heels in order to play Baroque music. That’s my own opinion. Vidas: When I play Baroque music, I also almost never use heels. Somehow, toes are quite enough, unless you play one particular piece by Arnoldt Schlick, “Ascendo ad Patrem meum” which has two voices in each foot! Ausra: Well, but I think this kind of piece is more like an experiment, not like a conventional thing. Vidal: Yeah, especially since it’s from the 1500s, so it’s a really early piece, and the pedalboard was very narrow, and keys were short, so it would be very difficult to play with heels. Ausra: But let’s say if you are playing like double pedal, for example like some of the J. S. Bach’s chorale works requires, for example “Aus Tiefer Not.” Do you remember that chorale from the collection for the third part of Clavier-Übung. Would you use any heels? Vidas: No. If this is a piece composed before the 19th century, even double pedal can be played with toes only in each food, I think. You don’t have to play completely legato, obviously, and that’s why you have toes-only technique. Right? Ausra: Excellent. That’s what I am doing, too. Vidas: Actually, Brigitte is not in “Pedal Virtuoso Master Course,” but in “Organ Sight-reading Master Course,” and she is studying Contrapuncti from “The Art of Fugue.” So it’s a different course, but similar technique for early music. Right? Ausra: Yes. They have some similarities, of course. Vidas: Right. It was her answer to my question in week 12 of Sight-reading Master Course. So, this week, she had to play only pedal solo lines, and I prepared pedaling for each of the exercises, too. So it was suitable for her, too. Let me check what kind of music she plays there. Yes, of course! Contrapunctus #1, only the bass part. Only the bass. And later on Contrapunctus #2, #3, only the bass up to Contrapunctus #6 or #7 even. Yeah, only the bass in week 12. And she has complete pedaling figured out for her, which is really really helpful. So those are advanced exercises but sound very beautiful if you play at the concert tempo on the pedal. Right Ausra? Ausra: Yes! Sort of like “Pedal Exercitium” by J. S. Bach, too! Vidas: I recently recorded this video which has become quite popular in my channel. I don’t know why, actually! More popular than serious organ music, sometimes. Do you have an answer, Ausra? Ausra: I guess some people are still mystified playing pedals, and love to watch how other people play pedals. Vidas: I positioned the camera next to the pedalboard so that my feet would be clearly visible, and therefore, obviously, my pedal technique was right in front of their faces. Ausra: I don’t like this video of yours, and I don’t watch it because it annoys me! Do you know why? Vidas: Because I’m playing not with organist shoes? Ausra: That’s right, and you are playing with your almost new shoes that will be thrown away very soon because of you're using it inappropriately. Vidas: Yeah, I didn’t plan to record this…. anything to record with my feet that day. It was on a Tuesday last week, when I went to Unda Maris studio rehearsal, but you see, I discovered that one student wants to play something with pedals, so I assigned him this “Pedal Exercitium,” and when he started playing, I saw that he doesn’t know how to play it, and I remember that I never recorded a video. So at the end of rehearsal, I practiced a little bit and recorded a complete video. It wasn’t easy, actually! It was very difficult to play the entire exercise from the start until finish in a concert tempo without any hesitations and mistakes. Yeah. Ausra: Yes, but it’s a nice piece, actually. If you listen closely and you’ve played with passion, you can hear even two voices, because it’s actually written like two individual voices, although it’s just the one line. Have you noticed that? Vidas: Yes, yes. Left foot is one voice, right foot is another voice. And this piece comes as a bonus material for my pedal virtuoso master course—one of the bonus pieces. I haven’t done a video of another piece, which is an Etude #1 by Alkan. Have you heard of Alkan before? It’s a French 19th century composer. Ausra: Actually no, I haven’t. Vidas: He wrote a series of twelve etudes for solo pedals, and I pedaled the first one. Maybe I should create a video of playing that, too. Ausra: Maybe I should learn it, too! Vidas: It’s considerable more difficult than the Pedal Exercitium, but worth playing, actually, too. So, hopefully, guys, you found our conversation useful. Please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 625 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Luis Garcia, and he writes, Dear friends: I live in Spain and here there are few organ teachers. Pedal Technique is a mystery here. I need to learn how to play pedals without looking at the pedalboard and with a mind strategy. Some teachers recommend to slide the foot counting the intervals. I think that it may well be in some times but not all the time. Others recommend memorizing the gaps in the pedalboard. And the worst teachers don't recommend anything. Even it is very difficult to see organists with organ shoes. Spain is a bad country to learn how to play the pipe organ. Remember that I am interested in a romantic technique. I know that you like Baroque music. Please, try to help me. Thank you. Luis García A: Well I think Spain is a wonderful country for organ, because it has these beautiful chamades that you will not encounter very often in another country; it has a rich and old history of organ music. I think even about Francisco Correa de Arauxo, a famous Cabezón. Well, but what, if we are talking about pedaling technique then I would have to probably agree, but it’s natural because the Spanish organ history developed in that way. Because it’s known as a Catholic, mostly Catholic country. So Catholics didn’t use so much of solo organ music in their liturgy, and in general didn’t use so much organ music. It just served as a servant to the liturgy, and the same case was actually in Italy. Very few organs, historical organs, had pedal, and because what you needed during liturgy was probably to sustain the tonic or dominant chord. V: Here I want to a little bit explain something. When a person writes such generalization without giving any details, how many and what kind of teachers has he or she encountered, at what level, how long have they studied, it doesn’t say anything about the country or its pedal technique or anything. It just says about his or her experience, personal experience, right? Let’s say if he tried all the teachers in Spain, and everyone was bad at this, then he could say, “Yes, Spain is bad for organ playing - to learn organ playing.” But I highly doubt it, because he would have written some more details about that. So if you go to the conservatory level, university level, professional level, I’m sure you will learn many details about organ playing, including pedal technique, even in Spain, just like anywhere else in a highly culturally sophisticated country like Spain is. So it doesn’t mean that Spain is bad for organ playing - to teaching organ playing. It just means Luis Garcia hasn’t found a suitable teacher for him. A: You know, when I started to study organ in Lithuanian Academy of Music, nobody taught me specifically how to play the pedal, although I was at the conservatory level already in my general musicianship. But I don’t know, if they didn’t know any specific techniques or whatever. But, and why I’m telling this, because I want to give a little bit support to that worse teacher in this letter. Luis Garcia said that the worst are who says “whatever,” play however you want, and do whatever you want. But there is some truth in it. Because usually, if you know you cannot play the pedals without looking at them or hit the wrong notes, the problem might be that you don't spend enough time, and you don’t spend enough time practicing organ. Because if you will spend enough time on that, you will see that playing the pedals becomes so natural and it doesn’t give you any trouble at all. Because I was told about all these different pedaling techniques for Baroque music and for modern music much later on in life. By that time I had already built my own pedal technique which was quite fine. So what do you think, Vidas, about that? V: And several well-known organists have complimented your pedal technique in the States. A: Yes, true. V: So. Yes, it reminds me of a problem I had early on in improvisation. When I wanted to learn improvisation, but didn’t have either clear path in front of me or good materials, so I was always on the hunt of the best textbook out there about improvisation. I was buying up all the method books and searching online and things like that. But that didn’t give me a clear path, clearer path, or vision where to go from there in my experience. What changed me was just to start improvising and keep improvising. Whenever you feel stuck, you would just keep doing it until you get unstuck on your own. Without any help of method books or teachers or whatever. So if Luis Garcia still looks at the pedalboard, as you say, probably it means that he needs to practice more pedals. A: Yes, though like lately I read and listened to some podcasts and some books about creativity and inspiration, and one of the general rules that people who create (8:21 not sure) and this is true to musicians, to writers, to painters, you know, if you will wait for inspiration let’s say, to come, it might never come. Because inspiration usually comes to people who work, and work daily, diligently, and are not waiting for inspiration to come. And I think this could be easily applied to developing good organ technique, both manual and pedal. You just need to really to find time, and to practice regularly, daily, and without a lot of philosophy and will not wait for right teacher to come, because you are the best teacher for yourself. V: Yes. Be the best, all help is self-help, except for surgery. A: (laughs) Sure. V: That’s not my word, not my words, but I picked it up from the famous author and blogger and marketer Seth Godin. And he, it’s a joke, basically, for people who always have tried to find some external help. Instead, they should take actionable steps every day to improve themselves, at least one percent every day. A: True. And you know, in general, I think that everybody is a little bit different. Like the length of legs are different, the length of feet are different. And some things that work for one person might not work as well for another person. But in general if you want to become better in pedal playing, you could try and check Vidas’ course of pedaling. V: Yeah, it’s called Organ Pedal Virtuoso Master Course. And we have extensive material, training material about pedaling scales, arpeggios, over one octave, over two octaves. Even in double octaves too, with both feet at the same time. So, and this is romantic technique with legato touch. Yes, we do like early music, right? But we do play and of course have a lot of knowledge about any kind of music including romantic and modern music. So it’s just part of our extensive training. A: Yes. If we would play all of Baroque music, that way we wouldn’t get our doctoral degrees. V: Yes. We would be masters of early music, not masters of music. Or doctors of musical arts - doctors of early musical arts would be appropriate. But we have everything they teach. A: And also, if you want to learn more about pedaling technique, then I would also suggest you to buy a book of George Ritchie and George Stauffer which is called Organ Technique Modern and Early, and a good half of that book is devoted to the modern techniques including pedal exercises also, and it gives detailed descriptions of how it should be done. V: Yes. When we were doing our doctoral degree programs at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, George Ritchie taught us the basics, even though we were already doctoral students after completing second master’s degree a year before that, he still felt that we needed to refresh our basic training and to learn a little bit, not even a little bit, a lot from his own book, which really helped. A: So it’s really handy, you should really try it. V: Yes. It’s, you will not use it just once, it’s like extensive review material there about all kinds of organ playing aspects - about even hymn playing and organ building, about all kinds of performance practice issues. It’s really really extensive, like a small encyclopedia of organ playing. 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. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 620 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by James, and he writes about my piece called “Nassat, from the Organ ABC”: “The speed of this piece and transparency of registration made me appreciate how generous the acoustic is at your church. I’m still stuck on Krummhorn and Larigot” Vidas: James apparently watched the video of me improvising this piece which later was transcribed by Diana, and now it is available as a complete score with fingering and registration. So if you guys are interested, you can take a look. But I was thinking we could talk, Ausra, about the acoustics in our church. What do you think? Is it generous? Ausra: Well, yes. Especially as comparing to many churches in America, I think in Lithuania, we have quite generous acoustics in general. Vidas: Yeah, because we have many old churches, and in general, old churches have very good acoustics—sometime too big acoustics for the organ! Don’t you think? Ausra: Well, I think the acoustics at St. Johns’s is very good. Vidas: Adequate. Ausra: Yes, adequate. Vidas. But you still need to know how to play the organ in these acoustics. Right? Ausra: Of course, because you know it often struck me while playing in the United States in some of the churches that had no acoustic at all, and even worse that when I played organ where I felt like I am being naked. Vidas: What do you mean? Ausra: Because, sort of when you have acoustics, it sort of covers you up, and you may hide some things in your playing. Vidas: Yeah, I know what you mean. When you said “no acoustics at all or worse” what do you mean by “worse?” Ausra: Because sometimes it’s not like you hold the last chord then omit it, but it seems like the sound disappears even before you lift your hands from the keyboard! Vidas: Oh, you’re like in a closet! Ausra: Yes. And because, I think, all these soft carpets and soft big cushions to make people feel comfortable… but it’s not good for acoustics. Vidas: Well yes. Unfortunately, a lot has been done for the comfort of the people, right? But that interferes with the quality of the sound, and sometimes acoustics are disregarded in favor of how well people of a congregation is feeling in the pews. Ausra: I don’t think that all the architects even consider this issue while they are making new churches. Vidas: That’s true. Luckily, we have sometimes artificial acoustics. Right? You can enhance the acoustics of the building by adding some acoustic enhanced materials, but it’s not my expertise, so I don’t want to talk about it too long. Ausra: And I don’t think it’s the same results. It’s still maybe not quite as good as if the acoustics is natural. Vidas: Talking about acoustics and environment, what’s your most memorable church that you played in the past? Ausra: Well, probably Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London! Vidas: Yes, I wish we could go back there and record a proper recital, because they didn’t allow us to record and make a video. I secretly recorded for myself just the audio, and a short improvisation when I tested some of the sounds, but somehow this Cathedral doesn’t allow one to make recital recordings… official recordings… maybe they are afraid of people admiring the organ and the church and the cathedral too much. Ausra: But I guess this is not only the case with Saint Paul’s. I think that’s true when talking about many other famous cathedrals. Vidas: Yeah, I remember you were invited to perform at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and one of the sentences in the contract stated that you cannot also make a recording of your recital. Ausra: Yes. Too bad, but such is life. Vidas: Right. Imagine if this weren’t the case, and people could come from all over the world and record their videos, YouTube would have been full of recitals from Notre Dame Cathedral, and now this organ is no longer functional because of the fire, so we don’t know how long it will take to restore it, and people all over the world are still… missing this instrument, and if they would have allowed to make recordings, people and fans from all over the world could enjoy this instrument even more. Ausra: Well, I think there’s nothing that we could do to change church policies, so… Vidas: Right. So hopefully, people can listen to the video, to the Nassat video that I performed, and check out the score that Diana has transcribed. If you’re interested in easy basic-level organ music, modern sounding improvisations, on every letter of the alphabet, but based on some of the terms from the organ world, so this could be helpful as well. I intend to finish all the collection maybe by the end of this year, if the situations are favorable and we’ll have the entire “ABC” ready for you to listen to and to play. Ausra: Wonderful! Looking forward to hearing the entire collection. Vidas: James promised to make a recording of it when it’s ready. So, I’m looking to it as well. James Flores, you could check out his YouTube channel and Website: https://jamesfloresorganist.com Vidas: Okay guys, please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 623 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Robert, and he writes, Dear Vidas, I completed your Pedal Virtuoso Master Course in late August and upon your request, below you will find my feedback. Without a doubt, I am very happy to have taken your course! I discovered it online at the beginning of June after searching for ways to improve my pedal technique which was holding my organ playing back. My goals consisted of learning how to sit comfortably on the organ bench so that I could play the pedals and maintain my balance, discover for myself how to develop more flexibility in my ankles, and learn how to use my feet more efficiently in order to play more advanced passages as well as reduce strains put on my foot muscles and joints (i.e., prevent future injuries). After spending twelve weeks working on the given assignment for the day, to my surprise, each goal saw improvement and not just a slight improvement! Although I often needed more than fifteen minutes to work on a given assignment, my feet now know where to go and my hips and body now support my balance and the ability to play a passage legato while avoiding foot strain. One thing I did that helped solidify what I had learned in previous weeks, was to review previous assignments in addition to the daily assignment. Currently I am reviewing the course by playing every scale and arpeggio from a given tonality three times a day for one week (this is my fourth week, so I am reviewing scales and arpeggios in E minor which is Day 1, No. 4 from each of the twelve weeks). Transferring this success into repertoire, I can now play Moto Ostinato from Nedělní Hudba (now known as Musica Dominicalis) by Petr Eben with far more control and accuracy than ever before; by working on my pedaling, the hands are able to play the manuals without distractions due to poor balance. As far as looking at a piece I have wanted to play that seemed like an impossibility before this course, I am now able to play the last three studies of Ten Studies for Pedal Playing by Flor Peeters at a slow tempo; I now have techniques that will enable me to play these studies successfully in the near future. As far as possible improvements to your Pedal Virtuoso Master Course, if you could make a few more videos demonstrating some of the exercises in various weeks of the course, this would be very helpful. I am truly grateful for the two arpeggios you made for me last month on YouTube because I got to see the roles that your hips and body play in enabling you to play the pedals at the extremes of the pedal board (especially in octaves). The saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words” is very true when it comes to pedal playing but in my experience, a video is worth a million words (my wife suggested that I spare you a long list of questions by asking you to make a video)! I also think that a few more videos on YouTube might give you more students; after all, that is how I found your course. In the future if you should offer another course pertaining to pedal mastery (such as Part II dealing with trills or historical pedaling), I would definitely be interested in taking it. Also, if it is okay with you, I would like to email you any additional pedal questions that I may have, should they arise. In closing I cannot thank you enough for designing a course that has helped me to improve my pedal and organ playing exponentially. I am also very grateful for the two videos you made upon my request as well as the pedal gifts (Bach’s Pedal-Exercitium and Alkan’s Etude No. 1) that I practice every day, in addition to reviewing your course. All the best to you, your wife, and all that you do. Sincerely yours, Robert PS: If anyone is looking for organ shoes with heels that are 2 or 3 centimeters in height, I strongly recommend Tic-Tac-Toes (a dance shoe company that makes organ shoes as well) from Gloversville, New York, USA. They are more expensive than other organ shoe companies that I am aware of, but I am very happy with my 1 ¼ inch heel (3.175 centimeters) organ shoes. Hope this information is of help to you. V: This is a very long feedback that Robert wrote, and I’m very grateful for it. A: Yes, it’s very nice, and I think on the top of it, there is not much that we could add to it. V: Other than to promise to make more videos, right? A: Sure, because it seems that it really helps people to learn, and to improve pedaling skills. V: Yeah. He’s so dedicated. I don’t require students to refresh the materials on a regular basis from this course. After you learn everything, you could play other pieces. But no - he comes back to the course and plays for a week, three times a day, those exercises. A: Well it’s true, this letter shows that Robert is a really hard working student. And he’s also an excellent writer. I really much enjoyed, very much, how he put together all his words and all his feedback about your course. So well organized. So clearly structured. V: Yeah, exactly. Wonderful feedback as I said before. And obviously improvement with more videos demonstrating some of the exercises would be really helpful. I just got busy creating other videos for other courses, and probably will come back to creating more videos. Maybe eventually to be a video course, right? A: Sure. I think people would appreciate it. V: Okay guys, so if you haven’t checked out Pedal Virtuoso Master Course, Robert obviously thinks you should. And Ausra and I agree. If you would like to get the same or even more improvement that Robert has with his pedal technique, there is no doubt that this course on one level or another will be helpful to you, even if you don’t work as diligently as Robert, you will still notice much improvement. A: Yes, I believe so. V: Yeah. All right, guys. Please send us more of your questions. We really appreciate it. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying SOPP621: My sight reading of notes and rhythms both improved significantly from 9 months ago10/23/2020
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 621 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by William, and he writes, Vidas, Thank you for putting together this course. My sight reading of notes and rhythms both improved significantly from 9 months ago. It also improved my sight reading of dense passages of music. The areas that gave me a little trouble (that I need to continue working on) are the counting of 32nd notes and irregular rhythms (triplets against 2 eighth notes / 4 sixteenth notes / dotted eighth note and a sixteenth note). Regards, Bill V: So William talks about my Organ Sight Reading Master Course, which is quite popular among Total Organist Community, and I’m very happy that people are enjoying the progress that they are making over the course of this training program. It takes basically 40 weeks, 47 weeks with bonus materials, so that’s almost a full year, right, Ausra? A: Yes, it takes awhile. V: For a long time, for many weeks, people start sight reading one single melodic line. And a lot of people quit after even noticing improvement, even before starting two part exercises. Because it takes such a long time to go through entire Art of Fugue voice by voice. Ausra, do you have such patience? A: Well, I would have patience if I would have enough time. V: And you mean that you couldn’t practice for many weeks one single voice? A: Yes. Definitely not. And I don’t need it, because I have quite a good skills of sight reading music. V: Hm, makes me think, maybe I should devise special course for you, just for you, where I would test your sight reading skills and give you more challenges. A: You know I have enough challenges in my life on a daily basis. V: And you could devise a course for me, as well. Would you like that? A: Not really. V: Why not? You could be my teacher. A: Well, I teach for 25 hours a week. So I guess I have enough teaching already without teaching you. V: Could I sit in your classes instead? A: No, because now it’s pandemic. V: Maybe under the table then! A: Well, you could sneak in, or at least try to sneak in. V: I could sit under the table like your pet. I would be quiet, promise. A: But then I would have to put you on a leash. V: Yeah. On a leash, or a choke collar? A: Well, it would depend on your behavior. V: (laughs) If I would be polite, maybe leash would be enough. A: Yes, I guess so. V: So, William is enjoying the course, sight reading every week, seven days a week I think, those exercises run. Would you, Ausra, imagine yourself sight reading every day of the week, if you had time? A: Well yes, because I think this is a crucial skill to have for any musician. V: Yeah, I think for people who don’t have enough time to sight read, they are simply sacrificing their goals and dreams, putting aside their future in favor of their present tasks, or maybe urgent assignments. But I think it’s important to work towards your future, make the future possible, right? Because at the end of the day, you have fulfilled maybe your tasks, but haven’t advanced towards your goals. A: True, and often people wonder why they cannot learn music very fast, or as fast as they would wish to, and why they still keep struggling. And I think one of the reasons is that we don’t sight read enough. V: Or don’t listen to music enough as well. That also is very important. Basically, music is like language. You have to immerse yourself in this language. It’s a musical language, and we have to imagine we’re learning like a foreign language. Obviously, learning foreign language is easiest from an early age, right, Ausra? A: That’s right. I think any skill is easier to learn at the early age, but I think it’s possible to learn later too. But it takes more time, and it requires more effort. V: Will you be fluent in that language if you start late in life? A: Well I guess it’s sort of very individual to a person, from person to person. V: Let’s say a person starts later in life and spends hours every day sight reading and practicing, and listening to musical pieces. At first, it’s a very difficult struggle, right? Because this new language is completely foreign to them. And it takes weeks, even months, before they start to feel any kind of enjoyment, right? And even when people are listening to such training exercises, they’re not interesting at all to listen to. Like one voice, right? A: That’s right. V: Especially if played in a slow tempo. I can imagine that if played in a right tempo, if you can play The Art of Fugue soprano voice for example, in a concert tempo, that's a wonderful piece of music by itself. It’s like one single instrument, solo instrument, a flute or a violin playing. But you have to be fluent. A: That’s right. V: Otherwise it’s just for you, not for other people to enjoy. But definitely there will come a time in your course where you will feel that something is tipping. You will feel this tipping point where yesterday you didn’t notice improvement, and this morning you started to notice something differently. Something more frequent, more fluently. There was for me also. It’s in any activity. When I was busy doing exercises of pull-ups in my, in our garden last year, for example, at first I couldn’t do a lot of them. Just a few. Or maybe just to hang myself, hang and - not hang myself! A: I hope not! V: Simply, I would just hold onto the rings and hang in there, you know, for 30 seconds let’s say. But then after weeks passed, I could do one, then two, then four pull-ups. And then after I reached five pull-ups, I suddenly noticed I could do all those five pull-ups fast. Like not one by one, but in a combination of two or even three - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - in one breath, basically. So obviously this faster pull-up routine makes it easier to do all five of them, right? But I couldn’t do that before. It took me, I don’t know, maybe four months to reach that goal. So obviously, people who practice sight reading from my course need to realize that they have to really keep going for a longer time in order to start feeling the results, like William has. He started about 9 months ago, right? But he didn’t quit after a few weeks, even if it was hard when 32nd notes appeared, or triplets against two eighth notes, those complicated rhythms, you see. A: Wonderful! I guess William has the kind of character that each of us needs to develop - to be patient and to be consistent about what you are doing. V: Wonderful. So guys, those of you who are practicing from this course, or sight reading on your own, please don’t quit just after a few days or weeks. Just keep going. And those of you who haven’t seen my course, check it out! I will leave the link in the description of this conversation. Thank you guys. Please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow.. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 618 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Brigitte, and she writes: “Hi Vidas and Ausra, The more complicated rhythms are my favorites for sight-reading. Also I have been listening to recordings from Art of the fugue and did some research as I was wondering about the meaning of the different parts. There must be so much more that can be learned from the Art of the fugue. The variations of the Genevan Psalms are of interest to me too. Can I find them somewhere together to come back to them? Enjoy following you and learning from you. Regards, Brigitte” Vidas: So Ausra, it appears that Brigitte is studying my “Organ Sight-Reading Master Course.” Ausra: Excellent! I think this is a very useful tool. Vidas: It’s based on Bach’s “The Art of Fugue,” and each week, students receive daily trainings for their sight-reading exercises, and at first we start very simply with sight-reading one voice, a simple line soprano part. And then we switch to other voices little by little, add combinations of voices, increase the number of voices, and so we also switch keys! I transpose the contrapuntal material into other keys as well, so organists can get the sense of playing in multiple keys as well. So, this is a long course—40 week long—plus seven weeks of bonus material in legato style. And I hope that people who start can finish what they started, because not everyone is so patient. Ausra: Yes, I know somebody who sight-read one voice, but I think I haven’t heard her playing more voices. Vidas: I’m looking forward to two voices as well. Maybe this time will come in the future, too. Who knows? But Brigitte is clearly enjoying complicated rhythms in that collection, in “The Art of Fugue.” Do you think she means triplets or something else? Ausra: I’m not quite sure in which part of “Art of Fugue” she is right now. But in general, that’s a sort of a little bit of an odd comment, because often people avoid complicated rhythms and they like simple rhythms, so… Vidas: This is good! Ausra: Yes, this is very good. Vidas: Yeah, because if you know how to play simple rhythms, you tend to play simple rhythms all the time, and challenging parts are not always a joyful experience to play. Right? Ausra: Yes, that’s right, and in general, as Brigitte says, “The Art of Fugue” is the collection that one could learn a lot, and I couldn’t agree more, because it’s really a good collection. Vidas: How many times have you heard this collection live? Ausra: Well, only a very few times. Like being in a real recital, I think I’ve heard it three times. But of course, I’ve heard recordings, too. Vidas: So two times was for organ, right? Ausra: Yes. Vidas: And one for harpsichord, right? Ausra: Yes, that’s right. Vidas: Can you share with us what that was? Ausra: Well, twice, our former organ professor, George Ritchie has played it at UNL, and he played it twice, but I think… Vidas: In the same week! Ausra: Yes, I think we were the only two students who attended both performances, and I think it’s worth it to listen to it more than once! Vidas: And this collection became his DVD recording together with a double CD, I think, where he also not only performs “The Art of Fugue,” but talks about each movement and the history behind the work, the meaning of every fugue, and so on. Ausra: And he is not the only one who talks about “The Art of Fugue.” The famous musicologist Christoph Wolff also talks about it in this DVD. Vidas: Yeah, it’s called the “Desert Fugue,” I think. We can add the link add the link to this conversation for people to find the DVD. It’s published by Fugue State Films. Ausra: Yes, I believe it is. Vidas: So, yeah, and the other, the third performance you heard by whom? Ausra: By Dirksen! Vidas: Pieter Dirksen. Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Did you like his playing on the harpsichord? Ausra: Yes, I liked it a lot, because he always pays so much attention to the little details, and he is a really wonderful performer and teacher and musicologist! Vidas: He initiates, I think, a Facebook group called “Sweelinck 2021,” because next year, there will be, I think, the 400 year anniversary of Sweelinck! So we need to play more Sweelinck next year. Ausra: Yes, and he is one of the leading scholars of Sweelinck’s music, and he has published a famous book, which is very extensive, and I think the best source for those who study Sweelinck. Vidas: And also, he’s done great research in Heinrich Scheidemann’s organ works and keyboard works as well! Ausra: Yes, so it was really nice to hear him playing “The Art of Fugue” on the harpsichord. Vidas: If you had to choose one, which one would you choose, Dirksen or Ritchie? Ausra: That’s a very unfair question. I don’t think you should be asking it! Vidas: I know! But I will ask anyway! Ausra: Well, it’s very different, you know, to hear it on the harpsichord and on the organ, because the specifications of these two instruments are completely different. Vidas: But also, playing on the harpsichord without pedals, that kind of looks more difficult. Don’t you think? Because you have to reach with your left hand more. Ausra: Well, but for people who, for example, don’t know how hard or easy it is to play pedal, they think that it’s harder to play something with the pedals. So it’s… Vidas: But anyways, this is a great collection to learn sight reading. When I practiced my sight reading, I learned from the original clefs. Not only from the bass clef, but also from the soprano clef, alto clef, and tenor clef. In this course, in “Organ Sight-Reading Master Course, I transcribed everything into modern notation with treble clef and bass clef so that people won’t get scared too much. It’s already challenging enough, I think, but adding original clefs would scare people away. Ausra: Sure! I don’t think that would be a good idea. Vidas: Yes. So Brigitte, if you want to learn even more from “The Art of Fugue, once you finish this course, you can go back a little bit and check out the original clefs, original notation, and play through them, a few fugues, at least the beginning four. These are nice; they group together nicely. And I think I already made one score with the fingering and pedaling of the first Contrapunctus so people can enjoy playing for themselves with articulation, with articulated legato touch, which could be easily achieved with my fingering and pedaling. Ausra: Excellent. Vidas: And of course, we need to talk about Genevan Psalms, Ausra, because Brigitte is kind of interested in Genevan Psalms. Shall we talk about it in the next podcast episode? Ausra: Well, yes, I think so! Vidas: Because it is another theme. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: Alright guys, please send us more of your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 619 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Brigitte, and she writes, The variations of the Genevan Psalms are of interest to me. Can I find them somewhere together to come back to them? I enjoy following you and learning from you. Regards, Brigitte V: So we need to clarify a little bit what Brigitte means. Currently, I’m in the process of improvising various contrapuntal variations based on Genevan Psalms, and posting them on my YouTube channel, Secrets of Organ Playing. So probably Brigitte means these uploads. First of all, the answer to the question, if she can’t find them together, I made a playlist called “Genevan Psalms” on my channel so everyone can find them in public as well, but I will link to the playlist in this conversation as well. So shall we talk a little bit, what is this Genevan Psalter and how it started, and what’s the idea behind it? A: Well yes, let’s talk about it. Do you like Genevan Psalms? V: Yeah, you know why? Because first of all, they are very uniform collection. 150 Psalms. And I bought this edition for Canadian Reformed churches, which is in electronic PDF format, and I use my iPad to play from it, and ForScore app on the iPad as well, to turn pages. It’s very very convenient. Genevan Psalter, also known as Huguenot Psalter, is a metrical psalter in French, created under the supervision of John Calvin for liturgical use by the Reformed churches of the city of Geneva in the 16th century. That’s what Wikipedia writes. And there were several editions. The first one was from 1539. And it contains 150 metrical psalms, and later editions have probably more than psalms, more popular hymns and several canticles. So John Calvin learned about metrification - versification - of metrical psalms in German from Martin Luther, and he made his own French version in that separate collection which became the basis of all the hymnals in Reformed churches throughout the world. And for example, the Dutch Reformed Church is using them even today. Can you guess, Ausra, how I came into contact with them? A: Of course, I think through Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, don’t you? Or not? V: Yes and no. The first mentioning of these psalms were by our professor Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra. She wrote her DMA dissertation about, I think about the rhythms in Genevan Psalter. But more recently, I’ve heard the Dutch organist and improviser perform and improvise on various Genevan Psalms, Sietze deVries. And he’s very famous for his improvisations throughout the world, and improvising on psalms is one of his signatures, signature works. A: Well, I think these psalms work perfectly for improvisation. Because if you wouldn’t just improvise and sing them as a hymn, I think they, at least for my taste, they sound really boring. Don’t you find them a little bit boring? V: Define boring. A: Boring is boring. B-o-r-... V: You mean like you want to sleep during my playing. A: Well, a little bit yes. V: Maybe I’m playing it wrong. A: Well, you know, those tunes seem so plain to me that you really need to add things to improvise on them, to improve them. V: But I’m sure if Sietze deVries was playing, it wouldn’t be boring. A: And I’m sure that maybe many of people from Reformed Church will start to hate me after this podcast, but I surely I prefer the Martin Luther’s tradition in hymn singing. V: Some of the psalms are known in German as well. Like An Wasserflüssen Babylon. Schmücke Dich, O liebe Seele, and others. A: Well maybe do you know who took them from whom? I think Calvin took them from Luther. V: Some of them, yes. A: So they are basically not the psalms, they are actually Lutheranische Chorӓle. V: But also, the ones I mentioned are written in major keys, and many genuine psalms are written in church modes, in ancient modes. In Dorian mode, in Phrygian mode, let’s say, in Aeolian mode. So they’re kind of very ancient sounding. And to modern ears, they’re not necessarily very relevant, you see. A: Well you know, I really like Gregorian chant which is even more ancient, so. V: Well yes, you could improvise in modal techniques using those modal chant and psalm tunes as well. And Sietze deVries improvises very well on, in variety of styles. Not only in early music styles. He takes, I think into consideration, more not his thematic material, but more the instrument on whom, on which he plays. If the instrument is baroque instrument, he would improvise in the baroque mode. If the instrument is romantic, he would gladly and joyfully create let’s say Mendelssohn and Rheinbergian and Reger style of improvisations as well. A: That’s what I’m thinking, you know, about most of these sounds that they are so plain that you can do anything out of them, actually. V: He even creates sometimes even modern-sounding pieces. But of course, the bread and butter for him is contrapuntal improvisation. A: Yes, he's a real master. V: The first time I heard him play, I’m not sure, I think it was from his website. He has hundreds of audio recordings uploaded on his website. And it was before the time of YouTube, before the video, and the first time I heard them, I thought it was surreal. I thought I heard Johann Sebastian Bach play some unknown work of his - it's the same thing. Or like German music, maybe Buxtehude or Heinrich Scheidemann, he could recreate the same styles. And remember how we couldn’t believe that he was doing them live at first? A: Yes. V: Because it sounded written out. A: Yes. V: But apparently he reached that level where he is, where he can think that fast. And create what he is thinking in real time. A: I think he has a phenomenal music talent, like memory and pitch, and all other stuff, you know, reaction. V: On his website, he writes sometimes a blog post once in awhile, and about improvisation he writes that he regrets that current musical education focuses on written music performing repertoire, and not so much from your ear, not so much develops the sense of listening to the music and recreating what you hear. Because he would for example listen in his childhood to some recordings of music on the radio, and he would recreate them on any instrument that was at hand by ear. A: But you see, to do, in order to do that, you need to have a pitch. For example, you know now many students come to our school, which is sort of the most prominent school in the Lithuania. V: The most prestigious, you mean. A: Yes, the most prestigious and the most prominent in the musical field. V: Mm hm. A: But you know, some students really they have trouble hearing. They don’t have good musical pitch. I’m not talking already about perfect pitch, far from that. And what could you learn in that case? Because when you are playing keyboard instruments, we have sort of a fixed, fixed…. V: C. A: Fixed C. V: Fixed do. A: Fixed do. And that’s it. You don’t have to have a really good musical pitch to play a keyboard. Because you will press the key of do, and it will sound. And if you would play from the pitch everything, not looking at the music, you will need to have really good pitch. V: Which can be developed also. A: Yes, but… V: To some degree. A: To some degree, but you know the more I live, the stronger I believe that if you don’t have, like, talent, maybe then do something else. Because it’s really maybe not for you. Because I just pity those people, who are sort of very poor musical talent, or mediocre. Because I know how hard in life it is to be able to make your living with music. V: Professionally. A: Yes. V: But what about as a hobby instrument? A: I think to have it as a hobby is really wonderful, I encourage people to do that. V: Because if you have a different profession than music, you earn your living by doing other things, at the end of the day you need some kind of release. And many people find music to be a perfect release. A: And that’s what I think about being organists - that it’s very good for people with other professions to be able to play the organ. Because it’s perfect solution for your relaxation time, and for your hobby, or even to make a little extra income. Because most of the church services, they are on the weekends, or sometimes very early in the morning, very late at night. So basically you could have a regular job somewhere else and do some of the church playing. V: And additionally of course, if you start developing your own YouTube channel and get 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours within the last 12 months, you can get invited to participate into Amazon, into, I’m sorry, YouTube partner program where you could allow ads on your videos and get also some kind of income stream. Not much at first, but it adds up if your traffic increases. A: Well you know don’t sort of have like too much of the hopes, because I’m trying to reach that 1,000 subscribers and I think I never will. So don’t entertain these false hopes. V: Our friend James Flores recently reached 1,000 subscribers. There is no reason you can’t. A: Well, he does a lot of that, but I’m teaching full time, so I cannot spend so much time recording organ music. V: I think you will reach , but slower than him. That’s okay. A: Yes, and maybe like in 10 years I can buy a bird for myself to eat. V: (laughs) We’ll see, we’ll see. All in good time. So yeah guys, if you’re interested into Genevan psalms and how I’m playing them and documenting them through my videos, go ahead and check out this playlist with my improvisations, and I really enjoy playing them and increasing my skill in contrapuntal variations and improvisations. I can easily improvise not only on those ancient tunes, but on any other hymns that you have find, you find in the hymnal, any type of melodies, based on those ancient techniques. So it’s a perfect lab, musical lab for me. And I encourage everyone to find a lab for themselves to create musical experiments as well. A: Yes, and I enjoy Vidas doing that. Because I have to listen to what he is doing. V: You mean you enjoy that I’m doing it, not you? A: Yes! V: (laughs) What are you doing when I’m playing? How are you, are you studying what I’m playing, or you’re shutting your eyes and ears? A: Well, I listen sometimes, but not always. V: Just before we recorded this conversation, I played Psalm 22, and before that, we also practiced Bergamasca by Marco Uccellini, fun piece together with Ausra. So did you listen to my Psalm as well? A: Well no, I wasn’t at home at the time. I was working outside. V: In the garden. A: Yes. V: Work is fun. We both work in different ways. A: Sure. V: All right. So guys, please send us more of your questions. We love helping you grow.. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. Vidas: Let’s start episode 616 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Markus, and he writes: “At the moment I started to play hymns. Some time in the future I want to do church service. And I want to improvise hymns over modern pop and musical music just by hearing the song in the radio. A really high challenging goal for a late-beginner, I know. :) Therefore I really appreciate your melodic dictation course. Thanks, Markus” Vidas: So, Markus is taking our “Melodic Dictation” course Ausra: I know! Wonderful! Vidas: And the way that he wrote to me was because he couldn’t open the training file a few days ago. You know why? Ausra: No, I don’t know. Vidas: It’s because the trainings are in pdf format, the answer keys, for example, and when he would click on those links to open the pdf file, he would get an error message, 404 error from Google, that the page that you are looking for does not exist! So I was kind of scared, you know? Ausra: Yes, I imagine that. Vidas: And not only Markus, but several other members of the Total Organist community who were taking, let’s say, the “Sight-reading” course or the “Pedal Virtuoso Master Course,” they he also wrote that they couldn’t open the files. So I wrote to MailChimp about it and asked what’s happening, and it was just a temporary issue, and during the glitch, I could open the files using a different browser—not Chrome browser, but let’s say, Brave browser. And it looked just fine. So I’m glad it got resolved now, and people can access pdf files from Google Chrome as well. Ausra: Excellent, because I think Google Chrome is the most popular for people to browse. Vidas: Yes. yes. So Markus writes that he wants to improvise hymns over modern pop and musical music. Do you have an idea what he’s talking about? Ausra: Well, I think I’m sort of imagining that. Vidas: I asked him to send me a video of an example, but he said he just heard an organist do that in a live recital, and it was not a video, so he was just inspired by a live example. Ausra: Yes, I’m just thinking, for example, how the improvisation on the pop song would work, let’s say in a conservative church. Vidas: But even more than that, I don’t understand how this might look like. Imagine you have a hymn, and you have pop music. So you kind of juxtapose a hymn over pop music. What’s the result? I don’t know. Ausra: Well, some of the hymns I really like are pop music, too. Vidas: Maybe he means to add the pop rhythms, syncopations, like that. Ausra: Well, that could be, I think, too. Vidas: Jazz influence! Ausra: Maybe… Vidas: But keeping the original hymn melody. Ausra: Yes, but you know, I wouldn’t call the jazz music a pop music, because it’s not. Vidas: And what is jazz? Ausra: I think it’s just, you know, like a separate genre, and it’s too complicated to call it pop music. Vidas: Yeah, pop music usually don’t have many chords. Ausra: Yes, that’s right. Vidas: So, the way to try any improvisation probably would be to simplify the structure, simplify the texture, and to deal, let’s say, just with the rhythms. If you have some kind of modern sounding, pop sounding rhythms in mind, he could use his feet or his hand to create accompaniment in these rhythms. Right? Ausra: Yes, that’s a possibility. Vidas: And then use maybe more pop sounding chords to accompany the hymns. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: That’s about it, I think. Ausra: Yes, I think so. Vidas: Unless you want to sound more jazzy, so then your chords could have four notes, five notes, six notes, like a seventh chord, ninth chord, suspensions various augmented chords. Right? Ausra: Yes! Actually, now when we talked about it, I remembered William Bolcom. Do you remember his compositions? Vidas: “Gospel Preludes?” Ausra: Yes. Vidas: Yeah, but again, those gospel hymns are a different genre, not like “Old Hundredth.” Ausra: Sure. Vidas: It’s a different type of melody. But the way he created those preludes is very nice. Ausra: Yes, I like them very much. Vidas: Hmm.. suits “praise band” style. Ausra: That’s right. Vidas: But in an artful way. Ausra: Yes. Vidas: So guys, keep these tips in mind when you try to improvise hymns over modern pop and musical music. Hopefully that will make sense, and let us know how it goes! Ausra: Yes, and send us your recordings! We would love to hear you playing. Vidas: Even better, put them on YouTube and share with us the link! Ausra: That would be great! Vidas: And keep sending us your questions; we love helping you grow. And remember, when you practice, Ausra: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying
Vidas: Hello and welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast!
Ausra: This is a show dedicated to helping you become a better organist. V: We’re your hosts Vidas Pinkevicius... A: ...and Ausra Motuzaite-Pinkeviciene. V: We have over 25 years of experience of playing the organ A: ...and we’ve been teaching thousands of organists online from 89 countries since 2011. V: So now let’s jump in and get started with the podcast for today. A: We hope you’ll enjoy it! V: Hi guys! This is Vidas. A: And Ausra. V: Let’s start episode 617 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by David, and he writes, "I didn't see this video when it was posted because I was buried with work at the time. Thank you for posting it and this podcast. This week, I am experiencing the same thing, but with a simple hymn that I should have no trouble with, but one measure is just not coming, and I, too, felt like hitting the (imitation) organ as I was practicing... (but I didn't do it... it already doesn't fully function properly on Sunday mornings). This made me realize that sometimes this is a normal thing to experience." V: Ausra, can you feel what David is talking about? A: Yes. I get, have that feeling, that it’s about my practice of the Litanies by Jean Alain. V: Yes. So David is on the team who transcribes these podcast conversations. And he transcribed the previous video, or the previous conversation, 614, when Ian asks about organists frustrated video. So David also apparently experienced the same thing, but with a simple hymn playing. So I thought of talking about it a little bit more, because people seem to resonate with your frustration these days. A: Yes. I think all of us get frustrated at times - not always, but sometimes. V: I don’t. A: Really? V: I’m very calm and pleased when I’m practicing. A: Maybe you are dead then. V: Maybe. I don’t know. So obviously… A: Or maybe you are a genius and you don’t make bad mistakes and you don’t struggle so much, and everything comes easy to you. V: Maybe that’s because I’m applying my secret 10 step method of practice. A: It is so boring. I couldn’t do them all. V: Just once in your life you could try it. A: I think my life is too short. V: (laughs) Better to hit the keyboard several times. A: Yes. V: Bang the keys. A: It’s like when I was a girl and studied at the art school, I used to put a book or my notes under my pillow for the night before an exam. V: Hoping… A: Or before a test. Hoping that during the night time, all that information will go up to my head, to my brain, and I will learn everything overnight. V: Did it help? A: Well, I haven’t failed any of my exams, so maybe it did help. V: Did you prepare for those tests in some other way besides putting the textbook under your pillow? A: Well yes, actually. I read them and I took them before reading them, so. V: Maybe it’s a combination of both. A: Could be. V: Positive thinking, wishful thinking. A: And actually maybe I need to put that Litanies under my pillow tonight and record them, for example, tomorrow. V: Mm, good idea. A: Because I would never put the music under my pillow, but maybe I need to start doing that. V: Well then, I would put Vierne’s Fugue from the First Symphony under my pillow. A: Wonderful! Let’s try that. V: I already recorded the first part, the Prelude from this symphony, but just can’t get the Fugue up to speed. So I am frustrated, Ausra. A: So you need to apply your 10 Step program. V: I did, but it’s not that fast, not that easy, you know. You have to sit for weeks. A: Maybe you need to add another 10 steps to your program and have not a 10 step program, but 20 step program. V: Well obviously, I emphasize going from step 1 to step 2, and from step 2 to step 3 in a very methodical manner, because don’t rush. If you rush, let’s say, you just play a difficult piece once through and stop it at the beginning of each beat, and then after that you do the step 2, which is stopping at every half note. If you do that, I don’t think you’re ready to proceed to step 2 yet. A: Oh yes. V: I think it’s better to spend some time on step 1 - on each step. Like maybe a day or two or three, play at least 3 times in a row without mistakes each step. A: Well yes, but for that you need patience. V: Yeah, that’s right. And we are very impatient these days. We want quick results. A: Well yes. V: So Ausra, do you have advice for people who have no patience? A: (laughs) Hit the keyboard. It won’t hit you back. I’m just kidding, of course. V: Hit the keyboard and you will feel better. A: Actually yes, you will feel better. But now that so many people have commented about this particular video, I’m sort of feeling happy because it attracted new subscribers of course to my channel. Of course I received all kinds of comments. Thoughtful like this one, but also some crazy. Some people even did not understand that actually I’m playing on the organ. They thought it’s on the piano, and some didn’t like music at all. Well anyway. But you know, it makes me sort of upset because my serious videos, who I think deserves much more of attention actually are unnoticed, or almost unnoticed, and this one received so many feedback. V: So much feedback, you mean. A: Yes, so much feedback. V: It’s because people are vampires. They long for blood. Blood thirsty. If you bleed, they watch. If you fall down, they watch. If you are hurt, they watch. A: Do I need to cut my wrists while practicing? V: No, but you see why this video got more popular than others is because you showed them your emotion, your frustration, which should be embarrassing for professional concert organist, right? To show it in public. People, general audience thinks that difficult advanced pieces can be basically sight-read and fluently played during recital. But obviously not the case. A: True. Like my cousin just recently asked me if I still need to practice. So people simply don’t understand, those who don’t practice themselves and don’t play musical instruments, how much real time it takes. V: Yeah. So one way to get attention is to emphasize your mistakes. Which is crazy, right? Your polished videos should attract more attention than these practice videos, but that’s the way people are wired, I guess. If organists are watching this, they are happy to see another organist fail and they’re happy that they’re not in this video themselves, hitting the keyboard. You see the point? Kind of happy for themselves. You make them feel better, you know? A: Yes. But I make myself sort of like a goat out of myself. Like in the Jewish tradition, do you know that story, they took a goat to desert. V: And, what happened to the goat? A: Well, I think it died. V: Oh, right, right, right! I don’t remember the source of this story, but… A: I think it’s in the Bible. V: Sure. But it’s an interesting comparison, yeah. So I guess I also need to play more Vierne Fugue in public failing, hitting the keys and pedals probably, and eventually more people watch. But probably, the point is not to get their attention, though. The point is to master the piece. A: True, true. But I don’t think you would be able to hit the keyboard like I did, because you don’t have so much passion as I do. V: Passion for what? A: Passion for life! V: (laughs) A: Passion in general. V: I see. We’re differently wired, right? A: Yes. V: Yeah, so I guess our listeners are also different. Some of them are calmer, some more passionate like you. A: Yes, and you are simply happy all the time. I don’t know what about. V: I try to think that life is too short to worry about it, about failures. A: And I think that life consists of all these various emotions, and you have to live it through. V: Good. Are you frustrated right now? A: No, I’m not. V: You’re calm. A: Yes. V: Maybe because you had lunch? A: (laughs) That’s one of the reasons. V: Digesting. A: Yes. V: I’m calm too. Maybe I’m digesting. Hm. I know: I eat more than you, that’s why I’m calmer. A: Maybe I need to start to eat more. V: Hm. Not sure where this discussion leads, but okay. So guys, please send us more of your questions if you like to see Ausra fail more. (laughs) And me! We would be happy to show you our frustrations. And remember, when you practice, A: Miracles happen. V: This podcast is supported by Total Organist - the most comprehensive organ training program online. A: It has hundreds of courses, coaching and practice materials for every area of organ playing, thousands of instructional videos and PDF's. You will NOT find more value anywhere else online... V: Total Organist helps you to master any piece, perfect your technique, develop your sight-reading skills, and improvise or compose your own music and much much more… A: Sign up and begin your training today at organduo.lt and click on Total Organist. And of course, you will get the 1st month free too. You can cancel anytime. V: If you like our organ music, you can also support us on Patreon and get free CD’s. A: Find out more at patreon.com/secretsoforganplaying |
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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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