Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 786! Today Ausra and I would like to share our discussion on the emotional and technical considerations when choosing music for funerals and memorials, exploring Bach's and other composers' best contributions to the genre.

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 785! Today Ausra and I will talk about my unsuccessful trip to Aland Organ Festival last week when due to multiple flight cancellations and delays I would have missed my own recital and therefore had to cancel it. It was the first time in my 26 year career as international concert organist. There were some lessons learned from this experience too so...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 784! On June 11 Ausra and I went to the organ recital of Olivier Latry who visited Vilnius for the first time. This event was part of the Vilnius Festival and took place at St. Casimir's church. It was one of the most amazing recitals we have ever listened to in Lithuania! Hope you will enjoy our conversation!

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 783! Today Ausra and I will be giving some practical advice for organists to handle common mechanical issues like loose keys and ciphering, empowering them to maintain their instruments (with some words of caution, of course). Hope you will will find it useful!

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 781! Today Ausra and I will discuss the question of learning modal organ improvisation for beginners. We got inspiration for this topic from the comment by our good friend James Flores who said he should try modal improvisation. Hope you will enjoy it!

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 781! Today Ausra and I will discuss the question about playing organ music from tablets and MobileSheets app. Hope you will enjoy it!

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 780! Today's question was sent by Dawn who is our Total Organist student and she writes: How can I learn ‘Mental Practice’? There is a lot of information about this on Youtube by other musicians but none of them are Organists. They claim to have an ability to play mentally, without a score or instrument. They see, hear and feel as if they are pla...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 779! Today Ausra and I will give some practical steps for classically trained organists to finally start improvising with confidence. Hope you will enjoy it!

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 778! Today Ausra and I will discuss the topic of navigating the most common and high-stakes church services for organists weddings and funerals.

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 777! Today's question was set by Leo and he writes: "What organ repertoire would be comparable to the Durufle Requiem? I’ve played the Prelude and Fugue in the name of Alain years ago for my Masters organ recital. Currently preparing a recital for the Spoleto festival in May."

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 776! Today's question was sent by Margaret and she writes: "I am a 77 year old female first year piano student who wishes to play the organ as fast as possible. How much daily practice would you suggest?"

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 775! Today's question was sent by Tamsin Jones who is a composer and organist from the UK and she writes:"I have, by the way, a talking point that you and Ausra might like to make use of in your podcast. Namely, my organ teacher told me not to look at my hands while I play. I didn't realise that I was doing it so often, but now that I&#3...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 774! Today's question was sent by Julie who is a member of our Total Organist community and she writes: I was pleased that I was given Sunday’s hymns a couple of weeks in advance, which helps with planning preludes and postludes, but I got an email on Thursday notifying me that the processional and recessional hymns had been changed. (Sometimes t...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 773! Today's question was sent by our friend Rien Schalkwijk and wants to know what is our technical composing process. Here you will find all my scores: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/arrangeme/?q=Secrets+of+Organ+Playing&aff_id=454957

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 772! Today's question was sent by Jerome and he writes: Hi Vidas, I’m an ardent listener of your podcast and a youtube channel. I have a quick question as it relates to pedal boards and practice. My church has the Rogers organ with the standard 32 pedalboard. However at home I have a smaller 25 note midi pedal board. I’m unable to practice at chu...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 771! Today's question was sent by Arthur and he writes: "How can I know when to use the total legato touch, or the non-legato, in the execution of hymns?" Here you will find all my scores: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/arrangeme/?q=Secrets+of+Organ+Playing&aff_id=454957

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 770! Today's question was sent by Remy and he writes: "My dream for my organ playing is to be able to use the actual pedal. Our church organ is small and has only one octave pedal." Here you will find all my scores: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/arrangeme/?q=Secrets+of+Organ+Playing&aff_id=454957 Secrets of Organ Playin...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 769! This question was sent by Mark and he writes: Dear Vidas, Thank you for your podcast, which I have found very enlightening! My question has to do with improvisation. As a church organist, I have an opportunity to improvise at least once during every Sunday service. I've been working hard on improving my improvisation skills over the past two...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 768! This question was sent by our YouTube organist friend Rien Schalkwijk and he writes:Last year I offered a befriended church a Christmas organ concert — completely free. A festive gesture, I thought. It was politely declined, as the church committee felt it would be “too much work” for the volunteers. Quite what sort of work a solo organ recital...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 767! This question was sent by our YouTube organist/composer colleague Alejandro Consolacion II and he writes:This question is especially for organists with regular church responsibilities. How can we keep track of the pieces we have already played and continue discovering new repertoire—particularly newly composed works by international composers pu...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 766! This question was sent by Alejandro Consolacion II, our YouTube organist/composer colleague and he writes:There are times when, despite thorough preparation, things still fall apart during concerts or recitals. How can musicians effectively deal with nervousness and stage fright? What positive attitudes or mental approaches are essential in orde...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 765! This question was sent by Alejandro Consolacion II, our YouTube organist/composer colleague and he writes:Aušra and Vidas,I just want to drop by and say thank you for your wonderful weekly podcast addressing various issues in organ playing. It has been incredibly helpful, and I truly enjoy your discussions and reflections on the weekly questions...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 764! Today Ausra and I are going to discuss what we saw at Saint Sulpice while we were in Paris recently. Specifically, how the famous organist Sophie-Veronique Cauchefer-Choplin superbly played Mass. Hope you will enjoy it! Here you will find all my scores: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/arrangeme/?q=Secrets+of+Organ+Playing&aff_id=4...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 763! Today Ausra and I will discuss our organ recitals at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Hope you will enjoy it! Here you will find all my scores: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/arrangeme/?q=Secrets+of+Organ+Playing&aff_id=454957Secrets of Organ Playing Mug: https://www.zazzle.co.uk/z/ywbhd071?rf=238366920809443329You can support this...

Welcome to Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast No. 761! This question was sent by Ann and she writes: "I have no confidence in selecting registration, past the very basics. How do you suggest learning to get better at this?" Hope you will enjoy it! Here you will find all my scores: https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/arrangeme/?q=Secrets+of+Organ+Playing&aff_id=454957Secrets of O...