Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast

Deeper Winter, organ improvisation (my entry for Whaleshares Open Mic Contest Week 20) by Vidas Pinkevicius

This question was sent by Eddie. He writes: Hi Vidas and Ausra! I enjoy your ideas on improvisation in the modern style. I am now ready to embark at the fairly late age of 69 today, on the challenging and exciting path of improvisation on the organ. I must confess, however, that I am at this stage a real dummy and raw beginner, but I have a great desire and urge to be able to at least be able to i...

This question was sent by May, who our Total Organist student. And she writes: Hi Vidas! Thank you for sending the Week 5 material of Harmony for Organists Level 1. My keyboard harmony is weak and I am still struggling with the harmonic progression from week 3, running behind. It takes a long time going through each of the six – tonic to dominant, dominant to tonic, tonic to subdominant, subdomina...

This question was sent by Jeremy, who is on the team of transcribing fingering and pedaling for us. So he writes: Finished transcribing fingering for BWV 541. Normal practice routine. Am getting a little frustrated with the Bach Dorian Fugue. The Toccata is in good shape, with two transitions requiring some attention, but the fugue is simply being difficult. Trying to speed it up: working on two p...

This question was sent by Sally, and she writes: I worked on registration for my prelude this weekend and practiced one of the Hymns. I also worked on the Beginning Pedal studies, Day 5, and reviewed Days 1 through 4. These are a struggle for me because I am trying to following the pedal markings and am not comfortable with thirds. I don't usually want to do them with the same foot (either toe/hee...

This question was sent by Leon. And he writes: Dear Ausra and Vidas, Remind your students of Dupré 79 Chorals, a very useful set. I’m almost halfway through it and he gives the difficulty level on the last page of his introduction. Grace and peace, Leon

Tuning Pedal Trompete 8 Tenor D Pipe by Vidas Pinkevicius

Sitting on the organ bench by Vidas Pinkevicius

Let’s start question number 407, sent by Jeremy. And he asks about transposing: "I'm taking two lines from a hymn every day and taking it through the circle of fifths."

This question was sent by Justin, and he writes: ​Hi Vidas and Ausra, Greetings from Australia. I’m wondering if you know of any settings of the psalms for liturgical use in Lithuanian? Ideally I’m looking for the responsorial psalms for Sundays only for all three years. I would be grateful for any advice you may have. Regards Justin

This question was sent by Ariane, and she writes: I started with week 3 of my hymn improvisation course and tried to play my current organ pieces at a faster tempo (which I saw on YouTube- St. Sulpice...). But when I play faster it just sounds rushed, irregular and without any real feeling.

And today, I’d like to read some of the feedback we received about the Total Organist program, because I asked recently this question of our members: “How do you like Total Organist, so far?” And, Ariane, Jeremy and Ruth replied with their comments. Ariane: I love the program! I feel very much at home with the organist community and feel that my practicing and learning matters. I am working my way...

his question was sent by Dianne. And she is our Total Organist student, and she answered my question of what she is struggling with this week. So, she writes: This week I’m making stupid mistakes (and different ones every time). The difficult passages I practice go well, and I mess up on the simple parts. Focus, maybe? I am also getting over some virus thing, and I feel a bit foggy - brained. (Mor...

this question was sent by Ariane. And she writes: I would like to finish my pedal course and move on to a hymn improvisation class, perhaps the one on the lowest level - which one would that be?

This question was sent by Sally. And she writes an answer to the question, ‘What did you work on today?’ At the end of each day, students from the Total Organist program, they all get this question, and some of them choose to reply on BaseCamp. So Sally wrote: Unfortunately, nothing. I work during the day as a Software Engineer, and when I got home I was cold and tired. Instead of practicing I ate...

This question was sent by Jack. And he writes: Dear Vidas, Today I received "Week 3 of Menuet, Polonaise and March Training". And last week I received "Week 2" But I never received "week 1", so would you send me that? (Frankly, I can't remember ordering this particular course but I welcome it: I am so much enjoying organ playing again thanks to your instructions that I play for hours a day now, re...

This question was sent by Rob and he writes: Dear Vidas and Ausra, I have purchased several of your fingerings of old music and find them extremely useful. When I learned to play the organ in the 60s, I was taught a legato style that, for example, discouraged using the same finger consecutively for different notes. It’s liberating to see you doing this all the time, and your method makes my playin...

And this question was sent by Erika. She writes: Pedalboard on the church organ hasn’t been working for a few weeks. I accompany the piano - the piano is the main instrument. But the organ fills in the bass line and adds depth to the sound. So I have had to find another way to bring out the bass to the best of my ability. What I have done during this time is play soprano, alto, and tenor with the...

Hanna writes: When you send a music score by email, it says it is free to Total Organist students, but doesn't let me download it. Do I have to go into Total Organist after signing in, and find the music score on the list of available music, then download it there?

This question was sent by Pauline. She writes: Good morning! ​ I’m more or less a self learned pianist & organist. I play in church & function. Congregation says my playing is inspiring because my style is different from the standard pianist which is conventional type. Is it important to use correct figuring to play piano or organ when already get used to our own figuring? Is it compulsory to foll...

This question was sent by Lukasz. He writes: Hi, I suggest You a new subject, with a pinch of salt. Organ playing as a fitness. Yesterday evening I spent more than 1 hour the with Bach trio sonatas. When I've finished, I was completely wet. Maybe You could make a list of pieces that not only builds the skills, but also takes care of the physical form of the organist? ;-) ​ At the beginning of the...

This question was sent by Leon. And, he writes: Dear Vidas: Until today I thought I had made a lot of progress in this. But found out there is still a significant way to go. My organ is in the garage. This winter is not as bad as last, but tonight the low will be -7/8 C. The garage usually gets 5-8 C above that. I have a space heater aimed at the pedal area so it heats fairly well. I have used fin...

This question was sent by Don and he writes: “Hello Vidas, Would you please provide your ideas on how to "identify a piece of organ literature by level of difficulty" and provide actual titles of pieces so that we, as organists, can make choices on our own when we want to study a new piece of literature. Thank You, Don”

This question was sent by Jay and Jay is on the team who transcribes our Podcast conversations. He wrote: “Yesterday, I played organ for my church services (don't get to do that real often). I had practiced the hymns during the week so I felt comfortable with them. During one of them, I made some mistakes on a couple of verses and it didn't go as I would have liked. By the time I got to the third...

This question was sent by May and she asks: “Hi Vidas, by deconstructing the mode, do you mean improvising?”