Secrets Of Organ Playing Podcast

Let’s start episode 610 of Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast. This question was sent by Joanna, and she writes: “Dear Vidas, can finger substitutions be used in slow baroque music, such as Kyrie by Cabezon? Or is it best to stick to articulated fingering even in relatively slow passages?”

This question was sent by Paul, and he writes: “Thank you for sending your Organ Duet Recital. Bravo! For the moment my challenge is BWV 564. I am able to play the toccata by heart, Adagio I still need the score and fugue is not yet on an optimal level. I try to realize what you call articulate legato. Best greetings Paul”

This question was sent by Kaki, and Kaki writes, "Thanks for the upload! I remember when I was learning the whole suite, always loved Krebs and this Courante was my favorite. There aren't many videos if any at all on this Clavierubung #2 and you uploaded the whole suite! Thanks so much, I enjoyed listening (: A little gem in the sea of youtube videos!"

This question was sent by Laurie, and she writes: “Hi Vidas, Be sure you are sitting down to read this.

This question was sent by Robert, and he writes, "Dear Vidas, Thank you so much for the video of you working on Vierne Final, sym 1. Within just the first 3 minutes I learned so much about how to practice properly, the key word here is properly. I, of course, practice (and I'm a slow learner but I get there) usually sections at a time and slowly but watching you slowly and what appears to me slight hesitation at certain points to read ahead. I may be misinterpreting what you're doing but it makes sense and allows for a much smoother transition from section to section until the full work is learned and brought up to speed. I've listened to more than 3 minutes but not the complete video which I will do now. I can't wait to see what's ahead that I will learn. You are such a good human being and make the world a better place. Thank you. Warm regards to you both, Robert"

This question was sent by Richard, and he writes, I am a pianist and I’d love to get the pedals working when I sit at the organ. I also struggle with improvisation which can be a real hindrance during church services.

This question was sent by Francois, and he writes: “Good day Vidas and Ausra, I hope you are well and you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. My name is Francois, I live in London and I came across you on the Hauptwerk Facebook group as well as YouTube. Thank you so much for all the wonderful videos and music that you two post, it really is an inspiration. I also saw your article about your Hauptwerk setup at home which was very helpful and I’m now in the process of replicating your setup. I received my keyboard stand over the weekend and today two of my three Nektar Impact GX61 keyboards were delivered. I’m only using the basic Hauptwerk subscription as I haven’t played organ in about 20 years and I need to get back in the saddle, so to speak. The peddle board will have to wait for now as it is a bit pricey. I would like to get a bit more info and help on your sound setup. I see you have Presonus Eris E4.5 monitors in your list of equipment. Are they good for reproducing a good sound especially in

This question was sent by Klāvs, and he writes, "Hi Vidas, There are answers to your questions. 1. My dream for playing organ is to play in church services and in concerts. I have played in church services some times. 2. My 3 important things that are holding me back from realizing my dream is: Equipment - if I want to learn organ playing I need to go to my church, where there is a pipe organ with pedals and 2 manuals. Quiet place, where I can learn. Knowledge of playing technique, because I don’t have an organ teacher yet. ~Klāvs"

This question was sent by Pieter, and he writes, Dear Vidas, Thank you for your email with week 11 of the sight reading course attached. I am persevering with the daily routine and I notice first of all a much greater stability and confidence with rhythm. Some of the figures in the exercises are complex from a sight reading perspective but this has definitely improved over the weeks. I think notation accuracy was not a major problem for me but I still have to be careful to observe accidentals etc. It is very easy to miss repeated ones. ​I am greatly enjoying the routine of the course and am always a little curious as to what the new challenges will be week on week. I will of course contact you if there are any queries but for now it is all very clear and the approach you take is very logical. My very best wishes, Pieter

This question was sent by Wendy, and she writes: “Hello Vidas, Your organ duet recital was wonderful… so inspiring. You and Ausra are a great team. Many thanks for sharing your huge talents. I am one of 3 organists who play for services at a Catholic church in Ipswich Queensland Australia...St Mary's. My training is as a pianist. I don't have an organ at home and my organ pedal skills are very limited. Enjoy your coffee!! Best wishes, Wendy”

This question was sent by Tim, and he writes: “Dear Vidas Are you able to help me please. I am currently learning the Dubois Toccata in G No 3 and have previously downloaded your fingering and pedaling for the piece. I'm having trouble getting it up to the required speed and wondered if you had any tips to help with this or any other tips or practice ideas that might help. Thank you in anticipation Tim"

This question was sent by Vivien, and she writes: “Thank you so much for your acknowledgment and interest Vidas. Next time I will understand better how to enter the amount of money and make it more in line with the quantity and quality of expert help coming from you and Ausra. Lockdown means no Church Services and so has given me a chance to improve my basic skills instead of being stressed with deadlines. I’m trying to improve my trills and am using a manual piece Jesus, meine Zuversicht, BWV 728. I listen to Wolfgang Stockmeier because I happen to have his CDs, copy him and then record myself. The long trills still sound awkward, but then I found your advice of slow, exact and emphasising every other note which I’ve never read before. Feeling optimistic that this could be a breakthrough. Can’t believe the way that you understand such detailed problems. I hope that you both are coping well in this crisis. Best Regards Vivien”

This question was sent by Jeremy, and he writes, "Now that summer is here, I am excited to get into one of the courses on Total Organist again. Maybe the Couperin Mass or improv mini-course. Either actually as I have just signed up for them…"

This question was sent by Dan, and he writes: “Hi Vidas, I hope you and Ausra are doing well in your part of the world. Things are going well here. I’ve had to stop getting instruction for the time being from the local organist that’s working with me, due to how things are with this world-wide pandemic. I’m still working away here though, on my hauptwerk VPO, and it’s good I’ve got that here to still work on stuff. I’m working on Buxtehude’s prelude, fugue and chaconne in c, BuxWV137, and as well as Carson Cooman’s tuba tune. I think you’ve had Carson on the podcast a couple times. I was going to participate in an organ recital with other organ students from the area I’m in, on the 28th of March, and play the Grand Choeur in B-flat major by Dubois, but that got postponed as well. I notice you’ve gotten into Hauptwerk as well, which is cool. What’s the sample set you’re using? it sounds like a nice one, that I might be interested in getting a hold of. A link to it would be appreciated. Take care, a

This question was sent by Ruth, who is our Total Organist student, and she writes: “I am learning a lot about new ways of playing organ, etc. from taking this course. This must be one of the finest courses of its kind on the Internet. Please recall though that some of us are still learning like "wee kids" about the new ways you and others have of using electronic methodology and media. Please hold on to your patience and call forth your skills for teaching us. Thanks. Blessings. Ruth”

This question was sent by María de Jesús Redentor. And Maria writes, "Good evening, Vidas. My goal in learning to play the organ is to play during the liturgical celebrations and I would like to focus on that. In addition, I would like to get to know the organ registration, as well as improvisation and improvised accompaniment, and also the possibility of performing pieces, especially in the Baroque and Classicist style. My obstacles are: 1) I am a beginner organist and I do not have much practice. 2) Because of my personal situation I do not have a lot of time to exercise and I cannot commit myself to systematic and conscientious exercise. 3) What I want to add is that I still have difficulty in performing typical organ pieces with a pedal. Using the opportunity, I would like to thank you very much for this possibility to learn playing the organ online and for very practical and helpful instructions. María de Jesús Redentor"

This question was sent by Bill. And he writes, "I put in 15-30 minutes a day working on the sight reading course. I've been working on BWV 543 Bach Prelude & Fugue in A Minor mostly beyond that. Two things that frustrate me are it takes me about 3 months to learn these big fugues (practicing about 1.5 hours/day) and the playing the strings of 32nd notes evenly at high tempo. Any suggestions to speed up learning and play better at high tempos would be appreciated. I do like the sight reading course, it certainly has me reading better! Regards, Bill"

This question was sent by Amir, and he writes: “Hi Vidas Thanks for your email What I have now in my schedule is a daily time to practice sight reading. It does not take more than 15 minutes daily. At the same time I am redoing the exercises I have done 10 weeks ago. I find that looking at the same things again after 10 weeks of doing them, gives me more confidence that things are getting better. Most important benefit is for me to be regular in the sense of the beat pulse, and I think this is not beneficial for sight reading only but for music interpretation in general. It is better to do an intended "rallentando" than to slow down because the passage is just difficult. In addition these exercises are allowing me to predict to a certain extent my capabilities to keep a steady tempo in a piece of music. Looking at difficult passages and to have a certain estimation about how things can go, can help me to be steady. Changing to unexpected notes and rhythms is always tricky. Hoping that I am getting better

This question was sent by Giovanni. And he asks, How much is the price of an organ for a home, and where can I buy one? Our Hauptwerk setup: https://www.organduo.lt/tools.html

This question was sent by Graham. And he writes, "Hi Vidas, First I would just like to say thank you for your informative videos on playing and teaching the organ. Your passion and insights are much appreciated. 1. I'll mention that I am a complete beginner to playing the organ despite my musical background. I am actually a jazz guitar player who is studying music at university but who has long been passionate about Baroque organ music as well as jazz organ and I decided to start learning recently. Although it isn't serious right now (but I practice a lot) I would love to be able to one day play some of North German music such as Bach or Buxtehude and develop a good pedal technique. For now I only have access to an electric organ (I have a spinet with 13 pedals) but will try to get a Hammond with 25 pedals for practice. So in short I would say my dream would be to become fluent in some North German repertoire (and maybe the opportunity to one day actually play it on a real pipe organ haha). 2. - First l