Secrets of Organ Playing Podcast

This question was sent by Stephen, and he writes:

“I love the Zipoli Pastorale...!!! Thank you... Zipoli is one of my favorite early Baroque composers!”

Vidas: I wrote to him, “Thanks Stephen! What other composers do you like?” And Stephen writes: “In a more contemporary "vein"  I am fond of Dale Wood's music.  There are passages in his work that require a legato technique especially with chords...Sometimes I am at a loss as to how best to play them.....

This question was sent by Nick, and he answers my question, “What is your dream in organ playing in the next 3-6 months, and what are some challenges along the way?”  So he writes,

1. To be able to play a wide selection of easy to moderate standard organ pieces suitable for service use.

V:  and challenges would be

2. Sight reading, sight reading and sight reading!

This question was sent by Maureen, and she writes,

I have been working on Christmas carols.  There is a Catholic church 26 miles from my hometown needing an organist. I haven't played in public for a long time. Seeing this advert has given me renewed vigour to play with a definite purpose.

There is a huge part of me who would love to play again in public and there is the other part of me trying to be sensible, logical, and practical...

This question was sent by Gerrit, or, I don’t know how to pronounce it.  If he’s Dutch, maybe “Herrit.”  I would appreciate people maybe giving us feedback how to pronounce their names, right?  Would be nice.  So Gerrit writes:

I’ve watched and listened to your performance of Duetto, Op. 156 No. 6 of Joseph Rheinberger. Thank you for that. It sounds beautiful...

This question was sent by Hubertus, and he writes:

“Hello Vidas and Ausra,
As for getting informed with your very-very good advice etc. I admire your setup, and do respond to your questions as a moral obligation.
As you probably remember from the last mail exchange, I’m 75, and do know for myself, the Very high difficulty of remembering my daily study already the next day.
13 years ago I started from scratch in music and organ play...

This episode is very special, because this year we celebrate 10 years of “Secrets of Organ Playing” activities.

This question was sent by Chad, and he writes,

Hi Vidas,

A few years ago, I bought a roll-up piano hoping that it would provide a means for me to practice on my airline trips. I desperately wanted to like it. But I HATED it! There was no tactile feel… No way to tell one key from the other. And the contacts didn’t work very well, so it was difficult to play the notes without tapping them pretty hard...

This question was sent by Mike, and he writes:

“I would like to master a variety of organ music to be able to give a performance.

The most important hurdles to overcome are:

1. Being able to work on a consistent fingering to make passages flow smoothly
2. Interpretation of music, registration,
3. Developing and knowing how to make a piece artistically “my own” instead of just playing notes...

We have to take this saying with a grain of salt, because a lot of people today play at home with some kind of electronic instruments or virtual instruments, and in virtual instruments, the sound might be quite realistic, but the touch might be plastic. And it’s quite different from tracker touch in a real pipe organ situation. People might not necessarily discover on their own when they play their home organs.

This question was sent by Bob, and he writes:

“I have read in several places that using the thumb on the black notes is kind of frowned upon. The "Organ Playing Master Course" routinely calls for the thumb on a black note, can you please clarify when it is or is not proper fingering.”