How to learn to play the organ?

In any rating concerning the difficulty of learning a musical instrument, the organ is rightly ranked first. There are very few good organists in our country, and very few high-class organists. It is worth clarifying that the conversation is now about wind instruments, which in the old days were installed in temples or rich mansions. But even on modern models (purely electronic or electromechanical), learning to play is also quite difficult. The peculiarities of learning on the organ, playing technique and other nuances that novice organists have to overcome are described in the article below.

The main feature of playing the organ is that the musician must act not only with his hands on the manual keyboard in several rows, but also with his feet.

In music schools (by no means all) and colleges, future organists are taught on small electric organs that have both manuals (multi-row manual keyboard) and foot pedals. That is, a musician has a whole set of devices for playing music, similar to a large organ, but sounds are created through a combination of mechanics and electronics, or only with the help of electronics.

For professional pianists, lessons on playing the classical organ can be obtained either from experienced organists in churches, concert halls, theaters that have serious instruments. And also in large cities there are always some organist communities, where there will certainly be those who will help fellow musicians to master this interesting instrument.

The landing for the aspiring organist is of paramount importance, as there are many things to consider:

• general ease of placement behind the tool;
• freedom of action of hands and feet;
• the ability to fully cover the keyboard and pedals;
• control of the levers of the registers.

One should sit at some distance from the keyboard on a bench carefully adjusted for height and other personal anatomical features of the musician. A landing too close to the keyboard will restrict the musician's freedom of movement, especially with his feet, and too far will not allow reaching the remote rows of the manual or forcing him to reach for them, which is unacceptable and tiresome during long music lessons.

You need to sit on the bench straight and approximately in the middle of the manual keyboard. Feet should reach the pedals, which are the same keyboard, but only much larger than manual.

It should be noted that bodies do not have any standards. Only modern factory electric organs can have them, and even then only within the limits of one serial model of a particular manufacturer. Therefore, if the training plans are serious, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with different types of instruments in order to be ready for anything: there can be three, five, or seven manuals, foot pedals are also not tied to a certain number, registers depend on the dimensions of the instrument, and so on.

There are countless options, including among the classical organs, which, by the way, are still being built in large churches and concert halls. In less significant churches and music halls, they mostly manage with electric organs, since they cost hundreds of times cheaper than classical ones, and they do not need a lot of space for them.

The coordination of hand and foot movements when performing organ music is developed gradually - from lesson to lesson. According to the organists themselves, this is not particularly difficult if the lessons on mastering the instrument follow a certain program, in which the practice of playing is built according to the scheme from simple to complex. The same thing happens when developing a game, first with one hand on the piano or, for example, an accordion, and then with two at the same time. The only difficulty is the performance on an unfamiliar organ, in which the foot pedals have not only a different range, but are also structurally located differently (parallel or radial arrangement).

The difficulty of working out the coordination of hand actions also lies in the peculiarity of the organ, that the sound of one or another key on the keyboard disappears immediately after it is released. The piano has the ability to prolong the sounding of notes by pressing the damper pedal, while the organ's sound is sustained as long as the channel through which the air moves is open. When the valve is closed after releasing the key, the sound is cut off immediately. To play several notes connected (legato) or to delay the duration of individual sounds, you need a very good ear and the ability to coordinate the playing of individual fingers to extract connected or long notes, while not delaying short ones.

The coordination of auditory perception of sounds and their extraction must be developed at the beginning of the pianist's career. To do this, during practical lessons with the piano, one should more often turn to the student's ear for music, training the ability to mentally imagine any sounds, and then get their sound on the instrument.

The technique of playing the hands on the organ is similar to that of the piano, so it is the pianists who most often switch to the organ or combine these two directions in their musical careers. But nevertheless, the property of organ sounds to instantly disappear after releasing the key obliges pianists to master several purely organ manual techniques of an articulatory nature associated with legato (and other techniques close to it) or, conversely, with the abruptness of playing the instrument.

Besides, several manuals also impose their own peculiarities on the organist's playing technique: often you have to play simultaneously on different rows of the organ keyboard. But for experienced pianists, such a task is quite within their power.

Playing with your feet, of course, will be a novelty even for professional keyboardists, and not only for musicians of other genres. Here they already have to work hard. Pianists are only familiar with piano pedals, but a serious organ can have anywhere from 7 to 32 such pedals. Besides, they make sounds themselves, and do not indirectly influence those reproduced by hand keys (this is what happens on a piano).

Playing on the foot keyboard can be done either with the toes of a shoe, or with both socks and heels, or only with heels. It depends on the type of organ. For example, on a baroque organ, which has a so-called block system of a foot keyboard, it is impossible to play only with toes - it has keys for both the toe of the shoe and the heels. But many old organs, common in the Alpine region of Western Europe, usually have a short foot keyboard, which is played exclusively with socks. By the way, such a keyboard is often used on modern electronic organs.

The main kicks are:

• alternate keystrokes with the toe and heel;
• simultaneous pressing of two keys with a toe and a heel;
• sliding the foot to adjacent or more distant pedals.

To play the organ, special shoes are used, which are sewn to order. But many people use dance shoes with heels. There are some organists who play without shoes (in socks).

From all that has been said above, you can deduce a number of recommendations for beginners in learning to play the organ. They will be useful to everyone - both those who already play the piano and those who sit down at the electric organ from scratch.

1. Find an experienced instructor qualified for organ training.
2. Purchase an instrument or agree on a lease time for lessons in the places of its availability (church, concert hall, etc.).
3. Before you begin to learn on the instrument, you should thoroughly understand its structure, the process of sound generation when you press the keys, and the available functions.
4. Before practical exercises, ensure a comfortable and correct fit behind the instrument by adjusting the bench.
5. In addition to the teacher, in teaching it is necessary to use the teaching literature for novice organists.
6. You constantly need to develop your ear for music with special exercises, including playing and singing various scales.
7. Listening to organ music is compulsory (concerts, discs, videos, internet).

The main thing that is needed to successfully master the instrument is daily practice. You need music literature for the organ, and for beginners - elementary exercises and pieces of an easy character. It is also important to "get infected" with a strong love for organ music.

An example of an organ score: