The Elderly Novice Virtual Organist

Playing

This page describes aspects of playing and practicing the (virtual) pipe organ. The comments are the opinions of a self-taught 67-year-old novice organist, and are from the horse's mouth, rather than rehashed erudition. They do not cover all aspects of playing the organ, as I do not offer views on matters about which I have no experience.

1 Technique

On this page, I do not offer my opinions on how to sit on the bench, whether to wear shoes, and other matters that tend to depend on the makeup of the individual (we are all different). I take the view that it is the sound that comes out of the organ that counts. So instead, I concentrate on aspects of technique directly concerned with providing the best realization of one's interpretation.

1.1 Comparison with the Piano

Many people will (like me) approach the organ after having had some experience on the piano. However, there are three basic ways in which keyboard touch on the organ is quite different to that on the piano:

No Touch Dynamics: The degree of force applied to a key on the organ makes no difference to how loud the sound is (therefore, only the minimum force necessary should be applied). On the piano, variations in touch can produce a wide range of dynamics, from pianissimo to fortissimo, with corresponding changes in timbre (fortissimo notes are higher in harmonics).
No Sustaining Pedal: The sound from the organ always ends abruptly when the key/pedal is released (there may of course be reverberation, which can last for several seconds). On the piano, the sustaining pedal can be used to sustain notes whose keys are no longer held down.
Indefinite Sustain: The volume of a note played on the organ remains constant while the key/pedal is depressed (thus notes can be sustained indefinitely). On the piano, the sound always decays (rapidly for a note struck fortissimo, more slowly in pianissimo).

The third point is essentially beneficial, and enables the long held notes characteristic of organ music. The first two points are limitations that require changes in technique.

Also, organs with mechanical action require a different touch than those with electrical action:

With electrical action, the organist has no control over how the pipes speak. The key action is light and the resistance is (essentially) uniform thoughout the depth of travel.
With mechanical action, the chiff can be controlled by varying the force applied to the key. The key action in some cases may be heavy or very heavy (there is an initial resistance to overcome the wind pressure, and the resistance is then lighter).

1.2 Dealing with Fixed Dynamics

This section deals with dynamic changes that can be applied by touch (articulation), rather than longer-term changes in volume (which can be achieved by Registration and Expression Pedals).

1.2.1 Emulation of Dynamic Emphases

There is no means on the organ to adjust dynamics on a per-note basis, as would be done on the piano to provide proper rhythm and articulation. For example, a bar in 4/4 time of repeated sixteenth notes would tend to sound shapeless if each note were played exactly the same. Instead, there should typically be an emphasis on the first note in the bar, with lesser emphases on the first of each other group of four sixteenth notes.

On the piano, this would be achieved simply by using rather more force (dynamic emphasis) on notes that are to be stronger. As this is not applicable to the organ, one must emphasize a note by holding down the key rather longer, thus increasing the ratio between sound and the whitespace that follows. This does not involve changes in the time intervals between notes, which in the case above should normally be regular for good, even playing.

This fine control over the duration of each key press is more difficult than dynamic emphasis by variable pressure. It is also not applicable to a full legato, as there must be gaps between the notes that can be adjusted in length. This may go some way towards explaining why organ playing frequently lacks rhythm, which I find a particular issue in the music of J S Bach.

This type of rhythmic emphasis is an example of articulation, which is about providing the required shape to the music. On the organ, this can only be done by carefully controlling the time at which each note is released. The importance of appropriate articulation on the organ cannot be overemphasized; it is a fundamental property of interpretation. And the lack of a sustaining pedal means that accuracy is critical.

1.2.2 Agogic Accents

Agogics refers to the introduction of variations in the time intervals between notes of the same value (not to be confused with varying the ratio between sound and whitespace, while maintaining equal intervals, as described in the previous section). This is akin to rubato, which is likely to be inappropriate. In the previous example of running sixteenth notes, it would result in unevenness that would normally be undesirable.

Another type of agogic accent is the introduction of a whitespace before note (thus delaying it). This is typically used with chords, especially in a cadence, and may be used with all instruments. However, due to the lack of dynamic accents, these accents are likely to be used much more frequently on the organ. So one should take care to avoid a monotony of them; this is ultimately self-defeating, and serves only to rob the music of any rhythmic flow.

1.2.3 Chords on the Organ Compared with the Piano

There is another issue that arises from the fixed volume per note that applies on the organ. On the piano, one can apply much more force to a single note to be played fortissimo than to each note in a big chord involving a fistful of notes. Try playing a bunch of notes as hard as possible with one hand, then playing one of the notes with the other hand; you will be surprised at how little force you must apply to balance the multiple notes in the other hand. As the volume of each note is the same on the organ, the volume corresponds directly to the number of notes played at the same time. Where the music is made up of individual notes (such as in a fugue), it will frequently be necessary to use a stronger registration than in chordal music.

1.3 Dealing with the Lack of Sustaining Pedal

On the piano, the sustaining pedal allows a decent legato between two notes/chords to be produced, even if they are played non legato. On the organ, a complete legato requires an absolutely smooth transition. On the manuals, consecutive notes must usually be played with different fingers; with chords, this can be difficult, and often requires finger substitutions. On the pedals, a legato between two notes requires either a change of foot, or a transition from heel to toe. However, although it will not give a pure legato, sliding over the naturals is often satisfactory, and often more appropriate.

Also, as the end of each note is clearly defined, playing note lengths accurately is vital. The sustaining pedal on the piano gives the player considerable latitude, with additional control over the cutoff point. This makes articulation on the organ all the more difficult; this is based on note lengths, and even small discrepancies can spoil the result.

The sustaining pedal can in other ways be used on the piano to cloud details that on the organ are presented with absolute clarity. This may mean that greater accuracy in articulation is required on the organ.

1.4 Coping with the Pedalboard

I have only limited experience, as I have not seriously used the heel technique. I had expected it to be difficult to play pedal parts as fast as I heard on recordings, but in fact I have easily been able to play them much faster! However, accuracy and appropriate articulation (ratio of note to silence) are another matter.

But what has proved surprisingly difficult is coordination between manuals and pedals, even in certain passages that sound easy to play. Another problem, of course, is having to read and play a third stave, especially with parts that are totally independent.

1.5 Caveats when using Couplers

Organists must beware of two situations in which keys may appear to be dead, or not have the required effect, as the result of using couplers.

1.5.1 Multiple Key Activation

Couplers make it possible for the same pipe(s) to be activated by different keys. As each pipe can only be opened once, such multiple activation is the same as a single activation (a second activation will have no effect).

The three basic cases of multiple activation, with examples that assume that no other couplers are used, are:

Division Only: With a coupler from manual II to I active (II / I), pressing a key on II with the corresponding key on I held will have no effect.
Octave Only: With a super-octave coupler on the same manual (I:4' / I), pressing a note C2 while C1 is pressed will sound only C3 (C2 was already activated from C1)
Division & Octave: If a super-octave coupler from II to I is used (II:4' / I), playing C2 on II while C1 on I is held will have no effect.

1.5.2 Use of Sub- or Super-Octave Couplers

The ranks normally cover only the range of the keyboard. Therefore where use of couplers produces a note outside the range of the keyboard, it will probably not sound.

A sub-octave coupler will not operate with the lowest octave of the keyboard, as there will be no corresponding pipes (unless the ranks involved have been extended to support this). Similarly, a super-octave coupler will not operate with the top octave of the keyboard, without extended ranks.

The limitation is greater with sub-octave couplers, as the top notes of the keyboard are less commonly used than the bottom ones. Because of the limited compass, these couplers are unlikely to be useful with the pedalboard.

2 Interpretation

Any written music gives scope for different interpretations. This arises from two facts:

No written score can completely describe the composer's intentions.
There is normally more than one pleasing way to play the music (including perhaps ways that the composer did not conceive).

With organ music, there is the additional issue of a huge variety of organs and registrations, which can result in completely different sounds. These make a big difference to the result, and are likely to affect other aspects of interpretation, such as an appropriate tempo. In other types of music, the scope for differences is much less.

These issues apply to all music to some degree, but especially to the music of J S Bach:

In nearly all of his organ music, Bach left us only the notes; not even a tempo indication.
The richness of Bach's music lends it many different interpretations, often bringing out quite different aspects of the music.

So never let anyone tell you that your interpretation of Bach is wrong; that is only their opinion, and it is they who are wrong to express this as a fact.

An interpretation is like a political opinion; the facts can be viewed in many different ways. As long as a view has a basis in the facts, it can be considered a valid one.

In the case of music, the facts are the written notes. Nonetheless, some aspects such as note lengths cannot be interpreted literally; if all notes of a given value are played exactly the same given length, the result is likely to be unsatisfactory. For example, it is usually a good idea to give repeated short notes some rhythm and form; as indicated above, this involves varying the note lengths.

In my view, interpretation on the organ involves three basic components:

Tempo: basic tempo, and any variations including rubato and agogic accents.
Articulation: As indicated above, on the organ, this is about playing each note with an appropriate length.
Registration: creating an appropriate sound from the available stops (including any use of expression pedals).