I had the privilege of being a substitute organist for a local Episcopal Church a few weeks ago. I have had the opportunity to play organ in the past. I took organ lessons in college. I loved my organ teacher who was a very patient, kind, and loving person. She was very giving and created opportunities for me to practice my skills. I wish I had put a little more effort into it back then. I often have questions now that I didn’t think or take the time to ask about during those years. If you are a pianist who happens to have an organ just sitting around at your church or you in any way have the opportunity to take up playing the organ, I encourage you to give it a try. The technique of playing is different because you have to hold the keys down in order for the sound to continue. Then there is the added element of the pedalboard, which is the most difficult part for us pianists. However, the technique of pedaling is something that comes with practice, and can be added in gradually. Lately the questions I find myself wondering about the most are about the different stops, the couplings, and creating the overall best registrations for a specific piece or hymn. I started out playing on a tracker organ, and even played for a church in MA that had a full tracker organ in their sanctuary. A tracker organ is a pipe organ that is purely mechanical. Which means you have to pull all the stops yourself. There is no computer attached allowing you to preset stops. My organ teacher would say, “pull what sounds good!”, and that’s a rule I still go by! With pipe organs that allow you to have preset stops there are so many more options as to what sounds you can create during a piece. This is where I find myself wanting to learn more about selecting and combining of stops, and the technique of changing presets in a piece.

The American Guild of Organists has a wonderful site with many helpful webinars, and they set the standard for all things organ related. They have a Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/GuildofOrganists that has great videos titled “Lessons for the New Organist”. I highly recommend going through and watching these. I still go back and reference them every once in a while!

The pictures above are of the organ in the Episcopal church I played at. It is a beautiful instrument with pipes in the front and back of the sanctuary. Any time I have the opportunity to play I learn more. I always feel like, “Wow! There is so much more I could be better at, and wish I knew”. I still feel like that about piano too most days, which is why I love music! The Episcopal service has a LOT of music built into it’s liturgy, aside from the typical three hymns, communion music, and prelude and postlude. I spent quite a bit of time working on the technique of playing and the choosing of stops for each piece. It made me appreciate what the full time organist does every week! Subbing does come with it’s own challenges; the familiarity of the flow of service being the biggest.

I worry that the organ is an under used and under appreciated instrument. I know they are like dinosaurs roaming the earth, but they are worthy of preservation. I have been following the famous organist Anna Lapwood on Facebook, and I have hope that there is a new appreciation for the instrument out there.