Organ lessons over the internet – yes it works
Organ lessons can sometimes be like doctor’s appointments – you have your allotted time, and leave with half a dozen questions still hanging in your head. When Neil Cockburn, Head of Organ Studies at Mount Royal University Conservatory in Calgary,…
More pedals-only repertoire
Pedal duets, music for pedals and percussion, insanely difficult variations and assorted pedal workouts – I’ve just published a follow-up to my popular first page of pedals-only repertoire. You can find it here.
Something more dramatic for the feet
I’ve been following Michael Johnston of @michaelsmusic on Twitter for a while, and I had to share a recent tweet about his reprint of Dramatic Pedal Studies by Hamilton Crawford Macdougall (1858-1945) in which the parts given to the…
Sight read the pedals
Following my recent moan about sight-reading resources, Mark Ellis of atticbooks drew my attention to Sight-Read the Pedals! by Richard Ellis. Eighty short pieces for organ sight reading: the pedal line starts with just two notes (C and F) and…
The Bulletproof Musician
I have Ruth Brons (@things4strings on Twitter) to thank for a link to The Bulletproof Musician, a blog solely about sports psychology for musicians, from Dr Noa Kageyama. He suggests ways to develop courage and confidence, discusses mental practice, slow…
Playing Elgar – with Dr Christopher Kent
Elgar’s image-consciousness could put many modern celebs to shame. As photography got into its stride at the turn of the 19th century, he posed for the camera as the dapper country gent (above) or the distinguished composer about to dash…
Go away, I’m practising
There’s something about an organ being played – like a traffic accident or a crime scene – that draws a crowd. Some excellent organists simply do not play in public, and I understand where they are coming from. If your…
Joyce Jones – queen of the pedals
Who wouldn’t like to play the pedals like Joyce Jones? I’ve just ordered her book, Pedal Mastery For Organ from Amazon and I can’t wait. The page previews show exercises ranging from elementary to quite terrifying. Joyce Jones is renowned…
Dame Gillian Weir
Do we like pictures of organists in gorgeous frocks and pretty shoes gracing the organ steps? Of course we do – I know Dame Gillian Weir has resisted, rightly, being styled as a lady organist, but the organ world desperately…
The art of concentration with Daniel Moult
Many of the RCO Academy classes are held in St Giles Cripplegate church, which boasts no fewer than three organs. This class was on a rainy London evening earlier this week, topic: concentration, tutor: the excellent Daniel Moult. Daniel was…
Psychology books for organists
The sports psychologists have been putting sportsmen and women through Mental Skills Training (MST) for years, and musicians have only just caught on to the fact that many playing and performance issues are mental rather than physical. So our tutors…
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