Welcome to The Latter-day Saint Organist's Resource Blog
The purpose of this blog is to help pianists learn to become true organists. Many individuals believe that if you play the piano you can play the organ, but the instruments differ greatly. While this blog is specifically geared towards members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, much of the information shared can be utilized by all. I hope that the information I share here will help you become an effective organist in your ward, stake, or other congregation.
Feel free to browse and search this blog. It was started in January 2010 and while new posts aren't added very often, this blog contains a wealth of information and is a wonderful resource for all organists. If you're a new reader, you can find the first lesson here:
Before We Begin: Acquiring the Essentials. Also, please "like" the corresponding facebook page, which is updated more often. A link is provided on the right sidebar, or you can
click here.
Thanks for visiting!
Posts
I am so enjoying your blog. Not LDS, but a pianist trying to learn to play the organ. Thanks for all the helpful information and teaching you provide. It is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteSo... I have a gigantic request. Feel free to roll your eyes and call me crazy, but I'm at least going to ask anyway. SO, I am a pianist trying my darndest to learn to play the organ for church. I have improved a lot because of your website and I have since ordered the organ tutor materials. That said, I am really having a hard time figuring out how to use the registrations. Every Sunday I push pre-set #5 which every "organist" before me has done. This is Principal 8, Diapason 4, and some 2, and I think another one called Fornuture XI (?!?!). Either way, it's a basic 8' 4' 2' registration. I use it for prelude (at a softer volume) as well as congregational singing. Here is my problem -- This is the first time I have ever been in a ward or branch that used the organ. I honestly have no concept of how to use the different registrations. Anything outside of that basic pre-set sounds weird and distracting to me. I can't tell if it sounds weird because it IS weird, or if it's because it's just different from what I'm used to hearing. So my big request is, could you maybe pick some general prelude hymns AND hymns sung with the congregation and literally tell me what registration to push? I know a lot of organs are different, but anything would greatly help. If you are able to do this, THANK YOU SO MUCH! If this is just too much to ask, I totally understand.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I am so glad this blog is helping you!
ReplyDeleteOllie, what organ are you playing? Email me a copy of your stop list to: ldsorganistblog at gmail dot com and I'll help you out. The fourniture is actually a compound stop and pulls as many stops as the Roman numeral says, so you are probably using mutations as well. Try playing prelude on just the 8' Principal and 4' Diapason and see how that sounds. Consider using that combination for the Sacrament hymn as well. Once I get your stop list we can go through it and figure out some good registrations.
I also recommend going back and listening to all of the Sunday Songs http://organlessons.blogspot.com/search/label/sunday%20song to get a feel for the different sounds organs make.