Now blogging at organistheidi.com

I am now blogging at organistheidi.com. Please check it out! I have made the switch to a self hosted blog and to WordPress. I am still learning WordPress, but came to the conclusion that it is okay to release it without it being 100% perfect. I can still make changes as I continue to learn it.

For those of you that are subscribed to receive posts via email, you will still be subscribed at the new site. Thank you for your continued support!

Heidi Bender
http://www.organistheidi.com

Announcement

I have decided to move my blog to a self hosted site. I have been thinking about this for quite some time. Last week, one of my posts received over 30 spam comments. Google caught most, but not all of them. This was the final push I needed to move to self hosted and Word Press where I should have more control over preventing spam comments from appearing on the site (so I've read anyway).

You may have noticed that I haven't made a new post in a few weeks. That was not really intentional. It was more of an accidental break as I had good intentions of posting but I just didn't do it. I will spare you the excuses! 

I am hoping to have the new site ready in a week or two. Then I will announce the new address (URL). For those of you that are currently subscribed to receive emails, I don't think you will need to resubscribe.

I hope you are enjoying the spring weather!

Heidi

Confidence and practice technique - April 2013 Lesson

Last Saturday at my lesson two themes emerged: confidence and practice technique.

Confidence:

I have been learning the hymn "All Creatures of Our God and King" for several months. I choose to start my lesson with this piece. I was nervous as it had been 6 weeks since my last lesson. Also, I had lost a week of practice time due to illness. When I am nervous, my playing sounds nervous. My first couple of attempts did not go so well. Finally, Michael told me to focus. He knew I could do it. Then I played the hymn much better. I need to learn to have confidence going into to a lesson as eventually as I will need confidence once I am ready for public performances. 

Practice Technique:

We ended the lesson with Fugue from Prelude and Fugue in C Major (BWV 553) which I have been working on for over a year. I am still having issues with holding a consistent tempo (speed). I slow down for harder sections and speed up for easier sections. This is not a new problem and has been discussed at many lessons. The problem is with how I practice. I keep doing the same things over and over again which ingrain the wrong habits into my brain. 

Albert Einstein described insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". 

To combat this insanity Michael suggested I practice in small sections, only 3 or 4 measures at a time, alternating with and without the metronome. I should also record myself so that I can get better at critiquing myself and hearing my problems on my own. 

Overall, the lesson went well and it was a joy to play the pipe organ. The picture below was taken from the balcony just before my lesson began. As you may remember, the organ at Trinity Episcopal Church is in the balcony. This is the organist's view of the nave from the balcony.

 

Organist's view from balcony at Trinity Episcopal Church

 

Would you stop for a free concert?

Would you stop for a free concert? Probably not. Does that answer surprise you?

During Lent this year, I attended all but one of the noon organ recitals at First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor. 

This sign was placed on the sidewalk advertising the free organ concert. The church is in downtown Ann Arbor and there is plenty of foot traffic. I don't know if any pedestrians stopped in because of this sign but at least they were aware of the opportunity. 

A few months ago through organist Katherine Crosier's blog, I learned of Joshua Bell and the subway experiment. Joshua Bell is a talented violinist who plays to sold out concert halls. The experiment occurred at a subway station in Washington, D.C. in 2007 in coordination with the Washington Post. One morning he played his violin for about 45 minutes. Very few people actually stopped to listen. The article states "In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look. " I encourage you to read the Washington Post article. Also, check out this video which has over 4 million views. It is less than 3 minutes and shows Joshua at the subway.

Would I have stopped? Probably not. But now, after reading about this experiment, I will be more likely to stop and listen to the music. How about you?

March 2013 Lesson - A lesson in multitasking

A couple of Saturdays ago, I traveled to Toledo for an organ lesson. The theme of the lesson became multitasking as I had trouble learning the new hymns and Bach piece assigned at my previous lesson. What do you think of first when you here "multitasking"? I think of my job where I often have several tasks going at once. 

How does this apply to an organist?  

Organists need to be very good at multitasking to be successful. Each hand and foot usually has it's own "task" to handle. The notes for the left hand will not be the same as the right. The feet are playing the pedals. The tempo must remain consistent. Registration (stops) may need to be changed throughout a piece. Pages may need to be turned. Some organists also direct a choir while they play! 

I've learned that playing the organ is harder than it looks! To improve more quickly, I need to practice each "task" independently. For example, learning the part for each hand separately before playing them together. 

What could you learn more quickly if you broke it down into smaller pieces?

Music from Sainte-Clotilde, Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival

On February 17th, 2013 I attended an organ concert presented by the Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival at the First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, MI. Five of the six organists are students of James Kibbie at the University of Michigan. All pieces played were composed by former organists at Sainte Clotilde in Paris, France from 1863 to 1987:

• César Franck, 1863-1890
• Gabriel Pierne, 1890-1898
• Charles Tournemire, 1898-1939
• Joseph Ermend Bonnal, 1942-1944
• Jean Langlais, 1945-1987

A complete listing of past and current organists at Sainte-Clotilde can be found here.

This concert was excellent. The organists may be students, but don't let "student" fool you into assuming that are not first class organists. Most of the students already hold organists positions at area churches and are accomplished organists. 

Organ at First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, MI

Like the Christmas Concert at First United Methodist Church, this concert showed two views of the organist and console on a screen. Two alternating views were displayed - hands on the key boards and feet on the pedals. 

Each organist shared a little about the piece they were about to play or about the composer. The information varied from fun fact to stories. Organist and composer Jean Langlais was blind!

The next Ypsilanti Pipe Organ Festival concert will be held on March 17, 2013 at 4:00 PM at the First Presbyterian Church in Ypsilanti, MI. Program details can be found on their website: http://wp.ypsipipes.org/

Lenten Organ Recital at FCC of Ann Arbor - 2/15/2013

The first recital in the 2013 Lenten organ recital series presented by the Ann Arbor chapter of the American Guild of Organists was last Friday. The recitals are at noon every Friday from Ash Wednesday until Easter at the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor. 

First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor

I arrived about 10 minutes early. Much to my surprise there were only about 10 in the audience, excluding the organists and organizers. However, by the end of the concert there were closer to 20 in attendance. 

There was a sign on the front sidewalk advertising for the free concert. I wondered if any of those coming in late stopped in because they heard the organ music and the sign on the sidewalk advertising the free concert or if they planned to come and were late.

Morgan Byrd, a third year undergraduate student at the University of Michigan studying organ, started the recital with Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D Major (BWV 532). This exciting piece is about 10 lengths in length and Morgan played it all from memory! An impressive feat given the intricacies of this piece which includes some fancy footwork. 

The remainder of the concert was performed by Renate McLaughlin. She is a Master of Music (Church Music) student at the University of Michigan. Renate explained a little bit about the pieces she would play. She started with "Kryie" composed by Jean Langlais. Then she played 4 chorale preludes back to back before introducing the last piece, "Duo" from Messe pour les couvents  by Francois Couperin. 

I am looking forward to the remaining recitals and encourage you to attend organ recitals in your area! The Prelude and Fugue in D Major was amazing to hear live. Take 10 minutes and watch Diane Bish's performance.

Facing anxiety (February 2013 Lesson)

Last Saturday at my lesson I was reminded that when I feel anxious, that anxiety transfers to my playing and can be heard by all. Even after 3 years of lessons, I still feel intimidated when I sit on the organ bench of a pipe organ at the beginning of a lesson. The pipe organ is much more grand and awesome than the old electronic instrument I practice on at home. And Michael (my teacher) is there too watching and listening ready to critique or give approval of my performance. 

I began this lesson with the hymn "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee" as I was confident in my ability to play it. What I didn't consider was my anxiety level. It was uneven and rushed and wrong notes were played! This hymn should bring peace and my initial attempt was quite the opposite. After a few attempts, I calmed down and was able to play it successfully. 

Michael and I had the anxiety talk again. I should be relaxed from the start. How do we conquer anxiety? 

In this video, "O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee", is played by Frederick Swann.

At the 30 second mark of this video of the camera pans over the audience of several hundred.  Just the thought of playing for this many people provokes anxiety. 
 

With more practice and patience, I will gain confidence reducing the anxiety, at least that is what I am telling myself. The first step is making it through a lesson without anxiety.

Have you ever had to overcome public performance anxiety? How did you do it?

Tracking with a NeuYear calendar

In early January, I announced my intention to schedule practice time. I haven't done any advance scheduling yet but I started tracking my practice sessions with a NeuYear calendar. After I practice, I record the time of day and length in that day's box. The calender is poster size and displays every day of the year. Encouragement is also included at the top: "2013 SEIZE THE YEAR". 

 

NeuYear Calendar

My goal is to practice everyday for at least 15 minutes. I have practiced the last 17 days! Previously, I did not practice when I felt too busy or tired or distracted. These 15 minutes segments will add about a hour onto my weekly total. And sometimes the 15 minutes turns into 30 minutes...

What could you improve by tracking your efforts?

Email Test

It turns out that yesterday, I didn't include the code that actually puts the blog post into the email! This is my second try. I am hoping I have it set up correctly now and that it will come through correctly tomorrow.

Thanks to those that have subscribed! And I appreciate your patience while I get this figured out.

Subscribe by email or RSS

You can now subscribe to receive an email when a new post is added. The emails will go out around 10:00 AM. You can also choose to add the RSS feed to a reader. Both options are on the top right of the site.

Please post a comment if you notice any issues with either the emails or RSS. Issues can also be reported by replying to the email.

This post is my first test. It's about 3:00 in the afternoon, so I think the email will not go out until 10:00 AM tomorrow.

Thanks for reading and subscribing!

Singing all the verses

My maternal grandma passed away recently. At her funeral, we learned that she liked to sing all the verses of a hymn. The reverend, who knew grandma for many years, explained that grandma felt that hymns tell a story and she didn't want to miss any part of it!

Grandma documented this desire when planning her funeral. Just before singing "In the Garden", the keyboardist announced that we would sing all the verses as Grandma requested. Near the end of the service a soloist sang every verse of "How Great Thou Art". 

Do you like to sing all the verses of hymn? Do you feel like you are missing out when some verses are skipped? As I continue to learn how to play more hymns on the organ, I will be reading the words of every verse to learn the complete story of the hymn as inspired by Grandma.

Grandma

What if I set a schedule

A new year is upon us. What will your goals be? Will you write them down and commit to them? I set several goals in a few areas including the typical to eat healthier and exercise more. I wrote them down which increases the likelihood that I will be successful. Now let's get to my organ related goals.

Back in March 2012 I announced my goal to practice 10 hours a week. I have not yet come close to 10 hours in a week. Since mid October 2012 I have been recording a few notes, the date, day of week, and amount of time spent practicing in Evernote. Upon review, I have only been practicing 3 or 4 days a week. I had intended to practice at my church on the way to work but discovered that I am afraid to go there in the dark. 

I learned from Jon Acuff that we will accomplish more if we schedule time to work on our goals. Writing out a schedule feels scary. Then I will be committed and can be held accountable. I am afraid of not sticking to the schedule. Should I let fear stand in my way? Should I let fear convince me that I should not try it because I am going to fail? What if I did it? What if each Sunday I wrote on a calendar practice times for the week? Even if some weeks I could not stick to it I'm sure my overall practice time would increase which is the ultimate goal.

Scheduling practice times could change my life!

30 Days of Music Theory - final update

There is much more to music theory than I was aware of 30 days ago. There were a few days when I didn't study music theory. I could blame this on the holidays but in retrospect, I should have had a better study plan in place before starting. A minimum amount of time to study each day would have helped me stay on track. Also, looking at random websites was probably not the best method as the information was not as detailed as I was looking for. I finished reading Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory which I consider an accomplishment given that I've had the book for over a year. 

I discovered that American and British English sometimes use different terminology for the same concept. For example, in American English, scales are made of of specific patterns or whole and half step. In British English, these are whole tones and semitones.  I also found a Society for Music Theory which did not seem to offer resources for those new to music theory. 

Even though the 30 days is now up, I will continue to learn music theory as it will be beneficial to my development as an organist. 

Deciding to not give up on a piece - December 2012

A couple of weeks ago I had another lesson with Michael at his church. 

For over a year, I have been learning the Adagio movement from Widor's Symphony No. 5. I am still having technical issues with this piece as was evident when I played it at my lesson. I usually play the correct notes at home, but I was not as successful at my lesson. My usage of the expression pedal was not accurate enough - the expression pedal is used to create crescendos and decrescendos (increase or decrease the volume). As I was playing, Michael interrupted several times to point out issues and then I would attempt to correct and move on. I kept making mistakes. 

Michael proposed that I may be making more mistakes than usual because of all the interruptions which tend to increase my nervousness. So he had me play it all the way through from start to finish without stopping even if I made an error. I didn't play it perfectly but it did feel good to play the entire piece. My rendition is not performance ready. Then Michael asked a question: did I want to continue perfecting the piece or move on to another piece leaving this one unfinished? I heard this as: Do you want to give up?

Giving up would be easier but I would likely regret it later. I didn't want to give up! I decided to continue with it for at least one more lesson. It feels close to being complete and the finish line is in sight! 

30 Days of Music Theory - Half way update

On December 1, 2012 I announced my goal to study music theory every day for 30 days. I started off strong spending 30 minutes reading through lessons at www.musictheory.net/. On other days I read lessons in Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory. On days where I have been very busy, which has happened quite often in the past week, I squeezed in a few minutes here and there to use the Music Theory Pro app on my iPhone. I have missed a couple of days but given that I have my iPhone with me just about all the time, I feel like I have no excuse. 

I am beginning to understand more of the concepts. Also, different websites and books seem to present things just a little bit differently. I am finding myself pondering what I am learning and thinking about it how it all fits together when I am at work or doing other things. Sometimes, I want more information then what is given at the beginner level. For example, why are some intervals called perfect intervals! I finally found some information at method-behind-the-music.com/ but this is leading to even more questions!

I will continue learning for the next 15 days and then I will report my progress. 

An Organist's Christmas - Concert 12/7/12

Ted and I attended the concert entitled An Organist's Christmas on 12/07/2012 at the First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor., MI It was presented by the Ann Arbor Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and the First Music and Art Series.  The church is large and beautiful with stone and woodwork and stained glass windows. The organ was initially installed by W. W. Kimball Co. in 1940. Additional stops and pipes were added in 1958 by the Reuter Organ Co. Reuter also provided a new console in 1988. This organ has 3 manuals and pedals and 44 ranks of pipes. The organ specifications in the program listed each stops and the number of pipes associated with them and indicated which pipes were Kimball pipes. The organ was recently renovated by the Renaissance Pipe Organ Company.  

Pipe Organ at First United Methodist Church - Ann Arbor, MI

The church had a big screen at the front of the church. This is likely used to display words to songs and sermon notes during services. During this concert it would serve a different purpose, showing close ups of the organist playing the organ! There were 3 or 4 different views. One zoomed in on the organists hands on the keyboards. Another view was at a wider angle where we could see the organist and their feet and hands. Then another view of just the pedals allowing the audience to see the fascinating footwork. The technical crew seemed to know just when to switch views!

There were 3 organists: David Hufford, Marcia Van Oyen, and Thomas Strode. The first piece played by David was played by memory! Marcia played an interesting piece called - "Variations sur un Noël" by Marcel Dupré . It consisted of about 10 variations each sounding unique. The finale was spectacular! Thomas played a chorale prelude along with violinist Kathryn Votapek and the Boy Choir of Ann Arbor.

Each organist played 3 or 4 pieces with the last being a hymn with singing by congregation and with the boy choir. Prior to playing the hymn, Thomas and David both played variations on the hymn they were about to play. David played "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and Thomas played "O Come, All Ye Faithful". It was very interesting hear the variations followed immediately by the traditional version one would expect to hear. Marcia's hymn was "Once in Royal David's City."  Hearing the voices of the congregation and the boy choir along with the organ was wonderful.

Overall the concert was very enjoyable and I encourage you to attend Christmas concerts that feature the pipe organ.

 

30 day challenge - Music Theory

I recently discovered the TED talk of Matt Cutts encouraging people to try something new for 30 days. This video has over 3 million views and is only a few minutes long so watch it!





For my first 30 day challenge I will be tackling music theory. I have avoided learning music theory for most of the last 3 years even while knowing that understanding music theory will help me be a better musician. This is the kick in the pants that I needed!

What have you or will you try for 30 days?

A coincidence, I think not

Sunday evening I decided to listen to an episode of The Joy Of Music while doing some cleaning. I almost could not believe my ears! Diane Bish played her arrangement of "All Creatures of Our God and King." I instantly felt amazed and overcome as I am currently learning this hymn. This is not the first time where I have unexpectedly heard a piece performed that I am currently learning. I am awestruck each time it happens. I feel like it is a sign from God to continue pursuing the organ. At my last lesson Michael reminded me to listen to recordings of the pieces that I am learning. Perhaps, God brought this recording to me!

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (NIV). 

You may be thinking, oh that was just a coincidence. How many things have to align for it to not be a coincidence?  

• Diane Bish has recorded over 500 episodes of The Joy of Music. 
• • This particular episode was saved on my DVR. 
  • The DVR is set to record The Joy of Music every time that it is on (it airs on the The Church Channel on Dish Network). 
  • The DVR will only keep the 20 most recent recordings. 
  • I randomly picked this episode of the 20 saved on the DVR.
• My motive for listening to the show was not purely to hear organ music. Just recently my husband asked me if I still watched them. I decided to put on an episode in the background while cleaning as I had been neglecting the show.  My initial goal was to be able to tell my husband that I listened to an episode. 
• I had attempted to invite myself over to my niece's for the evening but she had other plans. If she has been around, I would not have been home cleaning.
• I was only cleaning because my washer had broke on Saturday and my brother-in-law was coming the next day to fix it.

I could list more but I am not trying to convince you, although perhaps I am attempting to be a bit persuasive. 

Regardless of what you believe - hand of God or just coincidence - it felt awesome to me! 

A corrected mistake is evidence of progress!

As described in my last post, my November lesson was a bit tough. However, I did show some improvement. While playing "Like a River Glorious", I played a wrong note in the pedal line. I immediately corrected and Michael noticed. This was a big deal. In the past, when playing a wrong note (especially at a lesson), I would freeze, or stop playing, or continue playing with each subsequent note being wrong. Organists will make mistakes. It is likely no one will remember a wrong note (unless it is the first or the last!). This mistake and the correction the followed was a sign of progress!

We all make mistakes. How we handle them can often be more important than the actual mistake. When I play a wrong note [make a mistake] the best option is to quickly correct it and move on. Dwelling on it (freezing until corrected), stopping (giving up completely), and continuing but not fixing it (one mistake leads to another) emphasize the mistake instead of the solution.

What are the best ways you have find to handle mistakes?