It's been 3 years - looking back and forward

This month marks three years of organ lessons. Three years! Looking back, I have made significant progress. I can now play the pedals and the manuals (keyboards) at the same time, substitute fingers (and feet), play a few pieces from beginning to end, and  have a basic understanding of how a pipe organ works.

Before I began, taking lessons, I thought in 2 or 3 years I would be proficient enough to be an organist at a church. I have been asked "How much longer will you need lessons?" and "When will you be ready to perform?" Learning the organ has been much more difficult than I ever anticipated.

Last weekend, I attended Jon Acuff's Quitter conference which was about following dreams. My dreams are to be an organist and a writer. I learned that its okay to go slow. It's better to make mistakes now while fewer people are watching. As Jon said, we can be awesome later. I need to be patient and make better use of my time to accomplish goals. There are things I can work at my current day job which will help with my dreams. The conference provided me with the inspiration to keep working on my dreams.

Looking forward, I will be better at planning. I will figure out what this blog should really be about. I will continue to learn. I will make use of the information provided at the conference. I will face my fears!

At the conference Jon Acuff said "Action always beats Intention". What actions do you need to start taking? Are there dreams you have been intending to work on?

Giving organ music a chance

Three years ago I did not know that Bach was an organist.

When I decided to become an organist three years ago, I knew very little about organ music. I had heard hymns accompanied by organ at my childhood church and at my current church (until they switched to praise band format).


Early on in my lessons, I learned the world of organ music is vast and greatly extends beyond hymns.  With the Internet, there is easy access to any type of music of interest.  Perhaps, you have never heard pipe organ music besides in horror movies. I encourage you to check out organ music, especially if you have not given it much consideration previously. Keep in mind that all performances are not equal! Do not let a bad performance on YouTube discourage you.

I hope you have not dismissed organ music without ever giving it a chance! 

I highly recommend Pipedreams. Pipedreams is produced by American Public Media. Each week they air a 2 hour program on many public radio stations. Most (if not all) of the music is recorded on pipe organs. A list of stations is available on their website. The programs are also available for listening on their website. I usually listen to the program while at work.

Organlive.com streams organ music continuously. Some of the recordings are not great, but you can request any piece they have in their library to be played.

The Joy of Music with Diane Bish is broadcast weekly on TV (check website for stations). Diane Bish is very talented and provides me with inspiration. Her performances are wonderful and often include some history of the piece or that where she is preforming. I enjoy seeing the old European churches that have maintained their pipe organs.

I also suggest checking out live events in your area at churches (that still have and use their organs) or performances put on by college/university students. I have attended a couple of recitals put on by students from the University of Michigan. These students will not disappoint!

Shingles

You may have noticed that I did not make a post last weekend. I had a busy Saturday spending time with a friend from high school. Then on Sunday afternoon I attended an organ concert. I felt very tired on Sunday evening. Monday I also felt drained most of the day while I was at work. I had some itchy redness on my face that didn't seem to be going away.

On Tuesday I finally went to the doctor and learned that I have shingles! Fortunately, my case is relatively mild. I have not had much pain, mostly the spots have been itchy and I've been tired. I took a day off work to rest and feel like I am on the road to recovery. The size of the anti-viral pills is a bit intimidating.

I've learned a lot about shingles this week. My body gave me the shingles. The chicken pox virus has been in my system ever since I had chicken pox when I was a child and will apparently always been there. When the virus re-activates it appears as shingles.

I did not expect to learn about shingles this week. Have you learned anything unexpected this week?

Blog Updates and Practice Goals

Thank you to those that are reading my blog. I want to let you know that my goal is to add a new blog post about once a week which likely be done on Saturday or Sunday.

Another goal I set recently is to practice the organ 10 hours a week. I started tracking my practice time only to realize that I am not practicing as much as I thought I was. In order to reach my goal I will need to become much more intentional with making time to practice. I'll provide updates on my progress from time to time.

What goals are you working on?

My Story added

I've added a My Story tab which describes how my journey started back in 2009.  What do you think? Do you have courage to pursue your dream? If you need tips, I read Quitter recently which explains how to responsibly work on a dream job while maintaining your current ("day") job.

Intro

For the past two and a half years, I have been working towards becoming an organist. This blog will document my journey, progress, and other random bits of my life. My next goal is to figure out how to center the picture at the top of this blog!