Add a "Learning to Play" forum under Organ Music

[Momboc]

Hello Admin,

I suggest that a "Learning to Play" forum be added in the Organ Music category.

Also the "Jazz & Pop' forum in Organ Music could be retitled "Modern, Pop & Jazz"

Due to the relatively low thread count, maybe the 'Theatre' forum could be folded in to create a 'Modern, Jazz, Pop and Theatre' forum.

[Dr.Spectratone]

Hear hear! I second the motion! Makes perfect sense to have a special section for learning to play.

[Enna]

In this "Learning to Play" thread, I would love some words of wisdom from experienced church organists. I am taking organ lessons and am also now a church organist. If I don't care for the contemporary music I am sometimes asked to play, I just keep my mouth shut and play it, right? Also, is it better to accompany the choir on the organ or on the piano? They are used to having the organist go over to the piano to play their anthems, but they are willing to try to sing with organ accompaniment.

[DellAnderson]

...Due to the relatively low thread count, maybe the 'Theatre' forum could be folded in to create a 'Modern, Jazz, Pop and Theatre' forum.

Not that it matters to me but I would vote against combining theater organs with Jazz...completely different instruments and to the best of my knowledge, completely different repertoire and musicians, excepting all-inclusive universalists such as Cameron Carpenter.

[fireandair]

I'd love to see this as well -- I'm a newcomer to the organ after a lifetime playing classical piano, and I don't really see anyplace here for me to go and talk to other pianists who are learning, or other people in general who are learning. The forums from what I can see are very gear-and-music oriented. Definitely more of an "organ forum" than an "organist forum," which I suppose makes sense, but it's a bit frustrating for a newbie.

[DellAnderson]

I'd love to see this as well -- I'm a newcomer to the organ after a lifetime playing classical piano, and I don't really see anyplace here for me to go and talk to other pianists who are learning, or other people in general who are learning. The forums from what I can see are very gear-and-music oriented. Definitely more of an "organ forum" than an "organist forum," which I suppose makes sense, but it's a bit frustrating for a newbie.

Perhaps you could just start a new topic thread - like "Pianist learning organ" or something. You'll likely get a lot of opinions as to the best way to proceed. If you can at all manage to afford it, there is no substitute for lessons from someone whose style of organ playing you admire -- they are absolutely essential, both from inspirational and educational point of view. It is amazing how many technical and artistic aspects there are to playing the organ.

[fireandair]

I'd like to -- I'm not sure where to put it, though. I imagine under the "classical" section of the organ music area of the boards, but it's not necessarily classical-only. I'll give it a whirl and see, though. I've been trying to think things through a bit about how to transition when the organ arrives at my home, and the only real guidelines I could come up with is to remember that (although mine is electronic) an organ is a wind instrument at bottom, and bearing down on the keys would be like bearing down on the keys of a clarinet and expecting it to get louder.

[Admin]

Not a bad idea, but I have questions about how frequently such a topic would be used as well as whether you can teach someone how to play in a text based forum.

People do, on occasion ask performance questions regarding fingering, registration, etc. but these are typically related to specific works.

Right now, if you want to start a thread on this topic, I'd do it either in the appropriate Organ Music topic or in General Chat.

Like most requests for new forum topics, one will be created if enough interest is shown in individual threads to suggest the need and a place for one.

[Snowbandit]

When I was first learning the organ I wasted a lot of time trying to find a forum that would help. I think, such a thing does not exist. The focus of this forum seems to be more on the instrument and not the organist. That's fine as the information can be extremely valuable when researching a purchase or seeking repair information on older instruments. You are fortunate enough to live in or near a large metro area where a teacher of some kind should be available. I looked in my area for almost two years before giving up on the teacher idea. It's possible to teach yourself but, it's going to take a long time.

You tube videos are a great source of information and inspiration but be careful of them too. There's a lot of piano players trying to bang out a tune on an organ. It won't take you long to figure those guys out and avoid them.

[Momboc]

Not a bad idea, but I have questions about how frequently such a topic would be used as well as whether you can teach someone how to play in a text based forum.
People do, on occasion ask performance questions regarding fingering, registration, etc. but these are typically related to specific works.
Right now, if you want to start a thread on this topic, I'd do it either in the appropriate Organ Music topic or in General Chat.
Like most requests for new forum topics, one will be created if enough interest is shown in individual threads to suggest the need and a place for one.

I think this can be a bit of a 'chicken and egg' thing. The 'how to learn to play' threads aren't created because the forum doesn't exist and the forum doesn't exist because the threads aren't created, or these types of threads are widely dispersed across the other forums - depending upon where the OP thinks they belong.

I think a "learning to play" forum would attract more threads than some other forums (or is that fora?) that do exist (e.g. theatre organ specs and legends).

A good exmaple of 'build it and they will come' is the reed and pump organ thread.

I'd still like to see the creation of a "learning to play" forum.

Some topics that may appear include:

* where to find a teacher
* organ tutor books/systems and reviews or discussion of the same
* where to get these books
* good organ tutor videos (i.e youtube) and reviews or discussion of the same
* transitioning from piano to organ
* organ manual and pedal technic
* how to play a particular piece of music
* practice tips