Week 4: I practiced both hands for 1 hour 9/22/11. I am not learning the hands as quickly as I need to. It is not that difficult but I am nervous about adding my feet. I really need to memorize the hands and that usually takes me a lot of practicing. I need to practice the hands probably 4 hours a week if I am going to get them memorized soon.
9/23/11 I went to the church with my piano student, Melissa, and we practiced together. We practiced for 45 minutes. She played her part on the piano and I tried the organ. It sounded great together but It was the first time for me to play it on the organ and it feels different than the piano. I always need to practice the organ and not rely on the piano practicing to get me through. I should be coming over and practicing on the organ at least every other day. I don't think I can fit that into my schedule but I need to start trying. If I don't learn the hands, I'll never be able to add the foot pedals. I also need to arrange to speak with a great organist I know. I hope she can explain the stops to me and help me to know how to get the best sound out of the instrument.
9/29/11 I practiced on the piano for 35 minutes. I am getting better at the hands but I really do need to memorize them. That is not happening. I must spend more time practicing and I think I need to practice on the organ to be most effective.
I watched the video tutorial on how to use the organ for 1 hour again tonight. there is so much on it, I feel that I need to watch it 3 more times at least.
9/30/11 I had 3 students not come to piano lessons today, so I used that time and went over to the church and practiced the organ for 1 hour. It was good. I know now that the swell (Sw.) and great (Gr.) that were written on the sheet music, are for the respective keyboards. The Swell keyboard is the top one, and the Great keyboard is the lower one. The video helped me to know this. I have to move my hands from keyboard to keyboard as directed with the Sw. and Gr. abreviations. I practiced the hands alot, but I also tried the foot pedals. I will have to lower my expectations that I can play all of the foot pedal notes. I think I can learn about half of the foot pedal measures, I hope. It is ok to lower our goal when we realize that our first goal was unrealistic, I hope. I did get pretty good on the last line. That is the 'big finish' and it sounds great! I have a lot of practicing to do before I can play the pedals with any kind of proficiency. My plan now is to keep practicing, but to see if Joan McClellan, (a great organist in my ward), will help me to understand the stops.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Learn Something New
Our MAT 605 class has been challenged by Dr. Carr to learn something new and keep a journal about the process. I could journal about learning to blog, which is new, but I will combine it with something else that I also need to learn. This way, I am learning two new things and that should be worth extra credit!!!!
I am going to learn more about the organ and learn to play a piece using the foot pedals (which I have never used before). I teach piano lessons and one of my students wants to do a piano / organ duet. I play the organ as if it were a piano. I don't know anything about the stops, or how to use the pedals. So, this will be very good for me.
I will have to practice the piece on the piano at least two hours a week and then do some research about how an organ is supposed to work. On the piece of music that I am learning, I will practice a lot to learn the treble and bass staffs with my hands, and then I will attempt to learn the foot pedals.
I'll have to practice two hours a week at first to learn the hands part, and then two hours a week to learn the foot pedals and play them along with my hands.
Schedule:
Week 1 Practiced the piece on the piano for one hour
Week 2 Practiced the piece on the piano for 30 minutes 9/6/11
Practiced on the piano for 20 minutes 9/7/11
Practiced on the piano for 30 minutes 9/9/11
Watched a one hour demo video of our church organ. It talked about the stops but didn't explain how to use them, or why you use which ones. It did show me how to pre-set the stops I want for the piece or pieces I am playing.
Week 3 Practiced on the paino for 45 minutes 9/16/11 I am learning to play the right and left hands and I feel that I must memorize them or I'll never be able to add the foot pedals. It is going to sound so great with the foot pedals and I very much want to be able to play them but I am worried if my coordination will allow me to do three things at once. It is going to be a bit like juggling and I am afraid that I am not much of a juggler. As I was playing, I tried to imagine that there was a keyboard down by my feet, which is what the pedals are, and I am now very skeptical about being able to hit the right notes with my foot as I am concentrating on playing the correct notes with my fingers. Oh dear!!!!!
I am going to learn more about the organ and learn to play a piece using the foot pedals (which I have never used before). I teach piano lessons and one of my students wants to do a piano / organ duet. I play the organ as if it were a piano. I don't know anything about the stops, or how to use the pedals. So, this will be very good for me.
I will have to practice the piece on the piano at least two hours a week and then do some research about how an organ is supposed to work. On the piece of music that I am learning, I will practice a lot to learn the treble and bass staffs with my hands, and then I will attempt to learn the foot pedals.
I'll have to practice two hours a week at first to learn the hands part, and then two hours a week to learn the foot pedals and play them along with my hands.
Schedule:
Week 1 Practiced the piece on the piano for one hour
Week 2 Practiced the piece on the piano for 30 minutes 9/6/11
Practiced on the piano for 20 minutes 9/7/11
Practiced on the piano for 30 minutes 9/9/11
Watched a one hour demo video of our church organ. It talked about the stops but didn't explain how to use them, or why you use which ones. It did show me how to pre-set the stops I want for the piece or pieces I am playing.
Week 3 Practiced on the paino for 45 minutes 9/16/11 I am learning to play the right and left hands and I feel that I must memorize them or I'll never be able to add the foot pedals. It is going to sound so great with the foot pedals and I very much want to be able to play them but I am worried if my coordination will allow me to do three things at once. It is going to be a bit like juggling and I am afraid that I am not much of a juggler. As I was playing, I tried to imagine that there was a keyboard down by my feet, which is what the pedals are, and I am now very skeptical about being able to hit the right notes with my foot as I am concentrating on playing the correct notes with my fingers. Oh dear!!!!!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Jens in Chile - far right, bottom row
Thursday, September 1, 2011
This is going to be a great class!
Hopefully I will learn to post and do a great blog. This has great potential for making classwork fun and rewarding as student work is posted and celebrated.
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