Transitioning from guitar to the Hammond

[NCFH]

Hi there!

I'm really not too sure which forum is the correct place to post this, so please be gentle if this is the wrong one. I came here in the hope you guys can give me some advice on how to go about learning to play the Hammond Organ. I've been a big fan of the Hammond Organ since my I was 16 and always told myself "one day I'll buy a Hammond". I've finally come to rest with the fact that I have neither the money nor the space for the real thing, so I've finally bought myself a single manual digital clonewheel (a Viscount Legend Solo) which should arrive at my place this week.

As for my background: Although I'm far from being a professional, I consider myself an advanced and seasoned musician. I've been playing guitar for over 30 years (mostly in the realms of blues, rock and inbetween from the 70s to the 90s) and have a good working knowledge about music theory, chord structures, improvising (on guitar, that is), a well trained ear and all that. I also know the technical workings of a Hammond Organ and have toyed around a little bit on a chopped C3 many years ago when I played with a keyboard player that had one (and he wasn't looking ;-)). I do know how a keyboard works; I've just never seriously played one.

In other words: I'm far from being a musical beginner and don't want to bore myself with (and waste my money on) books or tutorials that spend most of the time teaching the absolute basics about both music in general and the instrument itself.

I could do what I did as a teenager in the 80s, throw up my favorite music on the stereo, just go by ear and eyeball it; this earned me some pretty bad techniques on the guitar though :-). I might as well try to learn this one properly.

I'm for now mostly interested in Rock, Blues-Rock, Blues, maybe some Prog stuff (my favorite Hammond material is the early Santana Stuff and Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick"), not so much the jazzy side of the Hammond. I think my main issues might be a) general technique concerning fingerings etc., and b) how to get into an organ player's mindset, learning to think independently with my hands (as opposed to playing guitar, where the hands always act together).

Long story short: Can anyone recommend me some good learning resources for me and my background? I'm willing to spend some money on books or maybe well produced DVDs, BluRays or whatever medium is available, I'm not so sure about spending it on online courses. Free stuff would be nice, but isn't mandatory.

I hope you guys can give me some starting points. Thanks alot!

[Tonewheel]

Good question. I have been a drummer who played in blues bands in Toronto and London. In Toronto, I was in a group called the Counts, and our organist, Brian White, taught me some things. Over the years, I have learned more, but I think things accelerated for me when I took some lessons from Tony Monaco. His technique is terrific, he's patient, and he will show you some beautiful ways to get going. So you can contact him and get started with online tutoring. I am sure there are others, but I enjoyed him and hope to start back up when I get done here in Germany. My B3 is waiting back home in Canada.

[bnelson218]

Interesting question. I have a good friend that, almost 40 years ago, started out as a guitarist in rock and blues bands. He was pretty good until, one fateful night, he came out to hear my organ and drum duo. That night he fell in love with the Hammond sound and within the next few months made the transition from guitar to organ. Today, he is an accomplished player. Like me, he chose to learn to play pedals rather than the left-hand bass method, and in this day and age of slab keyboards that you can tuck under your arm, he and I are of a rare bread (at least around here) that choose to haul 400-plus pounds of gear to the gig. Of course music is music, so it's a question of understanding the dynamics of the instrument. My suggestion is this: Joey DeFrancesco now has a teaching site at www.joeyd101.com, and there you can watch 60 some videos where he takes you from how to set up and operate the organ, to various aspects of playing the instrument, such as left-hand and pedal bass, comping techniques, soloing, and on and on. I've enjoyed watching this genius at work.

[NCFH]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've seen a few videos of Tony Monaco on Youtube, nice speaker with a good pace. Personal lessons won't work because of timezone differences; I might get some of his downloadable lessons though. Any idea which ones might be good for me (e.g. I don't really need a lesson on bass pedals as I don't have any)?

I'll check out Joey DeFrancesco's stuff, although I'm not too crazy about a Vimeo subsciption. Need to check out the terms of service and such.

Thanks alot!

By the way, the Legend arrived yesterday, is lovely for a relatively cheap digital recreation. Far beyond what the first digital organs delivered 20 years ago (I once played with someone with a VK-7, which was okay for the time, but mediocre at best by today's standards ;-)).

[bnelson218]

I think you'll find Joey's site worth your while. Best of luck!