Now Let Us Rejoice. An LDS Hymn

[Jnicholes]

My body beat COVID-19. I feel a lot better. I decided to play a song to celebrate.

The song is called "Now Let Us Rejoice," and its Hymn number 3 from my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Let me know how I did!

Jared

[you795a]

I think it sounded good. Glad to hear you're feeling better.

[iPlayKeys]

I'm glad you're feeling better! I think you're sounding pretty good and it sounds like you've figured out what to do with the pedals. Only thing I would mention is that it looks like you often play from the upper manual. If you're playing for a service, you would normally play from the great (the bottom manual if two, or the 2nd to bottom manual if more than two).

[Jnicholes]

Interesting. I’ll have to try playing from the lower Manual next time. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Nutball]

I find the upper more comfortable to play from, so I swapped them on my organ. Some, like the Galanti Praeludium II, have a hidden switch to invert the manuals.

[Jnicholes]

You know what? So do I. I feel comfortable playing from the upper manual. However, I just got an idea of something I can do that utilizes both.

I remember once when I was in church, the organist was playing a song. Then, he switched his right hand from the lower to the upper, and the upper was set differently, so it played a different sound when he did the next verse.

I’ll have to try that sometime.

[iPlayKeys]

The technique you're referring to is often called "soloing out the melody." The organist used a louder and/or contrasting registration to bring attention to a certain part of the music. This technique is also very useful when a song is not familiar to the congregation as it will help them hear the melody better. In the organ, there are stops that are solo stops that are meant to be used alone like what you've described, and then there are chorus stops that are meant to be used together with other stops.

As you learn more about registration (choosing stops/sounds), it will make more sense as to why you would play on one manual vs the others since organs usually have resources available only to certain manuals. For example, most small organs don't have a principal chorus in the swell (upper manual). Even though larger instruments might have a principal chorus in the swell, it's usually scaled smaller than the one on the great, so it's not as loud. These are things that really won't matter while practicing, but will matter when playing for a congregation.

Just in case you don't know what a principal chorus is yet... it's when you use the principal stops at 8', 4', and 2'. You'll also often add a mixture (one of the stops with a Roman numeral on it). The principal chorus is generally the basis for congregational signing. The stops in the principal chorus are not all always going to say "principal" on them. For example, on the organ I play, the 4' Principal is labeled "Octave 4'" and the 2' is labeled "Super Octave 2'". As you play more instruments you play over time, you'll learn to recognize the tonal families with their various names and how they sound different depending on who built the instrument and when, and how it was voiced, etc. Part of being an organist is adapting to the instrument you're playing. Some of us find this to be a fun challenge, but others don't.

[Philip Powell]

Well, congrats on beating the ol' 'Rona virus!
Sounded very nice to me.
Some constructive criticism would maybe be to focus on playing more legato (if that hasn't already been mentioned).

[Jnicholes]

I have to agree with you. Playing legato is not my strong suit, but something I do need to improve on. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Nutball]

Legato has always come naturally for me, or at least more easily than staccato. Only once I'm familiar with a piece can I tweak my articulation towards staccato. Although I find it helps me to keep precise timing when learning a new piece if I play in a very deliberate and exaggerated way.

[Silken Path]

Very nice to see a youngster playing organ. Impressive, too, to see a working Regent. Congrats also on surviving Covid.