Voluntaries
 

There never seems to be an end to the amount of music you need to learn. Just when you’ve mastered and played a piece at the Sunday service, you have to start all over again!

Those from the congregation who regularly contribute with their comments, will no doubt remind you that you played the same piece last Sunday. However, a large repertoire when you first start is impossible unless you are a very good sight-reader.

These are the moments of the service when music is necessary:

• Playing before the service starts.
• Playing the choir processional (priest in).
• Playing during communion
• Playing the choir recessional (priest out).
• Closing voluntary.

I think that the first and last of these are the most challenging and require the most practice.

Playing before the service starts means having to be on good form early in the morning (usually), and if Saturday night was a little more indulgent than it should have been, you have your work cut out!

However, some of the easiest organ music is in a minor key and a lot of it is rather depressing - don’t depress the congregation. Choose music that is reflective but mix up the major and minor keys.

The music for the entry and exit of the choir or Priest can be a variation or improvisation of the first and last hymns respectively. This will also give you the opportunity to practise the first hymn as the choir process in.

The communion music can be a reflective piece or just a nice hymn tune that is regularly used as the communion hymn - but don’t get to minorish and Dracula-like. You won’t get much fangs for that!

Sometimes you have to be brave to play pieces for the first time and you just have to “go for it”. However, don’t be too critical of yourself, expect to make a few mistakes and keep thinking forward and not backward.

One way to keep on top of a difficult piece is to control the tempo. Hold the tempo back - don’t let the music escape out of control, especially at the tricky bits. When you follow the music while listening to a really good organist, you’ll often notice that they ease-up very slightly at difficult moments in the music .

This is sometimes referred to as “making a virtue out of a necessity” and is a win win situation. However, being able to control the tempo of a piece is not easy, but is a skill that is worth developing.

Also, don’t think about what other people might be thinking about your playing - it’s just you and the organ. If anyone wants to let you know how good they are, just ask them to deputise for you when you are on holiday and see what they say!