One Hour a Day

 Something different from my normal commentary on political issues, I want to discuss music.  I am not sure if I have discussed music before, but I am an amateur musician.  I have played the trumpet, and I play the guitar badly.  I took up playing handbells at church this last year.  But my first love is the organ.  I have owned a Thomas organ in the late1960s, and acquired a good deal on a Kimball organ in the late 1990s, and then in 2010, I bought a Lowrey Majesty organ.

Now, before I got the Thomas I studied piano for a number of years.  The piano is the usual first instrument for organists, but in truth the only similarity to the piano is the fact that both have keyboards.  The piano has definite pitches and tones based on where on the keyboard one plays a key.  Middle C is always Middle C on every piano.  But on the organ, the pitch and tone of a given key depends on which stops are pulled.  A 1' flute played on the C at the midpoint will have a very high pitch, while a 16' diapason will have a low pitch at the same key.  And it is the mixing of the various stops that gives the organ its many voices.  And of course, when one plays a pipe organ, the effect in a church or cathedral is profound.  the power of a pipe organ should be experienced by everyone.

The other difference is that when a key is struck on a piano, the sound decays with time whether you keep the key down or not.  The volume of a vibrating string becomes less each time the string vibrates back and forth  from one side to the other.  But an organ sustains the volume of a key as long as it is kept down (and as long as the boys pumping the bellows keep working.)  so there are a number of fundamental differences in techinque for organ and piano.

The organ is not as popular an instrument as the piano, for reasons I will discuss in a minute.  But because the piano is a popular instrument, and many pieces of music have been composed for it, much has also been written about how best to practice the piano.  So it was that I came across a book recently entitled Playing the Piano for Pleasure. The original book was written by Charles Cooke in the 1930s, and this edition was published with a foreward by Michael Kimmelman. The book is full of useful tips for anyone playing any keyboard instrument. But before Cooke gets into the meat of playing the piano for pleasure, he makes the point that what he is writing about is for the amateur, not the professional.

Cooke points out that the recording of music had, even in the 1930s, made professional musical performances ubiquitous. The ability to switch on a radio or put a record on a turntable and hear a professional performance had changed peoples relation to music. Formerly, people entertained themselves, their families and friends by playing music themselves. Thus we all experienced live music, and more of us played an instrument. But with the advent of recordings, people began to look at their own playing as being somehow not as "good." But, as Cooke makes clear, amateur playing may not be as good as a profession, but that doesn't mean that it should not be pursued. After all, many people play golf, for example, even though most will never by good enough to play on the tour. They play for the joy and benefits of playing even if they will never be good enough to play professionally. Music should be the same.

Cooke suggests that for amateurs, the playing should occupy no more that one hour a day. He breaks up that hour into portions devoted to site reading, technique and repertoire. Most of your time should be devoted to perfecting and playing repertoire, but at least 10 minutes should be devoted to site reading and 10 minutes to techique. Site reading is more important than most realize. A competent site readers is valuable as an accompanianist to other instruments and to singers. Such a pianist will always be welcome.  As for techniquie, one should practice scales, and fingerings.  Many times in classical pieces, one may wnat to have an extra hand with 12 fingers on it.  But with proper technique, one can play these seemingly impossible pieces with the 10 fingers everyone is born with.

I said I would discuss why the organ is less popular than the piano.  Organs have traditionally been very expesive to purchase.  The Lowrey organ has a number of automatic funtions that make it possible to replicate an entire band or orchestra playing a given piece, but these organs cost around $50K when new, so only older people could afford them.  Unfortunately, Lowrey has gone out of business though you can still buy them used.  But, buying a piano to play is not the major investment that it was in the 1930s, when Cooke was writing, or even the 1950s when I was young. The advent of digital electronic pianos has brought the prices down.  And electronic pianos don't need to be constantly tuned, which is an expense as well. You can buy a digital piano for as little as $800, as opposed to a traditional piano at $10,000 for an upright. 

If you always wanted to play the piano, I encourage everyone to start now. You will be surprised at what you can achieve by spending just one hour a day.