To play the organ, first go into the kitchen.

[timothy42b]

Organ for dummies?

How do I turn it on, and how do I make it play loud or soft? 

Anybody have a few basic suggestions for where to start?  I'm not talking about learning to be an organist - just to be able to play a chord or line in an emergency.   

[pianistimo]

first go into the kitchen?  tim, you've got it all wrong from the start (unless of course - you want turn it on from there).  i've never seen this done  - but imagine there's a remote control for organs by now. 

ok - once you get it turned on - look for some buttons to push and pull.  the louder the volume you get from the organ - the more it is turned on.  don't worry if the lights flicker on and off - most organists are possessed anyway (at least that is what i'm told).  it has something to do with being near that much electricity.  try to play some bach chorales.  see if anything strange happens.  *should have thought of all this when answering thalbergmad's questions about stacked cup mats.

if you just want to do what i do, take off your shoes - or find a pair of flats and practice 'heel/toe/heel/toe' going up the pedals with your left foot.  if you fall off the bench the first time - that's ok.  forget what you were told about pedalling the piano and scoot around a little if you need to.  often you will be reaching far to the right - whilst pedalling far to the left.  it's a really good work out.  once you are finished practicing - turn the volume up as loud as you can - so that the next person that turns it on is scared out of their gourd.

ps i forgot to tell you something very important!  don't try to play the organ like the piano, ok.  for instance don't get out your liszt and chopin.  it just doesn't work (yes, i've tried it).  you run out of notes really quickly and it's hard to do the 'conversion' to the top keyboard.  try little pieces - even shockingly easy ones - so you can get used to pedalling and playing at the same time.  double the bass wherever it sounds good if you haven't got any pedalling notes to follow.  act like you know what you are doing (even if you make a huge farting sound out of the organ).  just move to the next note and everything will be fine.  what you DOn't want to do is have any kind of silence.  silence means that the pipes have to be recharged with air - which takes too long on a manual organ.  get used to keeping your pipes full.

[pianobabe_56]

Oh good grief. The organ.  I play for church and really enjoy it. The best I can sum it up in a grapefruit ring ('cuz it's bigger than a nutshell) is this:

Fingering is altogether obnoxiously different than the piano. Everything has to be sustained, unless the note is repeated in a following chord, in which case you play it again, or unless it's the same note, but switches voices. Towards the bottom of the organ is the "Swell" pedal and that helps adjust the volume.

...if you want more detailed than that, send me a message or something.

[timothy42b]

Thanks, actually that does sort of help.

My reference to the kitchen is from an old cookbook where every recipe started "first go into the kitchen" as kind of a reminder that they were talking to total beginners.

I guess if I were more specific about what I want to know it would help.  The organ at church is electronic, it has two manuals and a pedal.  It has a bunch of flip switches (stops and couplers).  If I need to accompany a chant or something on short notice, I want to go over and practice a bit on my lunch hour.  I found the power button.  That alone doesn't make sound come out when I press the key.  So, to convert something I already know on piano to organ, while knowing nothing about organ, what should I do?  Ignore pedals of course as too complicated.  But then, play everything on the lower manual like it was a piano?  Or try and split the hands?  Are there a couple of basic stops that will make it play?  And most important of all, how do I make it play really really quietly so nobody hears me in there?  <g>  Is it a case of the more stops, the louder?  Or is there a volume control too? 

Thanks.  I don't think it is posessed.  But certainly there are plenty of bibles around.  Not many cup matts though - come to think of it I can't find one anywhere.  Hmmmh. 

[pianistimo]

experimentation is about all i've done.  you can get the manual out if you want.  what frustrates me is that if i haven't gone through a piece before and it has the lowest note on the lower manuel - i always accidentally hit the button right next to it and it totally changes the sound.  i'm about ready to disable this button.

[abell88]

I'm not an organist but I did have two lessons about 25 years ago ...anyhow, to get a sound you probably need to activate some of the stops, by either pressing buttons, pushing down tabs, or pulling knobs. (That's the going into the kitchen part.) If you want something quiet, don't use any stop labelled in red, also avoid the ones with fractions in the names. (They're very cool, but not unobtrusive). Diapason, celeste, and blockflote are some stops you might find useful. As someone mentioned, there are usually some volume pedals -- probably one for each manual. Experiment with them...I had a very bad experience with a sticky volume pedal when I was young.

As for the manuals, you probably should just stay on one of them (the lower), unless you want a solo/chorus effect, in which case you play the melody on the upper with RH and accompanying chords on the lower with LH. In this case you might want an oboe or clarinet stop on the upper and strings on the lower.

I expect there are others with lots more experience, but hopefully this will help a bit.

[luvslive]

good advice on the organ you guys!  i used to play in church as a youth...i'll share an embarassing story with you all.  i went up to play the opening hymn, didn't have to do preludes because a bell choir had done them, so i hadnt played yet.  i pushed the foot pedal far enough that usually it was a good sound and turned on a pre setting that i liked to use.  well, darn it, no sound!  i pushed it all the way down and it just whispered.  i guess the congregation must've been able to hear it, but i really couldn't and i tried signalling my family, like "help!"  the rest of the hymns went in a similar manner.  i had to turn on the trumpet sound just to hear myself.  after the service i found out that one of the switches on the sound board in the office had been turned off.  so i had no control over the situation.  and noone went and fixed it the whole time.  very frustrating.