May 2005
Surviving your First Year as a Church Organist	Show Menu

By Naomi Pasley and James Pasley

For anyone who is starting out as an organist, the first steps may appear the most daunting, but they are not really, if you are well organised. This article contains some hints and tips on how to approach these first months.

Making the most of practice time

Having played for pleasure, preparing hymns for a church service may be the first time you are faced with a dead-line for learning a piece of music. Applying some basic principals will ensure you use practice time efficiently. You will probably already be aware of these, but now that you have a dead-line, its time to apply them rigorously. Play through the piece with each hand separately. Identify any sections that are difficult and practice them repeatedly. Pay attention to fingering. Then play with both hands, slowly at first. Again, identify any sections that are difficult; if necessary, play a single bar or line repeatedly until it is perfect. Listen as you play in order to identify areas that need attention. Once you can play the hymn note perfect, it may be useful to use a metronome. Sing along, or better still get a friend or family member to sing, this will get you used to accompanying people singing. Avoid using the sustain pedal, it’s all too easy to get into the habit of using it during difficult chord transitions, but you won’t have the luxury of it at the organ. And finally, don’t forget to practise your one line introduction.

On the Day

On the day, arrive early enough to run over each hymn tune. During the service, follow a check list before starting each hymn; check the stops, the key signature, the time signature and the number of verses. Once a hymn is completed, immediately turn out the next piece of music to be played and set up the organ. It may be useful to mark the hymns for a service in your hymn book with post-its.

Cheats

While the tips given above are good practice that you should probably observe to some extent no matter how experienced you are, here are a few tips that may be useful, but you should not become too dependent on them.

Ensure hands are warm — some churches can be very cold places – dress warmly, it may even be useful to soak your hands in warm water. Try this before practising and see if it makes a difference. We have heard rumours of hot water bottles hidden on organ stools!

Make good use of the Metrical Index of Tunes. This useful index is found at the back of the hymn book and categorises based on the number of lines in each verse and the number of syllables in each line.. For example: 76 76 means that there are seven syllables in the first line, six in the second and so on. Each of the hymn tunes in a category can be used with any of the other hymns in that category. Use this to reuse tunes you have learned with different words, but be sure to sing the hymn beforehand to double check that the tune suits it.

When learning new hymns, pick those that are suitable for all occasions – morning, praise or children’s hymns. You’ll find another index of hymns at the back of the book, categorised by theme.

Some hymns have a full octave or even ten note stretch in the left hand. Learn to find lower G or lower C with foot to make up for stretches if your hand can’t reach.

There are books with simplified tunes when you are getting started. However, there are also a number of simple tunes in the hymn book, see the list at the end of this article.

Don’t be afraid to count out loud if you need to and if you don’t fancy the prospect of all those Hallelujahs, find someone else to play for Easter!

Learning Voluntaries

There are many "Easy to play classics" books available which can be used for very effective voluntaries. Choose tunes that are easy to play, a simple tune played well is better than a complex tune played badly. Hymns are also good as voluntaries, especially during Communion. Seasonal hymns are particularly good e.g. Christmas Carols

Getting started

You might like to start by playing one hymn on a Sunday, if there is an existing organist, you will be sure to find that he or she will accommodate you. Initially, you could add new hymns one at a time. Ensure the person who picks the hymns understands your abilities, or pick them yourself. Keep within your abilities and don’t be afraid to say "no" to a particular hymn that doesn’t work for you. Identify the two sets of stops that you will use: one for hymns and one for voluntaries. Make sure this selection is not so loud that you can’t hear the people singing and remember that the organ will sound slightly different in an empty church from a full one. Be aware of changes to words/verses in the new book.

And Finally

Stick with it; playing for services is a lot of fun, and the more experience you have, the more you will enjoy it.

Suggested list of hymns to start with

Our choice of easy hymns includes the following:

151 Child in the manger
188 While shepherds watched their flocks by night
207 Forty days and forty nights
217 All glory, laud, and honour
220 Glory be to Jesus
237 O my saviour, lifted
338 Jesus, stand among us
343 We love the place, O God.
365 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
376 Ye holy angles bright
435 O God, unseen, yet ever near
489 Tell me the old, old story
651 Jesus, friend of little children

James Pasley is the assistant organist in Lucan church and is the Chief Architect at Cape Clear Software. Naomi Pasley is the manager of the Education and Clinical Training Department of the Cardiac Services group. Both Naomi and James first learned to play the pipe organ as teenagers in the Athy union of parishes. The experiences gained during this time became the source of many of the tips in this article.

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