• Welcome to the Pipe Organ Forum! This is a part of the open community Magle International Music Forums focused on pipe organs (also known as "church organs"), organists, organ music and related topics.

    This forum is intended to be a friendly place where technically advanced organists and beginners (or even non-organists) can feel comfortable having discussions and asking questions. We learn by reading and asking questions, and it is hoped that the beginners (or non-organists) will feel free to ask even the simplest questions, and that the more advanced organists will patiently answer these questions. On the other hand, we encourage complex, technical discussions of technique, music, organ-building, etc. The opinions and observations of a diverse group of people from around the world should prove to be interesting and stimulating to all of us.

    As pipe organ discussions can sometimes become lively, it should be pointed out that this is an open forum. Statements made here are the opinion of the poster, and not necessarily that of the forum itself, its administrator, or its moderators.

    In order to post a new topic - or reply to existing ones - you may join and become a member by clicking on Register New User. It's completely free and only requires a working email address (in order to confirm your registration - it will never be given away!). We strive to make this a friendly and informative forum for anyone interested in pipe organs and organ music.

    (Note: If you wish to link to and promote your own website please read this thread first.)

    Many kind regards
    smile.gif

    Frederik Magle
    Administrator

    Krummhorn
    Co-Administrator

The organist's bible?

Organiste

New member
Rwcently, someone told me about a friend who had started organ lessons again as an adult. The first thing the teacher asked her to do was to buy an essential -- but expensive -- organ book (or series?) for about $1000. He didn't remember what it was. I'm very curious. Any ideas about what it might be?

Anne
 

wljmrbill

Member
LOL..well for $1000.00 I couldn't and wouldn't have bought it! There are a number of good basic organ study books available but not in this range for sure.. A teacher worth their salt I would think would not need such a text.. Heck I remember writing out exercises by hand for students who couldn't afford much music books/ material and loaning them my music.. but I came up poor and remember what it was like to this day. I remember my first piano was a cardboard keyboard to practice on and only at my teachers house having a real piano to touch.. and this went on for months until I found a church that would let me practice there.Maybe Lars is familiar with this Bible.

The following come to mind:methods/ technique.. Sir John Stainer, Harold Gleason, Keeler/Blackham
 
Last edited:

Nikam

New member
.... I remember my first piano was a cardboard keyboard to practice on and only at my teachers house having a real piano to touch.. and this went on for months until ......

We had similar beginnings then Bill, for my practice sessions were on the dining-room table, on a piano keyboard sized strip of brown wrapping paper (in the days when it was strong :grin: ) my father having painstakingly measured and marked out the correct number of keys, with the black keys duly coloured in. Often have I appreciated his ingenuity.:clap:

As for $1000 for an essential (???) organ book, well, someone's having a laugh! Outrageous!
 
Last edited:

dll927

New member
It seems like in every endeavor there is somebody who wants to cater to the "upscale" user. This must be a case in point. Ever eat dinner at the French Laundry in Yountville, CA? You can go on their website and get an idea of their prices. (No, I have not eaten there.)

When I took organ lessons, my book was the old Stainer one. I remember learning an "Andante Cantabile" from one of Widor's organ 'symphonies'. I was in high school, and I (read my parents) did not pay $1,000 for any of my music books. Sixty years later, I still wouldn't.
 

pcnd5584

New member
Rwcently, someone told me about a friend who had started organ lessons again as an adult. The first thing the teacher asked her to do was to buy an essential -- but expensive -- organ book (or series?) for about $1000. He didn't remember what it was. I'm very curious. Any ideas about what it might be?

Anne

You might want to check to see if this teacher enjoys regular holidays in the Virgin Islands - or perhaps the Bahamas. (Or whether they drive a Porsche 911....)

It sounds distinctly unlikely to me. I would never ask (or expect) any student of mine to purchase such expensive source-material. There is a wealth of resources available - none of which would cost anything like this amount.

For a start, depending on how far the student got the first time, J S Bach's Eight Short Preludes and Fugues might be suitable. In the UK, this retails at around the equivalent of approximately $15.00.
 
Last edited:

Albert

New member
A book to which I often still return is Ernst Kaller's Orgelschule (notated in English, French and German). The pedal exercises take up several pages at the beginning of the first book of the two volume set with comments such as "Also in Bb, G, D, A, Eb, Ab", leaving a two line exercise to be rather daunting. The book is to convert pianists to the organ, according to the introduction.
 

musicalis

Member
Rwcently, someone told me about a friend who had started organ lessons again as an adult. The first thing the teacher asked her to do was to buy an essential -- but expensive -- organ book (or series?) for about $1000. He didn't remember what it was. I'm very curious. Any ideas about what it might be?

Anne

Hi. My own organ book is only 33 USD for 330 pages. For 1000 $ it would be 10000 pages. It's funny. I wonder how many pages has the 1000 $ book !!!!!
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Anne,

My organ tutor insisted that I purchase the Gleason Method of Organ Playing ... it cost a total of $4.95 in 1961. Now 52 years later, I still have that book although it's been superseded by more recent versions, but still a valuable resource that I often use just to keep honed up in my organ playing skills.

That same teacher also insisted on me buying 'organ shoes' ... that first pair cost $12 (USD-1061). So, for a grand total of $16.95 (USD) I learned to play the organ.
My parents paid for my lessons, at least for the first 4 years, thereafter I was employed in a church job and could pay my own way for those valuable sessions.

The Gleason publication is rather pricey these days ... certainly not anywhere near the $1,000 range ... the Stainer publication is equally as good imho, and can be found at very affordable prices. I would never invest $1,000 in one book or a series of books ... me thinks that the person asking that of you has a vested interest in that kind of publication and is planning a nice trip to the Bahamas in the near future.

Kh ♫
 
Top