Organ method
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    Hi all,

    I, like many, made the transition from playing the piano to playing the organ after many years of piano experience. Because of this, I never "started from the beginning" in terms of an organ learning method.

    If I had a young student who has not played the piano that was interested in learning to play the organ, are there any current "organ method" courses out there? What's the John Thompson course (boy am I dating myself there) for organ?
  • BruceL
    Posts: 1,072
    The Roger Davis "The Organists' Manual" is pretty standard because it has exercises, good repertoire, and plenty of other tidbits on organ design, technique, etc. It's excellent, and a real bargain for the money. Others that are interesting are the George Ritchie/Stauffer "Organ Technique: Modern and Early" and the Gleason manual. There are many others now, too, but these are the ones that stand out in my mind.
  • Jeffrey CogginsJeffrey Coggins
    Posts: 360
    My favorites:

    Method of Organ Playing (Harold Gleason) - comprehensive, very good progression, diverse repertoire
    Organ Technique: Modern and Early (Ritchie/Stauffer) - breaks down modern technique (legato) and early technique (articulated)

    Both have great exercises and repertoire.
  • Nicholas_Will
    Posts: 56
    I, like Bruce, am partial to the Davis method; it's how I learned (with no piano background) and what I use now as a teacher. If you're starting with a child with absolutely no keyboard skills, however, I would suggest Wayne Leupold's series for the beginning organist, "Discover the Organ." I've used it and have been pleased with the results. http://www.wayneleupold.com/organ-teaching-methods.html
  • Andrew Motyka
    Posts: 946
    Thanks, everybody! I'll pick up a few of these and check them out.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,828
    i used gleason
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,232
    Another good one is from Flor Peeters:

    http://www.amazon.com/Little-Organ-Book-Summy-Birchard-Peeters/dp/0874876001
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