How hard is it to play organ?

gogofast

gogofast

Addicted Member
I have never took a formal piano lesson in my life, and only know just very very basics and can manage to play something really easy...like first few pages of the Moonlight Sonata. I've played guitar for 30 years and some drumming last 5-6 years, and I'm beginning to wonder if I can learn to play the organ. How hard do you think it will be? Any suggestions? Proven online lessons or sources maybe?

Is organ easier than piano? or same?
 
Depends on the complexity and type of organ.

If we're talking about the biggest instruments...

Considerably more coordination is required to operate multiple manuals (keyboards) and the pedalboard if the organ has one.

The "action" (feel of the keys) varies between instruments depending on if the organ is electro-mechanical or purely mechanical (tracker) operation.

The size of the instrument, the acoustics of the building, and the construction of the instrument give each organ different delays between a key press and a sound. It takes a bit of getting used to playing ahead of what you're hearing. Each organ has it's own "personality".

You're also dealing with stops (combining ranks of pipes with different sounds) and couplers (operating multiple manuals from a single manual or pedalboard), often switching stops on the fly which requires even more coordination.

Then you have swell pedals that operate louvres to increase or decrease volume of certain ranks.

So, yes, playing the organ has many more (or at least different) challenges than piano. But there's nothing like operating an instrument that is literally part of a building.
 
I've never really gotten the hang of keyboard instruments, after playing guitar/bass/drums for 30 years or so. I can work out passages and arrangements when recording my own songs, but that's about the extent of my abilities. I've never had the patience or focus to work at it.
Like anything, if you want it enough, you'll find a way.
 
"pain is inevitable, but misery is optional. we cannot avoid pain, but we can avoid joy."
Click to expand...

I had a root canal started a couple weeks ago and have to go back to the dentist the 15th to have it finished. There's no more pain like I had before the root canal.



I bought a Hammond S6 from a thrift store years ago, put in the missing tubes and got it working. I didn't think it was too complicated. There's a lot of demos on youtube you can look at.
 
I'm playing with mine right now ...

(ba dump dump) ;-}

Actually not all that difficult if you've got the time to put in the practice. Persistence mostly - I usually go lax come summer and it takes a while to get back to where I was when I stopped. Also depends on what you want to accomplish ... pick up a few tunes for parties, or play a concerto without having the masters rolling in their graves?
 
Played for eight years or so "formally" From 8 to 16 I picked a Wurlitzer 4500, I should have picked the Hammond...I woul dstill have it if I did.

IMHO the guitar is "harder" FWIW

You can get a used organ around here for free. Folks just want them moved out.

There are some really nice keyboards out there.
 
As with any instrument it depends how far you want to take it.
Do you crave first chair in the symphony or are you fine with third.
As willyrover mentioned in post #2, it can get pretty complicated as with church organs and such, or pretty simple if you go the Farfisa route.
Mostly depends on how much effort and time you can put into it, and what your final goal is.
Myself, I'm in chair four. Never could afford a decent keyboard to learn on.
Play some drums and darn good bass myself, but #1 is my guitar. Something always has to fall in second place.
 
There's a whole "nation" of people out there who can play an electric piano with auto accompaniment. You just have to learn the chords and for most popular tunes you can work out the progressions and busk the right hand. It's not hard as I did to teach yourself.
It depends how much time you want to devote to learning, if you want to be able to play it like a real piano.
I contribute to a message board dedicated to Yamaha electric piano players. We upload our efforts to "Box." I've over 150 recordings on there.
After a while you can pretty much manage most tunes. I use my efforts mostly as backing tracks for my (badly played) tenor sax. I'm not dedicated enough to want to spend hours every day to improve beyond my modest capabilities.

For example I watched an ELO concert on TV the other night and worked out and was able to busk one of the tunes the following day. With an electric piano it's quite easy.

https://app.box.com/s/2xmirb2lxksibwul3ij9yzajoy0vpaai

Using the jazz chords is a bit harder.

https://app.box.com/s/ve7svq77gbovhmqaih02ss1lt8eat8hg



Of course to play a "proper two manual organ" takes years.
Particularly one with foot pedals.

 
If we're talking entry level ... Whatever happened to these lil guys?

IMG_0293.jpg


Remarkable for it's price with very good voicing, full size keys, and built in speakers. Novice training in software with decent feedback. Serial and DIN I/O, so you'd need an adapter card to plug into a newer computer. Oh ... and a floppy drive. <G>

* I've seen the software on CD rom, and I understand they also ported it to a game cartridge for Nintendo ...
 
One thing you can try is getting a midi keyboard and midi to computer interface cable for connection to a desk top sound card that has a midi connector. Install some software and try playing with that. There's a lot of free software, too. I haven't tried that, but I do have a midi keyboard that I've tried with an Emu Vintage Keys module and a drum machine. I have the midi to computer interface cable, but haven't tried that, but have been planning to, if I can fit it in with my other projects that are waiting in line.
 
A lot of people upgrade their pianos, so their old ones end up on eBay, at very reasonable prices. Modern pianos are quite reliable. I've had mine for sixteen years and it still works perfectly.
 
Playing the organ is like welding - it's easy to learn how. Getting good - that takes a lot of time and practice.
 
Country Joe & The Fish interview with David Bennett Cohen

I started out playing guitar because I didn't have an organ, but the band bought me a Farfisa organ and I started playing that. Of course, I had no idea of what to do with it, so I started to steal my own guitar licks. I would get these reviews saying what a unique style I had. The reality was that I had no idea what I was doing. Of course, eventually I did learn to play it.
Click to expand...

http://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2012/10/country-joe-fish-interview-with-david.html


Section 43 - Country Joe and the Fish - Monterey
 
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Guess it boils down to how well your muscle memory is and as pointed out what level of ability you want to attain. As well some people adapt to a stringed instrument a lot faster than the keyed units while some learn faster with the wind instruments. Then there are some who mostly excel in only turning knobs in the creation of music. Occasionally there are the few who know no barriers in mastering more than one musical instrument. Innate ability?

Q2
 
You mean like someone who can sing, play jazz trumpet and any sort of saxophone?

Andrea Motis who is Catalonian.


Vocal with some scat singing 2014 at eighteen, She's singing a saxophone solo that had some lyrics added many years ago, to the tune of "I'm in the mood for love."


Vocal and trumpet 2013 at seventeen


Alto sax last year at nineteen.


Let it run, more students of the Sant Andreau jazz band. A Spanish jazz music school.
 
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