Anyone play the organ?

[chris's girl]

We are getting a free one, and I wanted to know if anyone plays, how hard it is to learn, and how well playing one transfers to playing the piano. I've wanted my kids to learn to play the piano, but have not had the $$ to buy a piano for practice or for lessons. When someone asked us if we want an organ, I thought "close enough". lol. Probably faulty thinking there, but I am hoping it's at least a useful skill our kids can learn.

[GraceinMD]

We are getting a free one' date=' and I wanted to know if anyone plays, how hard it is to learn, and how well playing one transfers to playing the piano. I've wanted my kids to learn to play the piano, but have not had the $$ to buy a piano for practice or for lessons. When someone asked us if we want an organ, I thought "close enough". lol. Probably faulty thinking there, but I am hoping it's at least a useful skill our kids can learn.[/quote']

 

Someone with more experience than I will hopefully give a more articulate answer, but here's mine: I have played piano since I was about 4, and when I was about 23 took organ lessons. The ability to read music was very helpful, and the "muscle memory" involved in knowing 'where' the keys are (in relation to one another) was helpful, since it is essentially the same for both instruments. However, on an organ you have to hold the note for as long as it's written for, and that means that you have to hold that note down until you play the next one. As soon as you release the key, the sound stops. A piano is, of course, different. The practical result of this is that sometimes, when playing the organ, you end up (or at least I do :lol:) with some very odd, awkward-looking fingerings, when trying to move fingers around to hold down the first note while reaching for the next.

 

I do suppose, though, that if your children are beginning keyboardists, then what they learn on instrument #1 will carry over to instrument #2 (when you get that $$ for a piano someday!), and, being kids, will learn to adjust easily.

[Momofeat]

I also learned how to play the piano first & then the organ. I'm afraid I'm not sure about the transfer of learning, but I have to say that I really enjoyed playing it. I thought it was more challenging than the piano.

 

Hopefully someone else with more experience will chime in soon. :)

[Rosie_0801]

A friend told me piano transfers to organ, but organ doesn't transfer to piano. I can't remember why she said that was the case, so I'm no help, am I? Anyway, a free organ in your house is worth more than a piano still in the shop. My inlaws taught themselves to play, so there must be resources for self teaching out there.

 

Rosie

[nono]

A friend told me piano transfers to organ, but organ doesn't transfer to piano.

Rosie

 

I would tend to think this is true. I was an organist. Why I'm thinking the above is true is that learning chords with one's left hand has to be way easier than learning to play notes with the second hand.

 

Playing the organ is a worthwhile endeavor on its own (and it gave me something fun and responsible to do at church while I was still quite young ;)).

[chris's girl]

Thanks, everyone! Interesting. Now we just have to find someone to teach them to play. :P

[Whereneverever]

Does it have foot pedals? Those were a harder adjustment for me then the hands issues.

[iammommy]

What brand of organ is it? If it's a Lowrey, it's very simple. No worries about pedals or anything.

 

Nan

[songbirdie]

I have played piano for 34 years and organ for 18. I can tell you that if what you want is piano lessons, then you need a piano. For the first year they would be fine to practice on an organ if they were taking piano lessons, but then you'd need a piano after that first year. The general music reading knowledge and keyboard geography absolutely does transfer from organ to piano and vice versa, but the technique is totally different. Why not just give them organ lessons since you have an organ. Then when you get a piano, they could switch to piano lessons. If you take them to a piano teacher, I'd be sure the teacher knows they will be practicing on an organ. There will be things she needs to adjust in her teaching if she knows this. I teach piano group-lessons in a music school and the young children (age 4-6) learn to play first on an organ and then move to piano after that. So it DOES transfer to the piano.

[Dmmetler]

One of our church organists is an accordion player (it was his first instrument), and he said accordion-organ was easy, but piano to organ was hard, because his hands almost never had to "share" on organ (or accordion).

 

I think you'll have a much easier time finding teaching materials and teachers for piano vs beginning organ, too.

[Xander]

We are getting a free one' date=' and I wanted to know if anyone plays, how hard it is to learn, and how well playing one transfers to playing the piano. I've wanted my kids to learn to play the piano, but have not had the $$ to buy a piano for practice or for lessons. When someone asked us if we want an organ, I thought "close enough". lol. Probably faulty thinking there, but I am hoping it's at least a useful skill our kids can learn.[/quote']

 

A lot depends on what type of organ you're talking about.

 

I turned down an offer of a free organ (at a time when I was actively looking for one) because it was a home entertainment organ, not a classical instrument.

The one I was offered had one octave of straight pedals, set to the left, and the two manuals were offset from each other and had a limited compass. I needed an instrument with at least 2 full (minimum 4 and a half octave, preferably 5 octave) manuals and a full (30-32 note, preferably radiating concave) pedalboard.

However, we already had a piano and a 5-octave keyboard, so it wasn't a choice between the free home entertainment organ and nothing. Although, had that been the case, I think I would have opted for "nothing" and kept the space available for an inexpensive keyboard or digital piano.

 

Any keyboard instrument with full-size keys and a reasonable compass will suffice for developing basic keyboard facility. The playing techniques are different on each instrument though, so there'll be some adjusting to do when you switch.

 

I don't think that a home entertainment organ would be very difficult to learn, but I wouldn't go that route myself. Church/classical organ is definitely a lot more challenging than the piano, but you're a lot less likely to be offered one of those.

It's possible to treat either type as a basic keyboard - just ignore the pedalboard, the expression pedals, most of the stops and, in the case of a home entertainment organ, any built-in rhythms. Use just one manual and a clear 8' stop.

 

If it /is/ a classical organ, it would be worth considering having them learn to play it properly in its own right. Decent organists are always in demand and it opens the door to organ scholarships at top universities.

 

Hope that helps,

Alex

[mom2abcd]

I play both organ and piano. They are two quite different instruments as far as learning to play them. Your kids can learn to read music and make their fingers go on the correct keys with an organ, but if they are truly learning to play the organ correctly, they will be learning a much different "touch" than they would on the piano.

 

Organ keys depress very easily. You must hold them down and "slide" into the next notes. (This is for hymns and most music. Some music is fun played using a staccato method.)

 

Depending on what kind of organ you have and what kind of books you use, organ can sound more impressive faster. If the kids try what they know on the piano, it may sound clunky and not as nice, which could be discouraging. They may form habits on the organ that would be detrimental for their piano experience.

 

Personally, I would try to get a piano or a keyboard with full-size, weighted keys and let them learn to play the piano first before moving on to the organ.

[LuvToRead]

I play the piano, and have played an organ, but I don't play an organ regularly. The most difficulty I have with an organ is using the foot pedals. I honestly can't tell you how learning to play an organ would transfer to a piano.