The Release
The pianist usually finds it difficult to achieve a smooth (legato) connection from chord to chord at the organ. As the fingers release the keys and move to new ones, there is no sustaining pedal to keep the tones sounding, and the earlier tones cease before the new tones are ready to sound. The resulting choppy effect can be prevented by applying a few techniques that are more or less peculiar to the organ.
One important reason for increasing your awareness of the release of the tone is to achieve a legato connection between tones or chords. Legato organ fingering techniques (see the list to the right) allow the organist to keep a key depressed until it is time for the attack of a new key.
Legato organ pedaling techniques serve the same function for the feet.
