The New Ward Organist
Eight video lessons to assist the pianist in getting started as an organist for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The free YouTube videos are hosted by Dr. Don Cook of the Brigham Young University Organ Department, with graduate students Samantha Adair, Amber Dahlberg, and Taryn Harding.
Click the links below to watch the individual lessons.
Lesson 1 – Introduction (Cook) 2:34
- How to use this video series to get started on the
organ bench
Lesson 2 – How to Start Playing the Organ (Adair) 8:13
- How to turn it on
- Names of keyboards
- Stops
- Thumb pistons: “Generals” & “Divisionals”
- Expression pedals
- Crescendo pedal
- Toe studs
- Organ shoes
- Adjusting the bench
- General cancel
Lesson 3 – Choosing Organ Stops (Dahlberg) 9:43
- Families of organ tone
- Pitches of organ stops
- Mutations
- Couplers
- How to register a jubilant hymn
- How to register a meditative hymn
- How to register prelude and postlude
- Saving registrations
- General and divisional pistons
Lesson 4 – How to Play a Hymn (Harding) 10:37
- What if I can’t play with my feet yet?
- Choosing stops for a hymn
- Common stop names by category
- How do I begin to play a hymn?
- Exercises to practice fingering techniques
- Orienting yourself at the pedalboard
- How do I know what part of my foot to use?
- Putting it together: Learning the hymn, “Nearer,
My God, to Thee”
Lesson 5 – How to Play the Pedals (Adair) 10:22
- Organ shoes
- Adjusting the bench
- Notation and markings for pedaling
- Technique: knees and feet together
- Don’t look down: prelocate
- What part of the pedal key do I play on?
- Some advanced techniques
- Two hymn pedaling examples
Lesson 6 – Advancing Your Hymn Playing (Harding) 11:14
- Chorus registration
- Exercises to practice repeated notes
- Collection of hymns with repeated notes edited: Carol Dean marked hymnbook
- Exercises to practice more advanced legato fingering techniques
Lesson 7 – Prelude and Postlude Tips (Dahlberg) 6:04
- A great list of prelude and postlude music
- Tip #1: Time your music
- Tip #2: Length of prelude and postlude
- Tip #3: Concluding prelude
- Tip #4: What music should I play?
- Tip #5: How to choose registration (with three examples)
- Tip #6: Postlude
Lesson 8 – Continuing Your Organ Training (Cook) 10:44
- Find an organ teacher
- BYU Independent Study organ courses
- BYU Organ Workshop
- BYU Traveling Organ Workshops
- BYU Organ Workshops Facebook Group
- OrganTutor Online
- BYU Musicians Summerfestival
- Find the nearest American Guild of Organists (AGO) chapter
- The AGO website
- BYU Organ Study website
A playlist of all eight videos can be found at link below.
Links to the free New Ward Organist packet and a free packet of simplified hymns are available in the description under each video, and are linked below.
For questions or more information email organ@byu.edu.