Most people don’t own a Hammond Organ in their homes.
They want to get better, but they think it’s impossible without a physical organ to practice on.
But I disagree.
During quarantine I’ve still had to teach my gospel organ classes at Berklee.
And my students are continuously getting better…
(Notice how she was changing the organ settings using her MIDI keyboard?)
How am I teaching this?
By mixing a little creativity with the principles that I teach in my “Gospel Organ Bootcamp” course.
First I teach them the detailed nuances & concepts of the organ style we’re working on in the class.
This includes:
Bass notes & articulation, moving smoothly with the hands through chords, timing Leslie switches and drawbar controls, legato playing, chord voicings and more.
Secondly, I have them record the bass pedals into music software (GarageBand, Logic Pro X etc…) and I make them practice with the hands with the bass line they pre-recorded.
This is great because even though they aren’t physically on an organ, they can use the bass pedal knowledge I’ve given them to work on:
- Approaches
- Chromatic movement with passing chords
- Articulation (legato & staccato bass notes)
- And coordination between their hands and “feet”.
And they can also play PHANTOM PEDALS on the floor while they play the chords on their keyboard.
(I personally did this to improve my pedal playing before I purcahsed my organ…it WORKS)
I say all that to say…
You can still improve your organ playing at the crib.
All you need to do is to learn the bass pedal, chord voicings & organ control nuances of each gospel music genre of gospel organ playing (CCM, traditional, praise breaks etc…), and record the basslines and practice.
If you don’t know the detailed “in’s & out’s” of each gospel organ genre I highly recommend that you invest in my “Gospel Organ Bootcamp” course.
At the very least you’ll understand:
- HOW all the great organists approach the Hammond organ.
- How to voice chords on organ
- The secrets to playing smoothly in your hands
- Drawbar settings for different worship moments
- How to play different gospel music genres on organ
- Build coordination
- And much more…
You can learn more about Gospel Organ Bootcamp here
And remember –
“If you can THINK like a pro, you can PLAY like a pro”
Vaughn Brathwaite