What a gem of a post! This brought back so many memories of me as a fourteen year old being asked to play organ for Sunday-School years ago. The only instruction I remember receiving from the ward (parish) organist was to “glide your fingers like an octopus over the keys to obtain a legato or sustained sound. Haha! What a shame I didn’t have Tim Topham on RU-vid way back then! I had to rely on a lot of hard practice each week. And a lot of prayer to calm my trembling hands on Sunday morning! I substituted recently for our regular organist too! Thanks for sharing, as always, Tim! 🥰🎶
Thank you,thank you! Yes, I'm a piano player, and my new church had an electric organ, and assumed I could play it,lol so I'm very excited to have found your site!
Thank you Tim this is great! I know Melbourne offers lots of magnificent churches and musical infrastructures and I’m glad too see someone showing us around the operation.
I was asked to play keyboard for a funeral. It turned out to be an electronic organ. I had no idea how to play an organ. I couldn’t change the volume, and had to nod to the minister so he could let the mourners know when to stand for the hymns, and when they finished! When the family tried to pay me, I felt so bad that I refused! Needless to say, I now ensure that a keyboard means a piano keyboard before I agree to play.
