Are you a GREAT Hymn-Player or an AWFUL one - and WHAT makes the difference?!?

Someone once said to me, You are a great hymn-player!

Someone also said to me, You are a terrible hymn-player!

Fortunately, I don't get called a terrible hymn-player very often, or recently, but how did I change from terrible to great?!?  Is that even possible?!?

Well, any change is possible - at least any "realistic" change.  In this case of moving from "terrible to great", I think it was much more a case of the "listener's perception" of what I was doing, rather than me moving from awful to great.  I don't think I was ever a terrible hymn-player, but I do believe that my hymn-playing "style" was not the best, or perhaps even wrong!

In this article, I'm going to talk about what I think makes for good hymn-playing.  I'll try to demonstrate with I think makes for good playing, and I'll tell you how I approach the art of hymn-playing.  As in all of my "how to articles" these are my opinions.  Because I believe something, no matter how strongly, does not necessarily make it right.  I can only talk about what is right for me.  You will have to find what is your ideal, but maybe the ideas I'll present will give you a way of thinking about and making your hymn-playing journey!

Before we really get started, I'll answer a few questions that hasn't even been asked:  Are hymns important?   Why should I spend time practicing them?  They aren't "hard" so, I just play them.  Am I supposed to lead the hymns, or should I accompany them?  Is there a difference?

Are hymns important?  YES!  To me, they are probably the MOST important thing a church organist plays.  Playing hymns is a joy and not a chore.  Playing them, especially with a decent singing congregation, is a source of prayer and therapy combined.  If you don't like or have any interest in playing hymns, maybe the organ is not for you! 

I know several excellent organists who have no interest in hymns.  One, who is a brilliant recitalist, but only a mediocre sight-reader and an uninspiring hymn-player, told me that he "on Saturday afternoons, I run through one verse of each hymn for the next day, just so I won't mess anything up."  Well, this is a church that I won't want to attend!  Hymns are important, and each and every hymn must be approached in a fresh and thoughtful manner.  You must know the words, and decide what is the "image" that your playing is trying to convey.  By this, I don't mean, to just "play loud" for the last verse!  Also, if you don't bother to elevate your hymn-playing now, the day may come when you'll really want a particular job - but someone else will get it because your hymns are sloppy or indifferent.  Playing the Final from the Sixth Symphony of Louis Vierne is great and very impressive at an audition, but that alone will not get the "big" job for you!

One last and very important thing about hymn-playing: the organists LEADS the hymns!  He or she NEVER accompanies them!  NEVER!  You accompany the choir, or a soloist, or an instrumentalist, but you LEAD the hymns! 

Some of you may know that I was fired about 18 months ago from a big Roman Catholic parish with a magnificent and historic organ, but a notoriously poor "musical tradition."  Perhaps the biggest reason I was let go was because of my hymn-playing.  In reality, the congregation singing, if you can call it that, had greatly improved during the 4 years that I was there.  However the pastor wanted me to ACCOMPANY the hymns as my wonderful predecessor, who "accompanied" the hymns on a 8' Bourdon, 8' Salicional, 8' Swell Diapason and 4' Flute, with a 16' Bourdon without couplers for the last chords, because he "really doesn't use the foot pedals much".  I should also point out that all this took place in a room that seats around 800 people and has a 5 second reverberation.

My option was to "do as your told - or else!"  As much as I wanted I needed the job, I chose the "or else" option, as I simply could not do what was demanded.  It just was not in me.

Now, you may choose to fight for what you believe in, or you may do what you're told, and keep your mouth shut.  That choice is yours.  I probably could have made my choices in better political ways over the years, but I say again - the organist LEADS the hymns - ALWAYS!

The idea of using the organ to lead the hymns really got its start in the Reformation, when the church moved away from having the choir do all the singing, and virtually all of that a cappella.  If the congregation is going to sing as a corporate group, they are going to need a leader.  This new "congregational music" produced some wonderful results.  Just look at the Lutheran tradition, and think of all those magnificent chorales that we still sing today!

In churches and traditions that did not have any musical instruments, such as the organ, to lead the singing, a "song leader" would begin the phrase with "the gathering note," and the congregation would sort of "join in".  Look at the old tunes for things like metrical psalms.  The melodies are all in a slow tempo and an even rhythm.  The first note of each phrase is often "twice as long" as the others, to allow the leader to start the phrase, and then have the congregation join on.  The most famous of this type of tune must surely be Old Hundredth - the tune we sing with the words, Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.

Now, maybe you know this with all the notes being the same value, but the older and more original version is the one with the starting note of each phrase being L O N G E R, allowing the perhaps slow moving congregation to join on for the ride.

For our purposes, I propose that we look at several different types of hymns, and how we might approach playing them.  Since Christmas is upon us, I'm going to use only Christmas hymns for my demos.

OK, so probably the first thing we notice is the "sound" - the "registrations" that are used. 

I think that all of us would agree that the "basic hymn sound" is always going to be the diapasons or principals.  Probably 8' and 4', but with the 2' if you want a bigger and brighter sound, and without the 4' if the quality you seek is more intimate.  It's probably very risky to not have at least the 8' diapason on.  You need something that will give the sound the "presence" that it needs, and without, the sound is apt to be "indecisive."  Now, I'm talking about CONGREGATIONAL HYMNS here, and not "choir hymns," which will want a softer sound, generally speaking.

For me, I almost always want at least some reed tone in the mix, and the likely candidate is our good friend, "Mr. Swell Oboe" who can add so much to the sound.  The "English way" makes good use of the "Full Swell" which would be the the Diapasons 8' 4' 2', the Mixture (NOT a high-pitched screamer!) and the Reeds - probably at 16' and 8'.  A 16' Fagotto, or "light" reed will do more "double duty" than a BIG Double Trumpet, but this powerful reed can be very effective, if the player uses the Swell box correctly.  If you want "extra fire," then be daring and add the 4' Clarion too!

Speaking of the "use of the Swell box," I think that this is VERY important.  Don't just put on the Full Swell and bang away, or it's apt to be WAY-TOO-LOUD!  You need to use the Swell, for shading, for effects, and for your grand crescendo.  One of the skills that you will have to develop is playing an active pedal part WHILE managing the swell box!  You'll need this skill in a lot of the organ literature, so, learning the technique with hymns is a good building block,

As to the Great division, if I have a large enough congregation who are good singers, I won't hesitate to add the Great 2' and Mixture, and even the 8' Trumpet, to bring out the majesty and energy of the music and the TEXT.  I highlighted that word for a reason, so, let's come back to it in a minute.

The Pedal should "match the Great" in volume.  If you have an "English-style organ" with a Great & Pedal Combinations ON, than by all means USE IT!  If your pistons are properly set, using your Great divisional pistons will balance the pedal "automatically," assuming that you have set them correctly.

For me, I like a "slightly heavy" pedal in the "bigger" hymns.  It provides a true foundation that is FELT as well as heard, another provides a better "tonal picture" of the greatness of God than a solid pedal!  The feel of the solid bass "rolling around" a big room is a special sensation that nothing else can duplicate.

So much for registration basics, but what should be the "guideline" for determining all of these things?

Well, we'll get to that in a few more sentences...

What about the age-old question of "tied" versus "repeated" notes in the inner parts of the hymn.  What should we do with those?

The answers are as many and as varied as there are organists.  For me, I probably repeat more of these "inner notes" than do many organists.  I'm not talking about staccato notes, or the old Dupré-Bach rule that "each repeated note gets half the written value, followed by an equally long rest" idea!  I just like to use these "repeaters" to increase energy, vitality and excitement.  Judiciously done, they can provide rhythmic clarity and authority even in a quiet hymn.

The acoustic, the volume of your registration, the use in the service, etc. will all go to determining the mood that I want to create, and how much "lift" these repeated notes should have.  You don't want to be too "bumpy," but a good, SLIGHTLY detached touch with energy will get more response from you congregation more than will playing FFF!

But even all these musical ideas and possibilities added together can no determine the purpose or "feel" of any hymn.  The only thing that can do this is the TEXT!  What is the hymn about?  What is the meaning of the poem?  What is the "feeling" we want to convey to the congregation, and get them to respond to?

These questions, if we are sensitive, will determine the speed, the volume, the touch, the message and the motivation.  Hymns aren't just pieces of "music," are they?  They are "religious poems set to music" and serve the purpose of beautifying, elaborating and enhancing the worship experience.

Also, WE, the organist MUST sing!!!  Want to find out if your tempos are too slow?  Sing along while you play.  For me, I can't play a hymn without singing - at least internally, but even better, externally.  It's not about your voice.  It's about you, playing the organ in a way that will inspire and lead many other voices.

Lastly, let's talk briefly about our role as THE musical leader of the services we play.  I mentioned this earlier in the article, but it's worth saying againd that we are not followers or accompanists, we are leaders!  It's not just a case of volume, but it's all about our desire, our interest, our readiness to step up and LEAD our congregations!  Do you play with conviction?  Is your intent clear when you play a hymn - or do you just get through it to get it out of the way?

Being a church musician is not easy.  You're probably going to need a thick skin and the will to "survive" if you're going to make it in the business.  Don't give up, don't be intimidated, and don't just "do what your told" - even if you know it's all wrong.  In the long run, you'll regret allowing yourself to be dictated to.  It may keep the job for you (for awhile), but you'll lose your musicianship.

However, learn to act professionally, and handle your disputes and disagreements with professionalism and humor.  If you can do that, and it's not easy, you WILL succeed - not only in playing your hymns, but in doing well in this very demanding profession.

To borrow and paraphrase a line from A Charlie Brown Christmas, "THAT'S what hymn-playing is all about, Charlie Brown!

Here we are in the season of Advent, with the great festival of Christmas already standing in the hallway, waiting to enter!  What a challenge and an opportunity we organists have.  We can, in many ways, make the soon-to-be-upon-us Christmas services a triumph or a bomb!  Which will it be?

Turn on the organ motor, and let's find out!

So, I've decided to do a few "quick hymn demos" to illustrate some of my points and ideas.  When I say "quick," I mean something "not prepared," and not quick in terms of tempo.  These are all pretty spontaneous, and to be honest, my playing sounds a bit "tired" when I listen to them.

As I said earlier, I've chosen to use only Christmas hymns, with the hope of keeping this "in the season," so to speak.  All of these hymns were taken from The Hymnal 1982 of the American Episcopal Church.  It's by NO means my favorite hymnal, but it was the one laying on the top shelf of my book case.

The first hymn, I'll use is Good Christian friends, rejoice.  This shows the idea of "building up" each verse by successively adding stops.  It also demonstrates the idea of "repeating the inner notes," as I've done quite a bit of repeating here.  The organ used for this and for all these hymn examples is the E M Skinner of Chicago's Holy Rosary Church, and sampled by Milan digital audio.  This Skinner, is not as "perfect" for playing hymns as something like the Salisbury Willis, but it will serve to demonstrate nicely the issues at hand.

Here is the link for this hymn: https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/18876

The second hymn is the well-known "American" version of It came upon the midnight clear.  This performance should demonstrate the verbal phrasing, the maintenance of the tempo and rhythm while keeping the feel "light," and the use of dynamics and registration to help "paint" the text picture.

Here is the link for this hymn: https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/18877

The third hymn is probably the "famous" of the two tunes in common usage for the American carol, Away in a manger.  The Hymnal 1982 provides the harmonization by Ralph Vaughan Williams, as did the previous, 1940 Hymnal.  We all know the importance of him as a composer, and this is nothing "wrong" with this accompaniment.  However a poor or careless performance will send "amateurish" at best.  I've SLIGHTY smoothed and "filled out" his writing, but have not changed a single note of the harmony.  I have only "filled out" the texture a bit.

Here is the link for this hymn: https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/18879

The final hymn is the American spiritual, Go tell it on the mountain.  I've tried to swing and syncopate this as it really goes, and I've tried to be "clever" with a few subtle variations - such as a brief canon, a few grace notes in the pedal, and the "feel" of keeping the first part of the melody continuing through the second part.  While this is not at all the "norm" for my own hymn-playing, I would play it like this, if I had the occasion to play this for a service.

Here is the link for this hymn: https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/18880

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