1. Exploring a Pipe Organ with CATO
Derby and District Organists’ Association
Exploring a Pipe Organ with CATO
Notes for teachers appear in this panel.
Children and the Organ Project

2. The console is where the organist sits to play the organ.
The black and white notes look like a piano keyboard, except that, unlike a piano, there are several keyboards.
The keyboards are called ‘manuals’.
This is a typical 3-manuals and pedals console. If it is detatched from the organ, it is linked to the organ by electric cables. If it is integrated into the organ case, the keys, pedals and stops are likely to be connected to the organ mechanism through a complex system of levers.

3. This manual is connected to the Great Organ.
This console has three manuals, each connected to a different part of the organ.
This manual is connected to the Great Organ.
The stops for the Great Organ are here.
In a three-manual organ, the Great is always the middle manual. In a two-manual organ the Great is the lower manual. The stops for the Great are usually on the right hands side of the console.

4. Here are the stops and the manual for the Swell Organ.
And the stops and manual for the Choir Organ.
The Swell manual is always above the Great manual. The stops for the Swell are usually on the left hand side of the console.

5. The stops for the Pedal Organ are here.

6. ♪ Think of some reasons why it is useful to have more than one manual.
Two or more manuals allow a:
quick change of tone or loudness.
contrast of tone between the manuals
tune to be played with a different tone from an accompaniment

7. The organ at Melbourne Parish Church has two manuals.
The upper manual is for the Swell and the lower for the Great.

8. The organ at St Alban’s Abbey has four manuals.
The top manual is for the ‘Solo’ organ which contains several stops which are often used for giving prominence to a tune of single notes. The lower three manuals are for the Swell, Great and Choir organs.

9. The Wanamaker organ in Philadelphia has six manuals.
This is a very unusual organ in a variety of ways. From the lowest, the manuals are for the Choir, Great, Swell, Solo, Ethereal and Stentor divisions. There are a further four divisions which may be linked to any of the six manuals: Echo, String, Vox humana chorus, Orchestral and Percussion. There are 463 ranks and 28,677 pipes. A full description of this organ and its history may be found at

10. Changing the stops
When you pull out a stop, a rank of pipes becomes connected to the manual. Each stop is connected to a different rank of pipes.
♪ Give some reasons why it is useful to have several different stops for each manual.
The selection of different stops provides a variety of tone and loudness.

11. Combining several stops
When you press a thumb piston or toe piston, several stops come out at the same time.
These pistons are useful for selecting the stops you want very quickly. In general you get a louder sound when you pull out more stops.

12. Manuals coupled or uncoupled
If you pull out a coupler stop like ‘Swell to Great’, you can play both manuals at the same time, combining their sounds.
♪ Explain why the organist might want to couple two manuals together.
Without the coupler, the organ can sound like two different voices playing different tunes at the same time, with the left hand on one manual and the right hand on another.
When manuals are coupled, the pipes for both manuals may be played together making an even louder sound than a manual on its own.

13. ♪ What sort of tone do the pedals give to the sound of the organ?
Playing the pedals
When you play the pedals, you move the foot from the ankle, pressing the keys with the toe or the heel. Organists learn to feel the keys without looking at their feet. The gaps between the ‘black’ notes help them to do this.
♪ What sort of tone do the pedals give to the sound of the organ?
The stops for the pedals generally have a low bass tone giving a throbbing foundation to the sound of the manuals.
The ‘Great to Pedal’ is an example of a coupler stop which does not produce any sound on its own but facilitates the playing of the lower half of the manual with the feet.
If you pull out the ‘Great to Pedal’ coupler stop, the pedals also play notes on the Great Organ.

14. gradually increases the loudness of the Swell organ.
Swell pedal
When you rock the
Swell pedal away from
you with your toe, it
gradually increases the
loudness of the Swell organ.
Rocking the pedal backwards by pushing your heel down makes the organ softer.
♪ What is the musical word for making the music gradually louder?
♪ What is the musical word for making the music gradually softer?
Gradually louder: crescendo
Gradually softer: diminuendo

15. ♪ Think of three things which your feet have to do at the console.
Hands and feet
Playing with both hands and feet at the same time needs careful practice to keep everything together. When you play a chord (several notes together), your fingers must press the notes down at the same time as your toe or heel on the pedals. To finish the chord, you must lift your fingers and feet at exactly the same time.
Remember that on the organ the pipes make a sound all the time while a key is pressed, unlike a piano where the sound dies away after you press a note.
Hands: press keys, pull stops, press combination thumb pistons, turn pages
Feet: press pedals, operate Swell pedal, press combination toe pistons
♪ Think of four things which your hands have to control at the console.
♪ Think of three things which your feet have to do at the console.

16. ... and don’t forget to turn the music pages.
Multi-tasking
Hands
Feet
Eyes
Ears
There is plenty to do...
... plenty to look at...
... plenty to listen to...
... and don’t forget to turn the music pages.
Playing an organ requires multi-tasking.
Cartoon by Gerard Hoffnung

17. Hands and feet together
What have you learned?
Console
Playing the notes
Playing the pedals
Changing stops
Combining stops
Hands and feet together
This slide may be used for revising the points covered in this topic.
Thumb pistons
Toe pistons
Coupling manuals
Changing manuals
Swell pedal
Turning pages

18. Children and the Organ Project
Materials prepared by Laurence Rogers for the
Children and the Organ Project
Team:
Stephen Johns
James Muckle
Edmund Stow
Gillian Chatto
Laurence Rogers
John Forster
Chris Darrall
Sponsored by
Derby and District Organists’ Association

19. Children and the Organ Project
Derby and District Organists’ Association
Children and the Organ Project
The project aims to introduce young children to the fascinating world of pipe organs through practical workshops and fun activities. The building and playing of organs being such multi-disciplinary activities, their study has numerous spin-offs for the school curriculum.
For more information, visit our website:

20. Copyright notice
Copyright owner:Derby & District Organists’ Association
This PowerPoint presentation and the accompanying worksheets are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Licence
The work may be copied by not-for-profit organisations for educational use, provided due attribution to the copyright owner is given.
Commercial use of the materials is prohibited.
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