1. Derby and District Organists’ Association Exploring a Pipe Organ with CATO 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’.

3. 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.

4. Here are the stops and the manual for the Swell Organ. And the stops and manual for the Choir Organ.

5. The stops for the Pedal Organ are here.

6. ♪ Think of some reasons why it is useful to have more than one manual.

7. The organ at Melbourne Parish Church has two manuals.

8. The organ at St Alban’s Abbey has four manuals.

9. The Wanamaker organ in Philadelphia has six manuals.

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.

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.

13. 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? If you pull out the ‘Great to Pedal’ coupler stop, the pedals also play notes on the Great Organ.

14. 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?

15. 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. ♪ 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. 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. Cartoon by Gerard Hoffnung

17. What have you learned? Console Changing stops Hands and feet together Combining stops Thumb pistons Playing the notes Swell pedalTurning pages Changing manuals Playing the pedals Coupling manuals Toe pistons

18. 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 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: www.derbyorganists.co.uk

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. To view a copy of the licence, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/