Anyone's dcs play church organ?

[disorganisedmummy]

Hi all, as the title says I'm after anyone whose children play church organ. Ds is 11 and plays violin and is approx grade 6. He has "taught" himself to play piano. I sin g in a church choir and he often goes along and the organist and choir master let him tinker on the church organ. He absolutely loves it! He is currently at music summer school and they had an opportunity to go to the local church and be taught to play it. He went along and the director of the music school was very impressed with him. He played the beginning of Toccata and Fugue from memory with no music. I've really took to it and said he would quite like to take it up. We know our organist will teach him to start with but is it an in demand instrument? I would imagine an organ for home would be a small fortune?

Could anyone fill me in please?

Your local Salvation Army teaches music for free. My daughter was in the youth choir, plays tenor horn. Someone will always teach.

Not wanting to put you off, but church organists tend to be a bit of a rare and fancy breed. The two I know studied Ancient Music at Conservatoire level and are highly knowledgeable about composition theiry. They just about scrape a living teaching State and/or private and playing at weddings and funerals.

Why not offer your son to take up piano as his second instrument (usually the recommended one for all) and ask for a classical organ/harpsichord based course. The higher up they are skills-wise, the more Bach they study, unless they're specialising in modern or jazz piano. My DS is 1st year Conservatoire (piano and trumpet) and one of his old tutors used to say a person's love for the piano can be measured by his or her love for Bach. It's a rareified atmosphere up there!

My DS2 (14) started last January. He has been a Cathedral Chorister since he was 8 and been asking for a while, the main reason we waited was for him to finish his Choristership and, theoretically, have more time. He absolutely loves it.

We were advised to reach piano Grade 5 first, but DS was Grade 7+ anyway by then.

The practice is the difficult bit. DS learns on the Cathedral Organ, and has a couple of practice slots there, though it isn't always available. We also have the keys and permission for a local church. However DS always has to be accompanied for safeguarding reasons in both locations.

His teacher also recommends playing badminton for good ankle flexibility, but we don't often fit it in.

I don't know if it's a career option for him, but that isn't why he is learning.

We got a small grant from our local RSCM branch, although Grade 5 standard piano was a condition. It might be worth investigating.

tOrganists can make a living as professsional musicians if they are happy to teach, teach piano, direct and accompany choirs, etc. The best way to get the al-round experience would be to learn in the local chirch with the organist/choirmaster, and if it is still fun when he gets more advanced, look at cathedral organ scholar positions. In the UK it generally helps to like Anglican repertoire as well as Bach - get him onto some nice Howells...

DS1 is serious about organ playing and hopes to study at conservatoire. He has found himself loads of opportunities by getting out there and asking at churches where he likes the look of the organ. Not all church organs are good and many are not well maintained.

He found himself a good position as organist and choirmaster at a group of churches relatively nearby. This is a part time role he did alongside his year 13 studies.

He does have the ability to play at various local churches and to practice at school and, at times, in the cathedral but I do have to say that the biggest leap on happened after we bit the bullet and bought him a second hand organ to practice on at home. It is better than many organs found in churches these days.

He also went on various courses run by the RCO. These included basic starter then intermediate ones moving on to TOSE (The Organ Scholar Experience) held annually at Oxford and Cambridge, alternating years. He has made a lot of contacts through this which have led on to competitions, recitals, small tours in Europe etc.

Hope that helps a bit, I can ask him more questions for you if you think of anything.

DD15 has just started and will be playing at her local cathedral this year where she is still a chorister. Acquiring an organ was surprisingly easy for us. I put the word out that we were looking for one, asked some cheeky questions here and there, and discovered someone who was looking to dispose of his. It only cost us delivery. I know of other people who have acquired them this way but they cost a fortune to buy. This has mad a huge difference to her progress as she can practise daily. We don't have the time to chaperone her in random churches to practise. However she is grade 6 piano so starting from a solid keyboard position. If your son is interested give it a go. The 'in demand' aspect doesn't really matter at this stage.

Dh plays and I know lots of organists - parish church and cathedral. ( another chorister parent ). There are but that many organ scholars about and posts do go u filled outside oxbridge etc so like being a choral scholar it's really fun tool to have in your musical armoury.

Grade 5 piano then go for it. This kids I know that okay don't have their own organs at all. They just practice in church a few times a week.

Yes, mine does. He's graduated from a conservatoire and played it for a year there. He occasionally plays weddings / funerals / church services. He gets a good hourly rate for doing it, but usually just does an hour at a time, so not very lucrative. We don't have any church connections, but he just asks random churches if he can practice for an hour or so, and they've all been very amenable to it.

Being an organ scholar can help with oxbridge applications if your dc are academic.

Wow fairy how lucky!

DS' teacher is our Cathedral organ scholar, recent grad from RCM. He built his own organ!

Very sensible instrument to learn as you can earn good money. DH is an organist and he was employed from age 14 as an organist. At £80+++ for weddings your son will earn more in an hour than a day or two stacking shelves. Organists are now relatively rare and so in demand. Also easier to get a scholarship to universities.

But there are downsides. The instrument is in a building - generally cold and he is going to have to get there to practise. There are young organists out there but often they are a bit crumbly at parish level. You have to play for church services which you get paid for BUT that seriously impacts on family life as that is Sunday out. Churches, I have discovered, are take take take and have no regard for their employees.

It's not the same sort of thing as playing a usual instrument, ie, a violin, which is yours. You have to play big, small, squeeky, stuck together with sellotape, cathedral, one manual, four manuals, transpose at the drop of a hat. Organists love all of that. As a hanger on you tend to spend a lot of time hanging around organ lofts!

Twicherhun there are many other places with organ ( and choral) scholars as well as Oxbridge . The info can be stupidly difficult to find but it's there and even organists / singers who are not headed for a music career can have a great time and earn a bit of money alongside their degree.

If anyone needs to be pointed at resources let me know. Have been sorting this for dc recently

Helenluvsrob I would be very interested in that.

Wow lots of messages! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. It's been fascinating to read. Ds is still young so has a way to go before we have to make any decisions. His main instrument will be violin for now which he loves. We have an acoustic piano at home which he plays most days but he only plays what he likes rather than graded pieces. He doesn't want to have proper lessons yet but he knows how important piano is for theory and general musicianship. I'll try and persuade him to keep on with piano and when opportunities arise he can play on the church organ.

Having been a Cathedral Chorister mum and wife of an Organist. I would say go for it. It seems like you have a Church willing to help at the start. Get some lessons and see how it goes, some piano lessons might also be useful.
Later on there are Organ scholarships at Oxbridge (from highly competitive to less so), ones at Cathedrals (sometimes designed as "gap year" posts, and a few smart churches. Some even at RC ones.
We don't have an organ at home but you can usually find a Church willing to let you practice there.

Give it a go. Two of mine played and we had a £500 practice organ at home for a while but churches are generally obliging.

Depends what you mean by 'in demand'
In terms of people asking for an organist to play on Sundays, or at weddings and funerals, then yes, they are always in demand. If you mean can he make a living purely by playing the organ, I very much doubt it. I'd have though playing the organ is something you do for enjoyment though, rather than as a possible career.

I know a number of professional Organists, and we need to train a good number to keep those jobs going. A lot of Oxbridge Organ scholars I knew went on to very different careers, but may earn a bit extra playing for local Churches or running choirs etc.
The OPs son is too young to know he wants to be a professional organist, but it is good training and opens up a whole new repertoire.

Long time ago now, but DBro moved from piano to organ at a young age - around 11. Through the parish church losing its organist, he became the church organist (with almost invisible stipend, but lots extra for weddings) aged 12 / 13ish IIRC. Good pocket money in weddings etc - we lived very close to the church so he practised there daily.

Went to a choir school for 6th form, got to play the cathedral organ late in the evening once everything else was closed. Oxbridge organ scholar (though he didn't study music there), then assistant organist at a Cathedral combined with an organist post (residential) at a local private school which paid the rent.

Still employed in music, but not as an organist any more - it's quite a narrow field, and he ended up branching out into other fields. No less likely, and in some ways more likely, to earn money along the way and at the end of training than in other instruments, tbh - lots of 'pocket money' jobs - but ultimately quite lonely unless you also love choir training.