Yeah sight reading too, but it can be a pain. Unless the score is written for Theatre Organ i.e. with 3 staves - the bottom one being the bass line, with only 2 staves (such as a piano score) the pedal work does have to be improvised, whilst sight reading (usually) chords and melody. Sounds like Skip was really proficient at playing the pedals.
I find the piano more difficult because it relies on touch and finger pressure to implement expression, whereas the organ usually relies on just selecting notes on the keyboards and using an expression pedal to control volume. There are a couple of sneaky tricks that can be put to good use. 2nd Touch is often used where you press the keys normally and you hear a selection of voices, but pressing the same keys quite hard against spring pressure a further set of different voices will be added. This can sometimes be implemented by the pedals, but it’s not found on many organs. The 2nd ’trick’ is called Sostenuto (invented by the late John Seng) where you lay down a chord on a manual, kick and hold the Sostenuto lever, and the chord is held until the lever is released. This allows you to use the same hand to play single notes on the same manual. I must admit that it’s all impressive to watch, but I find it not so much easy, but quite natural. I do admire the guys who use break-in when conversing in Morse code, just like they were having an (almost) duplex conversation with each other. That’s clever and worth listening to. 73, Alan - G4GNX South Coast UK Elecraft K4D / KPA500 / KAT500 / IC-9700 > On 13 Dec 2023, at 19:18, Josh Fiden <j...@voodoolab.com> wrote: > > If you’re playing 2 lines plus pedals AND sight reading it, I’m definitely > impressed! > > Most of the time when I saw Skip play it was R&B with pretty complex bass > lines requiring both feet and improvising solos. > > I started out as a cellist, anything beyond double stops is a bit mind > boggling to me. Playing guitar now mostly chords & single note lines. Reminds > me I should practice. Ha > > I wonder how much can be developed vs innate ability. At least I’m not tone > deaf.. > > 73 > Josh W6XU > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
