• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • About
  • Symposium
  • Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Three Ways to Improvise at the Organ

Keven Smith · March 1, 2021

ITH MY CHOIR MOSTLY SHUT DOWN during the COVID pandemic, the organ has kept me busy. My parish now has 32 low Masses per week, which gives us organists many opportunities to serve the Church. For a relatively new organist like me who needs lots of practice, it’s hog heaven.

In my last article, I explained why I’m more comfortable improvising than playing repertoire and gave four reasons why organists shouldn’t hesitate to improvise at Mass. I also promised some practical tips on how to improvise. Here are those tips.

Don’t Just Play the Organ. Pray the Organ. 

Perhaps many organists are intimidated by the idea of improvising for the same reason that most people are intimidated by writing: when there’s a blank page in front of you, what on earth do you say? In writing, it’s helpful to develop a clear topic and then form an outline of how you’ll explain that topic or make your argument. And in improvisation, it’s beneficial to have an idea in mind as you start.

Yes, you’ll want to have a musical idea, but I say it’s even more important to have a spiritual idea. In other words, focus on a sacred text, whether it’s a proper of the Mass, a chant hymn, or a favorite prayer.

Our parish is blessed to have produced a seminarian for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), a young man who holds an organ degree from a prestigious conservatory. He is a professional-caliber performer. More importantly, he has a well-grounded sense of the liturgy and how to support it with organ music. When he’s home on breaks, he’s incredibly generous with his time and expertise. I’d say his name, but….did I mention he’s also genuinely humble?

In the course of the lessons and masterclasses I’ve had with my friend, he has taught me the concept of “praying the organ.” It’s just like it sounds: when you sit down to improvise, you keep a sacred text in mind and create music that matches that text. What the congregation then hears is your prayer actualized as sound.

Do this well, and you can’t help but create beautiful music that moves the heart to prayer. I’m not yet an accomplished enough organist to play the most challenging classics. But in my simple improvisations, I’ve had people tell me that my playing was “prayerful” or even “moving.” You can do the same, or better. In fact, if you’re already nailing the great organ works and you add improvisation to your mix, you’ll be unstoppable.

My Top Three Methods of Organ Improvisation

At this point, you may be thinking, “OK, this all sounds good, but….what do I actually play?”

There are many good guides to organ improvisation. Some of them walk you through all the rudiments of harmony and help you become a better overall musician. Others assume you know this stuff already and give you “tricks” to make your improvisations more interesting and less predictable.

I’m still working through these materials myself. In the meantime, I’ve been using three methods to improvise at the organ:

  • Harmonize a chant. I’ll generally use the chant that’s prescribed for each part of the Mass. If it’s a low Mass nobody will be singing them, so the organ can “sing” them instead. As the priest enters, I’ll improvise on the Introit. At the Offertory and Communion, I’ll use those propers. For a recessional, I’ll often use the Alleluia from that Mass, or the Marian antiphon of the season.
  • Use the chant as a starting point. This is similar to the above, except that I’ll let the melody go off in a new direction after playing a certain amount of the chant. Sometimes I’ll return to the chant as written, sometimes not.
  • Make up an original melody. Although I usually use the chant at least as a starting point, I’ll occasionally do something completely different. It could be that the prescribed chant doesn’t inspire me (perhaps it’s in a mode that I’ve seen too much lately). Or maybe I looked at the text and suddenly got a strong melodic idea that goes with it. Either way, I’ll bring the text to life by playing my own composition. I do a lot of this during the Canon of the Mass, especially after the Consecration. I might make up a melody for the Words of Institution, or for the phrase that follows: Hæc quotiescúmque fecéritis, in mei memóriam faciétis.

For each of these three methods, I’ll use one of two approaches: prepare in advance or compose on the spot. For an upcoming Sunday Mass, I’ll typically sit with the propers several times during the week, playing around with harmonic possibilities. Even if I plan on harmonizing a chant without deviating much from the given melody, I like to plan some harmonic “features,” such as unusual chords or a modulation. But if I’m planning on wandering off from the chant melody or even composing something from scratch, then I’ll put in significant practice. In the true spirit of improvisation, the results will be slightly different each time, but it’s a “predictable different,” one that I know will fit the timing of the liturgy (with slight modifications depending on the pacing of each of our parish’s four priests).

Even if I come up with a composition from scratch, I never write down more than a few notes. I find it easier to memorize. For harmonized chants, I’ll sometimes write down the names of the most important chord changes underneath the chant melody. This approach takes the pressure off of me to perform a composition. Still, it gives me a secure enough framework that even if I make a mistake or two, I know where my improvisation is going.

A few other considerations have come to mind in terms of adding color to improvisations. I’ll share those in my next article.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Improvisation, organ Last Updated: March 1, 2021

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

About Keven Smith

Keven Smith, music director at St. Stephen the First Martyr, lives in Sacramento with his wife and five musical children.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

When the matter is thus regarded, an assertion which is being made today, not only by laymen but also at times by certain theologians and priests and spread about by them, ought to be rejected as an erroneous opinion: namely, that the offering of one Mass, at which a hundred priests assist with religious devotion, is the same as a hundred Masses celebrated by a hundred priests. That is not true.

— Pope Pius XII (2 November 1954)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “A Canon Choirs Love!”
  • On Mistakes (Part I of II)
  • 19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”
  • “Gregorian Chant Not In Danger Pope Tells French”
  • PDF Download • “O Salutaris” (Modern Setting)

Copyright © 2022 Corpus Christi Watershed · Gabriel Lalemant on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.