My top 3 reasons for creating a list of pipe organ terminology

Organist Definition

I will be building a glossary with the terminology related to the pipe organ, electronic organ, organ music, etc. I am creating this list of definitions for two primary reasons:

 #1: Giving you a resource

I want you to have a resource where you can quickly look up an organ word or concept. When I first started organ lessons I knew very little about pipe organs or its music. When initially reading articles in The American Organist (The AGO’s monthly magazine) there were often words and concepts I had not learned yet. This terminology will help explain words so that anyone that is not familiar with the organ world can understand them. Are you wondering who the AGO is? Look for AGO in my glossary!

 #2: Proving I know it

If I can explain it to someone else that means I understand it. This is like giving myself a test to prove that I comprehend what I am learning. It’s easy to say you understand something, demonstrating your knowledge validates it. This blog will help me increase my knowledge. To build the glossary I will need to continue my learning. Being able to explain concepts to others in an understandable way, will help me to grow as an organist.

 #3: The details

I am a detail person. I like to know how things fit together. In my experience so far, most of the organ word lists I have found have not been detailed enough for my liking. Sometimes they feel like they were written for organists by an organist. My husband says I am picky! I cannot deny it. I am picky (especially when it comes to food). I feel like sometimes the definitions get glossed over. Like a chicken pot pie without the gravy to bring it all together. This list will be my attempt to do something about it!

Look for my first word in an upcoming blog post! If you have any questions about the pipe organ or organ music, please post below and I will research an answer.

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Vincent Dubois Concert at Hill Auditorium
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Heidi Bender writes about her experiences of learning to play the organ. She started on the adventure in 2009.

She also writes on her website Tons of Thanks, which helps people write thank-you notes. Heidi is also a cat lady who writes at The Joy of Cats.

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