What can I do to develop my footpedal speed/accuracy?

[rjthakid]

Is there an excersice I can do to help me improve my accuracy with the foot pedal?  Also, is there a way to make transitioning from one note to the next more smooth on the footpedal?  My movements sound very choppy and clunky.

[ddwilkins]

I was told to play the footpedals in a "heel to toe" fashion.  Most organ players that I see use this technique.  But I don't know of any excersices to improve on accuracy.  The only thing that I can think of is practice.

[bmoreprodigy]

well that was true you should use a heel toe method then you just got to get a feel of the pedals its kind of like playing the keys without looking PRACTICE PARCTICE PARCTICE thats the main key and you make your playing  smooth by different progressions to get to your next chord and if your playing the organ you dont have to play "CLEAN" so you can kind of slide to you next chord now you cant do that in piano i hope this helps

[diverse379]

sound like you are dropping your leg onto the pedals not your ankle doing the work let your ankle do the work your leg just goes lef to right and your ankle and heel do the pedal playing
Roger Jean on his video explains that to get a smoother connection from one note to the next (if they are next to each other is to roll the ankle so that your foot kind of angles to play one note then the next without your foot coming off the pedal board
There is a pedal book sold on ebay that i have and a lot of scales, drills and appeggios are demonstrated you can do that yourself play a descending major and monor scale play an appeggio on each scale degree

somethimes i have a problem with my pedal work sounding a little clunkey too when that happens I just play the bass part by itself with the left hand playing bass so the foot and the left hand are playing the same thing then i play the foot by itself with the left hand just playing the chord what i am listening for is smooth technique

If you really want to buile your technique play a blues bassline which transitions from 1-4-5 running all the time and play through these lines slowly and only speed up when your pedal sounds smooth and clear

you can also buy the evolving bassist by rufus reid and play through the etudes wuing your feet you will be surpised how connected your playing will become I  have been told that it sounds like a bass player is playing with me ( not all the time usually after I work with this book) I used to play bass and the bassist plays with the drummer so if you can seperate your hands from your foot and let your foot follow your drummers bass drum that will go a long way to making your playing smooth out

the best advice I can give is to slow down if you are sounding clunky it is probably because you are hitting the pedals to hard which means you are not being smooth
put all your stops in and pull them out to 1 including the bass pedals and play your song do you hear your feet clunking around if you do that is why you sound clunky

so work on smoothness and that will only come by playing slowly

buy a 20 dollar metronome and bring it to church with you and practice your shout bass lines at 60 bpm and bring it up one notch every two minutes until you can play at 180 this may take a week or two but when you are done you will be able to play fast and smooth

if you watch butch heyward or pj morgan their pedal work is very smooth

like a pianist who uses wrist technique a very soft and flexible wrist the organists foot sues a soft flexible ankle so play all your basslines very smooth slow and even and gradually speed up trust me you wont have to do this for too long just until your ankle gets use to being flexible

[Big_Al]

This is a good topic.

It's true you should use heel-to-toe. However, you may want to consider the type of shoes you're wearing as well. As for me, I wear flat shoes so when play the bass pedals- I use the following technique:

1.) I arch my foot to the left to play the Flat notes
2.) Then I press the white notes (natural keys) with my heel and begin to turn my feet towards the right to postion my toe for the next Flat key.
3.) As for practicing. I practice heel-to-toe on and off the bass pedals for about 20-30 minutes.
First, I go slow and hold each note for 2 seconds (to tell the brain - this is the correct position).
Then, I use a drum machine and practice the walking bass (slow, meduim, and fast).
4.) Finally, I practice walking the bass pedals chronmatically up and down - one octave.

_I hope this help. God Bless

-Al

[rjthakid]

This is some REALLY good info.  Pedal technique is HUGE when it comes to playing the organ.  Keep it comin guys.

[Nerakwms]

Guys
This site may be helpful for learning the foot pedal smoothly.  It is just like the Hannon exercies for the fingers.  Let me add when you begin to practice, practice, practice, your ankle will let you know that you have been practicing.

http://www.buchorgan.com/organists_pedal.htm
http://www.buchorgan.com/organists.htm


Additionally this book may be helpful  too
ORGAN PEDAL TECHNIC" by Pietro Yon published by Warner Bros

Sample/excerpt
Organ Pedal Technic Basics

The Pedal Division of the organ provides an excellent foundation for supporting musical needs and as a result of this, pedal technic must be considered paramount to the total musical effect.

A simple yet very effective pedal exercise can aid the organist in gaining freedom of movement for the feet.

Just as the wrist should be free and sufficiently relaxed for the hands and fingers to do the manual playing, the ankle must be free and sufficiently relaxed for the feet to do their playing.

Along with freedom and relaxation must be a sense of control which the following exercises help to develop through good concentration.

[diverse379]

Thanks for sharing that site and related info thats why I love this site