SOPP507: Soloying out the melody in a hymn
This question was sent by Dan. And he writes: \n \nHi Vidas and Ausra, Hard to believe that you guys are almost up to 500 episodes already. Seems just like yesterday that you started the podcast. I\u2019ve been a listener right from day one. To comment on this episode, another thing that an organist could do during service, if playing a hymn that\u2019s less familiar, is to solo out the melody on a second manual, with a prominent reed stop, a couple of principals, or a suitable combination on that second manual, so that the melody could be heard. I\u2019ve observed over the years that this is a technique that I\u2019ve heard organist use, to assist congregations with new material. Our organist that we had when I\u2019d first started going to the church I\u2019m going to, back in 2000, if there was an unfamiliar hymn, before the service, he\u2019d take maybe 10 minutes and go over it. Then during service, for the first verse, he\u2019d solo out the melody, on the festival trumpet on the choir division of the organ there. I think in the service, soloing out the melody of a hymn, is a good technique to assist the congregation right from the organ.