I haven't exactly had a great term with my piano teacher, and she'll be getting the sack soon probably , so im thinking about getting a new teacher, what im asking is would having organ lessons also mean that i would improve on the Piano without piano-specific lessons, or not? I know purists will hate me for asking this.
I hope this makes sense....

Well, your general keyboard skills should continue to improve, but other aspects of piano technique (such as touch, pedaling etc) won't.

What grade are you on the piano, HC?

Grade 3 piano, although i was entered for grade 4 withdrew - my teacher decided to cancel all my lessons for a month or 2 leading up to it.

Although, in my opinion, not strictly necessary (tho' quite desirable), most organ teachers tend to prefer organ pupils to come to them with at least grade five in piano. How would going up to grade five piano, and then taking organ lessons fit in with your plans? Is that workable?

HC I would try very hard to keep your piano going if in any way possible.

I let my piano slide for a while when organ lessons started up. Not intentionally - I still had lessons but somehow it slipped into the background and I later regretted it. And I was already grade 6 at this point.

Maggiemay is absolutely correct on this.

It is best to continue piano lessons and get as good a standard as possible before commencing the organ. Grade six is probably the minimum, but it is good to continue piano lessons for as long as you can. The scales, arpeggios etc required at the higher grades will help your organ playing immeasurably.

Your organ playing will progress much more quickly with a really secure piano technique. Also, it develops musicianship as well as keyboard skills.

Good luck in your endeavours.

Barry Williams

I agree with all that has been said, except the Grade 6 bit because it varies from person to person. If you cannot get lessons now (for the reasons stated) can you find a friendly church with a friendly organist, and arrange to play the organ to get to know what the stops do and so on? That's how I started. I was a cathedral chorister and wanted to start the organ as soon as possible but I actually started at the local parish church before returning to the assistant organist for lessons post Grade 6 (organ) - this was all to do with organists moving on and there not being any point in starting at the cathedral.

I kept organ and piano at the same level and took Grade 7 on both in the same week. Once I got to Grade 8 piano I largely stopped being a pianist; many years ago it was said the 2 instruments are not compatible which is complete tosh - one feeds the other. However my wife still says I play the piano like an organist.

An interesting post H-C.
You did not say whether you have already started with organ lessons or are just thinking about it. Although I am now just a pianist, I actually started playing on an organ and so began to learn my basic keyboard skills there.

I can see that organ teachers would prefer to start with someone with keyboard skills, but on the face of it, I would have thought that up to about grade 5 you are mainly learning your way around the keyboard on both instruments, and it is after that that they would diverge, and you would need separate lessons in each?

I would sound out your (prospective?) organ teacher on the subject. Maybe they could accommodate some compromise between piano and organ lessons?

Im just thinking about it at the moment, and i dont have lessons over the summer (and don't plan to), so im just thinking for september.

I also have organ lessons in the back of my mind, but I'll probably wait until I've hit grade 5 piano...

As a pianist myself(who occasionally plays church organ as a pianist - ie no pedals), my OH (an organist) certainly plays my piano as an organist (he hotly disputes that as well, but to the trained and finely tuned ear ........ )

I have to say that when I was needed to play the organ rather a lot a few years ago, I became very aware that my piano technique suffered, so I took steps to look after my piano playing skills.

I think you should look for a new teacher now if you are thinking of changing - this is a time of year when timetables tend to be a bit fluid, people come and go etc so it is not a bad time to arrange a few trial lessons and pick someone new.

I agree with others that in order to improve your piano technique, you will need piano-specific lessons. The ideal might be to find a pianist-organist who can teach you both, and alternate lessons between the two instruments - that would avoid some of the duplication of effort. I think you may struggle with the organ at this stage, and would probably find that you get on much more quickly with it if you have gone a little further on the piano first. The co-ordination and reading requirements for organ are somewhat fearsome (to an ordinary mortal like yours truly).

I didn't start organ lessons until I was about Grade 6 on the piano, but there was another reason, I wasn't big enough to reach the pedals as I was only 13. But I didnt do an exam on organ until Grade 5, about a year after I started.:-

1960 Started Organ (age 13) Did Grade 6 piano (LCM)
1961 Did Grade 5 Organ (AB)
1962 Did Grade 6 Organ (AB)
1963 Did ALCM piano
1964 Did Grade 8 Organ (AB)
1965 Rushed into trying to do ATCL organ before going to Uni. Wasnt really ready . Failed it !

Didn't play an organ for several years after that.