SigMT

SHOW & TELL SiG MT 32 First, one must understand the difference between playing piano and playing the organ. Hektor Pitstick, a current organ student, says to imagine a piano player tap dancing while playing. "A person playing the piano while tap dancing would use combinations of heels and toe stamps in both their feet to move the rhythm while their hands play the actual pitches of the song. With the organ, instead of tapping out rhythms, the feet play the baseline." Jodell Winter, a Great Falls organ teacher and church musician at Redeemer Lutheran Church adds, "You need to be able to follow three different staffs of music which can be very intricate. If you're playing Bach, then you're playing a melody in each hand and a separate melody with your feet!" is musical dance of all four extremities allows for rich variety and complexity of sound. "Organ players express themselves using different combinations of sounds and manipulating those sounds. For example, the player can make one passage sound like a trumpet playing, and the next passage sound like a flute playing, and then put both the flute and trumpet together for the final passage. In a way, it's like controlling a mini-orchestra," says Pitstick. While Pitstick first became mesmerized watching a video on musical instruments during Kindergarten music class, Winter learned organ from the age of six on a Lowrey Genie organ in her house. She believes this helped with one key area: coordination. For Jeanne Tonkovich, she also started early with learning to play the piano at the age of five. Tonkovich added organ as a high-schooler because she says, "e organ has more sound variety due to the stops and the registrations you can use." Over the years, Tonkovich has played on many organs throughout Great Falls, as well as organs as far away as Texas and Turkey. Tonkovich has been at the helm of the organ at St. Ann's Cathedral since 2005. She serves as music director and leads services on their new Rodgers Trillium organ. Regarding her position as organist she says, "My main objective is to lead the people and to help them sing the melody of the song. It's like you're leading them in sung prayer." Youthful Beginnings What's the difference? SiG MT 32 The organ at St. Ann's has three keyboards, a floor keyboard, and added digital features. Tonkovich says, "It's also on a platform with wheels so you can move the organ to the center so people can see the organist's hands and feet while giving an organ concert.

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