Piporglers,

I apologize ahead of time for the length.  The real question is in the next-to-the-last paragraph if you want to skip all the verbiage.

Is there any such thing as taking teaching/taking organ lessons via video?  Towards the end of Medical School, there was much talk among the computer savvy physicians regarding telemedicine.  Many of our devices can be connected to fiber optic cameras such that a physician (or nurse practitioner) in a clinic in the middle of nowhere can consult with a specialist hundreds or thousands of miles away who can actually see what you're looking at.  The Xrays I take are digital, and all I have to do is to click on an icon to have a radiologist at our hospital over-read my Xrays.

When I set up my private practice in January 1988, I chose to be about 20 miles from a university town with my long term goal being to work hard for about 25 years, then I would, hopefully, be the old guy in a group practice so that I could slow down such that I could take a class here and there - as well as some college-level piano and organ lessons - in order to fill in serious gaps left when I decided to pursue medicine over music.

After 19 years of private practice, the group never materialized, and my "proverbial ship" never came in.  I've been in Urgent Care for almost 7 years.  While this has been much better for me financially, my schedule is very unpredictable month to month.  I will probably cut my hours by 10% next year; youngest child will be a senior in college.  I'm hoping that I will be able to tell my boss, "I want to be able to depend upon a particular day every other week off" and have it set into stone.  I have 2 people in mind for piano lessons.  Piano is my main instrument, and it's the one that holds the most promise for me.

The organ is a fascination for me, and I would like to take some real lessons.  I'm a decent amateur, but I find myself working very hard on pieces that I might never master.  I figure that a teacher leads the student along a graduated path of music such that skills are learned - and those new skills are used in subsequent pieces.

AFAIK, there are no organ teachers in Athens, Georgia - home of the University of Georgia!!!   Six years ago my wife and I attended a meeting of the local AGO.  When we entered the room, I tho't I was entering the day room of the nursing home!!!  I've gotten to know a few younger organists, but they weren't there that evening.  At one of our meetings, someone was opining about getting folks interested in the organ.  I spoke up rather loudly, telling them that I had come to town and expressed an interest in organ lessons, and the only name that was consistently mentioned was no longer teaching.  I asked how in the heck they think they can get kids interested in the organ when someone asks the AGO about a teacher and they can't spit out a few names immediately!!!

Finally, the question: Seeing many of the videos on youtube in which the organist has cameras arranged so that the viewer can get a good view the feet as well as the hands made me wonder if anyone is using this technology to teach organ to people for whom it isn't practical to travel a great distance on a weekly or biweekly basis for lessons.  I know it wouldn't be perfect, but, if both teacher and pupil have cameras set up, I can see how a teacher could demonstrate fingering, pedaling, or other techniques by audio/video that the pupil could practice.  At appropriate times, the pupil records himself at the console and sends the recording to the teacher for critique.

The above-mentioned scenario is not perfect, but (1) is it workable? and (2) is it being done by anyone?  (3) is this an issue that has ever come up in the AGO?  In my own situation, I'm only 50-60 minutes from Atlanta.  Surely there's someone there who teaches organ there.

Thanks,
Keith

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Note:  opinions  expressed on PIPORG-L are those of the  individual con-
tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
[log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::