Musical Instruments: The Organ

The organ is from the keyboard family of instruments. It produces sound by wind blowing through a series of pipes. The sound is produced when the performer depresses the keys on the keyboard. Most organs have two keyboards, however, some of the larger organs can have three, four or even five keyboards. There are many types of organs such as the pipe organ, used in the church and theatre and electronic organs, such as the Hammond organ and digital organ which produce sound electronically. The organ is written on the treble and bass clef and the range depends on the size of the organ.

The picture below shows the pipes in a church organ. There are slits at the bottom of each pipe where the sound is produced. Each pipe is different in length where notes of different pitch are sounded. The organ will also have a pedalboard which is played with the feet where additional low-pitched bass notes can be played. The pedalboard is set out like a keyboard. There are also pedals and stops (buttons) that create different effects.

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The picture below shows the four keyboard arrangement of an organ.

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The electronic organ usually has two keyboards and also a pedalboard which creates additional low-pitched notes.

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Below is a small electronic organ with one keyboard and one pedal.

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Warburton, Annie O. Basic Music Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Print, pp. 148 and 150.