I ask my students to bring a notebook so I can write down their assignments and make suggestions for playing more accurately. I always have to smile when a particular student hands me her notebook.

Here’s advice from Marilyn Monroe, and others on this subject!

Insofar as playing the organ, you must know how important having the right shoes is! Here’s some official advice:

Wear a special pair of soft, thin, lightweight, flexible, leather shoes, as narrow as possible, and use them only for playing the organ. The leather soul should be thin with no overhang, the heel of wood should neither be too wide, so as to depress two pedals at once, nor to narrow, so as to slip between the pedals. Shoes with rubber heels or souls are not good, since they will not allow the foot to slide when needed. For men, a patent leather evening shoe or an oxford style ballet shoe is ideal. For women, a tap dancing shoe that ties across the top (laced or with a strap) and that has a wide heel is most satisfactory. Playing in bare feet or in stockings is strongly not advised. (Wayne Leupold, First Organ Book)

When I first started playing the organ as a 13-year-old, my teacher at the time didn’t say a word about what kind of shoes to wear, so I just used my street shoes. It was later that my college teacher recommended Capezio dance shoes — tap shoes without the taps. I used these for quite a few years until I heard about Organmaster Shoes, which I wore consistently.

During the years 1994-2004 was when I played over 6000 Japanese weddings and unbelievably, went through 5 pairs of organ shoes! I wore my organ shoes 7 days a week!

Yes, I think one can never have too many organ shoes, especially when you see what happened to me last week! Thank you to Yoko Kokuni Kessner for taking my picture at St. Mark’s. As you can see, the sole came apart and when I played the pedals, I was thrown into a panic and was severely compromised!

Luckily, I was able to repair the loose sole with Krazy Glue, thereby saving myself money! (The last time this happened, I took the shoes to a shoe repair shop and it cost $24.) And how many organ shoes do I have? Six pairs, including three different brands: Organmaster Shoes, Ariel and Tic-Tac-Toes in three different colors: black, silver and gold. This pair was Tic-Tac-Toes, and unfortunately the company went out of business. I say unfortunately, because this is my favorite pair.

Notice how thin the sole of the my shoe is — this makes it very easy to “feel” the pedals. In addition, the sole is very flexible. I always feel better when I wear my organ shoes to play the organ.

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Lifestyle change

Ever since May of this year, I’ve had to brush my teeth about 4-5 times a day because I made the decision to get Invisalign® aligners for my teeth. I’ve been told by dentists from the time I was a child that I had a very small mouth — in fact, my dentist pulled four of my permanent teeth when I was young in order to avoid braces and to create more room in my mouth. The fact remained, however, that I had a small mouth and too many teeth, which became more crowded and misaligned as I grew older. Earlier in the spring, the orthodontist recommended that one more tooth be pulled in the front (which took less than 10 minutes!) and I started wearing Invisalign® aligners in mid-May.

I knew it meant that I would have to remove them before eating and brush my teeth after eating every single time — to avoid cavities, it’s necessary to religiously brush my teeth before re-inserting the aligners. What this has done is to dramatically cut down on any snacking in-between meals! Simply because it would mean brushing my teeth afterwards!

It also means that I carry a toothbrush and toothpaste in my purse at all times, so I am able to brush my teeth anytime and anywhere. However, I can’t take Communion at church because I can’t take out my aligners and brush my teeth afterwards! I wonder what other people do?

Avocado toast

When I saw my primary care physician in August, she asked what I usually ate for breakfast. Except for when I’m on tour, I would usually eat a bowl of granola with fruit. Too much sugar, she said; the best breakfast is avocado toast. So since August that’s what I’ve eaten for breakfast! Every single day! The good news is that I feel full afterwards and don’t feel the necessity to snack in between meals. Yay— that means I don’t have to brush my teeth!