Derby and District Organists’ Association
Exploring a
Pipe Organ
with CATO
Children and the Organ Project
Look at the organ pipes carefully.
In what ways are the pipes different?
The pitch of the sound from an organ pipe depends upon its
length. Low notes come from long pipes.
High notes come from short pipes.
♪ The picture shows just 6 pipes.
How many should there be altogether for all the keys?
The picture shows the names of the notes on the white keys.
Notice how the 6 pipes shown give notes called ‘C’.
♪ What is the main difference in the sound given by these six pipes?
To play all the white notes from one ‘C’ to the next,
you need 8 pipes.
Need help?
Click on Ollie.
♪ Why do we say that the notes from these pipes are an octave apart?
Ollie can easily count a whole octave!
Why?
Can you name these shapes?
Think of an octave!
♪ Try humming a note ....
.... and then another, an octave higher or lower.
For a pipe to sound an octave higher, the length of the
pipe from the mouth to the top has to be half as much.
For the longest pipe this length is 8 feet.
8 feet
♪ Work out the lengths of each of the other pipes in feet.
For a pipe to sound an octave higher, the length of the
pipe from the mouth to the top has to be half as much.
For the ‘middle C’ pipe this length is 60 cm.
60 cm
♪ Work out the lengths of each of the other pipes in centimetres.
A complete set of pipes is
called a rank.
It is normal for organs to
have several ranks which
can be played from one
keyboard (manual).
♪ How many ranks of pipes
can you see in this photo?
A rank starting with 8 feet
for the lowest note gives
sounds at normal pitch.
Notice that most of the
pipes in the photo are much
shorter. For some ranks the
longest pipe is only 4 feet or
2 feet or even 1 foot. When
this is so, the whole rank
sounds higher in pitch.
♪ Compared with an 8ft rank,
how many octaves higher
does a 4 ft rank sound?
A rank starting with 8 feet
for the lowest note gives
sounds at normal pitch.
♪ How many octaves higher
does a 2 ft rank sound?
♪ Some ranks start with a
16 ft pipe. How does this
type of rank sound?
Most organs have a 16ft rank
for the pedals giving a deep
bass sound.
On the console, the length of the longest
pipe is shown on the stop knob. The stops
allow the organist to select different
combinations of ranks at different pitches.
By combining a few stops you can make a
variety of new sounds.
♪ How many combinations can you make
from 8ft, 4ft and 2ft stops?
Some stops give a sound which is in
between octaves. For example,
the Twelfth sounds at a pitch twelve notes
above a normal 8ft stop.
♪ What is the length of the bottom note
for the Twelfth?
♪ In the photo, find a stop which sounds an
octave below the Twelfth.
♪ What is the length of its bottom note
pipe?
This photo shows the inside of one of the largest organs in the world
which has a total of 28,000 pipes.
♪ Can you think of a reason for the smallest pipes being placed
in the middle?
♪ What effect would the man in the photo hear if you played each
note, one at a time, starting from the lowest note and finishing at
the top?
What have you learned?
Long pipes
Low notes
Octave
Short pipes
Rank of pipes
High notes
16 ft, 8 ft, 4 ft, 2 ft pipes
Pedals
Manuals
Stops
Materials prepared by Laurence Rogers for the
Children and the Organ Project
Team:
Stephen Johns
James Muckle
Edmund Stow
Laurence Rogers
John Forster
Chris Darrall
Sponsored by
Derby and District Organists’ Association
Derby and District Organists’ Association
Children and the Organ Project
The project aims to introduce young children to the fascinating
world of pipe organs through practical workshops and fun
activities. The building and playing of organs being such multidisciplinary activities, their study has numerous spin-offs for the
school curriculum.
For more information, visit our website:
www.derbyorganists.co.uk
Copyright notice
Copyright owner:Derby & District Organists’ Association
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