Hammond B3 Organ Fundamentals

Series Summary

The Hammond B3 organ was released to the public in 1934 as a cheaper alternative to expensive pipe organs for churches and places of worship. It makes music readily available to more communities at a cheaper price and was much easier to move if needed. There are still thousands of Hammond B3 organs used today even though the last Hammond was made in the mid 1970s. Their purpose, tone and quality have not lost their luster, and the organ continues to be a very recognizable sound in music today. Forming chords on a Hammond B3 organ is just like playing any other keyboard with white and black keys, so knowing how to play piano means forming chords on a Hammond will come as no challenge. Yet the Hammond has many controls that allow users to adjust the tone of notes far beyond a piano. Using draw bars, foot pedals and tremolo settings, organ players can shape the sound of the Hammond to the needs of a specific piece of music or concert setting. Watch this free lesson on the Hammond organ and become a better organ player.

Video Transcript

"Hi. This is Jeff once again. What I'm going to do today is give you an introduction to the Hammond organ showing you some clips and just fundamentals on how to play by ear, developing playing by ear. Not a lot of people have opportunities to get formal training or to go to school so the best way to learn is just jump right in and do things on your own. So I'm just going to give you a couple of fundamentals from music theory, but after that it's just a matter of you putting your ideas together using a couple of the tools that I've given you and making it happen. So let's see what you can get from this."