SOPP356: Additional thoughts about organist shoes

This question was sent by Jay and Pauline. They are responding to my blog post from yesterday about playing with pointed high-heel shoes. I talked about when one lady, beginner organist, came and tried to play with high heels and pointed toes. And at the end of it I asked what our listeners think, should she keep trying to adjust to the difficult of playing with these high heels and pointed toes, or should she just get a pair of real organ shoes. So Jay responded with following message: I think it’s better if she (or anyone) can get closer to a ‘real’ pair of organ shoes. I’ve found that it’s more difficult to learn and remember good pedal technique, when you’re changing shoes constantly on which you play pedals. It’s better to have some consistency. Some people may not have the funds to purchase great organ shoes, like from the Organmaster site for example, especially students. I don’t have a ‘genuine’ pair of Organmaster shoes either. I’ve thought about purchasing a pair of those, but just haven’t yet. Mainly because I had an older pair of shoes that I just had resoled—just had a leather sole and a higher heel put on them, and they work fine for me. Cheaper too! In doing that though, you need to make sure that if you just replace the heel, that the rest of the sole is leather, or at least not rubber. Something that will slide easily on the pedals. That’s my two cents worth. And Pauline writes that she plays organ shoes less. So she writes: Hi, I play organ shoeless. Because when I took organ lesson before we’re not allowed to wear shoes into the studio. And at home we also don’t wear shoes inside the house. And after so much practices without wearing shoes, I felt more comfortable without shoes. I can feel the pedals better. 1st day I played in church I also took off my shoes. So I m a naked feet organist. In your opinion what do you think? No standard or just being natural.