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Free lessonLesson 12 of 45Hammond OrganIntermediate

Distinctive hammond techniques

Joe Glossop

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Joe Glossop
5:46

In this section Joe talks about the sort of musical language and techniques that are unique to the hammond, these will get you sounding like an organist when you play, rather than a pianist playing an organ

You can hear the classic versions of the tunes featured in this course in Joe's spotify playlist check it out here. 

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What's in the course

45 lessons (3h 0m) · 1 free

    • 01. Distinctive hammond techniques

      You are here

      5:46

    • 02. Slides

      4:31

    • 03. Jimmy Smith's percussion

      2:32

    • 04. Billy Preston's vocal 'punctuation'

      1:51

    • 05. Ken Lupper 'walks'

      1:46

Lesson transcript

Distinctive Hammond Language

Okay, so we're going to talk about a bit of distinctive Hammond language for you. This includes techniques that you will only really achieve on an organ and may not even sound good on another instrument.

Fast Repeated Notes

One thing is a kind of fast repeated note that's made possible by the action of the organ and by the fact that you don't get all the harmonics at the same time.

  • It really encourages you to play it in the Hammond key.
  • It's very responsive, and you really can't play that quite fast.

I typically do it with my thumb and forefinger, but you can do it however you want. Some people just use one finger, which feels a bit messy for me. So, I like to rock between them.

You can actually put a few things in between if you prefer that style, it's quite a Jimmy Smith thing to do.

Changing Drawbar Settings

We also have the possibility of holding a note and just changing the drawbar settings. It sounds quite obvious, but it's really effective.

  • When you have a simple, nice little riff and are adjusting the drawbars, you're going to lose volume.
  • You can compensate for this by using the swell pedal.

As you go for the desired drawbar setting to achieve the tone you want, remember:

  • As those drawbars go in, push the swell pedal in so you don't lose too much actual level.

Percussive Techniques

One more thing is the percussive, scratchy, chokey sound you sometimes hear on records. A lot of the time, it's on the bottom manual, but you can also achieve it on the top with more of a gospel-like feel.

  • This technique combines a bit of thumb action, but mostly uses the palms.

For example, in the key of C, you might play a bluesy lick followed by a walk down to F, B flat, F.

This is actually reminiscent of a track called "Love the One You're With," specifically the Aretha Franklin Live At Fillmore West version where Billy Preston plays. He's possibly my favorite player of all, an incredible musician!

Matching Parts to Tone

Also, you could work on the second harmonic; however, you don't want to use your percussion once you've engaged the harmonic, as it tends to become messy and sounds too clunky.

  • Always match the part to the tone.

For your percussion, try something more subtle and fitting.

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Meet your guru

Joe Glossop

Joe Glossop

Joe Glossop is a keyboard player from Sheffield who has made his name on the Hammond organ. He currently holds the organ chair in Tom Jones's touring band, and has played with Van Morrison and James Hunter, as well as on piano and Rhodes. His courses get the real Hammond sound out of any keyboard - drawbar registration, the Leslie, the walking-bass left hand, and the comping and soloing vocabulary of the soul-jazz, blues and rock organ traditions, from Jimmy Smith to Booker T.

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