Learning the organ pedals, step by step

A graded beginner curriculum for organ pedal technique

Each level is anchored to the pedal syllabus of John Stainer’s The Organ (Novello, 1877) — manuals → scale-passages on pedals → alternate toes → independence of hands and feet → toe-and-heel → easy trios — the same order the Lemmens/Dupré legato school teaches.

Note on confidence. Levels 1–2 are fully score-verified against the actual scores (✓). In Levels 3–5 a ◐ badge means the staff detector has confirmed a genuine pedal part in the score (the pedal writing is real), while the level itself is still placed by the genre heuristic; a ⚠ badge means the score has not been checked yet. Pieces the detector found to be manualiter (no pedal) have been dropped.

Level 1 · Sustained pedal (9 pieces, 9 score-verified)

• ✓ Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BuxWV 185 — Dietrich Buxtehude
• ✓ Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn, BWV 630 — Johann Sebastian Bach
• ✓ Wie schön leucht’ uns der Morgenstern, SSWV 569 — Samuel Scheidt
• ✓ Ach Gott und Herr, BuxWV 177 — Dietrich Buxtehude
• ✓ Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, BuxWV 178 — Dietrich Buxtehude
• ✓ Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, LV 24 — Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow
• ✓ Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, Krebs-WV 514 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ✓ Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder, Krebs-WV 515 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ✓ Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr — Georg Böhm

Level 2 · Single moving bass (12 pieces, 12 score-verified)

• ✓ Erstanden ist der heilge Christ, BWV 628 — Johann Sebastian Bach
• ✓ Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 639 — Johann Sebastian Bach
• ✓ Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir, Krebs-WV 522 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ✓ Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, IGB 26 — Georg Böhm
• ✓ Vater unser im Himmelreich, IGB 24 — Georg Böhm
• ✓ Ach Gott, erhör mein Seufzen, Krebs-WV 513 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ✓ Ach Gott und Herr — Johann Gottfried Walther
• ✓ Christ lag in Todesbanden, IGB 2 — Georg Böhm
• ✓ Machs mit mir, Gott, nach deiner Güt — Johann Christian Kittel
• ✓ Jesus Christus unser Heiland — Franz Tunder
• ✓ Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ — Vincent Lübeck
• ✓ Nun lasst uns Gott dem Herren — Vincent Lübeck

Level 3 · Independent toes (20 pieces, 3 score-verified, 13 pedal-confirmed)

• ◐ Aria and 6 Variations in A minor, P.197 — Johann Pachelbel
• ◐ Partita on “Jesu meine Freude”, LV 49 — Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow
• ◐ Variationen über ein original Thema, Op.47 — Adolf Friedrich Hesse
• ✓ Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig, BWV 644 — Johann Sebastian Bach
• ✓ Christe, du Lamm Gottes, BWV 619 — Johann Sebastian Bach
• ◐ Fantasia in D major, LV 63 — Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow
• ✓ Vater unser im Himmelreich, IGB 22 — Georg Böhm
• ◐ Fantasia in G major, WV 43 — Heinrich Scheidemann
• ◐ Variations de Concert, Op.1 — Joseph Bonnet
• ◐ Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme, Op.73 — Max Reger
• ◐ Fuga prima sopra la Bergamasca, Op.8 No.48 — Giovanni Battista Fasolo
• ◐ Variationen und Finale für Orgel, Op.1 — Benedict Jucker
• ◐ Preludio e fuga, Op.19 No.1 — Giacomo Setaccioli
• ◐ Choral et fugue, Op.57 — Marcel Dupré
• ◐ Variations sur un Noël, Op.20 — Marcel Dupré
• ◐ Théme et variations, Op.115 — Marco Enrico Bossi
• ⚠ Aria and 6 Variations in F major, P.195 — Johann Pachelbel
• ⚠ Aria and 6 Variations in G minor, P.196 — Johann Pachelbel
• ⚠ Variationen über ein original Thema, Op.34 — Adolf Friedrich Hesse
• ⚠ Fuga sopra il Magnificat, BWV 733 — Johann Sebastian Bach

Level 4 · Toe and heel (20 pieces, 1 score-verified, 18 pedal-confirmed)

• ◐ Organ Sonata No.5, Op.80 — Alexandre Guilmant
• ◐ Prelude and Fugue in C minor, Krebs-WV 402 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ✓ Grand Chorus in March Form, Op.84 — Alexandre Guilmant
• ◐ Organ Sonata No.1, Op.42 — Alexandre Guilmant
• ◐ Fantasia and Fugue in F major, Krebs-WV 420 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ⚠ Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet, WV 6 — Heinrich Scheidemann
• ◐ Prelude and Fugue in A major — Johann Gottfried Walther
• ◐ Prelude and Fugue in C major — Johann Tobias Krebs
• ◐ Organ Sonata No.1, Op.10 — Daniel Fleuret
• ◐ Organ Sonata, Op.29 — Edgar Tinel
• ◐ Organ Sonata No.2, Op.15 — Johan Albert van Eijken
• ◐ Organ Sonata No.1, Op.11 — August Gottfried Ritter
• ◐ Organ Sonata No.2, Op.26 — Basil Harwood
• ◐ Toccata, Op.49 — Basil Harwood
• ◐ Grand Sonata, Op.22 — Dudley Buck
• ◐ Organ Sonata, Op.28 — Edward Elgar
• ◐ Organ Sonata No.1, Op.95 — Edwin Henry Lemare
• ◐ Toccata di concerto, Op.59 — Edwin Henry Lemare
• ◐ Prelude and Fugue, Op.4 — Emil Sjögren
• ◐ Prelude and Fugue, Op.49 — Emil Sjögren

Level 5 · Trio & double pedal (20 pieces, 0 score-verified, 3 pedal-confirmed)

• ◐ Organ Trio in F minor, H deest — Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
• ◐ Trio in G major — Christian Heinrich Rinck
• ◐ Organ Trio in C minor — Johann Tobias Krebs
• ⚠ Trio super ‘Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr’, BWV 664 — Johann Sebastian Bach
• ⚠ Organ Trio in A minor, Krebs-WV 450 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ⚠ Organ Trio in B-flat major, Krebs-WV 451 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ⚠ Organ Trio in C major, Krebs-WV 435 — Johann Ludwig Krebs
• ⚠ Prelude, Trio and Fugue in B-flat major, BWV 545b — Johann Sebastian Bach
• ⚠ Trio in D minor, BWV 583 — Johann Sebastian Bach
• ⚠ Organ Trio in D major — Gustav Adolf Merkel
• ⚠ Trio in G minor — Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
• ⚠ Ave Maris Stella Trio, OL 10 — Louis Couperin
• ⚠ Beata nobis gaudia Trio, OL 38 — Louis Couperin
• ⚠ Iste Confessor Trio, OL 33 — Louis Couperin
• ⚠ Nocturne, Minuet and Trio, Op.142 — William Faulkes
• ⚠ Minuet and Trio in D major — Arthur B. Plant
• ⚠ Trio — Charles Marie Michel
• ⚠ Trio in E-flat major — Julius Reubke
• ⚠ Trio for the Organ — Samuel Brenton Whitney
• ⚠ Minuet and Trio — William Wolstenholme