This is a new printing on sturdy acid-free paper. 130 pages. The Jesse Crawford Advanced Organ Course has been unavailable for years and deserves to be read and used by today’s organists. Those who play “by ear” will find solid techniques for improving their arrangements and performance, and those who read music fluently will find useful and fun techniques never found in Gleason! Crawford mastered his own organ technique over decades and explains how to make his methods work for students who desire to learn and improve in, as he puts it, the “popular” style of organ playing. Though written with special emphasis for the Hammond organ (the only one available to most people in 1949), his course works well for any organ. Highest quality guaranteed. Size of book is 9" x 12". $35.00. (Higher shipping charges due to additional weight.) Made possible by the generous loan of Crawford’s personal copy by Jeff Weiler.

Jesse Crawford (1895-1962) was the organist who brought popular organ music to the people through the medium of recordings, beginning with 78 rpm records. He was known for his playing of the great IV/36 Wurlitzer in the Paramount Theatre, Times Square, New York City. George Gershwin heard him there, and Crawford’s organ arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue was the result. If you would enjoy a sample of several pages (in full resolution) from the Advanced Course, you may get it here, free for you, as a PDF. The bound copy that you may buy restores the original full 9 x 12 inch paper with a coil binding that allows for easy display on the music rack. On the other hand, the PDF is my gift to you and can be printed (without reducing) on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. It is my hope that this reissue will stimulate better playing in the theatre organ style and garner more of the respect that Crawford richly deserves from all organists.