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At this site you will be able to find original information about how to effectively communicate music and connect with listeners. If you are a music lover, you have access at this site to information which will transform your understanding of how and why music works or doesn't work for you. This information has never before been brought to light, nor expressed in the way we present it. Although the material is copyrighted, we encourage everyone to copy the material and share it with as many people as possible, especially with other musicians. If you use the ideas and techniques in your performances, teaching, or writings, please give credit where credit is due.

You will find the information you are looking for by clicking on the About the Craft, the On Affect, and the Orphei Organi Antiqui buttons. Our essay, The Craft of Musical Communication was originally written and published in the Japanese Clavichord Society Journal about 10 years ago. We later added the second half of this work, On Affect when we discovered the need for a more expanded explanation of the function and purpose of the cognitive techniques discussed in the original essay. We have since revised and added to it as new understandings have come to light. Most recently, we were asked to contribute to a book being published in honor of the lifetime work of Harald Vogel and our essay became part of that book, published by the Westfield Center. The essay then became, in effect, a scholarly publication where it was subject to the editorial skill of Cleveland Johnson. We offer that version to you as well here at our site, for those of you who prefer a scholarly form where referenced material is tendered in the form of footnotes at the end of the essay.

As you read the two sections of our essay make sure you read them in order from the first to the last. Each section builds on and depends on the one previous. It is jam packed with ideas that may be challenging to wade through, but we can assure you, you won't find the effort unrewarded.

For those readers who are more comfortable reading in German, our essay was translated in 2001 by August Humer and Brett Leighton. Click on the Uberzetzung button to find this translation.

And for those readers who are more comfortable reading in Russian, our essay was translated in 2009 by Artiom Sinelnikov. Click on the "Craft in Russian" button to find this translation.

We also have divided the essay into separate more readily accessible parts based on the individual cognitive techniques. Each can be accessed with its own button for you to click on.

The ideas we share with you freely are extremely powerful in the effects they produce. Remember, music is both the language of the Soul and its main source of nourishment. So, we hope that you will use the information intelligently, wisely, and responsibly. What you do with this knowledge directly affects your own Soul.

We are available to persons, groups and institutions for private coaching, workshops, masterclasses, and demonstrations. We also conduct our own workshops in summer. If you wish to be informed of our workshop schedule, you may register by clicking on this link Learn Techniques and filling in the form we have provided for you.

MARIANNE PLOGER and KEITH HILL

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