Donny I probably won't post my music, I'm not that good! But ask yourself: what would a Catholic Church organist do? Bass on the pedals, held chords in the left hand, typically voiced close between F and F. RH single-note melody to lead the congregation with harmony sometimes added on the chorus. I don't have the skill to play a real organ like that. But using ALL of the automatic features of the arranger I can fake it pretty well. Without pedals (and the requisite skill to play them) I can't do bass "runs" like an organist could. But by using Bass Inversion I can force the bass note to something other than the root when necessary, which makes a lot of difference.

The trick to this is: NO drum. No rhythmic bass either. Just long, sustained notes in the style pattern (picture whole-note triads tied together for 32 measures, and you get the idea!) You have to choose voices that have an indefinite sustain like Organ, or at least a long sustain, like bowed string instruments.

On Roland, unfortunately you can't force the style track notes to "retrigger" when you change chords in the middle of the pattern [remember all those tied notes I mentioned?] So some voices can only be played with the sync stop active. Basically when you release the keys it resets the style pattern and forces everything to retrigger at measure 1 beat 1. Again, the time signature is irrelevant because there is no rhythm or groove. I can show you hymns that go from 6/8 to 9/8 and then back again-- what were those monks thinking?

Since the sound fades as soon as you release the keys, being able to transition quickly to the next chord is important. [Hello, single-finger majors!!] Adding some reverb and a long release makes the sound smoother. If I knew how to use a sustain pedal, I'd be dangerous!

I didn't invent this concept. For years, Yamaha, Korg, and ironically the lower-end Rolands have had the ability to play a string pad and monophonic bass sound when the arranger is activated and the rhythm is stopped. It's great for practicing and will work for any song that doesn't call for a strong rhythmic beat. Strangely, this mode isn't implemented as a convenient built-in function among TOTL models. But if you understand what's going on and the fine points of style creation, you can set up a rubato practice mode on any arranger that accepts custom styles, and has sync stop (or a retrigger function, and chord "memory" that can be disabled.)

Now that I've revealed the "secret", I would like to hear some of YOU playing these styles!