This tutorial was developed as a sabbatical project supported by Birmingham-Southern College during the first six months of 1998. It is meant to fill a need for a multi-media resource on the organ and its history, and is intended for use by undergraduate organ students who have little or no experience with the instrument.

There are two primary sections:

1. The Organ and How it Works. This section presents information about the instrument as it is found at the end of the twentieth century. The goal is to include enough technical information to answer most questions about the instrument, without introducing qualitative judgements or historical development.
2. History. This section presents an overview of the history of the instrument. It concentrates on instruments that should be of the most interest and usefulness to the undergraduate organist: organs associated with composers of the music the student will typically encounter during his or her first three or four years of study.

Additionally, there is a searchable glossary of terms associated with the organ. The glossary will appear in the lower or "footer" frame at the bottom of the screen. It can be accessed in two ways:

1. The glossary can be selected from the Main Menu.
2. If a highlighted term within the body of any one of the content pages is clicked, the definition of that term in the glossary will appear in the "footer" frame.

© 1998 James H. Cook