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RAGTIME!

Scott Joplin playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FB7AC4F189BD2C2F

If you wish, view my dotted or “swung” version for sake of comparison. Both are played at exactly the same tempo in bpm, so it is an interesting comparison.

It has become popular lately (or “in vogue”) play The Easy Winners at a relaxed tempo, which is incorrect considering the title of the rag as well as the picture on the front cover. It shows athletes playing football, baseball, and horse racing. Now ask yourself what type of character “athletes” and “winners” suggest, “calm and relaxed” or “energetic and exuberant”. In essence, this rag is something like a happy victory dance after a hard game. It is vibrant, fun, and energetic. I do not know why there has been a movement to strip this rag of all its life and turn it into a serious affair. (See discussion of tempo below!)

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There has been much attention given recently to Joplin’s “slow” and “not fast” indications, which are often misleading if taken literally. Never has there been a composer in the history of music who wrote only slow music, but rather all the great composers included a wide gamut of speeds and emotions from slow to moderate to fast. Joplin certainly was no exception, meaning that it would be too one-sided and simplistic to take his “slow” and “not fast” indications literally and never play any of his rags in a lively fashion. Joplin probably became obsessed with “slow” and “not fast” indications to guard against outrageously fast tempos exceeding 120 bpm that saloon virtuosos often took, such as Alan Thompson’s version of Maple Leaf Rag (here on YouTube).

Most of Joplin’s rags are marches or in a march-like style. Considering that a normal march (like by Sousa) has a tempo of about 120 bpm, when Joplin says “slow” or “slow march tempo”, he didn’t necessarily mean a truly slow tempo, but rather a tempo slower than 120 bpm. In other words, “slow” was a relative term to Joplin rather than a purely specific or quantitative term most people associate with the word “slow”. For example, Joplin gave “Sugar Cane” a metronome mark of 100 bpm accompanied with the indication “slow march tempo”. To our ears Sugar Cane at 100 bpm is actually “fast”, although compared to a normal march tempo of about 120 bpm it is indeed “slow”.

Our duty as performers is to decide through analysis and logic which rags should be slower and more introverted, which should be faster and more extroverted, and which should be something in between. Often times one needs to look no further than the title and title page! For example, the title page of “The Easy Winners” shows football, baseball, and horse racing, in which “winners” and “athletes” clearly suggest an energetic and exuberant kind of performance rather than a calm and stately one. On the other hand, a title like “Weeping Willow” suggests the complete opposite–a calm, melancholy, and reflective mood that is best captured with a truly slow tempo.

One of the most misunderstood of Joplin’s rags is “Gladiolus Rag”, whose title indicates an energetic and masculine performance rather than a calm and serious one, as is often done. (See discussion of Gladiolus Rag for more details.) Of course, titles do not tell us everything; however, recognizing the implications of the titles along with study of the musical character and important musical motives at least bring us closer to capturing the true essence of the music as Joplin intended.

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RAGTIME!

Scott Joplin playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FB7AC4F189BD2C2F

I like this rag best with dotted or swung rhythms, since they add energy and create the illusion that the tempo is faster than it really is. This is an advantage because it allows the ear to pick up all the details and nuances. In addition to being a pianist I am also a “music scientist” interested in how different modes of performance are perceived. No piece offers better concrete examples than this rag.

For example, I play this rag a full 10 beats per minute slower than Joshua Rifkin (86 vs. 96 bpm), who has become famous for his “slow” and “majestic” tempos. The funny thing is that if one listens to both performances back to back, it is hardly noticeable that mine is a full 10 beats per minute slower. In fact my performance even sounds faster in a way, since the insistence created by the dotted rhythms creates an *illusion* that the tempo is actually faster than it really is. Some of this illusion may also be created by my use of less pedal and more emphasis on crisp articulation.

Then, you may compare my performance at about 86 bpm with something entirely different, Tom Brier’s and Patrick Aranda’s duet performance here on YouTube (on keeper1st’s channel), who play it at a very fast 116 bpm (with straight rhythms). Theirs is a whopping 30 bpm faster than my performance and one would think “the faster the better”, but this is simply not so. In reality, it is some of the worst ragtime playing on YouTube because Tom (who murders just about everything he plays) takes it so insanely fast that Patrick can barely keep up. This proves that faster is not necessarily better, a philosophy I steadfastly believe in and will continue to promote time and time again in my videos.

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Me playing Scott Joplin’s Magnetic Rag on my parents’ Knabe baby grand piano. This was his final published piece (in 1914), and while not as widely known as The Entertainer or Maple Leaf, it’s my very favorite Joplin rag.

I’m a self-taught hobby ragtime player (and pretty camera-shy), so please excuse the mistakes (although I do get a rousing cheer from Mom, which you’ll hear at the end). Thanks Mom!

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pianoaz95http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/pianoaz95MusicPiano, Kevin, A., ZhouScott Joplin’s Entertainer by Kevin A. Zhou

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http://onlinemaven.blogspot.com
Takamon plays Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag on the piano. One take, uninterrupted shot.
When we were kids we called it the “Trolly Song”. Probably a reference to the jazzy ragtime-like music played when the Trolly on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood would roll in and out of the neighborhood of Make Believe.

Thanks for the tunes Ta!

I vlog with the YouTube account OnlineMaven.

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http://onlinemaven.blogspot.com

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A rag published in 1899. The inspiration for learning this came from watching a You Tube clip of Dennis Pash, Meredith Axelrod, Bob Ault, and Craig Ventresco playing a string band rendition in concert:

I learned this from a piano score pdf download at mutopiaproject.org:
http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?collection=joplin&preview=1

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Ragtime by Scott Joplin
http://blip.tv/file/3437287

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Maple leaft Rag, recorded on Pianola Roll actually played by Scott Joplin

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How many levels are in piano? ppl ask me what level i am in, but i have no idea. I don’t really play classical piano, but i can play scott joplins maple leaf rag. What level would the original maple leaf music be at

There are MANY systems of rating music. I am a judge in NY state – we have six levels. The piece you cite is a 5 . In Canada or GB or another US state, it might be something else – or not listed at all.