Ragtime Review 6/23/16

Here's my twice monthly review of my current ragtime progress, and what's new on YouTube in the world of ragtime.  A little late again, but that's no biggie.

First, how is my practicing going?  Well in general, I had less time, due both to factors like working and taking care of my kids, and having to practice about 5 million hymns for accompanying church and chapel services and a hymn sing over the weekend.  That is not a complaint though; I enjoy doing it.  But I don't really have time to practice those and simultaneously practice ragtime.  It also seem to take a day or two for my fingers to remember how to do ragtime after playing just hymns for a week.

• New Era Rag by James Scott is now for sure memorized--I just played it without the music-- and, remarkably enough, it may actually be getting slightly better.  I thought I was stuck but I think I have pushed it a little farther towards performance quality, especially if I play it when already warmed up.  Still not there yet, though.
• Grace and Beauty, also by James Scott is where I am now stuck.  Not memorized and not getting better.  It seems more difficult now than it looked.  The question is do I like it enough to keep going, or move on to something else?
• Ethiopia Rag by Joseph Lamb, I'm haven't touched.  Think I'll give up on this one for now, probably removing it from the next update.
• Ragging the Scale, by Ed Claypoole.  Played it a little but not as much as last time, needs more work.
• Two-Key Rag by Joe Hollander I also didn't practice as much this time as before; however I do feel it is improving.  This piece and the above I have not printed off, so I always practice them together when putting my computer into tablet mode.
• Over The Top by Tom Brier, I have worked on some but feel stuck.
• Canadian Capers, I haven't touched, but not sure that I'm giving up just yet.  I don't feel burned out on it.  I'll keep it on the list for now.

With all this talk of "giving up," I certainly don't mean to sound negative or imply permanently giving up.  It just means that I'm temporarily burned out on something that I don't feel I'm making any real progress on, and feel it is time to move onto something else.  Sometimes I move on to something I had worked on but abandoned in the past, such as this piece I am adding to my practice list:

• The Lion Tamer Rag, a Syncopated Fantasia by Mark Janza.  A most remarkable piece, representing, I think, the pinnacle of ragtime creativity.  For all the praise Joplin gets--all deserved, I grant--he really could never have written something like this.  It is a completely different subgenre of ragtime.  Another interesting point is that the composer was probably actually Al Marzian and not Mark Janza, who is likely fictitious. This is determined by analyzing the compositional style of known pieces by Marzian and comparing them to The Lion Tamer Rag, and the fact there is no outside evidence for the existence of a Mark Janza.  In any case, it was rather common for sheet music publishers in the ragtime era to attribute to certain pieces they published to made-up composers, to make it look like they had a greater number of composers publishing with them.

Now on to what's new and interesting on YouTube.  First, we have this performance of a ragtime standard, Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin, played by a 14 year old piano student:



Here's a performance of Joplin's last published composition, Magnetic Rag.  This is Max's ancient piano which would be about 60 years old already at the time Magnetic Rag was published.  Also, I recall reading there was some reason it cannot be tuned to the usual pitch points and is about 1/2 step low.



Michael Chisholm has posted a series of videos from the Old Town Music Hall Ragtime Festival in El Segundo, California.  Unfortunately they were taken at some distance so it is difficult to observe the pianists, but they still sound great.  This is a favorite piece of mine, the Queen Rag by Floyd Willis.  One can easily imagine this being played on the paddleboats along the Mississippi River, by hired entertainers in the days long before sound systems, which apparently it was.



From the same series, this is Vincent Johnson's performance of 'Wildflower Rag' by Clarence Williams, a later ragtime piece which has been accused of blurring the lines between ragtime and jazz.  Later versions of this are often heard as a jazz piece, but here it is played in more of a ragtime style, I think... well, you decide.



Here's something I'm basically bookmarking for myself in case it might lead me to more John Arpin compositions that I could watch later.



Finally, going back a few years, here's a fine performance of the Lion Tamer Rag by Tom Brier.

Ragtime Review 6/8/16

This is where I update my fellow ragtime fans as to what is new on the internet (YouTube generally) in the world of ragtime, and my current progress with whatever I'm working on.  I said I would try to do this on or around the 5th and 20th of the month.  I have been busy but I'm not too far off.  There is a lot new on YouTube since last time, and much more I could post, but I can't post it all so I have to select some highlights.

In general this is my busiest time of year in the professional realm and I have had very little time to practice.  Let's see, last time around I said I was working on the following pieces:

• New Era Rag, by James Scott, I am still playing some, but as I said last time I doubt it will get much better at my current general skill level.
• Grace and Beauty, by James Scott continues to improve.  I can pretty much play the first half up to tempo now with only a couple blips.  (A video of a performance of this piece appears in a previous post.)
• Ethiopia Rag, by Joseph Lamb.  I'm having a tough time improving on this one, though I suppose I have practiced it a bit less than the others.  It's more challenging than it looks/sounds, and I prefer pieces to be less challenging than they sound.
• Ragging the Scale, by Ed Claypoole.  Well, it's coming along, and I seem to have the first strain memorized.
• Canadian Capers, I think I have only played once since the previous update, which doesn't really count as working on it.  At that rate I ought to drop it from my current list.

So let's add two more to the list that I am now working on.

• Two-key Rag by Joe Hollander.  More on that below.
• Over the Top by Tom Brier.  I had been working on this a few months ago.  I didn't get all that far but I ought to give it another shot.  It is catchy.

Two-key Rag is a recent discovery for me.  It is also very catchy, but it may take a couple listens to get used to.  One has to accept the premise that the first two bars (and bars 9 and 10) of the first strain are purposely in a key 1/2 step higher than the rest of that strain.  The second strain also modulates significantly, this time to a (non-relative) minor key, but is very well composed so it works; and the Trio section is also quite good.  Here Tom Brier and Elliot Adams provide a performance.

This is a recent performance of a very catchy piece by T. A. Duggan.  It is believed that a lot of New Orleans area ragtime did not leave New Orleans (at least not at first), and consequently sheet music for this piece is extremely rare.  I am fortunate to have a copy that Michael (one of the performers here) posted to Facebook.

This performance of an earlier James Scott piece was from several years ago, but recently posted.

This is a new one on me.  I like this guy's style.

Then in the really new department, we have this new composition in the classic ragtime vein by Vincent Johnson, hot off the presses:

Here's a loose end we may pick up.  Something sort of new but not as new as the rest.  This is not strictly ragtime but more of a fun, ambling piece by a stride composer.  I'm kind of wondering where everyone is getting sheet music for this.  I've seen a few versions online but I'm unsure which is the best.  None of them is free (that I have found), and while I don't mind paying for something like this, it's important in that case to make sure I have the best version.  Of course if I had more time, it would be fun to take a whack at learning it by ear.

And finally, a detour to what's old.  I mentioned 'Over the Top' by Tom Brier.  Here is what it sounds like.  As the description says this is slightly on the slow side but it still sounds great.  I'll be happy if I can play it at that tempo!