My online name, Ragtime Rachel, is perhaps a bit grandiose considering I play the piano rather poorly, but there is one piece I play rather well, and that's Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag." It was the song I heard Eubie Blake playing one day when I was twelve--he did it, as I recall, as part of a PBS special--and from then on, I was hooked, hopelessly, on ragtime. I had never heard anything quite like it, and endeavored to learn to play, simply to play that kind of music.
With that in mind, I've uploaded to Divshare a recording of me playing the first two strains of "Maple Leaf" (I've never managed to master to tortuous C strain, but if I do, I'll link to it). Because my CP tends to get in the way, to minimize mistakes I played quite slowly, then speeded up the recording electronically. The result is quite pleasing, I think.
Comments
I really enjoyed this!
Thank you! Belle
Living up to my name
Nothing like good music.
May Your Light Forever Shine
Really good Rachel
I enjoyed it. The music of that era was special.
Loved It (I enjoy Scott Joplin)
Really fine playing. But what is the C strain? And why is it "tortuous"?
Ragtime is composed of....
...four distinct melodies, or strains, usually referred to by musicians as the A, B, C, and D strain. The pattern of a typical ragtime piece is AA BB A CC DD. What I was trying to say is that I could only play the first half of the piece, and that the third melody was difficult for me to play.
Livin' A Ragtime Life,
Rachel