Hi

With regard to piano styles what is the difference between Ragtime and Stride piano ? Is stride piano technique used in Ragtime ? as Both feature a similar syncopated right hand movement.

I think these videos answers your question very well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=934MWKYYQNc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rBqcTpvOmg&feature=relmfu

IMO stride is far more interesting harmonically, and it's unquestionably far more difficult technically. Stride usually employs swing eighths as opposed to even eighths in ragtime. I think most ragtime sounds very four square and uninteresting compared to stride. The tempo for stride pieces can be much faster(making it far more difficult technically) than most ragtime, and the left hand often includes tenths which are rare in ragtime.

Some of the best examples of stride to listen to on YouTube are the performances James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, and Dick Wellstood. Perhaps to a lesser extent(?) Art Tatum and Jelly Roll Morton can be considered as exponents of the stride style.

If you're interested in learning stride piano, check out Judy Carmichael's books on learning stride piano. She is a well-known stride pianist.
Kathy

Yeah stride is definitely harder.. but I like ragtime (Joplin in specific) better.

Contemporary ragtime has produced many beautiful pieces by a number of talented composers such as David Thomas Roberts, Frank French and Hal Isbitz. They differ from both classical ragtime and stride and some of them are probably as physically demanding as stride, perhaps more so, although for different reasons. Musically, I find them more interesting than the great stride solos, certainly melodically, but of course interest is subjective. You will find David on youtube playing several such works. I don't play a huge number of them myself, but those I do I continue to enjoy. Well worth learning.

Thanks for the links pianoloverus and to everyone else for your feedback, it was helpful.

Mm.

This may have been answered by pianolover's links. I admit I did not click on them, but assumed they were examples of each.

To an untrained ear, this might be considered a study in semantics. I think I would prefer to call it evolution. Ragtime came first, stride came second. Ragtime around the turn of the 20th century, stride during the roaring twenties. There is a striking similarity, because stride is frequently (though not always) considered the successor to ragtime. The "stride" bass is featured in both quite extensively.

I typically dissociate the "stride" bass from the musical style of "stride", and then can apply the bass pattern "name" to either form. This can cause some confusion if you don't know the difference in form, but it makes it an easier descriptor for the bass pattern.

This style of playing is one of my strengths. Octaves, large leaps and chords fit very well under my hands because my first teacher was a blues/jazz pianist. So, I learned all about "strutting" the left hand.

... and here's another video ...