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Do we have a ragtime forum? I'm hooked on ragtime! I can't stop. Classical will have to stay in the past. Ragtime now!

Being from New Orleans, I would have thought this would have happened to me sooner.

Any ragtime nuts on board?

I like it but how about some stride? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENhEVM1aQNk

elite syncopations - ragtime Yahoo group & forum

Isn't stride similar to ragtime in some ways?

It is very similar, stride evolved from ragtime. The story goes that bar pianists had to start to improvise over the rags to vary their repertoire and so stride was born. But even then there's not a very clear difference. Im no expert but I'd say it's generally played faster (sometimes) and with more bounce (or swing I guess) and has more of a blues sensibility.
Check out Jelly Roll Morton, http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Roll-Morton-Artist-Transcriptions/dp/0793598877, he was from New Orleans.

Klink, thanks. I way eyeing The Crush by Jellyroll Morton last night. I might have to give it a try. It definitely has a Latin edge to it and with my Cuban roots, I don't know if I can resist it.

Suggest you also take a look at the wonderful piano compositions of Ignacio Cervantes. I know this sounds silly, but I view him as something of a bridge between Chopin and Scott Joplin, though his works are very Cuban, unique, and worthwhile in their own right.

Thanks, ClsscLib. I read,about him and will definitely check out his music.

This is an excellent collection of recordings of his piano works by a very good pianist; I would prefer different tempi for some of the pieces (especially the first, which I think he plays too fast), but the interpretations are convincing, and the level of performance and quality of recording are both very good:

http://www.amazon.com/Cervantes-Dan...mp;sr=1-1&keywords=ignacio+cervantes

I listen to this recording a lot!

Isabelle, if you like Jelly Roll, check out the Crave -- it's my all-time favorite by him! I have a score that I worked on a bit, but I put it away to come back later, when I'm magically somehow more able to play faster!

ClsscLib, I've never heard of Ignacio Cervantes, I'll have to give a listen, being a bridge between Chopin and Joplin sounds awfully interesting!!

Shiro, yes, The Crave! Earlier I posted "the Crush", wrong name.

Love the Crave. Wherever did they come up with names for these pieces??!!

That's hysterical! I just assumed that the Crush was another Jelly Roll song, and it sounds enough like the Crave that I thought maybe it was like a companion song or something! I had even made a mental note to look for the Crush on YouTube later on!

If you start working on the Crave, please let us know how it goes. Where did you get the score btw? I have the version that was released when the Crave was used in the piano duel in the move "The Legend of Nineteen Hundred." I don't think it's massively simplified (esp. in terms of the rhythm and the main elements of the music overall), but I assumed it was at least a little easier than the original, maybe in terms of the left hand part. But since I don't have anything to compare it to I don't really know.

Jelly Roll incorporated what he would call the "Spanish thing" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Tinge in some of his music, which I think you'd find interesting if you're of Cuban descent

Shiro, check out IMSLP.org. The Crave is available for printing.

A blog post I wrote about the Spanish tinge ..

http://www.polishookpiano.com/blog/the-spanish-tinge

Isabelle, have you heard of David Thomas Roberts? He is modern composer from the Mississippi Gulf Coast area and lived in New Orleans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJBMsjF2bnw

Between the ragtime and stride there is a difference in the rhythmic patterns and textures in each hand.

I want to honor the memory of one who really stood between Chopin and Joplin, and influenced on Ignacio Cervantes - Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who was born in New Orleans and died in Cuba.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYuQPCVr2Ds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOYnuC6twfI - there is a clear Polonaise of Chopin!

Isabelle,how do you solve the problem of jumps in the left hand?

M

Nahum, in terms of jumps in the left hand do you mean bass note or octave up to chord?

Of course!

http://cnx.org/contents/4e0483b1-029d-481d-b316-9460ab84882c@4/Listening-to-Ragtime

Nahum, some of the left hand leaps are not really that big. It could be that I studied piano for over 10 years that has kept that from being a problem. When I do encounter a problem, in practice, I play slowly up to the point of the problem, stop and move whichever hand to just over the note needed then play it. Another practice tool is to play the bass note then the lowest note of the chord you have to leap to, but make sure you use the correct fingers to do so. Once that is going well, practice bass note to chord slowly. It also helps to use the correct fingering for the chords, depending on whether it is a root chord or inversion.

Yes, I am very familiar with the music of Louis Moreau Gottschalk. I love his music. I have a book of his piano music. Someday, maybe...