![]() It needs to sound a little wobbly, as if you were pushing a cart with an egg shaped wheel. Okay, now lets syncopate! Notice how some notes fall on the beat, and some fall off the beat. This will open up the chance for us to add arpeggiated fillers in the next section. Here's how the originally melody sounds, all boring and straight:īefore we syncopate it, lets make one more small change. Lets take the traditional children’s tune Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Staras an example. It can be a little hard to do at first, but once you get the style in your ears, it comes pretty naturally. Don't be afraid to change the melody to work in the syncopation. When playing a song in ragtime you must.MUST. This creates a pulling effect from one chord to the next, which helps smooth out the changes. In this case, moving from the I chord to the IV we insert a leading tone beneath the new chord. When you are moving from one chord to another, you can anticipate the change by playing a chromatic leading tone in the bass. If you can’t reach a 10th comfortably, then try rolling them. This can be a challenge, especially for those with small hands. Octaves in the bass are fine, but if you are feeling extra ambitious, try upgrading those octaves to 10ths. Try a walk up, using all the chord tones, for some variety. When a single chord lasts for more than a single bar, feel free to experiment with other chord tones in the bass too. To alleviate that, alternate between the root on beat 1 and the 5th on beat 3. Playing only root notes in the bass can sound pretty monotonous after a few bars. This gives the root a stronger presence, and an overall thicker sound. The next step in building your left hand stride is to double the single bass notes in octaves. By keeping the bass notes and the chords close together, it eliminates the technical challenge of jumping the left hand too far.Īs you get comfortable, you’ll want to introduce that jumping technique by dropping the single notes down an octave. ![]() The easiest way to play a Ragtime stride left hand is by alternating single notes in the bass with chords. This is often called an “Oom Pah Bass,” as it emulates the rhythmic sounds of tubas and drums of contemporary marches of the time. In it’s most basic form, the player alternates bass notes on beats 1 & 3, with chords on 2 & 4. Ragtime piano is defined first and foremost by the left hand stride pattern. Let’s each about each of these individually first, and then we’ll discuss some exercises to put them together into a song. Straight (even) 8th notes.įor a casual piano player, none of these are too difficult to learn, but can be harder to combine together fluently. The Style of Ragtime Ragtime piano has a very distinctive “old time saloon” sound which is defined by some key characteristics: Stride left hand patterns Syncopated, accented melody lines Arpeggiated filler patterns Flashy fills and chromatic lines Harmonically simple chord changes, especially compared to jazz. Additionally, I’d be remiss not to mention my own teacher, Jonny May, who spent many years as the ragtime player on Main St. Scott Bradlee, proprietor of Postmodern Jukebox is a fantastic ragtime and stride player. Some of my favorite modern ragtime players are current YouTube personalities. Introducing technical challenges inspired by Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller. Creating your own ragtime arrangements of popular tunes. Simplified arrangements of Scott Joplin rags. Getting Started Here are some ragtime piano concepts, ranked from easiest to most difficult. Here’s a performance of Jelly Roll Morton’s Fingerbreaker, a notoriously challenging rag. Stride piano is one of the most difficult styles to master, due to its sheer technical nature. This ultimately created a new style similar to Ragtime, called Stride. These compositions, like The Entertainer, Maple Leaf Rag or Solace are fully written and can be learned note for note from the sheet music.Īs ragtime evolved over time, particularly through live performances in clubs during the 1920/30’s, it become more improvisatory and virtuosic. Ragtime requires you to have a strong sense of rhythm and some technical proficiency to play it well.Ĭomposed ragtime, like the rags of Scott Joplin, are a great first step for classically trained pianists. ![]() ![]() So, is ragtime hard to play? Ragtime is too hard for complete beginners, but is approachable by those who have been playing piano seriously for at least 2-3 years. They are a lot of fun to play, and can really impress your friends. One of the most common questions I hear from beginning piano students is "can I learn to play Maple Leaf Rag?" Or, "Is The Entertainer approachable as a beginner?" Ragtime and stride piano are some of the most popular old-time piano styles. ![]()
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