Maple Leaf Rag - Scott Joplin

 

Hello. I hope you liked the last post, because here I present another Scott Joplin ragtime. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire journey that was learning this piece,  my favourite ragtime, widely regarded as Joplin's best work. Something about the second part of this ragtime gives such great satisfaction to listen to, and even more joy to play yourself. I find that there is great versatility with which this piece can be played and still produce a fantastic sound, whether it be fast or slow, swung or not, and with great variation all the way through. Being able to change up the way in which I play, treating my ears to a fresh performance, is one of the main reasons I just have not gotten bored of this piece, and likely will not for some time.

As you can probably tell from the video, I decided to swing this piece. I heard a performance on Spotify that was swung, and really liked how it sounded. Now, I didn't listen in music GCSE, so I will not give an analysis on how a swung tempo complements the Maple Leaf  Rag. Quite simply, it just sounds really great. 

I'll try my best to ensure that the next piece I learn is not another ragtime, as I have been told there are other piano genres. I was gonna go into why I pick up rag times better than other styles, but I can't be bothered. That's up to your interpretation. 

Also, there were a few pauses in the performance, but I think if I had to play the piece one more time that recording session I would be forced to collapse the lid onto my head and that would've likely annoyed my sister. 

One final thing, I apologise if this wasn't a fantastic written section, but I'm very tired and going to America in like 3 hours so deal with it.

Thanks for listening hope you enjoyed