One day when I was about 17 years old I heard this piece echoing in the halls of my school near the choir department. I looked down the hall and saw a girl that I knew just crushing it. I thought to myself - I should probably take a look at that piece of music because it might help me understand more about where all the music I love comes from with regard to the transition from classical music to the jazz of the early 1900’s. So began my interest in rag-time.
The Maple Leaf Rag was published in 1899. Ten years later my dad was born. My brothers and I were late arrivals for him or I would be far older than I am. I grew up with a father who was the age of most of my peers grandfathers. While there were some “downsides” to this age gap, there were perks with regard to gaining a truly vast cultural memory. That brings me to my purpose for working this piece up for the last time. My dad loved when I played it but I only learned the first, and most famous part. When I would play it he would always say - “play it faster.” He wanted it at the tempo of a frenetic scene in a silent movie. I always accommodated him, of course.
I actually studied Ragtime for a while and I became acquainted with many of the works of Scott Joplin. I discovered the incredible gifts that he possessed as both a pianist and a composer and I learned that this piece - like many other “rags” is to be played with a nice Tempo di Marcia, or Slow March Tempo. Joplin is documented as having stated “it is never right to play rag-time fast.”
That said, if one verbalizes or “scats” the 16th note pulse throughout this piece - using something like Baka chika Baka chika (1 ee and uh 2 ee and uh) you can get a real sense of what Joplin was feeling when he composed this song and how the two hands fit together while simultaneously playing off of each other. Locking in with the 16th note pulse heightens the groove experience at this slower tempo.
Maple Leaf Rag would of course, groove at a variety of tempos but I finally settled on a quarter note around 138. I hope this will not be interpreted as musicological expertise, but rather my own personal taste for how it feels from start to finish. Based on my personal encounter with the rhythms the three sections of this rag blend well at this tempo.
When I began to make decisions about what pieces would make the final cut for my epic musical journey through my past, I felt that this piece was mandatory because I never played the complete version for my dad (or anyone else for that matter). In over 30 years of teaching I have only had one student who played this piece from top to bottom. While I studied ragtime musically, stylistically and compositionally, I did not polish or play any of the rags to completion as I am doing here with the Maple Leaf Rag.
There is quite a bit of closure involved here. I will not include any of that in this description. Sometimes less is more. The piece says it all and does it all for me. I hope it will be the same for you.
Enjoy!
Mark Christopher Brandt
18 сен 2024
