I was an accomplished pianist by the time The Sting was released, and I fell in love with Ragtime. One of the things I noticed about the various composers of the era was that many of their works were difficult to play because they divided the attention too much. Scott Joplin, on the other hand (no ten inpunded), understood the form to the point where his compositions had sections where the right hand stayed in position while the left moved, or else had the left hand stationary, doing what I call "chop chords" while the right hand could execute an arpeggio or a complicated rhythm that required the pianist's full attention. Unlike many of his contemporaries, and especially modern composers/arrangers who attempt ragtime, Joplin understood piano music and the mechanics of playing. His compositions fit in the hands very well, and he was able to get more melodically and harmonically sophisticated than many others as a result.
Try listening to ragtime while driving down the road. You'll be tapping the gas pedal or the brake. No wonder you see so many tire marks all over the road!
This is an absolutely wonderful explanation, with a wonderful piano performance to accompany it. You did a great job with breaking the style down to its most basic elements.
Great explanation! It's sad that people don't realize just how difficult music like this is. It sounds simple enough but in being that the left-hand jumps nonstop, it is almost impossible to look at sheet music or your right hand. I just finished learning Easy winners (Scott Joplin) and it is killer (plus your left arm goes through a workout everytime you play it...)
Ragtime is one of the best demonstrations of the difference between "simple" and "easy". In terms of theory and harmony it's quite simple, but it's one of the hardest styles to master in terms of actually being able to play it.
It's not just how you master the keys - many do! It's how you break down a style to its essence with your editing. Never seen anything like it! Your "... explained in two minutes" videos are pieces of art. My graduate project from high school in art (we have those in Germany) was "Visual complementation of music", and you deliver what I couldn't come up with back then. Accept my heartfelt hug!
@@even2ez266 exactly! I rather play classical pieces by Chopin and other great composers than pop but people say pop is better. It's like comparing an old painting to a picture caught by a camera.
What a find! I am doing "Baroque to Boogie-woogie" for our homeschool curriculum this year and this works perfectly: short (two teenagers and a pre-teen), concise, and the graphics make everything crystal clear. You have just made a big part of my year easier, thank you!
I personally love playing ragtime, so I should get back to practicing the Joplin songs I already learned. Thank you for the best explanation I’ve seen!
Editing 10/10, not overboard Very concise and straight to the point explains everything very well, and shortly Definitely amazing, even if i'm 5 years late !
Ragtime makes me so happy. Entertainer was the song of my childhood and when I started playing the piano when I got older, I never knew it’s name but just knew it made me happy then it came on the Felix advert and it was the first real song I played on the piano
This has been released 2 years ago and ive come back to rewatch the entire series over and over again. This gives me more info about music than my teacher used to do :3. Work is truly splendid, m'dude.
This makes me want to dance, modern music just doesn't make me want to move. Love the style of this video, it's a very nice way of showing the viewer what's going on. Subbed
This. Is. Really. AWESOME!! Thanks for explaining it so well, especially the part where you highlight each "part" individually so I can hear what's going on. Well done! 👍👍👍
Came here looking for Ragtime thinking it was something new I never heard, but turns out it's terminology for Wild West Piano playing :) Great explanation in detail.
I usually never write comments on youtube but I must say this is very smart of you to explain ragtime this way! perfectly clear my dear! You are very talented!
Watching this video made me astonished on how similar Ragtime is to some Latin American genres. The part where the right hand moves from the notes A-#A-B, or basically the increase of notes by two semitones, is very common in a lot of salsa and merengue music.
after stumbling upon this accidentally, i can say that i finally figured out what that type of music ive been trying to figure out how to make for so long is! (completely failed every time, but now i might have a winning chance)
WONDERFUL! I taught myself the piano from age 11 eleven, and it was very difficult. When my grandma gave me an old book of Joplin rags when I was fourteen, I discovered a genre of music that was complex, entertaining, yet fun and practicable. It made me feel like a virtuoso, because I was able to access Maple Leaf Rag, Palm Leaf Rag, and Elite Syncopations. I fell in love with rag, and it will always lift my heart.
I KNEW IT. I knew it was possible to teach yourself piano! I currently don't have a teacher, and it's gonna take a while for my lessons to actually start so I tried teaching myself but I really don't know how!
Oh my goodness. Thank you SO MUCH for making this. I love music, took music theory and whatnot in highschool, music appreciation in college, but I could never really break down what made those styles so specific. And thank to you NOW I CAN!! :D :D :D
What an excellent freaking tutorial. See if this was what our education was like, with this level of enthrallment and explanation, learning would be so much easier.
The great video thank you so much I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Watching this reminded me of my player piano my grandma's house and I was a kid and we had the entertainer on a scroll. When pushing those pedals you can it watch the piano keys play ragtime live time. It was awesome. thank you
♥️ The only thing I know about music is that love listening to it-almost any kind of music. This was a really informative video. It helped me learn something new today. Thanks.
Wooo! Great video (as always) and super interesting :) really loved the clean separation of hands and rhythms Also I joined your Patreon for the Tetris sheet music, but I can only find the first page :( Are you going to be releasing it soon?
Thank you for this! Though I've always loved ragtime I've never understood what it is: what I'm actually listening to. This was terrifically clear. And you know... ragtime wasn't just very popular: for more than twenty years it was hugely popular ALL OVER THE WORLD, and it was the first. Long before Jazz, long before Rock and Roll.
When "Do you feel like dancing?" came up on screen I realized my head was bobbing and feet were moving, some music just makes you dance whether you think you want to or not :D
WHY HIS MUSIC SOOO GUUUUDDD *so moist234x* it really is good music..and video editing really is splendid..he should have way more subs than he has right now in my opinion...
Just a possative note . I don't play but have some Freinds that do. Ragtime at my age still a wet behind the ears 55 has always made my day more cheerful. I Thank anyone who can play it for keeping it alive. Hearing it is like Ice cream on a hot day . Good stuff no matter your age.
As a youngin' of 22, I can't agree more that age is no limiting factor on the enjoyment of the USA's very own classical music! It's essentially timeless, no matter what some may say.
