Prep. pieces for Golliwogs Cakewalk

[sarahlein]

I have a student who'd like to learn Debussy's Golliwogs Cakewalk.
We are already working on Le petit Negre and it's coming along very nicely.
She's quick in learning her assigned pieces so she's progressing in a very good pace.
My question is: should I give her Golliwogs Cakewalk now or is there any other piece that you'd recomment will be beneficial to learn before (in preparation to the G. Cakewalk).
Thanks!

[nanabush]

Try an easier ragtime piece perhaps?  Try the entertainer mainly to get your student's left hand accuracy for jumps up.  I don't know of any ragtime that has a right hand like that piece, but I have seen many similar, just look around for a simpler ragtime...

[bsonnen]

Make sure she's familiar enough with Wagner's Tristan Und Isolde to appreciate Debussy's humorous references to that piece.  I completely missed this when I learned it.           

[sarahlein]

Thank you both for your replies!

[dmk]

you might like to try Seiber's Cakewalk.  I have used this with a lot of students before the learn Golliwog's Cakewalk, especially as it is pretty easy to pick up.

It is quite easy but is probably a good way to really introduce the 'cakewalk' feel syncoptaion and rhythm

dmk

[lostinidlewonder]

Golliwogs Cakwalk was AMEB Grd 7 when I last checked a few years back. It is not that over all difficult to play but it does require confident rhythmic playing/accenuation and of course the Lh Single Bass note to chord movements which is such an obvious aspect of rag.

Just give her the piece and see how she goes. If it is something she really wants to do, do it now! If she stagnates and spends ages on a small section, move on, do the other works. But Debussy's Golliwogs Cakewalk is pretty easy by comparison to the Ragtimes Joplin has written. So if you never experienced cakewalks the Golliwog is a good one to start with. A good teacher can even reduce notes or add notes depending on the students ability.

Perhaps if you master Chopin Waltzes then Ragtime might seem easier since the structure is similar (especially the LH movement), but still the rhythmic style you find in rag, it can only be learnt by doing rags.

[guru_of_time]

just hand it to her and give her a recording so she can listen to the counting...
I picked it up and it was easier than I thought it would be - good piece but not too difficult

[dmk]

just hand it to her and give her a recording so she can listen to the counting...
I picked it up and it was easier than I thought it would be - good piece but not too difficult

when some responsible teachers teach their students they actually like to try and make sure their students understand how to count it along with the historical and stylistic considerations of the work rather than a superficial repetition of the cakewalk rhythm....

generally makes for a good musical performance rather than a monkey spitting out some notes

dmk

[sarahlein]

Thank you all!
(I actually thought nobody else really cared about me and my post-happy to see I was wrong!)
I agree with dmk. You see she was a transfer student ( she started with me last year).However I'm afraid  her last teacher let her get away with a lot of "shortcuts" such as playing by ear and not really reading. Shocking isn't it!
Well she can't do that with me (I know, I'm EVIL!! )
So guru_of_time I don't think giving her the CD is a good idea. I'd do that  eventually but after she "gets the picture" with me.
Seiber's Cakewalk? Where can I find that dmk? ( too lazy to search )

[dmk]

You see she was a transfer student ( she started with me last year).However I'm afraid  her last teacher let her get away with a lot of "shortcuts" such as playing by ear and not really reading. Shocking isn't it!
Well she can't do that with me (I know, I'm EVIL!! )

I am the same...it drives me nuts when I get a transfer students whose teacher has let them get away with shortcuts and sloppy technique...not every student can be a technical genuis but they can all (large generalisation I know) be technically proficient at the very least.

You can get Seiber's Cakewalk in a collection entitled Century of Invention edited by Hinson here is the link for the book on SheetMusicPlus

https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?sku=EA.EA00772&cart=332897369010094410&searchtitle=Sheet%20Music

It really is quite simple and a good example of the cakewalk style...students generally love it too!!!! (which makes its easier from our perspective Sarahlein! ).

I am in Australia so I just went to my local music store and they had the book so Im sure its not hard to get.

From a teaching point of view the book is a really worthwhile spend its got some great pieces like Poulenc's Valse, one of Turina's Circus pieces and an early introduction to Ligeti (I can't remember the name of it!!)

[llamaman]

You might want to jsut practice the technique that is in the piece, such as the sixteenth-eighth-sixteenth (semiquaver-quaver-semiquaver) notes for right hand, and jumping chords, and hitting two notes with one finger for the left.

[sarahlein]

Well, thank you again dmk!
 I'll check out the link in a minute

[nanabush]

Ya there's tons of syncopation throughout the piece, and it's difficult because:

(sixteenth)  (eighth--------------------------)  (sixteenth)
                     
                                         (low sixteenth)


If you understand what I mean then great, but it doesn't make much sense..

[felipe717]

Perhaps if you master Chopin Waltzes then Ragtime might seem easier since the structure is similar (especially the LH movement), but still the rhythmic style you find in rag, it can only be learnt by doing rags.

I agree: I think that Chopin Waltzes - or even other waltzes, like Strauss, maybe? - should be good for improving the structure of the piece, especially the left hand. I'm studying Golliwog's Cakewalk and I do have a few problems with the left hand, but it's getting better when you learn waltzes. I thought this piece would be very difficult, nevertheless it's being easier than I thought - but I'm speaking about it technically, not musically. After all, it's very hard to perform a piece musically, and G. Cakewalk isn't different.

when some responsible teachers teach their students they actually like to try and make sure their students understand how to count it along with the historical and stylistic considerations of the work rather than a superficial repetition of the cakewalk rhythm....

generally makes for a good musical performance rather than a monkey spitting out some notes

dmk

Unfortunately, my music teacher is like this: she is VERY good, but sometimes she doesn't even care with the music I'm playing, I can miss several notes, but if the music got reasonable, she just said "Good, let's choose another one, and you show me a new music next week".   I do my best for learning as best as I can...
Therefore, about 70%, I would say, that I learned about music I learned by myself. But I'm improving, even I can notice that