Video - Scott Joplin Maple Leaf Rag

[bhav]

Hi. I just found this forum and would like to post my first you tube recording of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag if that is ok:

I am a self taught amateur playing from memory, and have only owned my Piano since November 2008.

Prior to that I had been playing on a keyboard for most of my life as a hobby without any lessons on top of music classes and keyboard clubs at my schools.

In the last 12 months I managed to learn this piece and also the Magnetic Rag, which I can also play by memory but still need to work on playing it a bit better, but I hope to also have that recorded soon : ).

My right hand had a pulled ulnar nerve from overusing my little finger too much, but that has healed up now and is no longer causing any discomfort, but I am making sure to practice for less hours then I were doing when it pulled, and making sure to get enough rest between practice times.    

I am going to continue working on more Joplin pieces, and then start on Chopin, and am hoping to get onto a Bmus degree in 2012, well, if the world doesnt end that is :p.  

The only problem to that is that I dont have a music A Level, and the grades in the subjects I do have are a little low, but I already have a degree with a minor in music tech which I am hoping will help me get onto a Bmus in the future.

My instrument is a digital Yamaha DGX-630, the reason why I bought this was because I found it on a good offer at the end of 2008 and couldnt afford a more expensive instrument. I also need to be able to use headphones when practicing. The recording was simply done using an LG Arena cell phone as I dont have anything better to record with yet.

[ted]

If you have really had no tuition then you have done very well and you don't ruin it by playing it at ninety miles an hour as most do. It seems to me that there is still a lot of tension in your movements and any musical issues are probably caused by that. If something goes wrong with one finger, perhaps an unwanted movement or the like, our natural inclination is to concentrate hard on the erring thing in order to correct it. Unfortunately this doesn't work. The trick is NOT to concentrate on the faulty thing but on developing a tensionless functioning of everything else while the fault slowly disappears. Of course it's hard to do - rather like "You can think of anything but elephants."

[bhav]

Ive had no tuition, just advice from teachers and friends.

I believe this performance to be the correct tempo for this piece, it isnt too slow, but not fast either. I have a good musical ear and brain and try to be a perfectionist when playing, but I am still far from one. 

I am hoping that after 2 more years I will be as good as I want to be and be able to play and learn new pieces and improvisations with very little effort.

[pianowolfi]

I can't second strongly enough what Ted said about learning a tensionless way of playing!
As it is now, your tense wrist and your habit of pulling up your pinky far too high will likely cause more and returning problems.

I strongly recommend to get a good teacher.