Pretty Barbara

[ted]

Typical of the things I used to write in my twenties.

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

This piece has a great tune and snappy rhythm. It's a very upbeat piece that draws the listener in instantly.  Thanks for sharing your recording here!

David 

[ted]

This had its origin in one of those completely impossible infatuations we conceive as young men. She worked in a shop I passed on the way to work, and I kept going in on the pretext of making enquiries about buying something. I probably made a right royal nuisance of myself before it wore off.

Thanks for listening.

[chopin2015]

Love it!
Did you write out the ideas first or just layed it out right there? Either way, really nice stuff. I always envy people who can pick up the tempo there...

[ted]

Love it!
Did you write out the ideas first or just layed it out right there? Either way, really nice stuff. I always envy people who can pick up the tempo there...

As I recall, I worked it out with improvisation rather quickly after dinner one night. I haven't the right sort of mind for writing things out as I go along, as many do. Everything usually comes very quickly at the instrument. If any writing is done at all it is done later, sometimes much later, and is a bit of a chore unrelated to the creative act. I inherited the infatuation with ragtime and swing from my father, who was a wonderful party pianist.

Here is the score:

https://www.box.com/s/v8w0s8istec5ha3r6cc4

[costicina]

I whish I could improvise and play like you.....
You conquered me!!!!!

[birba]

Wow!  That was great.  Talk about being envious...

[pianovirus]

I really enjoyed that, ted! If this was supposed to be a little musical portrait of pretty Barbara, she must have been not only pretty but also whimsical - I hope she was impressed back then.... 

[chopin2015]

As I recall, I worked it out with improvisation rather quickly after dinner one night. I haven't the right sort of mind for writing things out as I go along, as many do. Everything usually comes very quickly at the instrument. If any writing is done at all it is done later, sometimes much later, and is a bit of a chore unrelated to the creative act. I inherited the infatuation with ragtime and swing from my father, who was a wonderful party pianist.

Here is the score:

https://www.box.com/s/v8w0s8istec5ha3r6cc4

Great! Thanks a ton!

[ted]

costicina: Thank you. A wonderful compliment.

birba: Thank you. I'm pleased it took your fancy.

pianovirus: Glad you like it. It was all in the mind, she never knew.

The responses to this little thing from so long ago, I think imply some sort of lesson for me, the precise nature of which I would do well to ponder.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

This is terrific! Charming and full of life.

[ted]

Pleased you like it. Maybe I should write a few more in this style; I haven't for many years but I doubt I have lost the trick. The other sensible thing Percy Scholes said was that life is the only truly essential property of good music. If it is present, all sorts of blemishes can be overlooked; if it is absent, nothing can ever take its place. I agree with him, and you pay me a fine compliment.

[emill]

Hi Ted!

I don't know if I should open my mouth, being so unqualified to comment on compositions and improvisations .....  but this work of yours brings back fond and pleasant memories when I was a kid. Those would be on rainy days, damp and cool, with nothing else to do but watch cartoons in TV; those TV sets with round picture tubes.... a very enjoyable part of my life as a kid.  Black and white cartoons of porky pig and company .... made so realistic especially with the tape hissssss in your recording    This must have been made in the non-Dolby days yet! THANKS!

emill 

[looneytuner]

Very nice Ted!


-Stephen Segarra

[ted]

Thanks emill and Stephen. I think everybody, musician or not, is perfectly entitled to hold an opinion and comment on anything in music, emill. Many experienced and knowledgeable musicians are often more concerned with what they ought to think and say about a piece of music, and do not trust their natural reaction. A tyro, or non-musician, on the other hand, doesn't care what people think and is frequently more likely to say something helpful, often very insightful.

I am pleased my piece stirred pleasant memories for you.