Scott Joplin - The Maple Leaf Rag

[20yearbreak]

I wanted to post these for fun and comments.  Don't expect anything amazing.  Piano is great and I'm still playing after a long long break.  Still playing ragtime.  Here are some videos if anyone is curious:

The Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin - Everyone knows this one.  I was doing pretty decent (at least for me) until the end.  

[faulty_damper]

Play it faster.

[j_menz]

Play it faster.

dragged on and on due to:
1) slow tempo
Prelude:
3) too slow

1) Play it faster.

Could be played faster.

Introduction is too slow. 

2 faster tempo

1. Tempo should be much faster

Perhaps your connection or computer is slow.

[ted]

I think you will play this really well after a while because you can obviously feel the accents and the rhythm. Your main problems appear to be physical, not musical, and practice will fix them. You could try playing more lightly and loosely, almost staccato, you might find that requires much less effort without sacrificing the rhythm. Leaning into ragtime legato fashion is very tiring, as I have found to my cost in the past.

[gyzzzmo]

As already stated it should be played a bit faster, and your right hand should be played more evenly: The octaves are being played much louder than the other notes, you hardly hear them.

Good luck!

Gyzzzmo

[faulty_damper]

Perhaps your connection or computer is slow.

My computer is fine.  Most musical issues can be solved with playing faster.  This prevents ideas from dragging = boring listeners.

[pianoman53]

My computer is fine.  Most musical issues can be solved with playing faster.  This prevents ideas from dragging = boring listeners.

If you think tempo is the issue, then you're simply not good enough. Tempo is almost always secondary. It can sound slow because it's dragging, or fast because it's rushing... loads of other options are also possible. But to simply play something faster won't solve a thing.

The reason in this recording is simply that it's very heavy. Not all notes can be equally loud.
The first beat is the loudest, then the third, and then second and third. You play all beats loud, and even the notes between the beats are loud. That gives the impression that there are beats everywhere, which makes it sound slow.

Edit: Sorry, my mistake. It's obviously in 2/4. But the idea stays the same. 1 is heavy, second is light. The first beat of the next bar is heavy, but not as heavy as the first in the previous, and the second beat in the second bar is light.

2/4   HEAVY, light | Half-heavy, light | HEAVY....|

Then you can make some variation here and there, but this is the base.

[j_menz]

Most musical issues can be solved with playing faster. 

I'm framing that one.

[faulty_damper]

I'm framing that one.

Wise choice.  Most people play too slowly to begin with, probably because they haven't sorted the musical aspects.  They should already hear it in their minds, not their ears when they play.

[cabbynum]

They should already hear it in their minds, not their ears when they play.

I do agree with that... To an extant. Obviously dnit everyone is going to be able to do that and it shouldn't stop people from playing. But it does yield best results when you can hear it exactly how you want it played in your head... That's also part of why I'm never pleased 100% with my playing of a certain piece. It's not quite how I hear it in my head but if I get it as close as possible then I'm proud

[faulty_damper]

It's possible that the reason it doesn't sound the way you imagine it is due to the condition of the piano.  A poorly voiced and regulated piano can sound terrible but a marvelously maintained one can sound fantastically sublime.

[cabbynum]

My piano is voiced and regulated really well, I just set these mountainous standards for myself.

[faulty_damper]

Oh, so you can't blame the piano then. 

[cabbynum]

Oh, so you can't blame the piano then. 

Exactly!
But the good news with my ridiculous standards is that I always have the best performance of it in my head.