James Scott - The Kansas City Rag

[20yearbreak]

The Kansas City Rag composed by James Scott - 2 different good players have said this is a difficult rag.  I agree.  The TRIO requires some right hand stretches.  It's still a work in progress.

[ted]

I think you have a very good idea of the musical aspect. As with the Joplin, it is just a question of practising the physical aspects of your playing, and with James Scott the avoidance of weight and heavy touch in favour of bounce and lightness is even more important. The Scott rags contain some surprisingly awkward moments physically, even for good pianists. They aren't hard in the same way difficult classical music is, but his piano personality exudes a sort of joyous energy quite different to Joplin's gentle lyricism.

The opposite problem, that of having bags of technique and no feeling for ragtime, is far more common and intractable among pianists. I predict that with the right physical practice, approached patiently, you will soon find, probably quite suddenly, that it all becomes easy.

[20yearbreak]

Thanks for the feedback ted.  Yeah, I know both pieces are a little slow right now.  I can play them faster but the accuracy goes down.  I think I will try practicing a little softer and staccato like you suggested.  I've noticed that does help.

[johnmar78]

very good, overall you need one major thing,,,loosing up a bit more on your hands, arm, perhaps upperbody. This allows a better flow of rhytem. There are few places that the timing is out. Keep polshing...just remember, relax a bit more....