Piano Forum



Enfant Terrible or Childishly Innocent? – Prokofiev’s Complete Piano Works Now on Piano Street
In our ongoing quest to provide you with a complete library of classical piano sheet music, the works of Sergey Prokofiev have been our most recent focus. As one of the most distinctive and original musical voices from the first half of the 20th century, Prokofiev has an obvious spot on the list of top piano composers. Welcome to the intense, humorous, and lyrical universe of his complete Sonatas, Concertos, character pieces, and transcriptions! Read more >>

Topic: Maple Leaf Rag  (Read 1421 times)

Offline toby1

  • PS Silver Member
  • Jr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 78
Maple Leaf Rag
on: August 09, 2018, 11:24:07 PM
What kind of approx metronome markings are are appropriate for this piece?

Should I go buy the Scott Joplin Piano Roll? The book I have lists the time as "Tempo di Marcia"

But a March is usually a bit slower than other versions of this piece that I've heard.

Also has anyone aware of a notated version of the piano roll? Scott Joplin apparently played this with a bunch of extra ornmentation compared to the versions I've seen written down typically.

Haha Urtext Joplin? :P

Anyways main thing I'm curious about is approximate metronome markings as a guidline for playing speed.

Offline ted

  • PS Silver Member
  • Sr. Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3987
Re: Maple Leaf Rag
Reply #1 on: August 10, 2018, 12:44:01 AM
Probably Joshua Rifkin’s tempo is closest to Joplin’s intention, with this and other rags. However, many of his livelier pieces, Maple Leaf among them, sound good played a little faster. The main point is that an excessively fast rendition of ragtime loses the rhythmic effect altogether in a blur of notes.
"Mistakes are the portals of discovery." - James Joyce
 

Logo light pianostreet.com - the website for classical pianists, piano teachers, students and piano music enthusiasts.

Subscribe for unlimited access

Sign up

Follow us

Piano Street Digicert