Same Old Rag

My first 'studies'(I taught myself) in piano were the rags of Scott Joplin. I would study the rags constantly and I constantly worked at playing the Maple Leaf Rag. Now I play through a whole Joplin collection now and then, and I still love the stuff. The rambunctious rhythms, the ostinato bass and the great classic melodies still have a place in my heart, after all these years and Stravinsky and Bartok. The same year I discovered Joplin I started writing my own rags. I wrote about 10 or 12 in total, most of them lost forever! But as of late, and with the discovery of William Bolcom's rags, I've been yearning to get back into it!

So here we are. Here is the first two strains of the Same Old Rag(in the Joplin style). It's Joplin-like in it's form(except for the two measures before the 3rd A section appearance), but not in the harmonies.

I'd like some harsh criticism, please! ;) I know the intro is a little off, but I liked the fanfarish idea. It's going to appear right where what I have so far ends, introducing a minor section. I'm really dying for some harsh criticism, though!

EDIT: Added a fitting beginning.

Very clever! I like the chords! It's pretty hard to do something original in rag - it sometimes seems like they're all the same. But you have some very unique ideas here, and you stretch the genre. Sometimes it does get a bit awkward, but hey, things can be smoothed out. Nice job!

I don't have much experience with rag, but I will say that compared to the stuff I have heard, this is just as good. The authentic feel is there for the most part, only with slight alterations for your fantastic style. There are a couple of places that seem a bit out of place, like around 0:50-0:51, but then there are places that are grand-spanking-good, like the transition right before that! Overall, great work.

Ha, I love stuff like this. Studying Joplin really paid off, it seems. I love the B section at 0:50. Really, I have no harsh criticism (I'd be stretching for it). Nice job, I'd to see a lot more of this from you! :ninja:

Yes, the opening is definitely off, since it does not sound even remotely rag like. It's more of a Bartok style opening with dissonant and long jumps for the keys. The way the volume move sin and out seems rather unrag like because they don't seem to make any sense. At least in the A section.

However, you do have a good feel for the rag flow in the A and B sections. Some of the transitions around 1:10-1:20 are kind of odd, I'm not quite sure how to put my finger on it, but they don't seem to come naturally.

Otherwise, it's a fairly decent rag. It's got a jaunty rhythm that you can sway back and forth to, and I like that.

I'm back and I have finished the rag! Yaay...

I added the last two sections in a frenzy of about an hour... I hope you enjoy them, and hold on tight because your sense of harmony is going to be whacked out of order.

EDIT: My internet here at school is awfully terrible, so attaching things and whatnot become a pain in many parts of my body.

HI, My Sibelius 3 won't open them :P

scorch plugin won't either

utterly confused,

Artisimo

:P The files are probably fine. Im having trouble opening other documents to.

Sorry about this :P :blush:

Actually, no. I can't open them either. My guess is that Nick here had some trouble uploading the file, as he double posted his last message. This also explains why there are two files. :P

Oops! My internet here at school is so slow and rediculous. I fixed it however, and I put up a MIDI as well. Enjoy!

Hahaha :D Great!!! I've been listening to it 4 times

Its a bit like Scott on the rocks.

because its like listening to Scott Joplin after to much scotch.

an unearthy sound, but it totally works for me

What I find great about this piece is that you can hear your joplin influence clearly but at the same time you can hear your own style. It's really a nice blend. However, I think around measure 30(I think), the flow of the song shifted far to much. I would like to see something that relates more to your idea but is still different enough. Ah, let me try to make that more clear. It works well, but I don't see it as your style, it seems tooo simple for the piece.

Alright, my opinions:

The two chords at 1:31/measure 68 are taken directly from the end of "Maple Leaf Rag" and, to a true Joplin fan, stick out like a sore thumb.

To sharp them would somewhat fix/disguise it.

The bass octaves at :13/measure 11, and all subsequent uses of the same progression, don't really work.

These are the only faults I can find. I certainly consider it to be a worthy effort of tribute to a great composer.

Finally got around to this one...and I'm SOOOO glad I did! :D

Absolutely splendid!

As Duck said, Joplin's influence is there, but you've done something completely personal with it. It doesn't go anywhere you'd expect it to go, and yet it works. Witty and delightful.

The purist in me wasn't bothered at all by the quirky harmonic progressions, but it definitely was by the metre changes in the Trio! Rags are dances - the same kind of two-step now popular in Country/Western dancing, to be precise - and this one would be impossible to dance. But as a character piece, it's wonderful.