Maple Leaf Rag on a 9-foot Steinway grand piano

[ALOTEF]

My upright was left outside for two weeks in the rain and sun by my father after a wild party. It truly has acquired that 'ragtime' sound!

[guurfa]

shit piano! yamaha better! ching!

[pianoman80105]

in my personal opinion, it needs to be played a bit faster, and with the 2/2 ragtime swing

[mini300bhp]

nice playing...this kind on music in my opinion does sound better on a shit piano tho!

[hluebke]

@mini300bhp I'm in agreement ... the piano in my apartment hasn't been tuned in about 20 years and ragtime just sings on it. (But the only piece I knew from memory at the time I filmed this was the Maple Leaf Rag... lol) thanks for the comment.

[Mannagod777]

the sound is of

[Thedanmetzler]

It is not an easy piece, but it is one of the easier rags. There are many pieces easier and harder than Maple Leaf Rag, but most rags are not easier.

[trashcanlyd10]

hahaha, I hear Potter in the background!!! yayayaa...I'm a loser.

[hluebke]

... is this who I think it is?

[MrJackanthony]

You underrate yourself

[sonwamac]

Do you mutha fuckas realize how hard it is to play this shit?? At ANY speed?...You're doing good to play it at all. And Scott Joplin had hands the size of baseball gloves...not the baseball gloves of HIS day the...ones we have NOW

[HTLight]

Maple leaf rag actually is one of the easier rags to play....ESPECIALLY at this speed...however...this is still pretty good.

[roysebas]

Quote: "Maple leaf rag actually is one of the easier rags to play"

Damn, it is not an easy piece. Do you play piano?

[pianoman80105]

but still anyway nice playing

[pianoman80105]

oh come on!!!!! wheres the ragtime your playing is a little flat nothing interesting its a two step

[super6plx]

it's sync, not synch :P

[Shaftsus]

They were wrong for voting him in from the start you idiot. Any American with good grammar would have noticed his flaws in debates and rallies including his challenges with expression and understanding issues and problems :P

[Shaftsus]

And since American's are soo good at grammar they voted for George W. Bush?

[Shaftsus]

k i'm not going to get fat in two weeks u americans are soo shit at Maths :P

[muckmcguckin]

Very good. I hope you get your piano.

[gamemaster2422]

a very bad version of the maple leaf rag!!!

[Shaftsus]

wtf is that supposed to mean!?!?!?!?

[MLOxox]

nice ringtone

[Shaftsus]

uurghhhh she's sooooo fat

[Suppagrrl]

Horrible! Horrible! Horrible!

[MusicMan20061210]

Somehow I am inclined to think, that we are born with the privilege to play the piano anyway we want.

[JShawtyKim]

Amen to that.

A piano was created just to make sounds and harmonies, and the person behind it to play it however fit.

[Jonehz0r]

The beginning is too slow, and the middle is too fast.. plus it sounds like crap because piano plays too smoothly. Ragtime was originally played on a crappy little upright piano in restaurants and such.. The ragtime style is not supposed to be this smooth. It sounds better when things seem out of place, but have a reason to be out of place. Work on this a little, then maybe re-record?

[josiah566]

i beg to differ just a bit on the smoothness. True, ragtime was meant to be played on sostuento-deprived pianos, (infamously named Honky-Tonks) but that doesn't mean that, in the right hands, it cannot sound nice on a smooth piano such as this Steinway. She will have to work on bouncing her hands around a bit more just to get that staccato balance in there.

[saintmart]

a rag should NEVER be played fast.

[madworld111]

honestly, i reccon this speed is ok. it pushes in a few places and you definatly wouldnt want to do it any faster. sometimes people take that idea that "rags cant be fast" too seriously and end up playing at really laboured speed that can be just a little boring

[mah6786]

Steinway grands are the instrument of choice for classical pianists, but to get the true ragtime sound, you need to 1)get an upright 2)never tune it, e) spill a lot of beer in it. Cheers!

[zo12]

Actually, it was very obvious it was out of sync.. I play piano! :)

And I am currently learning this song, it's so catchy!

[MauricetheSpider]

one of the few songs i think sounds better on a shit piano, the twngier the better.

[hluebke]

I almost agree with you on that one. lol

[Giantsonicmonster]

There are certain pieces that do sound better on a 'honky tonk' piano. You wouldn't want to hear Tom Waits debut album "Closing Time" played on a pristine Boesendorferr!

In a similar vein, I recently wrote a piece on a friends Yamaha grand that sounds lifeless and flat when played on my electric Korg, it needs the resonance and presence of the real article to bring it to life.

[DanniK66]

this is the way it is suposed to be played! well done, too many people play it to fast and it really annoys me! good job

[petervonsilie]

hm...

du spielst das mit pedal...

ich glaube n bisschen schneller und an manchen stellen ohne pedal würd das noch cooler klingen^^

[videohead2008]

Yeah, speed that baby up! :-)

[Karlfalcon]

As Joplin himself said - a rag should NEVER be played fast. This tempo is just about ideal.

[rednecksinspace]

Steinways are beautiful pianos. My grampa has a wood finish Steinway Baby Grand and I envy it.

[bluhdstool]

i have a steinway its the greatest piano

[depoty]

cool

[Birdog225]

That was an awesome piano! If I had the room I'd own them all...Bwaaahhaaaha-Ha!

I think you should dedicate a whole Channel to clips of you snatching plays on fantastic pianos all over the place. You will call it "Piano Crashers" and you will show us minor cretins some culture that is beyond our means. Who buys or restores pianos like that?; I mean really? Who? So show us some wicked pianos in fancy places, and then run out without getting caught...

Why?

Cuz I said so...

Annnndd GO!

[hluebke]

You know, that's really not a bad idea. I think I just may have to take you up on that one. I'm going downstate Michigan this weekend... we'll see what I can find. =D

[lustre5]

Why "blasphemous"? Joplin was the "Master of CLASSICAL Ragtime Music"!

[hluebke]

Some would say I could have chosen a bit more, erm, "refined" piece. But those people probably have no appreciation for Joplin.

[lustre5]

Or they don't know what it means to be classical. It's not just European. Joplin's American music/rags/dances have been compared to lullabyes by Brahms and Mazurkas by Chopin.

[Stevenup7004]

Nahh, don't worry hluebke, you don't have to listen to those grumpy old concert pianists, just play what you love to play and enjoy it ;)

[BlackMasterJoe89]

hey man how did you come up with the money for the piano?

[hluebke]

I wish I could say it was mine! I actually was allowed to play it at the music store in which it was housed. I'll totally own it someday, though! ;)

[pandacub96]

just wondering...how long is a regular piano?

[tchapman1977]

Depends...Upright pianos are not very long because the strings are arranged vertically. Baby Grands tend to be something like six feet long because the strings are arranged horizontally. Concert Grands are just about 9 feet long. So, if space is a concern, either get electric or go for the uprights (they do have some great sounding models but you have to look for them). You can't beat the tone and sound quality of a grand, though.

[pandacub96]

oh...cool...u kno a lot about pianos lol. i have an upright one but like never bothered to measure it :) and btw, thx.

[Stevenup7004]

I dunno, I kinda prefer the sound of some upright pianos over the sound of some grand pianos. For some reason, they just give me a good feeling

[tchapman1977]

It all depends upon the type of music you play and the sound you want to produce. For classical pieces and music where you want fine volume control, the action of a grand piano (either concert or baby) will facilitate that better than an upright. Granted, there are some really good uprights (I happen to own a Baldwin Acrosonic Spinet that has marvelous pitch and tone), but uprights tend to be harder to control as far as volume goes (i.e. it's harder to play a note very softly).

[tchapman1977]

For ragtime, boogie-woogie and jazz pieces where fine volume control isn't as vital to the overall music, then an upright is the preferred choice. However, for some classical pieces (i.e. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata), then a Grand piano would be the best piano to use for that because of the volume control.

[tchapman1977]

I guess the main thing is get the type of piano that you like the best whether upright or grand piano and that you have the room and budget for when shopping for a piano.

[Anonx78345]

its not supposed to be lagado, but more staccato. But however you want is fine.

[VivLovesMusic]

'Scuse me Mr. Critic, but it's LEGATO??!

Shows what you know!

[hluebke]

Besides, the wonderful thing about music is you can play it however you like. I prefer a smoother approach to Joplin. I feel at times it sounds cleaner.

[Anonx78345]

notice how i said however you want is fine.

[Anonx78345]

What I know is how to play. Not to criticize spelling. lol

[Askelairlines747]

nice playi'n!;)

does anyone know the piano they use in SALSA?

[steinwaygrande1]

Now it has a five star rating. I liked it very much

[hluebke]

Thank you! =)

[LooopQ]

how is this video not 5 stars that was perfect

[hluebke]

Thank you! I've actually gotten a lot better so look out for another video soon =)

[inturtaner]

haha- Maple Leaf? i'd have to pull a string buster on that bitch- you is lucky to play one ;D it sounds great too- nice playing!

[astonhill24]

I played on a Steinway Model C the other week it sounded like nothing else I've ever heard.

[Vayshen]

A 9 footer is nice 'n all but remember you need room to not only fit it, but also to let the sound go somewhere. If you place it in a non-spacious area the sound will get affected -in a bad way.

The title 'concert' is not in the name for nothing ;)

Having said that, great that you had the privilege of playing on one!!

[aspacguy]

you should have banged the hell on that puppy

[astonhill24]

It's a Steinway. You treat it gently and with respect.

[J4K31]

I wouldn't! O_o I say beat the hell out of it! >:)

[IrellevantUserName]

lol how could u not tell it was out of synch. ud have to be so dum

[GreenCardProductions]

I have a D in a custom super high gloss.

[MichaelBradus]

The camera's audio quality is really bad. None the less, that was a really good job. Get a couple of mics and record it in stereo.

[teresahan1991]

doesn't sond right, i mean the audio doesn't go with the video...

[WildCardsJazz]

nice and easy...well done. r

[thepwince2]

wow, i loved the way you played that, nice and relaxed like it should be !! and, why not play joplin first :P he was a genius !!

[learjet4]

Nice. Both you and the piano sound amazing.

[TheLegoMan1]

i want one!!!!!!!

[Saantha]

steeiiiinnnwaaaaayyyyyy

*drools*

the piano of my dreams

[martinpil]

zzzzzzzzzzz too slow...speed it up a bit and put more rhythm/sound/syncopation in. dont mess up one single rhythm

[paulclitheroe7285]

how did it play....i want one!!!

[mozartsnum1fan]

that thing is massive...nice job anyway

[AznPianoDood]

woah...

that thing's HUUUUUUGE.. 9 foot.