Piano party! part 4: Flying Tomato Rag sight-read by Andrew Barrett

During the Friday-night party the weekend of the Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, a sight-reading session broke out. You've seen a couple videos of Tom Brier from that session, but here's one from Andrew Barrett, who's also a terrific sight-reader. He plays Larisa Migachyov's "Flying Tomato Rag" with the composer present.

There's a bit of fun when a page isn't quite turned in time, so Andrew pretends to be "stuck" until we knock him back on track!

Afterward, Andrew analyzes his playing by watching the PianoDisc system replay his performance. He did a marvelous job for a first read, I think! He's one of the best sight-readers out there.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ragtime
• piano
• rag
• sightreading
• sightread

[KawhackitaRag]

Thanks for the post Ron! I'm happy to see this up here! This was a lot of fun and I'm glad Larisa liked it!

[Keeper1st]

One video from that night never was posted -- the four-piano Dill Pickles where you went to town at the end on it. Maybe I should put that one up. It was pretty fun, even despite the old camera.

[KawhackitaRag]

@Keeper1st yeah man! I'd love to see it! I better check to see if it's up already!

[Keeper1st]

@KawhackitaRag Hmm... I can't find it, so I don't think I did post it. Maybe I should dig it up.

[Keeper1st]

@KawhackitaRag I didn't know there were two different versions. Hmm. I'll have to find them. I have one of them in one of my books (the old "Scott Joplin: King of Ragtime" book from the '70s).

[KawhackitaRag]

@KawhackitaRag If you would like to see what the arrangers employed by a typical big-time publisher would do back in the old days, all you have to do is check out the two versions of "The Sycamore" by Scott Joplin, first the original 1904 version published by Will Rossiter (presumably close to the way Joplin notated it), and then the different 1910 edition published by Leo Feist, and arranged by Will Tyers.

[KawhackitaRag]

@KawhackitaRag Scott Joplin and James Scott were among the relatively few ragtime composers who (reportedly) managed to have their compositions published pretty much the way they were originally put down in manuscript by the composer, partly because the compositions, while somewhat more difficult than usual, were still very good, and partly because the composers' skill in notation meant that the in-house arranger used by the publisher did not have to do very much musical "clean up".

[KawhackitaRag]

@KawhackitaRag Now, I'm listing publisher names rather than composer names, simply because the publisher had an influence upon how the finished piece was notated, and works that were too hard as played by the composers were usually simplified for the amateur at home. Works by Charley Straight, Luckey Roberts, and Eubie Blake were generally simplified in their original ragtime-era publications, simply because they were too hard for the amateur. ("Blue Grass Rag" by Straight is an exception).

[KawhackitaRag]

By starting with simple stuff such as the easy rags, songs, and instrumentals published by McKinley Music in Chicago (or Century Music in New York), you can quickly work your way up to harder stuff such as the Jerome H. Remick publications and finally stuff like the John Stark and Jack Mills sheets.

[KawhackitaRag]

@Passionofawriter thanks man! I've been sight-reading rags for about eight years or so now. I "practiced" this at home simply by having stacks of sheet music that I wanted to hear and was too impatient to learn! (Now I've mellowed and slow down learning tunes). Most old rag sheets are reasonably simple in notation, with the exception of the harder of the "classic" rags, and also those few sheets published "as-played". Start by reading a lot of tin-pan-alley sheets and analyzing the chords!

[sumipan9]

amazing sight reading!

[Passionofawriter]

wow. are you sure that's sight reading? i can barely be able to do the left hand in that timing lol

maybe the right hand on its own for sight reading, but not the left for sight reading that quick. that's lyk, level 8 sight reading or something.. probably higher, cuz it's longer.

... talent.