Gitche Gumee Rag (Larisa Migachyov) sight-read by Tom Brier while the composer watches

As a sight-reading session was about to begin, I said I'd like to hear Tom Brier sight-read one of the rags composed by Larisa Migachyov, who was present in the room. Larisa's folio was brought out, turned to "Gitche Gumee Rag" and away he played while Andrew Barrett turned the pages.

The piano is fitted with a PianoDisc system, and the performance was being recorded on it. The system supports only on/off sustain pedal, which tends to make a mess of playback, as any amount of pedal pressure gets translated on playback as fully on, thus Tom plays without pedal here to ensure a decent playback.

After he finishes, we got to hear the instant playback of his performance on the piano. Only a couple times did a note-off event not record, so the playback came out pretty good. Without Tom's hands in the way, you can better see how he plays rolled tenths and added fifths in the bass lines.

Compare his playing with the composer's own performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk3Vp_74rmI
and you'll see how he also adds a lot of harmony in the right hand, and uses octaves frequently.

Larisa's sheet music can be purchased from her web site, http://www.larisamigachyov.com
She can be found on YouTube as "larisa0001".

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ragtime
• skunk hollow
• sight-read
• migachyov
• brier
• rag
• piano
• pianodisc

[Ragtimer95]

Wow....I just purchased Larisa's folio, so it should be on the way! What's Tom's secret to sight-reading so well? I mean, I can sight-read the secondo part in a duet. I can sight-read for flute, piccolo, and clarinet, but when I'm asked to sight-read for piano, my head just starts spinning...

Also, would it be possible to have Tom sight-read one of my rags?

[Keeper1st]

@Ragtimer95 Sure! I won't see him again until the summer probably, or late spring -- whenever the snow melts enough (once it starts snowing that is; right now it's just too cold to make the ride over but there's virtually no snow in the Sierra Nevada). Besides the fact that he's been sight-reading since he was 5, I think the one trick is not to look closely at every note -- just enough to get the melody line and know the chords, then fill in the rest based on that information.

[allendale1962]

I love it! I play Down Yonder with all the ferver you do on this neat Rag!! Check me out sometime!

[Keeper1st]

@allendale1962 I've been subscribed to your channel for some time!

[spitzfire1138]

Great performance of a great rag. So cool!

[Hrodulf]

Great rag & sight read!

[RagtimeFreak86]

That is so cool...

I was unaware Disc system players had the capability of recording.