Grace & Beauty Rag (James Scott) played by Stephanie Trick

Here's one from back in 2007 that I never posted, because Will Perkins had posted a video of Stephanie playing this same rag at another festival.

But hey, you can't have too much of a good thing!

So here's Stephanie playing James Scott's "Grace & Beauty" at a lively tempo (but not too fast, if you listen to the speed of the actual bass rhythm), on a 9-foot Yamaha concert grand piano at the 2007 West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento, California.

You can see more of Stephanie in action at her YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/stephtrick

You can purchase Stephanie's albums from her web site:
http://www.stephanietrick.com

WCRF web site: http://www.westcoastragtime.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ragtime
• piano
• rag
• james scott
• stephanie trick
• festival
• yamaha
• grand piano
• concert grand
• cfiiis

[Doug19752533]

youre playing it WAY TOO FAST.... true while James Scott's rags tend to be a little quicker in tempo then Joplin's this is still a slower rag. i personally play this rag at around 80 bpm. that being said, you DID play it very well. excellent note accuricy and great agility. the only thing (other then tempo) i would suggest to work on is the dynamics. put in some contrast when you repeat the sections. good job though

[Keeper1st]

@Doug19752533 I wouldn't say it's "way too fast". It's the same tempo or only slightly faster than any other ragtime historian plays it. It is a myth that ragtime is meant to be played slowly ("Slow March Tempo" is not a slow tempo; it's still a march tempo). 80 bpm would be much too slow; that would be walking tempo -- not marching tempo. As for dynamics, they were lost in the gain control this old camera employed.

[aardvaark069]

Everybody knows Joplin but Scott is almost unknown. Why? I think that James Scott was great and I LOVE LOVE LOVE his rags. Also I'm glad to see a decent piano was used and not some childish upright. She play very good.

[Keeper1st]

James Scott is quite well known, at least for those who are fans of ragtime. He's one of the "Big Three". It's when you get into names like Les Copeland or Billie Taylor...

[josiah566]

@Keeper1st This is probably a sign of how bad it is, but are you sure you're not mixing it up with the late Billy Taylor?

[Keeper1st]

@josiah566 No. Billie Taylor was writing ragtime in the 1910s, before Billy Taylor was born.

[josiah566]

@Keeper1st yeah I think aardvaark means for the general public today. Not too many average joes know about James Scott. But hey. That's a point for us and nil for them.

[josiah566]

@Keeper1st Ah that clears things up. I'll have to check some of these guys out. I've never heard of Les Copeland or Billie Taylor.

[Keeper1st]

James Scott did not name his rags, so he didn't necessarily intend for this to be graceful or beautiful. I can't recall the last time I heard someone play this at a graceful tempo. It's always played at a slow march tempo like this (or just slightly slower). I think, with the runs in the first strain and the bird-calls in the third strain, it probably would work at a graceful tempo. Perhaps that's what Stark had in mind when naming the tune.

[Stephanie080162]

Hi! My name is Stephanie and I play piano too!!!!!!!!!