A Real Slow Drag

The beautiful final number from Scott Joplin's opera "Treemonisha". YouTube ukulele player wininboy suggested some time back that I try it, but I didn't find the music until recently.

The opera Treemonisha has a Wikipedia page at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treemonisha

I highly recommend the full-production version sung by Carmen Balthrop in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukgWU6JCZkg

In his documentary "Crumb", Terry Zwigoff used a clip of R. Crumb playing this piece as the background music for Crumb's "A Short History of America".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzqfkXqUJBo

I learned this from a score I found online at http://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/12912 . It and other parts of Treemonisa are available at
http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Joplin,_Scott , http://tinyurl.com/yz52v7s

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ukulele
• uke
• Martin
• 3K
• ragtime
• rag
• Scott
• Joplin
• Treemonisha
• opera

[haptownstudio]

Fantastic!! Your uke playing makes me dizzy. Wow! I'm curious to know about how long it takes you to learn and memorize a piece like this? While I'm waiting for a response I'll just go and bury my ukulele in the backyard.

[heftone]

Thanks. I can usually work out and memorize the arrangements in a few days, but a piece like this can take a couple months of practice to play well enough to make a video. I had this one pretty much worked up by mid-September, and practiced it through late November. I like to take it slow and easy and have fun with it.

[wininboy]

Gee, one of my favourite rags and a wonderful rendition to boot.

You really do get the most out of that beautiful ukulele of yours.

Thanks for sharing!

[heftone]

Thanks for suggesting it.

[catsondacoast]

Oh wow! That's so good!!!

[catsondacoast]

Oh wow! That's so good!!!

[handymandan100]

Awesome!

[carlorowan]

wow, this was so relaxing

[RagtimePassion]

Oh! , this would be one of the greatest performances I ever heard among various ones of Joplin's tune... ;-) I really love this song very much, and it's a great pleasure to listen it, in this unique but wonderful play style...with Uklele!!

[haptownstudio]

Heftone - thanks for the response. I never did bury my uke - I couldn't get my shovel to break through the frozen ground. Ah well . . . I guess I'll just keep playing it until the Spring thaw.

Really enjoy your Channel.

[satelitefrog]

Holy crap, this is amazing! I love this song and was just exploring it on you tube. I really love Scott Joplin. I used to play jazz guitar and I know what's involved in learning a song like this-- your recent comment seems to me to be totally understating your talent! This is a pleasure to listen to, and I look forward to more videos! :)

[jmmquah]

Bravo!