What Is Ragtime?

[@Suzy.E123]

Rag always brings me back to a time where I’d sit at the piano and just watch my grandpa play. It seemed so impossibly fast and difficult and larger than life. I don’t think I could ever get tired of listening to some good ragtime ❤️

[@bjorningelstam7951]

Some of these comments are so butt-sore. Waldo is a master of traditional jazz and ragtime. He is 73 and share his wisdom with us for free. Aaaaand whatever some people may think, Ragtime is not the same as "classical music". There is room for mistakes and some improvisation and Mr Waldo swings his ass off every time he plays. True master and a great guy!

[@aislingoda6026]

chales dor go tell Lang Lang he can't play Mozart because it's white people music, I bet that'll go down well. Either that or stop being weirdly racist.

[@Wasserkaktus]

Interesting, because the one thing Scott Joplin wanted more than anything in the world was for his music to be comparable to and on the same critical level as Classical Music, and he always dreamed of being compared with and in the same league as composers like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and the like.

[@Ekvitarius]

Improvisation used to be an integral part of classical music making. Sadly, the mainstream classical world lost its taste for it at some point within the last 1-2 centuries but thankfully the period instrument movement has done much to revive it.

[@BjornIngelstamMusic]

chales dor I agree with that fully. Did I say that it is white?

[@robinsss]

he is playing the Maple Leaf Rag too fast though

[@jsb06g]

Scott Joplin is an unsung legend. Growing up in St. Louis we would all go to his house when we had field trips in grade school.

[@AllusernamesgoneFUCK]

JB He needs to at least be in a Google Doodle... so underrated for all the popular songs he made

[@mikeksiazek]

JB im jealous. i hope one day they find the manuscript for his first operah "guest of honor"

[@estatic10]

Very much so. And it is sad that most black people today have NO idea who he (or Ma Rainey) is.

[@thomassteele5748]

What was it like to meet Scott Joplin when you were a child?

[@rohanpuranik9690]

Thomas Steele, Scott Joplin died in 1917

[@ribusgan]

Starting to learn Pian at 50, in a country (India) which has its own deep and profound musical tradition and repertoire, it is very difficult even to dream to play somwhat at 1/4th the competency of this man in my lifetime. But dream I will, so that I can play like this, in my next life. :-)

[@HeatherRagnars]

SUBIR NAG keep practising! its wonderful that you're learning at 50!!

[@neildhan]

Yeah. Keep at it Subir Nag. It's certainly not true that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks! I took up piano at 37 or 38 and was pleasantly surprised that I was already playing Maple Leaf Rag after half a year....not amazingly, but good enough that I would play it on public pianos. (Actually, I never finished learning it. There were too many other great tunes in my ragtime book, that I wanted to work on. Like "Doc Brown's Cake Walk" which is my favourite).

[@pauliethemushroomman]

Same! I also enjoy the videos of Tom Brier.

[@timothyhurn7590]

Any update on the progress?

[@Only1Siedah]

Dude, this man's music teacher was Eubie Blake! Whaaaat?!! No wonder he plays like that. I was absolutely enthralled by the richness of his playing and stories. Gotta say, thank you Mr. Waldo.

[@m0j0b0ne]

Exactly! Eubie's career spanned from Dixieland to Swing, to Bebop; that's a lotta dang jazz!

[@DonyaLane]

Siedah Garrett? The vocalist/songwriter? Or have you just "commandeered" that name and photo for YT? If you are the genuine article, I'm a fan! I'm also a singer-songwriter.

[@trawlins396]

I had to rewind that. I thought I heard him wrong lol. Eubie Blake was his teacher?? Wow.

[@gbfgs]

I came here for one of my school assignments, but I thoroughly enjoyed this video and Mr. Waldo is a gifted storyteller. Thank you for such an enjoyable video.

[@witneyskye5556]

Thank you so much for the history lesson. I now have a greater fascination for Ragtime. I'm never too old to learn something new and fabulous. You are a wonderful teacher. I wish I had you for a music history prof. in university. I would have attended every single class! What a performance! Second to none.

[@WarrenPostma]

I have yet to hear someone make musical history as fresh and accessible as this presentation does. I feel like I could reach out and touch what Ragtime is, and something essential about American music and musical history.

[@aryotaheri7421]

Wow, what a brilliant man! I could listen to him talk/play for hours.

[@trawlins396]

Definitely

[@Harlem55]

to put it in the simplest terms, rag time essentially was taking the idea of classical invention and placing the melodic structure to place emphasis on either the up beat of a quarter or on beats 3 and 4, depending on tempo; though this usually means the up beat (i.e. the speed of an eighth note) due to the general speed of a rag. This is contrasted to the speed of a military march which usually has the heavy feel of quarter notes regardless of the speed its preformed, as after the tempo is accelerated bast a certain threshold, it will assume the feel of cut time as opposed to the time of 4/4 or 2/4 which is requisite of a rag.

[@yergaderga]

Yes, what you said.

[@Harlem55]

@@Snavels Not quite- a march is always stacatto. Rag is never marked stacatto in the left- beats one and 3 being legato viz the pedal and beats 3 and 4 being held to the full value written. Also the mere movement of a melody is not the only form of syncopation, rather dynamic emphasis is also syncopation to the degree that syncopation is placing emphasis on beats where it does not tend to reflexively occur.

[@Harlem55]

@@Snavels Interesting, as I've never seen a march written legato, and Ragtime marked staccato would seem to result in a scherzo.

[@trawlins396]

@@Harlem55 if those are the "simplest terms" you can think of you must work for NASA.

[@Harlem55]

@@trawlins396 actually, it takes into account the form of the screamer as well as the fact that Joplin marked many of his rags to caution against performing them too fast - Joplin performed the entertainer at about quarter note equals 80 give or take. You wont find a rag written in 2/2. Rather the sycopation as well as the use of eighth and sixteenth notes is what gives rag the illusion of speed. In contrast, military marches tend to be marked somewhere in the territory of quarter note = 120 if were in 2/4 and half note equals 60 if were in a 2/2.

[@NoBing.1]

writing a paper for my final in my college class, this episode helped a lot, great video!

[@trawlins396]

I'm going to do my dissertation on Scott Joplin.

[@edwarddoran3478]

TERRY - YOU ARE THE GREATEST. I HOPE TO SEE YOU IN COLUMBUS THIS YEAR. NANCY CLAGETT AND I ARE SO PLEASED TO HAVE MET YOU 15 YEARS AGO. YOU ARE A GREAT GUY, WHO IS THE BEST RAGTIME ENTHUSIAST IN THE WORLD.

[@emalsfd]

Did he die.

[@emalsfd]

only asking because he is a very old person

[@emalsfd]

im just saying

[@monsieurbacteria1687]

@@emalsfd why would you ask that, that’s so insensitive and rude of you to say :/

[@emalsfd]

@@monsieurbacteria1687 because I want to know if he is dead.

[@jazzykevin0414]

I've seen Terry perform at the J.W. "Blind Boone ragtime and early Jazz festival" he is absolutely awesome.

[@arieyorsson3191]

He's an amazing pianist. Scott Joplin originally played it much slower. But some people prefer it fast, and that's okay.

[@trawlins396]

I have the record recorded by Joel Rifkin. He plays MLR a lot slower. I love it both ways.

[@jellyfishj1]

heard him live at Newport. wonderful, wonderful, and oh yeah, wonderful

[@juliocg9783]

I once called it Tom and Jerry music

[@newcreeper400]

Same

[@trawlins396]

Western saloon music.

[@leearmour4267]

Beautiful display of ragtime and historical facts ...I interested in learning about Ragtime music..

[@frequencyfluxfandango8504]

Thanks for the music pal, As a bad piano player, it fascinates me to see/hear all this. I wish I could play like this. Loved the history of it all too. just to say... Thank You sir.

[@rociodeleonpantoja]

I am so impressed, I want to play the piano so bad. Ragtime is so beautiful and fun!

[@heshuamusic]

love this ragtime piece's resolution everytime

[@davidg-ig8vj]

Amazing. I have never actually seen anyone play Ragtime before. It's very fast. I can't imagine how much practice it must take.

[@israelunterman]

Great playin', I love this, and the explanations are very educative. Thanks.

[@mirinda086]

What is ragtime? The music that is being played all day in Main Street at Disneyland.

[@gyrogearloose1345]

And .. ?

[@andrewbeattieRAB]

Your possible explanation of Rag makes sense. That would be similar to Reggae. The guitar is “second fiddle” to the drums and bass.The guitar typically only plays the “skank” on the AND between the beats. It gives Reggae that distinctive sound. My point: guitarists get bored and play slurs (fills) on the skank. It seems that musicians are constantly playing with space: skank, fills, syncopation, swing, et al.

[@edwarddoran3478]

HI TERRY - I HOPE TO BE ABLE TO SEE AND HEAR YOU ON NOV. 25TH IN COLUMBUS. YOU TUBE BRINGS BACK MEMORIES AS WELL AS EDUCATE ME AND OTHERS ON THE HISTORY OF RAG TIME. NANCY AND I FEEL HONORED AND BLESSED THAT WE MET YOU AS A PERSON. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE FOR RAGTIME. THE JESUS RAG IS WAITING TO BE COMPOSED BY YOU FOR ME IN HEAVEN OR WHEREEVER. NANCY CLAGETT AND I THANK YOU.

[@Ostaralore]

Nice ending. And thank you for all the fantastic knowledge. WOW!

[@stephenrhyner5624]

Thank you for downloading. I really enjoyed learning about ragtime.

[@plinyelder8156]

*Uploading

[@VintageVibeSound]

Thanks for this tutorial! When I play the ragtime music I feel like that i'm in early 1900's :)

[@susannabonke8552]

Me, a German with some rhythmic feeling, I am so pleased with your lecture.

[@ArnettaC]

Here 's this guy of whom I never heard before, but than again I'm not from the USA, who is playing his butt off, playing an unbelievable, incredible Scott Joplin and Eubie Blake, like superhuman and all you commentators here can come up with is: too fast??? You must be kiddin'! What we say than in our tiny country is: "nee, jij trekt volle zalen!" Which means something like: "no, you attract big audiences!" I bet you secretly all dream you had one finger like mr. Waldo!

[@yergaderga]

Not to mention he was taught BY a famous ragtime player Eubie Blake.

[@trawlins396]

That's what comments are. A bunch of criticizers. Terry is a brilliant player and musician.

[@sosickhcdrums]

Wow I’m frugal af and I feel like I should have paid to watch this. What an amazing/entertaining lesson!

[@SuperMusicizmylife]

Not exactly the sheet music, but it's an example of Maple Leaf. I'm biased perhaps but I prefer it neat and clean. Great historical presentation and information for people not familiar with the story of this music. Ragging "my gal Sal" as a demo is brilliant. Love that! You get why the Rag has so much energy.

[@trawlins396]

I prefer Terry's version. It's so lively.

[@andybarker8787]

I thought the trio on maple leaf rag here was an absolute mess tbh

[@robertdavis6708]

Thank you Sir. I loved your explanation. A very good one at that.

[@jaykay1053]

Thank you, Jazz At Lincoln Center and Terry Waldo for bringing authentic ragtime to our ears!

[@niney24]

God I love terry Waldo, if there’s anyway I could talk to you, please let me know! You’re inspiring and talented and I just want to ask you so many questions about rag and jazz

[@trawlins396]

I love him too. I hope he's still playing.

[@serotonnindopamine8416]

I'm starting to understand the history of music in America, it really makes me feel patriotic, and I'm not a person who would describe myself as patriotic

[@trawlins396]

As a blk person I feel proud that Scott Joplin had one of the first pieces of "popular" music.

[@thesucka397]

​@@trawlins396 some people consider him a pop artist, others consider him a classical musician

[@trawlins396]

@@thesucka397 I definitely would put him in the classical category. Even early jazz. He learned by studying the greats.

[@gabriellatis]

Great introduction to Ragtime, also a great pianist.

[@belindajardim3145]

I love Scott Joplin n love Maple Leaf Rag ( I dont play it as fast as you). Wow you surely play so fantastically your a bloody genius I hv to say and wow to hv learnt from th great Eubie Blake wow what a privilege, I love your singing as well, I rather enjoyed that 🎶😍

[@kaiyaxe955]

oh my.. The opening song is on cooking mama game!xD means I've been hearing ragtime this whole time

[@rocklob069]

Bruh he just when ham on the piano and then said "That's Ragtime." Video could've ended right there.

[@dylanrobbins1245]

Laughed out loud @ this

[@abadsenquiz1553]

🤣🤣

[@memeguaia]

Jajajaj totally agree

[@PiotrBarcz]

Love hat performance of Maple Leaf Rag! I just wish he played it on an upright from the 1920's.

[@soarabove337]

I feel you, but honestly it's so magnificent to hear from a grand. Ugh. Brilliant. ❤️

[@PiotrBarcz]

@@soarabove337 Brilliant is right!

[@marciafreitas8541]

Bravo! After listening to Scott Joplin masterpieces I developed a new conception of music: on one side is the music in general, on the other side is Scott Joplin's music!

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

It cracks me up that people make such big deals about inventing “new genres” an then it’s something like glitch-pop or or some other variation of the main genre that’s very similar. Blues Jazz Ragtime, were revolutionary. Common chord progressions, and even the bouncy syncopation can be found as far as in indie rock now. I really wish people looked past the 1960s….

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

Even by the 1950s, quite a few people begin to view the music as a novelty.

[@trawlins396]

Do you mean looked BEFORE the 1960s?

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

@@trawlins396 haha I was second guessing my grammar when I wrote that and you caught it. I suppose looking past something can really depend on which direction you’re looking. If you think of music as linear and you’re facing the “past” than looking PAST a time period would be looking before it

[@trawlins396]

@@malaquiasalfaro81 true lol. I agree w you if that's what you mean. The TRUE musical innovators didn't come along in the 21st century.

[@malaquiasalfaro81]

@@trawlins396 you got any favorite old Jazz Ragtime or Blues tunes? I’m trying to expand my library

[@Rescue162]

So I'm on a kick now of wanting to learn more about American music history and evolution.

[@merryhunt9153]

I recently bought a book of old rags and almost every one had "not fast" at the start. The exception said "Don't fake it."

[@Conorator]

Even Scott Joplin brought up people playing his compositions too fast, a lot of people were competing to play his songs as fast as possible.

[@GabrielDipo]

What does it mean

[@gloriamosure9184]

Love and play it often!

[@trawlins396]

I could watch this everyday.

[@anonymousthreatmusic2962]

Superb explanation and playing

[@tom_something]

It's weird to watch someone I don't know play the piano for two and a half minutes, and then when he finally opens his mouth, discover that he doesn't have the British accent I somehow assumed he'd have.

[@trawlins396]

Yep. We 'Muricans can be cultured too.

[@sportsmediaamerica]

I remember when Johnny Carson had Eubie Blake on The Tonight Show. That was special!

[@philliporeilly901]

Brilliant, fascinating.

[@pondererofpointlessdreams5029]

Easy: Scott Joplin.

[@dennisneo1608]

Brilliant. Tom Briars is the best ragtime pianist I've seen.

[@rolandgerard6064]

Check the channel of Jonny May if you like ragtime

[@motob4406]

*Brier, but yeah he's phenomenal

[@trawlins396]

Beautiful! So jealous I can't play like this 😭😭😭

[@luizfelipefranciso6083]

melhor musica. Meu pai sempre falava q na espoca dele era muito famosa.

[@videodancer1]

Thanks dude! Made me smile tonight.

[@m0j0b0ne]

Simply put, ragtime is rhythmic tension between whatever serves as the kick and whatever serves as the snare. Usually, tension is derived from the juxtaposition of straight and swung rhythms. It's a pianistic form that draws from the NOLA tradition of small brass bands and 'second line' parades. Fess had tension betwixt his left and right hands; John Lee Hooker had tension between his right and left feet. Weirdly, it's kinda like Travis-picking on guitar, where you can quickly turn any simple melody into a polka.

[@uclajd]

Thanks to growing up on Looney Tunes, Ragtime is imprinted in my brain.

[@trawlins396]

🤣🤣🤣. I only remember it from old westerns.

[@olivergodfrey4203]

thanks Terry

[@Will_Holmes]

Is ragtime usually in Common time or cut time ?

[@charlesbluett8195]

White font on a white background for the thumbnail was a wild choice

[@mcpeck]

Great video, thank you! Was Ragtime influenced by Vaudeville music?

[@jamier65551]

Ragtime preceded

[@SilverScarletSpider]

I love it!

[@mn4a15]

I only know ragtime from when I was a kid you would put this on the roller coaster tycoon rides game to match the themes

[@gristamshackleford2102]

how the hell did he do that without sight reading it?! i cant even remember 4 chord songs on my guitar. im so jealous of real musicians

[@aaronrobinson9386]

Well, if you look at classic rags, they have this AABBACCDD thing to it. Most of it comes down to muscle memory, and playing it a lot, but if you're already got stride down its mostly just figuring out the chords to play and then the right hand with the melody and whatnot, which is probably the most time consuming to learn. Other than that its just improv.

[@aaronrobinson9386]

So basically a lot of repetition.

[@gristamshackleford2102]

@@aaronrobinson9386 he didnt improv

[@user-cj6pe3vy3b]

When you play it over and over again, it’s just muscle memory, your hands know where to go.

[@ethancollinsworth3927]

most pianists memorize their pieces for solos.

[@learnchinesewithyanhuaandk8903]

Thank you ❤😊

[@judezhu5364]

it confounds me why would anyone dislike a video like this

[@trawlins396]

Because they lack taste and culture. A Philistine.

[@desertcoco]

So much fun; thank you!

[@tmaddrummer]

Thanks and Blessings that was great!

[@carolcheny]

Eubie Blake was his piano teacher? How old is this man??

[@JazzAcademy]

Eubie Blake lived until 1983 and taught many, many students throughout the decades, having remained fairly active into the late 1970s.

[@LoyaFrostwind]

I love the Maple Leaf Rag much more than The Entertainer.

[@davidbukowski3463]

I was really looking forward to this, but the beginning was really disappointing. Joplin repeatedly insisted that ragtime should never be played fast. This recording felt like a speedrun. And then the "one million copies" story at 3:00 is just not true.

[@morrisman64]

I enjoyed this thanks!!

[@markymarcm]

Goddamn, the tension building in this video every time this guy put's his hand on the piano in the playing position and then doesn't play anything! Had me on the edge of my stool.

[@joeditta7792]

The Eubie Blake starts on a minor key but never seems to end.

[@ITAIGARY]

Thank you!

[@RanBlakePiano]

A delight

[@rvc6506]

Don't forget that syncopation was used at least by Mozart way back in the classical era.

[@Ekvitarius]

Syncopation is even mentioned in the Gradus ad Parnassum, Mozart's counterpoint textbook, written a generation earlier. And that book was based on Renaissance-era polyphony. So yes, syncopation has been around for quite some time.

[@jaykay1053]

That's a valid observation. So what would you say are the distinguishing musical features of ragtime vs. Mozart?

[@jaykay1053]

I would say that syncopation is what happens when the emphasis is on the off-beat rather than the downbeat. Although we find this occurring from time to time in the music of genres other than ragtime, the only genre of which syncopation is its defining feature is ragtime. Does that work?

[@cappybenton]

Wunderbar

[@westfield90]

Magnificent

[@ilfisarmonicistapazz]

Great!

[@Krinkels]

I think i hear a very strong Jelly Roll influence :)

[@abadsenquiz1553]

That's what I'm thinking

[@berryj.greene7090]

Why so fast? Is that right> Not for me it isn't. You throw away so much that way

[@senevetechnologie5634]

What is the name of the score used in this tutorial ?

[@chansiam2932]

ชอบครับ.

[@clarencegreen3071]

I watched/listened to the Maple Leaf Rag. I don't know Mr. Waldo. Is this an act or is he really that bad?

[@大塚康順]

めっちゃいい😭

[@fatherjack3088]

i didnt like alot of the comments in this video

[@soarabove337]

Soooo... what you're saying is: my 5th gr music teacher (USA) was right & Joplin basically was the fore-grand-father to (the generic term we now call) rock & roll? Cool. 😎👍

[@edwarddoran3478]

I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED THAT I COULDN'T ATTEND TERRY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY LAST NIGHT IN COLUMBUS. NOV.27,2015

[@sparrow40k]

I hear Thomas the Tank Engine c:

[@metincanaknc8122]

don't play ragtime fast, it's never right to play ragtime fast

[@valentinomiller6251]

I'm imagining myself in a saloon in the wild west

[@synapticaxon9303]

Who the hell is Jackie Gleason?! ;)

[@HughJaxident67]

Sorry, but Maple leaf is played waaay too fast here and is strewn with errors, it felt like the pianist was almost tripping over the syncopation. If ragtime is played too quickly it loses its nuances - slow it down a little!

[@posesepulu3771]

HughJaxident67 Yeah ragtime is a complex musical style. The pianist in the video disregarded time signature and lacks the feel of Joplin's original piece. But I don't know much about him so I can't judge him really just based off of this video.

[@leerodger9197]

You can't disregard a time signature that's accompanied with an ambiguous tempo. The piece is played in 2/4 and at "Tempo di marcia", which leaves it open to interpretation. Granted, rag time isn't supposed to be played fast, but again that is another ambigous direction given by composers of this style. It's all open to interpretation, and for me personally, I enjoy a somewhat pacy take on a rag. Some people just feel differently :P

[@tomscully7489]

The point of the video was not to play Maple Leaf to your standards.

[@samuelwilson818]

the pianist tried to improvise bits but ended up butchering the whole harmonic structure and the entirety of the b section left hand part

[@m0j0b0ne]

"Tempo di Marcia" means march tempo, which any competent drum major can tell you is 120 beats per minute.

[@eurekify1563]

There is absolutely no reason to play the Maple Leaf Rag that fast at the start. He is a great pianist if he can manage to do so without stopping at all but the mistakes make it horrible.

[@andybarker8787]

I have to agree, slow it down, play it clean

[@jlorusso44]

This guy sounds a lot like Tom Hanks

[@charliefinlow665]

you seem cool af

[@timothykimbrough6778]

THANK GOD IN HEAVEN FOR SOMEONE WILLING TO TELL THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH ABOUT RAGTIME BEING A CREATION OF THE BLACK AMERICAN PEOPLE. PEACE. TK

[@memeguaia]

WOW😍