Weeping Willow Rag - Scott Joplin

[@Deckerd724]

Hey, Mr. Greenhat, VERY nice performance! Your careful and graceful execution shows your profound respect for Mr. Joplin's composition. Very nice. Really enjoyed listening and watching. You must have practiced long and hard. And obove all, it was a gentle recital. Not like some I have seen, akin to appreciating a magnolia blossom with a sledge hammer. I will watch more of your recitals. Thanks again. Deckerd (Nick Mayeux)

[@cueshark]

I like the time changes you do and the extra runs of notes you add. Nicely done sir!

[@belle1199]

haha this song is stuck in my head now :) i think im gonna learn it & maybe play it at my next recital. It's such an uplifting song for me & just happens to be the name of my favorite tree!

[@SmartStart24]

This is really pretty :) I love Joplin

[@Diorrisimo]

Nice!You make jazz melodious.

[@OuiRV]

Really love not only your delicate interpretation, but your choice of pieces that sound great when played in such a thoughtful way (Weeping Willow and Strenuous Life). Also, your Mason sounds just wonderful. You've got me considering if Strenuous should be the next piece I tackle, since now I know how I'd like it to sound!

[@idasynco]

I like your tempo and embellishments you add in to make it your own. You have it solidly in your fingers and your practice shows. I would like to hear some change in dynamics in the decending bass to add some excitement, but I love the way you slowed the tempo at the end to give it feeling.

[@cebukid70]

Well-stated!! It IS the musicality that matters... I'm not a big fan of the "tempo police" of KZbin who're so adamant "their tempo is correct." There are great amatuer and professinal interpreters out there - both slow and fast. Anyway, 5-stars. You're truly an inspiration to us Joplin amateur players. :-)

[@dansing124]

@Kakabeblen For any one who thinks this is played to slowly, why is it that the composer himself writes, Do not play fast, it is never correct to play rag time fast, Mr. Scott Joplin had said that, in referance to his own music.

[@samuso86]

Yes I totally agree,looking back at my performance of the great scott rag (by james scott, also on my page)I felt the need to play faster in order to make the overall sound more interesting and exciting. However with your "weeping willow" it's not played fast and theres a great sense of rhythm which is hard to maintain at a slow pace so well done! :-)

[@tjitske654]

The more I listen to Joplin's stuff, the more I wonder why I decided to start with Maple Leaf! This song especially, sounds so nice and low-key. Not as difficult, but I could be wrong. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@MRSUPERWOODD]

MIND=BLOWN

[@dilemmix]

I'm only just getting interested in rag- have listened to many. Love it and yes a little faster would be great!

[@jaccosr]

Absolutely superb.

[@swaggygoldenapple3656]

Im playing this song right now thx for the excellent playing hearing it helps me

[@gbj11]

Excellent job, dude. I learned part of this years ago, but I'm just not a good enough piano player. Joplin was a genius... he really had his own way of composing that was unique to him.

[@michelhenning9311]

nice. this is the next ragtim im gonna prctise just because of your performance ;)

[@michelhenning9311]

try to play it in swing i love it

[@OuiRV]

Hi Paul. I've been thinking about learning Weeping Willow, and in searching for performances for inspiration, your beautiful rendition was right near the top of my search results! As usual with your elegant interpretations, this is exactly how I "feel" this piece should sound. Great work. Thanks so much for the inspiration. Best Regards, Peter

[@AirplaneFoods]

Beautiful!

[@tdub1941]

Oh so lovely - Very nice work. I love it! 5 Stars. Ragjazzmonkey Tom Warner

[@Gangly1]

Oh I wish I could play the piano!!...It all looks so relaxing and effortless when done well. I do happen to know that it is anything but!! Lovely stuff Paul. Best Regards, Paul

[@theSam91]

Wow that sounds very nice, very well played. And you look like our piano tuner :P Just thought I'd throw that in hehe.

[@bkgangstapianist]

I usually skip the B section and go right on to the C section. I am just that kind of guy. I appreciate your post. Well Played. I know ragtime is supposed to be played so, but if you ever get really good, build up the speed very fast, and play it more like a stride piano piece. Its very interesting =]

[@OuiRV]

Hi Paul! I just re-discovered your marvelous rendition of Weeping Willow. :) I'm getting excited about coming to Cali for the WCRF this year. Be sure to let me know if you'll be there too. - Peter

[@anneissler8033]

Very well done

[@theSam91]

I like ragtime a little more lively, but you certainly are sure of the notes and you play very strongly, hitting the keys right to the bottom...something I can never do!

[@AnotherSchmoe]

Hey man that was rockin'! Keep it up, I wish I could play like that. =)

[@jak10987]

VERY NICE!!!! I like it better slow so then you can do a little jig to it. Good job playing. I barley even noticed the wrong notes so thats good.

[@Doug19752533]

tempowise, i play Weeping Willow Rag at about 72. Dont get carried away with liberties like you took in the B section. this rag is farly laid back and relaxed about a mezzo forte throughout (B section forte then back to MF) but the climax is the D section, so save the build up for the end. other then that nice job

[@barendbos]

wow. i reached the kind, loving, eloquent and gentlemen part of the internet here. Look at those comments!

[@AdenMazur]

Very good :) As you wanted a comment on the rhythm I have to say I thought it was just BIT too slow. I felt like I just wanted it to move along a little faster. Thats just my opinion however and I see a lot of people think it was great :) Was a pleasure to listen to though! Thanks! and 5/5 definately.

[@romanblanks1473]

Thank you very much, nicely played, including the embellishments that you play that aren't in the original sheet. Hope you don't mind me borrowing that little adornment you add at 43:00, I like it :)

[@Kakabeblen]

Beautifully made. I love this piece, and you deliverd it well! The only thing is the poor video\sound quality. If you have a new camera and maybe a better mic, I'd love to see you record it again =) Thumbs up!

[@josiah566]

I like the distinctive, sostenuto style that you've put on the left hand, but don't let the damper pedal get in the way of the percussiveness of the song, which is the main point of ragtime, and don't let your right hand get dominated. Other than that, the song is amazing. :D

[@alanor76]

I love the sound of the that piano and you play it very nicely. You could put a bit more "feeling" into it. The playing sounds a bit mechanical (nothing wrong with the St Louis tickle though). One thing that does irritate is that you quite often play the left hand note slighly before the right hand one. Listen to this piece and you will see what I mean. I'd enjoy it much more if you got them together!

[@khriskooper]

Interesting debate about ragtime tempo. Scott Joplin put 'not too fast' on pretty much all his rags as far as I know. I think the tempo can be fast or slow really, but I suppose this song is called Weeping Willow so perhaps slower is better in this case. My friends always like me to play as fast as possible! Anyway, you can see my faster performance of this song in the video responses if you'd prefer to hear a faster version. I think in the end though we're playing about the same speed!

[@pljenkins522]

Nice rendition... I'm trying to nail this one down myself, and was looking for a performance to figure out the B section... Tempo was pretty close on yours! Ragtime is almost universally played too darn fast.

[@Harmonyww]

I don't think you could have picked a better tempo for this rag. Great job.

[@alanor76]

Unfortunately neither of my two books of Scott Joplin Rags has Weeping Willow in it so I can't specify which bars the problem occurs in. Using timings, though, listen to the sequence at 1.57, 2.03, 2.11 and 2.17. Notice 3.29 as well.

[@livingaragtimelife]

My suggestion regarding tempo and phrasing is to find the song as recorded by Max Morath and assimilate his perfect grasp of the nuance of any piece. There is no better standard.

[@samuso86]

ye it's a very difficult piece to get the pace right, in a way it can never be too slow but theres always the urge with stride to get a bit faster than necessary, in my video response I tried my best to keep the pace down where as I have failed to do so in other ragtime renditions lol

[@idasynco]

Hi Webbubbles...I too am an intermediate, and probably shouldn't be posting until I can get it better, but listen to my latest Weeping Willow.. keep it up!! I too need to!

[@Noarcs]

Funny, while many people seem to say it was played too slowly, I felt it was played too fast. I'd have prefered a slower tempo of this.

[@wakerds]

hhhmmm.....its nice just the way I like it.. but your tempo was a little fast. but its fine just the way I play it. 5 stars for you men!! thanks..

[@clemxo]

definitely not any faster. If anything, maybe a little slower. Very nice playing though :-)