RAGTIME PIANO!

Young pianist continues to struggle with declining hearing

2012-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a young pianist who was born with some amount of hearing loss but in her later years as a teenager her hearing loss has noticeably progressed affecting her piano playing skill. She continues to compensate by feeling the vibrations through her fingers on the keyboard. Doctors are unable to find out why she has lost more of her hearing or whether she will progressively lose more in the future. In December of 2011 she put on a musical show at her school to raise funds for the National Deaf Children’s Society. Read more on this story.

Deaf pianist regains hearing again

2012-01-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a subtitled video of a Dutch pianist who lost his hearing due to ear infection. He was able to push through his deafness and continue to play and compose music while the sound of piano notes remained in his head. But in the end he never took for granted the ability to hear once he regained all of his hearing back.

Making Music with a Hearing Loss: Strategies and Stories

2011-06-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

That book is now available in Amazon. I'll be getting a free copy of it since I'm one of the several deaf/hh musicians who were interviewed for that book. My narrative can be found in the final chapter of that book.

There are many texts on music and hearing loss, but what makes this volume unique is that it does not require the reader to have any previous background in hearing science. It is written in non-technical language for the layman, and begins by explaining how the human ear hears sound. It covers the interplay between music, speech and hearing devices and discusses hearing conservation for musicians. The final chapter contains inspiring narratives from eleven deaf or hard of hearing musicians belonging to the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss. These eleven stories describe using a variety of strategies to integrate hearing loss and music making. Musicians new to hearing loss, hearing-impaired adults wanting to learn a musical instrument, audiologists, music educators, and music researchers will also find this book a valuable addition to their library collection.

I'll be waiting with great anticipation for my free copy. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and enjoy music, this will be a great book to have. If you have a hearing loss and is considering on wanting to play a musical instrument, don't let your hearing loss stop you. And if you do play a musical instrument....don't stop! Keep practicing and find other like minded people who enjoy playing music with their musical instruments.

Possum and Taters

2011-06-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

Here's something I just picked up quite recently and tried my hands on it. Some brushing up here and there but I'm sure you'll enjoy this one called "Possum and Taters - a Ragtime Feast" published in 1900. But my piano sure needs some serious tuning up!

Sky Mundell wins Vancouver Island's Got Talent!

2011-02-04T00:18:00.000-08:00

I covered him briefly before of him playing on his piano in a YouTube clip. His name is Sky Mundel. But the amazing thing is that not only is he blind and deaf but he has cerbral palsy and is autistic. He won the coveted Vancouver Island's Got Talent contest that took place this year on January 20th.

The 19-year-old pianist wowed the judges and audience alike at the finale for Vancouver Island's Got Talent Jan. 21, as he had throughout the competition, with two pieces dedicated to his mother and sister.

"It was a pleasure playing in this competition and I certainly will have a lot of fun performing in Las Vegas," he said upon taking to the stage after event host Maria Manna announced him as the winner.

Mundell, whose goal is to pursue a career in the music industry, will get a head start on that dream thanks to his win.

He will travel to Vegas to sign a contract with the Nevada Talent Agency, will perform at Planet Hollywood there as part of V: The Ultimate Variety Show, will receive image consulting and a professional marketing package.

He also won recording time for a three-song demo CD, a professional photo shoot and help setting up a web and social media presence.

This is an incredible young man, 19 years old, to win this competition. Below are the videos of the Vancouver Island's Got Talent with him in it.

Final round and announcement of Sky Mundell as the winner out of 84 contestants.

2nd round in VIGT competition in November 2010.

1st round in October 2010

Someday soon I would like to meet him personally since Vancouver Island (Canada) is about a 6 hours drive from where I live. I am fascinated by pianists who are blind and a savant but Sky Mundell is quite the incredible and different pianist who happens to be deaf and austistic. In fact, I do have an interest in musically talented pianists who are blind and are classified as savants but Sky Mundell is a different breed. And why the interest? Well, naturally I'm a pianist myself who play ragtime and novelty rag pieces who happens to have a hearing loss in both ears.

It was late last year when I read a book about a black, blind savant pianist named "Blind Tom" who was one of the nineteenth century's most famous and perplexing pianists. A man with such an uncanny talent that very few of us would even dare hope to hold. It was several years ago when I became fascinated with pianists who are blind and classified as savants when I saw a show about boy named Derek Paravicini who is such a pianist who is now an adult today. But for Sky Mundell, I'd say that a congratulation is in order for this young man. May he find success and joy!

A Breeze from Alabama

2010-06-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a lively piece called 'A Breeze from Alabama' by Scott Joplin. I'm still nursing a bit of a hand injury and so there are some flubs in playing this piece, especially about 3/4 of the way through. I usually get through that part. Anyway, decided to put this video up. I used the middle pedal to give it bit of a more muted/softer sound. And when I do get around to playing this again, hopefully it'll be in much better form! So, for now, enjoy my piece.

The video was taken using my new Sony Handycam DCR-SR68 camera. It has a great microphone to pick up the sound. Great sound quality. And no more blurry hand movements! Yay!

As you may know I'm a deaf/hh ragtime pianist. I'm not sure if there are others like me who like to play ragtime all the time. But it's good to know that there are other deaf/hh pianists out there as well.

Dis 'n' dat...

2010-05-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

Practice, practice, practice....fun all the time! It is for me when it comes to learning a new ragtime or novelty rag piece like Black and White, Champagne Rag, Bag of Rags, A Breeze from Alabama, Top Liner Rag, Sensation Rag, and American Beauty Rag.

I just started on the American Beauty Rag last week. It's a tricky piece. It'll be awhile til I get around to really practicing it and get it down pat. I already practicing like 30 different pieces right now with more on the back burner as I go through these free, downloadable ragtime music sheets for my growing digital collection.

Champagne Rag is a nice surprise after playing it for a week or so. Plays nicely either slow or fast. I plan on memorizing this piece soon enough.

One of the best Joplin songs I love playing so far is A Breeze from Alabama. Almost completely memorized by now.

Black and White Rag? A cool one. Already memorized. There's a video of me playing it.

Kitten on the Keys is next on my list and I've been practicing off and on with this one. Tough one if played fast but delightful to listen to.

Of course, my plan is to play these pieces up on video soon enough someday.

My story

2010-04-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

I was born with hearing loss when my mother contracted the German Measles or Rubella while I was still in the womb. This occurred during the Rubella outbreak of the northwest in 1960s. I born with profound hearing loss in my left ear while my right ear was somewhat spared with a hearing loss about 70 dB. I was fitted with a hearing aid at age three in my better ear.

My fascination with music began early on. So, at age 7 I begged my Mom and Dad to get a piano because I wanted to learn how to play the piano. I’m not exactly sure why I did this but I think it’d be fun and cool to be able to play the piano. Of the three of us siblings, my younger sister and older brother, I was the only one who continued to practice on the family piano while growing up. Over the years I had fun performing at piano recitals though I didn’t take much stock in the fact that I was a hard of hearing kid who can play the piano and that I probably stood out from the rest of the people there.

At about age 11 my first piece was a simplified version of “The Entertainer” - a widely popular and recognizable Scott Joplin ragtime piece. And during my early teen years I re-discovered ragtime when my piano skill progressed even more to the point of playing more complicated and original ragtime piano pieces such as Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, The Cascades, Original Rags and so on. It was that weird and intoxicating music that hooked me.

Much of my young life has been rather a musical one. I can play any instruments if I wanted to since I am able to hear all range of musical notes with the help of my hearing aid. I’ve played the violin, taught myself to play the saxophone to the point of being good enough to play in a middle school band, played the drums, and xylophone in middle and high school bands. I was in a marching band in high school and I was the bass drummer where we competed in marching band competitions in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. And at one time I played the piano for an audience on a theater stage while in college belting out Maple Leaf Rag. Ironically, it was at Gallaudet University, a school I attended while as a student. Despite all that my main musical instrument has always been the piano.

My love for ragtime stayed with me even while as I was absent from ever touching a piano during my college days (with on occasion the opportunity to practice but not as much as I have wanted and without the distraction of education) and while raising a family. My time was limited but did what I could whenever I came across a piano. In that absence I read books on ragtime and the people who played ragtime, and collected ragtime piano sheet music whenever I could. What was a big help during my graduate college days at University of Idaho was the availability of pianos on campus and the famous Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival held annually on campus. The internet over the last several years has made it easier for me to learn and experience more about ragtime, the people (new and old), the history, and the music through YouTube. It has given me blogging opportunities, allowed me to become involved in a ragtime discussion forum and provided a way to download lots of free ragtime music sheets dating back to the early 1890s.

My time finally came in December 2008 when I decided it was time to buy myself a new piano and not have a broken down piano to worry about. I decided upon a goal to get back into ragtime with fervor and become the first known deaf ragtime pianist. It will take some time, gradually and slowly for sure as I branch into other well know ragtime composers such as W.R. McKanlass, Charles Leslie Johnson, George Botsford, Holmes Travis, and many other well known and not so well known composers, including the early jazz pieces like Jelly Roll Morton.

Over time I was finally able to get to the point of practicing 4 or 5 hours a day if I wanted to. Though my normal, ideal, amount of time is about 2 to 3 hours a day due to the challenge of finding the time to play when my kids are not around. It will take some time to get all of my piano coordination and skill back on track. I may be a “natural” in some sense but it sure doesn’t feel like it. There is a 25 year gap I’ve got to catch up on. My sight reading is getting easier nowadays whenever I come across a new ragtime music sheet pieces though by no means can I whiz right though them, yet. There are thousands of ragtime sheets out there, many of them available over the internet. I collect them for my growing ragtime portfolio both in electronic format and hard copy. My goal is to play as many of these ragtime pieces and memorize some of them when I can. Someday I'll eventually move into early Jazz pieces (e.g. Jelly Roll Morton) and stride piano (e.g. Fats Waller) but for now it’s all ragtime and lot of catching up to do.

My challenge nowadays is to find other ragtime pianists that I could associate myself with and keep my interest high on playing the piano on a daily/regular basis. When I moved to Washington in June of 2009 from New Mexico I learned about the Portland Ragtime Society group in Portland, Oregon which turned out to be a 45 minute drive from my house. This group meets and plays ragtime together once a month at a public eatery that supports a piano. Currently we play at the Elevated Coffee in Portland. Other challenges include the continuing documentation of my progress in my Ragtime Piano! blog. I am always on the lookout for more deaf or hard of hearing pianists. And when I do find one I try and learn about the person and document it in my blog. Future challenges are to try and attend ragtime festivals like the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri (June 2 - 6, 2010) of which I will be going. A deaf-owned company is sponsoring my trip (see story here). All in all I plan to include more videos for my blog and on my YouTube channel, interviews on ragtime pianists, and anything else I can do to increase my focus and interest on ragtime and piano playing. The internet is a big help and a valuable source of my continued learning. There are lots of strategies I can do to help with my interest in my playing the piano and ragtime. But I sure hope I have lots of fun getting there.

A Purveyor of Pleasingly Pianistic Pyrotechnics of Ragtime Music

2010-04-25T03:01:00.000-07:00

My music began at the age of 7 when my fingers first touched the black and white keys on our first piano in my parents’ house. I begged my Mom and Dad to get a piano because I wanted to learn how to play the piano thinking it was cool to have a piano. Of the three of us siblings, my younger sister and older brother, I was the only one who continued to practice on our piano. Over the years I had fun performing at piano recitals though many did not realize that I was deaf/hh. In my early teens I discovered ragtime though when younger my first piece was a simplified version of “The Entertainer” - a widely popular and recognizable Scott Joplin ragtime piece. My love for ragtime stayed with me even while as I was absent from ever touching a piano during my college days and while raising a family that took away much of my time the opportunity to even play on piano on a regular basis. But that didn’t stop me from reading books on ragtime and the people while collecting ragtime piano sheet music whenever I could. The internet over the last several years has made it easier to learn about ragtime, the people (new and old), the history, the music and lots of free ragtime music sheets I can print out. My time finally came in December 2008 when I bought myself a piano. I decided upon a goal to get back into ragtime with fervor and become the first known deaf/hh ragtime pianist. It will take some time, gradually and slowly for sure. I sure hope I have some fun getting there.

It won’t be easy to be an accomplished ragtime pianist. The question I am facing is how accomplish can I become? This goal of mine will certainly take some time since I started my long hours of practicing last year starting January 2009. I’ve been absent from my piano much too long. My fingers and hands would require getting used to playing the piano on a constant basis. Just like when it comes to sports or exercising, one has to build up to it until so you can practice for hours and not have your fingers get tired. At first I was sore and felt clumsy playing it, my coordination was a bit off but with gradual practicing and finger exercises I was finally able to get to the point of practicing 4 or 5 hours a day if I wanted to. Though my normal, ideal, amount of time is about 2 to 3 hours a day. It takes time to get the proper hand/eye coordination in place, have your brain adapt more fluidly to reading piano music sheets, getting the dynamics down correctly, knowing where to place your fingers and hands without looking, learning to listen to the notes and make sure they sound right, get the timing down, using the right amount of application, getting the right melody, and so on…..done automatically. For me, it takes even more practice to get it down right while others are a pure natural at playing the piano. I may be a “natural” in some sense but it sure doesn’t feel like it...yet. There is a 25 year gap I’ve got to catch up on. Though my sight reading on new music sheet pieces are becoming easier nowadays though by no means I can whiz right though them. There are thousands of ragtime songs out there, many of them available over the internet. I collect them for my growing ragtime portfolio. My goal is to play as many of these ragtime pieces and memorize some of them when I can. Someday I'll eventually move into more early Jazz pieces (e.g. Jelly Roll Morton) and stride piano (e.g. Fats Waller) but for now it’s all ragtime and lot of catching up to do.

How to describe ragtime piano to deaf people?

2010-04-18T13:17:00.001-07:00

There are certain music I believe that most deaf people, especially those born with a hearing loss or lose it early in life, do not even know it exist or even care for it. One of that music is ragtime. I genre of music that I've come to know and enjoy immensely.

What is ragtime anyway? According to Scott Joplin, the "King of Ragtime," he aptly described ragtime music as "weird and intoxicating" when played right. Yeah, but that doesn't describe it does it? In ragtime on a piano it is the (melodic) syncopation of the right hand with the accented bass movement of the left hand. Chords do not define ragtime but the syncopated style that makes ragtime music recognizable. Which is why it's called "ragged time." Confused? Ok. The bare bones description. On the piano it combines the left hand bass movements (the "oom-pah oom-pah" feel to it) with the deep bass notes that you can actually feel the vibration. The right hand movements play the syncopated movements that produces the melody with an off-beat sound to it. This is mostly the higher notes which is harder to feel and detect its vibrations. With that combination of sound it gives that particular "weird and intoxicating" flavor of music to it.

It's hard to describe to a deaf person on why ragtime is so enjoyable and pleasing to listen to just as it's hard to describe to a blind person why a particular painting is so wonderful and pleasing to look at. Descriptions can only go so far. Other senses must be used help fill in this gap.

First, if you have a good set of speakers for your computer (or to an even larger, stronger external set of speakers) let's go to John Roache's website where he describes what ragtime is all about and a chance for you to feel (and perhaps hear) what it "sounds" like. John Roache is able to break it down into separate, identifiable music and when combined makes it into a ragtime music. In this case, he uses the familiar tune of "Mary had a little lamb" and turns that into a ragtime example.

All I can say is that as with jazz, stride piano, novelty piano, or even ragtime piano, one has to appreciate the musical qualities behind them in order to truly enjoy these genre periods. I don't expect Deaf people to understand why I enjoy and play ragtime piano except that I find it "weird and intoxicating" whenever I play it. It's a musical art that keeps on giving.

Portland Ragtime Society new monthly meeting place

2010-04-16T23:58:00.001-07:00

From the Elevated Coffee website, please note the new change of venue for the monthly meeting of the Portland Ragtime Society:

The Portland Ragtime Society conducts their monthly meetings at Elevated Coffee every first Sunday of the month

Everyone is welcome to participate.

DATE: Every first Sunday of the month

TIME: 3:00-6:00

LOCATION: Elevated Coffee, 5261 NE M. L. King Jr. Blvd, Portland, OR 97211 (see map)

Elevated Coffee is located in the Vanport Square, one block south of Killingsworth, and across the street from the Blazers Boys & Girls Club.

Map of location.

Come one, come all. I'll be there once again for sure and have fun with their new, white baby grand piano at Elevated Coffee.

Raggin' my way to the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri (June 2 - 6)

2010-04-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings all. I have great news. I'll be attending the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival which takes place in the historic town of Sedalia, Missouri (see map). This year's festival starts on June 2 and ends on June 6, 2010. A highly popular musical and celebratory event where people from all over the world descend on the quiet town of 25,000. This trip is being sponsored by a communication company, sComm, Inc, based in Missouri, a few hours away from Sedalia, Missouri. I've known the CEO and founder of that company for several years. A great friend of mine. So, be sure to check out their website for their products and services.

I plan to blog about my trip and this ragtime festival with pictures and videos. I'm sure I'll meet many well known (and unknown) skillful ragtime pianists there. Many of them I am envy of their superb skills. Be sure to keep an eye on this blog for more updates and news.

Weeping Willow

2010-03-12T00:09:00.000-08:00

Here's my piano ragtime piece called "Weeping Willow," a Scott Joplin piece. Excuse the "clacking" sound you may hear. The piano also sounded a bit odd in a several pieces of this music because of the laptop camera microphone being too close to the wall that unnaturally amplied certain notes whic made the "clacking" noise. Next time I'll move it away from the wall for a more fuller sound, hopefully so. In this video, I was just basically messing around and I'll need to play a bit more smoother in some spots the next time since I was getting a feel of my new laptop and camera. But for now, just enjoy my piece.

An update

2010-02-21T16:37:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I got a new lap with a better video cam and I'm currently playing around with it and soon to have a few videos up on me playing some ragtime pieces. Just be patient and things will come around soon enough. My other laptop's video cam didn't do justice when it came to video-taping my playing. It just came out not as clear and motions were blurry such as my recent Black and White rag video. So, sit tight as I get around to a good time to capture my video when everything is quiet in my house. I plan to play Blarney Kisses and Weeping Willow.

Another hard of hearing pianist playing ragtime

2009-12-22T19:40:00.000-08:00

Here's an "hearing impaired" pianist playing Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. Don't know who this guy is but he is playing a ragtime piano piece, though.

Deaf, blind and cerebral palsy young man plays Jazz Piano

2009-11-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

Here's something you don't see everyday. A blind, deaf man with cerebral palsy who started playing the piano last year on a new piano given to him for Christmas. He taught himself to play the piano by ear! The power of hearing your own music!

Welcome another HOH Pianist

2009-10-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Don't know his name yet but here's a piano playing video of this gentleman who is 21 years old and is currently attending a university in southern California. He plays a classical concert repetroire piece Chopin's Octave Etude and does it very well. He began playing the piano at the age of 3 and it was until age 5 did his parents found out he has profound hearing loss.

Gift of Sound - Deaf Girl with Cochlear Implant Plays the Piano

2009-09-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here's Holly with her mother. Holly contracted meningitis at age 1 that took the world of sound away from her. By age 1 1/2 years old she was fitted with a cochlear implant. Before the menigitis Holly was exposed to a world of music in her mother's household since she is a musician. Because of the early exposure to music and sound, the quick intervention to get the implant and the continued interaction with sound, music and voice has helped shape Holly into a musically talented pianist.

In February 2001, just before her second birthday, her right ear was fitted with a cochlear implant – a surgically inserted electronic device that provides a sense of sound for people who are profoundly deaf. Seven years later, another was fitted in her left ear. The doctors played us a simulation of what music would sound like to Holly – I was horrified because it was just white noise. "Holly is going to hear music," I kept saying to myself.

I continued teaching the piano because we were short of money, but it was difficult spending time with hearing children. I was determined to try to put right what had gone wrong, to get Holly back to where she would have been had she not been ill. She had a lot of speech and music therapy as part of her rehabilitation after the meningitis and we constantly repeated words and sounds to her.

It was when Holly started entering piano competitions last year that I realised she had a very special talent. She'd been having lessons since she was seven and, although she's only just turned 10, she's already at grade five – most children get to that level only when they're much older.

She's improving all the time. I'm always surprised and shocked by just how much she can do. It's an amazing feeling to see her playing – a mixture of elation and sheer relief. Some children don't seem to have the right energy in their hands and arms to play, but she does.

The scientists who work on cochlear implants are confounded by what she has achieved musically. They are baffled by her progress and have no idea how she has done it. When she entered a national piano competition in May, the adjudicator praised the fact that she appeared to listen to the sounds she was making – her whole body, he thought, was involved in the process of making music. He didn't know that Holly was profoundly deaf – when her piano teacher told him at the end of the afternoon he was shocked.

I'm convinced that the simulation we originally heard of how music sounds with a cochlear implant is not how Holly hears it. The brain is complex and adapts to many situations; somehow, Holly has made sense of it all. She loves music and improvises at the piano, sings and composes all the time. She also plays the cello in the local string orchestra and sings in a choir.

Words of her special talent is getting around as you can see. Holly, please don't ever stop playing the piano and use your God-given talent and the gift of sound to the best of your ability. Enjoy and have fun by making the best of what you have. Since I started playing the piano at seven, I know what it was like and how fun it was to do it. Here's a picture of me at age 8 playing the piano at a piano recital. I still play the piano as you can see.

Webchat with Dr. Cherisse Miller

2009-09-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

From the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss General Discussions forum a webchat is scheduled for on October 8 with Dr. Cherisse Miller, an avid hearing aid user and pianist.

Dr. Miller received her DMA (doctorate in musical arts) from the University of South Carolina in May 2009. An avid hearing aid user and pianist, she maintains a busy private studio in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Miller will discuss her dissertation on hearing-impaired musicians, which was based on a survey to AAMHL members and other musicians with hearing loss. The time listed is Eastern time and the web link to the meeting room will be provide one hour before the chat. We hope to see you there!

Event Details
----------------------
What: Webchat with Dr. Cherisse Miller
Who: Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss
When: Thu Oct 8, 2009, 8:30-9:30 pm EDT
Where: online, link will be provided one hour before the chat

Link: http://www.bigtent.com/home/calendar/event/24194663

A tuned piano...

2009-08-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last week I finally got my piano tuned and it certainly sounds so much better. It was tuned by a blind piano tuner named Kevin. Real nice guy and we talked briefly over the two hours it took to tune the piano to its crisp and melodic sound. The piano really needed the tuning after two moves and then subsequently across several states to its final destination after I bought it brand new back in December 2008. Now with the ragtime pieces I'm playing they sound so much better but some pianos do sound better with certain rag pieces than other pianos, even newer ones. Even my aunt's player piano sounded really great when I played several ragtime pieces for year. Another dream of mine is to get an antique player piano someday. It'd be a really great center-piece for my house (aside from a baby grand piano) and a fun one to play on. So many rags to choose from, the list just keeps growing. Ain't that great or what?

A Bag of Rags

2009-08-17T00:08:00.001-07:00

Two weeks to go til I go to the next monthly Portland Ragtime Society get together and I'm thinking about trying "A Bag of Rags" piece by W.R. MacKanlass. I was looking at the piece today and played my fingers on my kitchen table just to get a feel of it. A doable piece to do in a short time. Maybe memorize it by then? Dunno since I continue to practice other pieces such as Kitten on the Keys which I'm improving slowly. Maybe in time for the October meet up instead? Plus I really like the toe tappin sound of A Bag of Rags piece.

Here's the YouTube version. And here's the free music sheet A Bag of Rags you can download from.

I may even do Humoresque of a Little Dog by Ron O'Dell. A new piece but more modern rag piece. The tune came from a Nintento role-playing series called "Mother" which is the Japanese title but the English title is "EarthBound." It was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka. The piano sheets can be downloaded here. Though I don't know if I will be ready by then since I'll be wanting to do A Bag of Rags first while I have time. We'll see.

And here's the original Humoresque of a Little Dog "Mother Earth" just to get the idea of what it sounds like.

And it has the same bit of rag heard in a 1928 popular guitar ragtime piece called "Dallas Rag."

Portland Ragtime Society Meetup

2009-08-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today I met up with Mark Nuismer and another older gentleman named Kurt (sorry, didn't get the last name!) at their monthly Portland Ragtime Society get together. Although I arrived late at the It's a Beautiful Pizza restaurant where the ragtime piano playing was taking place. It was well past 2 PM. At least they were happy to see that there a 3rd player show up since it was only between the two of them on the piano for four hours (from 2 to 6 pm). Next time I'll show up on time.

(Please note there has been a change in venue since last year. Visit my updated blog on the new monthly meeting location).

Mark Nuismer plays a ragtime piece.

Mark in the background. Front of restaurant (It's a Beautiful Pizza)looking from the front to back. Psychedelic wall coverings and peace signs (in another room).

The piano I played on was quite old (didn't even look what brand it was) but I'm sure it was or used to be a player piano along with some loose keys, some were exposed down to the rough wood, and some of the white keys were missing, too. It was a bit different playing that piano with such a crappy keyboard condition, though it did carry an alright tune for its age. I am so used to a piano keyboard that's smooth with all the black and white colors in place, nicely laminated. One piece of a white key covering actually flew off when I played Black and White Rag. I heard a "click" sound and then suddenly a white piece from a white keyboard flies off. It startled me enough to ruin my concentration. I introduced my piano pieces through a microphone to a listening audience. And did some short commentaries just to keep things moving. All in all I wasn't that nervous to begin with and it was enjoyable. No picture of me playing it. I completely forgot about that one. Next time, for sure, I'll put one up.

I played one new ragtime piece that neither Mark nor Kurt heard of and that was K.K. Ragtime. Kurt even asked about it and I told him where he can get an electronic copy of it. Mark laughed when I explained to him how KK Ragtime came from a tune in a Nintendo game called Animal Crossing.

Afterwards Mark told me about another place in Portland where there is an open-mic night for musicians tomorrow and he invited me to join him and play some ragtime tunes. I can't go since my mother will fly up to visit me and then her sister in The Dalles, Oregon. Told him to keep me in touch if he wants me to join him in on those open-mic night. But here's the good news. They split up the money from the tip jar and I got $10. Whoo hoo! Ok. Not that much but at least this opportunity allows me to play before an audience. Meanwhile, Sept 6 will be the next Portland Ragtime Society get together.

KK Ragtime by Mike McConnell

2009-07-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

This is an up and coming popular ragtime that was spurred on by a Ragtime master himself Tom Brier. Here I play slightly faster than what the Animal Crossing game character KK Slider would sing. And so I decided to throw in a bit of KK Slider's "wack wack" voice into my playing just for effect and have a bit of fun. Not perfect like Tom's nor KK Slider's voice but what the heck, I like this piece. A few blips here and there but essentially it went well.

Video's not smooth but at least the sound came through alright. I had to turn off my fan in my house, turn on my halogen light (hot!!), a house with no air conditioner, and we hit a record high of 106 degrees in the Vancouver-Portland area. I was already sweating by the time I hit the record button. And now I need a cold shower. Enjoy!

Mike McConnell's previous video piano pieces:

Black and White Rag
Maple Leaf Rag

Humoresque of a Little Dog

2009-07-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a ragtime piece played for the first time by the, what else, amazing Tom Brier.

If you like K.K. Ragtime you'll probably like this one. You can download the piano sheet music of this piece here.

Tom Brier sight reads a ragtime piece "Tuxedo Vegas"

2009-07-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

Tom is one of those (extremely) rare gifted ragtime pianists that we all dreamed of being one and I couldn't help but feel feel that twinge of jealousy seeing him belt out a new piece, sight unseen and unheard, for the first time, "Tuxedo Vegas." Bravo to Tom on his well played piece!

Hattip: Keeper1st

Black and White Rag

2009-07-08T02:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a 1908 American ragtime piece by Botsford that I'm now playing. A few misses playing it on my Kohler and Campbell piano but that was my fault for playing it at 2 AM in the morning. But ah, but no work for me today and so I have an excuse. I'll play the piece again when I'm a bit more refreshed. Meanwhile, enjoy my playing the piano as one of the very, very few deaf/hh ragtime pianist around. Expect more videos of me playing ragtime or novelty old timey pieces in the very near future.

July 5 - A Ragtime Piano Show in Portland

2009-06-24T18:10:00.000-07:00

Mark Nuismer - founder of Portland Ragtime Society
Picture from The Oregonian in article on the July
2, 2008 get together.

Every first Sunday of the month the Portland Ragtime Society puts on a "show" where members play ragtime pieces for the public at the "It's a Beautiful Pizza" place on 3342 SE Belmont, Portland from 2 to 6 PM. And it's open mic as well. There is a Behr Brothers upright from the 1890's and it's a little rickety but it can play a good tune. Members of PRS may bring their own musical instruments as well. Doesn't matter as long as it's ragtime.

There are about 130 members in Portland Ragtime Society. Last year on the 4th of July the pizza place was packed. They even ran out of chairs. With warm and dry weather during the month of July you can expect more people flocking to the pizza place just to hear the intoxicating tunes of ragtime. Who couldn't resist to take a spell and grab a tune or two?

But alas, I will not be there. I have plans to be up in Seattle with my in-laws and spend a couple of days with them on their new 44-foot long yacht. But I expect to show up in Portland for the ragtime montly get together on August 5, Sunday, and introduce myself to everybody during open mic and give ragtime a whirl on that old rickety piano.

The get together is on the first Sunday of each month from 2 to 6 PM located at the "It's a Beautiful Pizza" place on 3342 SE Belmont, Portland. Click here to get map directions.

Be there or be square. It'll be fun. I promise.

Ragtime Era Clothing

2009-06-14T02:32:00.000-07:00

Currently I am in the process of looking and buying ragtime era clothings in the hope that I'll have something to wear when I begin playing piano ragtime for the public. Today I went to a very nice Goodwill store and bought a used pair of black Allen Edmonds shoes for $7 bucks and a "paperboy" cap for $3 bucks. The Allen Edmonds shoes (Sanford) is a style that I think mimic the turn of the century type of shoe wear for the well established people. Saved a pretty buck since a brand new pair of Allen Edmonds shoe it'd cost me about $265. Got mine in very good shape for $7bucks.

I'll have to do some more research on the kind of clothes during the ragtime era (from 1890s to 1920s) in the hope to mimic as closely the clothes worn during those time. It'll be an interesting little research to undertake.

I continue to research some more on clothes worn during the turn of the century (1900s) or ragtime ear.

Next, the right pair of pants, shirts, and suspenders. And maybe a tie. I'll probably find what I need at the nearby Portland store called Ray's Ragtime. It holds a collection of turn of the century clothings. I'll see what I can find over there someday soon.

Meanwhile, keep on raggin'.

The Portland Ragtime Society

2009-06-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally found one close to my home in Battle Ground, Washington where there's a monthly ragtime get-together located in Portland. It's the Portland Ragtime Society.

The Portland Ragtime Socieity meets on the first Sunday of every month at It's a Beautiful Pizza Come and play and/or listen and LIVE!! All instruments welcome. We were established in Jan. 2006, with Mark as our founder and president. We have no dues, no newsletter, no website and no other officers YET.

The get together is on the first Sunday of each month from 2 to 6 PM at the It's a Beautiful Pizza place on 3342 SE Belmont, Portland. (Please note there has been a change in venue since last year. Visit my updated blog on the new monthly meeting location).

I came across this in a last year's Portland review article "Live Music Preview: Portland Ragtimie Society" about the founder, Mark Nuismer, on how he discovered ragtime as a teenager hearing Maple Leaf Rag for the first time. Ragtime, as you will discover, has an intoxicating effect.

Battle Ground Ragtime Update II

2009-06-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings all. My family and I finally left on May 23 and arrived in Vancouver, Washington on May 27 after a long drive from New Mexico to Washington for a new life in that state. My wife and I grew up in Tacoma (which is about two hours drive to the north) and so we are happy to be back in a familiar place. Exactly one week later after May 27 we finally found a house to rent for one year while we remain on a very tight budget in the hope we'll sell our house within a year in New Mexico. Meanwhile, we'll make do with what we have until the movers retrieve our stored belongings and unload our stuff as well as my piano into that house so I can finally get back into playing ragtime once again.

It'll be interesting to see what's out here in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon since Battle Ground, Washington is about 10 to 15 miles away to the north. Any ragtimers out there nearby? Or ragtime festivals? We'll see.

Battle Ground Ragtime

2009-05-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hello all. My left hand has improved considerably and I don't think I had any pain in it for 3 or 4 weeks now which is good news. Removing the cushion from my bench allowing me to sit a few inches lower makes a difference. And that my arms are better aligned and parallel with the keyboards. Plus playing in a more relaxed style also helps but certainly not easy if you're playing ragtime.

Next, a word of advice to musicians out there in ragtime land. In the spirit of having a good time whether playing in a public venue or on your website, do not mix politics with ragtime such as dedicating a song to a certain politician. In my opinion, it's simply not in good taste. Not in this political climate when you have basically a 50% chance of offending somebody. Keep politics out of ragtime. Just like in the World Championship of Old-time Piano Playing Contest's rules regardng keeping politics out of the competition when playing a piece with no political connotations. And have everybody truly enjoy what ragtime is all about. Pure fun.

Next news is that I'll be moving to Battle Ground, Washington. Hence, the title
of my page Battle Ground Ragtime. Which isn't a bad name to start up a new festival "Battle Ground Ragtime Festival." What do you think? Sounds catchy, eh? I'll arrive at Battle Ground on May 28, 2009. Any ragtimers within 60 miles of the Portland, Oregon area??

Began working in earnest on "Kitten on the Keys" (see Dick Hyman play that piece in YouTube in the right column of my blog) starting last week. An hour here and hour there. I have the first page down almost pat as I get the rhythm down though not at Hyman's amazing speed...at least not yet. Two more pages to go and have just begun on the second page.

Still trying to get around to video tape myself play "Black and White" by George Botsford and "The Easy Winners" by Scott Joplin. Problem is I have a laptop with an embedded camera and that only natural lighting will ensure smooth a smooth video otherwise it'll tend to be jerky. An odd and frustrating thing for me. But it'll come. As for "The Easy Winners", the goal is to make sound lyrical as possible.

And that's it on the news. Keep on raggin'!

The Easy Winners

2009-04-06T18:58:00.001-07:00

Still playing as I fine tune my The Easy Winners ragtime piece where I plan to videotape it soon along with Black and White rag, too. I still have to deal with a bit of nagging pain in my left hand which only requires rest from the piano for a few days or so. In fact, I play a little bit better if I don't play the piano for 3 or 4 days. But then again, it's hard to resist playing on my piano as it sits in my living room.

Meanwhile here's a great piano and violin piece on The Easy Winners. The two musical instruments go wonderfully together. Enjoy the song.

Happy Birthday Dick Hyman

2009-03-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

Mr. Hyman was born March 8, 1927 in New York City and today marks his 82nd birthday. Even though today is March 7 I would like to say a pre-happy birthday to Mr. Hyman right now just so that I won't forget.

Dick Hyman is a well knows jazz, ragtime and classical pianist. Wikipedia has more on the history of him. Out of my many favorite piano pieces by Hyman "Kitten on the Keys" (a novelty ragtime piece whihc is a very fun piece to listen!) and "The Finger Breaker" rank at the top for me of which I am practicing those two pieces right now (albeit too slowly). I've also put the two YouTube videos permanently over onto the right side column of my blog site.

Grandad the Rag Player

2009-03-06T17:39:00.000-08:00

Here's an older late-deafened gentleman who is nearly deaf plays Ragtime Cowboy Joe and sings it, too. Click on the link to visit the blogsite and listen to him play.

Grandad was quite the performer on the piano, and was always happy to sit down at the piano to ham it up with a little (very little) prodding. Actually the picture I have on the post My Hero's Hero is of my grandad at his piano (relocated to Little Rock). He was almost completely deaf at the time the photo was taken, so he couldn't hear himself playing, but he knew the notes, and was picking out 'Ragtime Cowboy Joe'. Needless to say, it was a really special moment, and I'm so glad I was there to capture it.

It is a special moment when capture moments like that.It was nice listening to him play. Although you may need to crank up your volume to hear him play.

Here's the original piano song piece if you want to play it.

Here's the song's lyrics though it's not exactly in the order he sings it but you get the idea of how it goes. .

He al-ways sings rag-gy mu-sic to the cat-tle
As he swings back and for-ward in the sad-dle
On a horse that is syn-co-pat-ed, gait-ed,
And there's such a fun-ny me-ter to the roar of his re-peat-er
How they run when hear that fel-low's gun
Because the West-ern folks all know
He's a high-fa-lut-ing, scoot-ing, shoot-ing
Son-of-a-gun from ar-iz-o-na Rag-time Cow Boy Joe.

Out in Ar-iz-o-na where the bad men are
And the on-ly friend to guide you is an Eve-'ning star
The rough-est, tough-est man by far is Rag-time Cow Boy Joe
Joe got his name from sing-ing to the cows and sheep
Ev'ry night they say he sings the herd to sleep
In a bass-o rich and deep croon-in' soft and low.

He dressed up ev'ry Sun-day in his Sun-day clothes
He beats it for the vil-lage where he al-ways goes
And ev'ry girl in town is Joe's 'cause he's a rag-time bear.
When he starts a-spieling on the dance hall floor
No one but a lun-a-tic would start a war
Wise men know his fo-rty four makes men dance for fair.

An update and slow down..

2009-03-03T23:40:00.000-08:00

Still practicing though not as long as I want it to be on a daily basis (3 to 4 hours a day). Over the last 4 or 5 weeks my left hand, wrist and some in the forearm I am experiencing a bit of annoying pain after I play for an extended period (and that means like 20 minutes or so). My left hand/wrist area seems to get a bit inflamed where the tendons are getting rubbed from the repetitve action. So, I've adjusted my bench by getting rid of my cushion so I can sit a little lower that puts less awkward pressure on my left hand by changing the position some. Really, I just need to lay off for a 9 or 10 days straight and let it recuperate. But with the piano in the living room staring back at me I would just want to practice and have fun instead.

I got the Black and White Rag down to full memory and play it through without much problems. I'll tape it someday soon.

K.K. Ragtime is coming along as well as well as for a few other ragtime pieces. But with my constant injury to my left hand the practicing is slowing down and reducing my practicing hours. Kind of makes me a bit angry there. Oh well, until next time.

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Sign Language

2009-01-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

Not exactly sign language but it is also not exactly the American manual alphabet for the letter "F" either. But at least give some kudos to Farrell's for coming up with this unique button that I've not seen before. Does anybody know how long this kind of button been around?

And what does this button have to do with ragtime piano? Well, I did a piece last on Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Ragtime recently and so I thought this button was a good one to blog about.

If you're a fan of Farrell's you can join one in Facebook.

A Ragtime Update

2009-01-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

A little update here for ya’ll.

There are many ragtime and novelty rag piano pieces I am playing/working on right now but I plan to video-tape myself over the next several months or so while I continue to practice and get up to speed on a few pieces. Some pieces I’m in the memorization process already.

It’s been a long time since I played on the piano on a regular basis practicing/playing 3 to 4 hours a day. Ever since I bought a new piano last month, I can now practice 3 to 4 hours a day without worrying keys getting stuck or hit an out of tune note.

So, in no particular order here are some of the piano pieces I plan to record:

Maple Leaf Rag
The Entertainer
The Ragtime Dance
The Easy Winners
Cascades
Original Rags
The Rose-bud March
The Chrysanthemum
Black and White Rag
K.K. Ragtime
Kitten on the Keys
Dizzy Fingers
Wildfire Rag
A Breeze from Alabama
Country Club
Elite Syncopations
Magnetic Rag
Pine Apple Rag
The Strenuous Life
Sunflower Slow Rag
Swipesey
Peacherine Rag
Solace
Stoptime Rag

You can hear all of the Scott Joplin pieces here. Those pieces are NOT my recordings. Just something for you to listen to and see what those Joplin pieces sound like.

Other goal is to work on early Jazz pieces such as The Finger Breaker, Perfect Rag, Seattle Hunch, King Porter Stomp and Grandpa's Spells all written by Jelly Roll Morton. But first I will focus on the rags listed here plus I will be looking into more rags not by Joplin plus more novelty rags to play on. There is one novelty rag, Black and White Rag, that I pretty much got it down pat and memorized already. As for the rest of them the whole process may take me one to two years to complete depending on how much practicing I can get done and which pieces I’m aiming to master. This is especially true if I’m going to play those early jazz pieces which may take a while longer to do since they are usually everal pages long and not the typical 3 to 4 pages long for ragtime pieces. Just need to get my brain-to-fingers coordination all fired up while I sight read those piano pieces.

So, what are your plans?

Kohler and Campbell Piano

2009-01-04T22:44:00.001-08:00

Here's a better picture of my Kohler & Campbell 46.5 inch high studio piano I bought last month.

Getting some value out of a crappy piano

2009-01-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

A piano I got not too long ago, dirt cheap, literally so, barely worked has finally met it's demise with total destruction at the hands of a pianist. Worked out my frustration on this piano since it didn't cooperate very well with me when I played on it.

The spinet piano was made probably either late 1940s or early 1950s though I couldn't tell the make but the aluminum piano plate was made by Alcoa in a signed agreement with Winter and Company to be made for their pianos. Since my old crappy piano was destined for destruction ever since I got my new piano I wanted to tear it down and salvage some good wood and get that 45 lb aluminum piano plate inside. This dismantling and destruction took several hours as I removed the pins, piano wires, wood, screws and what not. My hands were a little sore the next day but it wasn't enough to stop me from practicing on my piano.

Nearly done with the pins and piano strings. Used vice grip, wrench, hammer, and screw drivers.

All the pins and strings removed.

All done with the plate. Saved a few good scrap wood with one being a 3/4" inch plank seen directly behind the plate against the garage wall.

Off to the dump!

Mangled hammers meet their demise.

All cleaned up except for the non-aluminum metal pins embedded that the piano wires were strung around. Tried to remove a few and were successful but most broke off leaving the rest of the pins inside the plate. Decided to leave them as they are and see what the scrap yard guy says.

Aluminum piano plate die casted by Alcoa seen stamped on the plate. If it's Alcoa, it's all aluminum.

A 1946 silver dime found beneath the piano keys during the initial dismantling. Wondered how it could've gotten there. A silver U.S. dime for that period of time weighs .0724 of an ounce. Price of silver? $11.50 an ounce. Dime value? .85 cents.

The next step this week is to take my 45 lb aluminum piano plate to a nearby scrap yard that buys aluminum scraps and soda cans. The scrap yard is located about 5 miles from my house. I'm not sure what the price is but the last time I took my aluminum cans the price was around .45 cents a pound.

I'll let you know how it goes this week as I take my aluminum piano plate and some aluminum soda cans to the recycling center.

UPDATE: Just recycled the piano plate this morning. The recycling and scrap yard was buying aluminum at .25 cents a pound. Suprised to see aluminum prices dropped so far down from .55 cents a few years back. Probably people are making ends meet right now by recycling their aluminum cans and scraps that there is an oversupply of aluminum depressing aluminum metal prices even further. Oh well, my plate weighed 48 lbs. So, I got $12.00 out of it. The yard is located about 2 miles from my house on my way to work. At least I did something useful in the recycling business.

Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Ragtime

2009-01-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

My earliest recollection on my exposure to ragtime music was at the Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour in Tacoma, Washington during the early to mid 1970's. It was a festive place, even for a deaf boy with a hearing aid who delighted in the sounds of loud drumbeats, bells and sirens over birthday announcements and such. And at near the entrance of Farrell's was an upright player piano that constantly played these unique and mesmerizing ragtime songs only that I didn't know it was called ragtime back then. it was simply cool to listen. I'd stand there in awe as I watched the keyboard move while invisible hands played ragtime scores.

It'd be nice if Farrell's throw in a bit of authenticity by having a ragtime pianist at the piano rather than use a piano player or somehow have them help sponsor those ragtime festivals. But sadly there are only two stores right now and Farrell's just recently in Novemember 2008 got over a 5 year lawsuit that prevented them from moving forward. They are now making plans to open more stores and recapture those novelty days when going to Farrell's means having a truly good time. Hearing the words "Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour" brings back good childhood memories of a good time. Farrell's and ragtime are synomous with each other. It brings back the feeling of good times.

Maybe it's time to make a special dedication to Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour at one of the ragtime festivals in honor of Bob Farrell and Ken McCarthy, the founders of Farrell's, for helping keep nostalgia alive and making it fun?

You can go here and review the history of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour from the past to the present.

ADDENDUM: If you're a fan of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Restaurant you can join one in Facebook where there are currently some 24,000+ fans of Farrell's.

Piano Recital

2009-01-01T15:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture I dug up of me playing the piano during my recital when I was 11 years old in 1977. Dig the cool 70's blue clothes I was wearing. I don't remember what I played but I know I did well as a hard of hearing kid with a hearing aid back then ever since I started playing at age 7 years old.

Please excuse the fuzziness of my picture since it was taken directly from my laptop webcam.

My new Kohler & Campbell KC118 Piano

2008-12-28T08:20:00.000-08:00

Ok. Here are my pictures taken from my laptop webcam. Not very good. The morning sun was a bit bright, washing out the colors but it'll do for now. Enjoy.

New Piano Arrived Safely

2008-12-28T00:00:00.001-08:00

Well, it snowed Friday night and my backyard recieved about an inch of snow. Temperature plummeted from 50 degrees down to 19 degrees in several hours which made certain section of the road I was traveling on a bit "treachorous" as I made my way to Albuquerque, NM Saturday morning with a rented Uhaul trailer. The whole trip took 9 hours but the roads were dry on the return trip.

Here's what my piano looks like, a Kohler & Campell 46.5 inch high (KC 118) ebony piece. My piano is quite similar to the picture below.

Even though I was tired from the tip I sat down and played and practiced my piano for 4 1/2 hours going through some ragtime pieces, some classical pieces and a Jelly Roll Morton piece (at a very slow pace). I'll get photos of my new piano soon enough.

Hard of hearing kid pianist

2008-12-25T06:07:00.000-08:00

Just because you're deaf or hard of hearing and you wear a cochlear implant or a hearing aid doesn't mean you cannot play a musical instrument, even the piano for that matter. Best time to start playing is when you're young, of course.

Here's a hard of hearing kid named Brenden who is now 9 or 10 years old and wears a hearing aid, just like me, who is just starting to play the piano. Seems like he is progressing very well from the videos I've seen and heard.

You can check out the rest of his piano videos he did over the months on YouTube, including his recent piano recital a few days ago, I believe. Who knows where he'll go with playing the piano. Maybe he'll discover ragtime or early jazz? Keep it up, Brenden. You're doing a great job! Don't give up playing the piano.

A new piano

2008-12-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Well, finally got around to it. After wanting my own piano after 20 years of playing old, crappy piano, I got myself a new Kohler and Campbell studio piano (KC 118 model) which is 118 cm or 46.5 in height that come with a 12 year full warranty. The piano I picked wasn't quite the upright (at least 50 inches high) that I wanted but the price was right and the piano comes with excellent play, feel and sound quality. For any serious pianists two things are important, the sound and the feel. Not to mention the amount of money you're willing to spend that could limit the selection process.

I bought my Kohler and Campbell (KC) piano in Albuquerque at a piano store that was in business since 1995 and was having a going out of business sale. Needless to say I just drooled looking at all the new and used pianos, especially those grand pianos, when I stepped into the store recently this Sunday. But my budget was limited and so I picked a new Kohler and Campbell piano brand. The picture below is a 121 cm KC piano which is very similar in style, color and height of the KC piano I bought. Until I get it this upcoming Saturday the picture below will do for now.

At the same piano store there was one excellent grand piano I played on. It was the Estonia. Price tag? Around $26,000 at a markedly reduced price. The Estonia grand piano I played on was absolutely rich and the notes resonated so exquisitely. There were others like Yamaha, Cable and Kawai grand pianos, including baby grand down to 5' 1" in size. Some were good. Others had a heavy feel or stately. Some were light, airy. Each piano was different and had a character and flavor of it's own. Each pianist's taste is different while one may prefer a particular piano for it's feel and sound while another would pick a different one not suitable to other pianists. I can distinctly tell the differences in sound quality and feel at each piano I played at the store. Even though I have a hearing loss I can certainly tell as a person who is deaf/hh. The KC118 I picked had a very good feel to it as well as sound quality which was richer in tone and vibrance. The price tag was reduced from $5400 to just under $3000 and it came with a 12 year warranty (for new pianos only).

Praying that it doesn't snow on Saturday when I go and pick it up. It'll be an 8 hour round trip towing a rented enclosed U-haul trailer. It's about time I got a decent piano. Until I save enough for a baby grand someday, I'm one step closer to getting a piano I can only dream of. For sure, I will enjoy immensely my new piano and the beautiful and exciting sounds I'll be producing in my upcoming YouTube videos for ya'll in my continuing quest to play novelty rags, early jazz and ragtime pieces. The only deaf/hh Ragtime pianist around.

Future Young Deaf Pianist

2008-12-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

Although this blog piece is not ragtime but this deaf boy is seven years old, the same age when I started playing the piano, and he wears a cochlear implant. Maybe he'll be a future ragtime pianist? Who knows. Don't give up Elliot. You're doing well.

A Deaf Ragtime Pianist

2008-12-15T23:08:00.000-08:00

Often I wonder how many deaf or hard of hearing pianists in the United States who enjoy playing the piano, especially in the arena of Ragtime. I simply refuse to believe that I am the only deaf/hh pianist who play Ragtime actively. There has to be a few people out there who enjoy playing the piano who happens to be deaf or hard of hearing and like playing Ragtime. Although if you go to Google and type in "deaf," "ragtime" and "piano" you'll see that my blogsite is mentioned first in a Google's search result. Not much help there but I'm sure someday something will pop up.

Meanwhile, I am currently looking for a better piano to replace my clunky spinet piano which currently does not have any really good sound to begin with along with the odd key and hammer movements where a key or two will get stuck from time to time. Very aggravating at that! Even though with the right Ragtime music piece my washed out white piano would exhibit that bit of clinky (or clacky in this case), out of tune ~~sound~~ noise that'd make Ragtime playing sound a bit more, well, "authentic." But that's pushing it if you listen to my Maple Leaf Rag rendition on YouTube. So far, Craigslist.com is the best bet and I have seen pianos for sale that looked good but the price is bit out of my range. At least I can scan the music instrument section for the El Paso, Texas area, and the Las Cruces to Roswell area in New Mexico as well.

The choices I'm looking for are studio and upright pianos. The differences?

Studio - This is the kind of piano you see in music schools and music studios. It is 45 to 48 inches in height and has a width of approxmately 58 inches. Because of its larger soundboard and longer strings, it produces good tone quality and is very durable.

Upright - This is the tallest among the vertical pianos, with a height ranging from 50 to 60 inches and an approximate width of 58 inches. This is the type of piano your great grandparents or grandparents used to play. When cared for properly, it stands the test of time and maintains its rich tone.

If the price is right and the condition of the piano is right (i.e. no missing strings, stuck keys or parts that need replacing) then I will surely get it. It's better to get the right one than not at all. Meanwhile, be sure to watch out for my upcoming videos of me playing a few pieces of Scott Joplin's. I just need to get around to video taping my pieces soon.

K.K. Ragtime by Tom Brier

2008-12-06T08:55:00.001-08:00

If you haven't heard Tom Brier play ragtime you won't be disappointed. Here's Tom playing "K.K. Ragtime" for the first time by sight reading this piano piece. He stumbles about 1/4 way but his effort playing this piece for the first time by sight reading is still quite impressive. This tune was composed by Kazumi Totaka for the Nintendo video game series "Animal Crossing" where it was transcribed and put into a ragtime format. In the end Tom Brier remarked, "Oh, that's cute!"

Here's the music sheet if you want a copy of K.K. Ragtime. Of course, I'm going to practice this piece and give y'all a performance soon someday.

Just be patience. I'm curious how it'll sound on my "crappy" piano with me being the only deaf Ragtime pianist around. Of course, I'm not completely deaf but hard of hearing with the help of my new Siemen hearing aid which can pick up all of the notes on my piano and finally with volume control this time since my old digital hearing aid had an automatic volume control which was maddening whenever I played the piano because it would make it soft. So, thank goodness for getting one with volume control this time.

Anyway, enjoy K.K. Ragtime. A real diddy to enjoy listening to.

ADDENDUM: Here's a YouTube version of Tom Brier playing it again on a different piano a year later seen here. Still, I liked Tom's playing in the first video. It sounded much more livelier.

But a month earlier played that piece at the 2008 West Coast Ragtime Festival with the Raspberry Jam Band playing the "K.K. Ragtime" in one of their after-hours jam session. Pretty cool with all instruments playing. Even with a bit of "K.K." vocal piece thrown in for a short time.

Here's where K.K. Ragtime got it's inspiration from.

An update...

2008-12-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

Still practicing my Black and White Rag. I got the technicals down pretty good. Just need to work on the transition and a couple of sticking points. Hopefully in a week or so I'll have it down good for a video piece of myself playing it.

If you have forgotten what Black and White Rag sounds like watch Marty Mincer play that piece, although I will *not* be playing that fast (yet).

Fast forward....

2008-11-22T21:06:00.000-08:00

Ok. So, it's been 5 months since I last posted a piece and about 4 months of not practicing my piano. I have a good reason not to. My "crappy" piano is in my garage and it was just too darned hot during the summer down here in southern New Mexico. It gets to about 90 to 100 degrees and a few keys tend to stick. Since summer is over and cooler weather is making my playing in the garage a much more pleasant experience. The cooler weather also helps minimize the few keys from sticking. In fact, only one hardly sticks at all, so that's good. There is no other place to put my piano in. And because of the cooler weather I'm getting back at memorizing "Black and White Rag" by George Botsford and practicing more often to get my fingers and stride back. Next I'd like to play a Zez Confrey's piece called "Dizzy Fingers."

Maple Leaf Rag by Mike McConnell

2008-06-11T00:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of me playing on my $50 crappy piano that I bought less than two months ago so I can be able to practice my ragtime and early jazz pieces with a full length keyboard for the first time in years (note: I had a shortened keyboard piano called the Melodigrand which was even worse than my current one). It has been too many years gone by where I didn't even play or practice my piano as much as I wanted to. Now, I am back into my piano playing by practicing 2 to 3 hours every day and the opportunity to learn new pieces such as a George Botsford's piece called "Black and White Rag" where I have almost memorized the whole piece. Just a need a few more weeks before I make my next video tape.

It has been less than two months of practicing so far just to get past my "rusty" stage first and allow time my dexterity and coordination to catch up. I'm still "rusty" but certainly much better when I first started. As you can tell in my Maple Leaf Rag piece I've missed a few notes and the tempo was not as smooth as I wanted it to be (that may be because it's very late at night and I was tired, too). You can hear the clacking noise while I play plus many of the notes are obviously out of tune. It's not so bad but I was playing it in my garage which makes the whole experience a little "echo-ey".

But here is where you can help! You can "donate" for a good cause. How?

As you may not know I am one of the very few hard of hearing or deaf musicians to play the piano, especially Ragtime. The problem is, ever try playing on a gawd awful piano? But you can help me get a better piano by purchasing some of my ragtime products at my Deaf Ragtime store and also help defray any costs for my upcoming Ragtime festival visits. One of the products available is a button seen at the top of this blog entry that says "I'd Rather Be Playing Ragtime!" Indeed. Wouldn't you rather be playing Ragtime?

You can visit my ragtime store at:
http://www.cafepress.com/deaf_ragtime

Ragtime Undergoing Another Revival?

2008-05-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

A question arises from me on the issue of what really constitute a “ragtime revival” and whether ragtime is an underground phenomenon like it did during the late 1800s before it exploded into scene in the early 1900s as a true rival with 1900 being the pivotal point in time when more pianists were doing and composing ragtime crediting many of the black rag timers who piqued their interests in this new music genre of the time.

Of course, nowadays I don’t think we have this “underground” phenomenon since there are many venues or festivals that take place every year in the United States for many new and old ragtime enthusiasts, and those who hear it for the very first time.

But at what point would the revival of ragtime constitute a true revival and not something that is perennially dormant only to come out when called? Would it be the number of ragtime sheets being composed be a good way to gauge the interest in ragtime? What about CD's? Or the rising number of newer and/or younger rag timers whether it’s the piano, a band, a guitar rag timer playing Maple Leaf Rag, or a banjo? Or would the rising number of ragtime festivals being held around the United States be a good gauge to determine the “revival” question? Perhaps a revival or a long, slow awakening is underway in the form of an electronic format via the internet such as using YouTube to watch and listen to ragtime being played? Or increasing number of blogsites and websites that revolve around Ragtime?

I posed a similar question in Yahoo’s Ragtime newsgroup “Elite Syncopations” and one remarked that there were more older people in the audience (live performance I suppose) than younger ones. That may be the perception but are many of these older people internet-savvy enough to download midi ragtime files or go to YouTube and punch in “ragtime” in the search engine and see the numerous pages of videos of people playing ragtime (mostly on pianos)? Who would that audience most likely be on the internet, the younger audience or older ones?

As for the number of ragtime festivals it has grown over the years with a few of them being around for more than 2 decades such as Sedalia’s Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival to celebrate their 28th anniversary this year. And recently we have the Rocky Mountain Ragtime Festival which held it’s last festival in 2005 (13th anniversary) and no longer but that doesn’t mean it won’t come back. Then we have the numerous more “recent” festivals that are becoming more established such as the ever so popular and growing Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival which will celebrate their 10th anniversary this summer. And then the smaller ones such as the Eau Claire Ragtime Festival celebrating their 10th anniversary and so on. How many of these festivals are there in the United States that celebrate Ragtime annually in the form of festivals or hosted in an era Main Street like atmosphere with familiar ragtime pieces being played that can be heard in the distance?

How do we know for sure that Ragtime is really on the upswing and that more people are appreciating it more with each passing year? And lastly but not least is how do we get the rest of the people’s attention or in this case the world’s attention about Ragtime, a timeless era and music that will never (hopefully so) go out of style.

Deafness and Ragtime Piano

2008-05-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

You know, as I stumble along in life while I practice my ragtime piano playing I come to realize the prospect of coming across another deaf or hard of hearing ragtime pianist who are in the same boat as me as being quite slim. Not that I'm in despair over this but pretty much seeing that this to be the fact. But I could be wrong about and I hope I am because it'd be a bit far-fetched to really believe that I am the only deaf/hh ragtime pianist out there? Can't be. Naw. But if it it's so, then why? I'm sure there are those with varying levels of hearing loss are pianists but what about ragtime pianists? What is the number of ragtime enthusiasts who play the piano? It'd be interesting to see the numbers.

So far, I've managed (almost) to memorize two pages of Zez Confrey's novelty "ragtime" piece "Black and White Rag." Barely two weeks but practiced every other day on it. The third page should come along nicely soon enough. I'm in no hurry but I'm putting the time (3 to 4 hours a day) into practicing my ragtime pieces. And I'm enjoying it, too.

As for my videos, they'll be coming soon. I have not made any yet but I plan to put up videos of the Maple Leaf Rag, Original Rag (with improvisation that I think you'll enjoy), The Entertainer, Black and White Rag, Ragtime Dance, The Cascades and few more. Until I fully re-memorize the pieces and my "rustiness" is gone I'll proceed to put them up. Maple Leaf Rag will likely be the first one up. Just be patience folks.

Ragtime Musical Performance with available interpreter

2008-05-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a chance to see a play called "Ragtime" and the theatre is provind sing language interpreters for those who may require one.

"RAGTIME" Musical Performance at Manatee Players
The Manatee Players are thrilled to announce that "Ragtime" performance will be signed for the deaf and hard of hearing on Thursday, May 22, 2008! RAGTIME is a nostalgic and powerful portrait of life in turn of the century America. It’s based on E.L. Doctorow’s distinguished novel RAGTIME.

The location is at 102 Old Main Street, Downtown Bradenton.

Tickets are now on sale! $23 includes facility fee, $11 for student/teacher (be sure to inform that you are deaf and need sign language interpreter). For more information, contact Box Office at 748-5875. Sign Language Interpreting Services provided by VisCom.

Check out http://www.manateeplayers.com for more information.

Also from the Manatee Players website,

The Manatee Players are thrilled to announce that one performance of each show this season will be signed for the deaf and hard of hearing! This is in the positive response from the signed production of BIG RIVER last season. Dates for these Thursday evening performances are:

OKLAHOMA - September 13
NOISES OFF - October 18
SWING - November 15
THE WIZARD OF OZ - December 20
CATS - January 31
BEST SELLER - March 13
ALL SHOOK UP - April 17
RAGTIME - May 22

Sign Language Interpreting Services provided by VisCom

Tickets for these performances can be reserved by calling the Manatee Players’ Box Office at 941-748-5875. All performances are at the Riverfront Theatre, 102 Old Main Street in downtown Bradenton.

Go to the Photo Gallery section to see aerial photographs of the new Manatee Players Performing Arts Center under construction at the corner of 3rd Avenue West and 7th Street West in downtown Bradenton!

Location of these plays are in Bradenton, Florida which is about 50 miles south of Tampa. Check out the Google map for directions.

Welcome to Ragtime Piano!

2008-05-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog, Ragtime Piano! I will soon add more details and graphics to this site as I move ahead. I have been playing the piano since I was seven but over my adult years it has been an off and on affair with my piano playing (due to having a crappy piano) and other interests that have gotten in the way of my playing ragtime. Right now, I have a slightly "better" piano (still crappy, tho) and I have gone back to playing ragtime piano 2 to 3 hours a day and re-memorize the many of my Scott Joplin favorites and other ragtime pieces.

Just to let you I'm not your typical ragtime pianist. You see, I have a hearing loss (moderate-severe) ever since birth and I wear a hearing aid in my right ear while my left ear is basically no good. Despite that I seem to be one of the very few, if any, deaf ragtime player and through this blog I will make an effort to make myself known as one. Though I have played at a few public events in the past I plan to make myself available to the public once again. Currently I am playing and memorizing a popular ragtime piece called "Black and White" by George Botsford (1908). Listen to the piece here. Or review the entire music sheet in electronic format for your perusal. I am also in the process of playing Jelly Roll Morton's "Finger Buster" which is an extremely fast Jazz piece but that one will take awhile while I get my piano playing affairs in order and to speed but first it's the "Black and White" piece and others I'd like to get a hands on such as "Dizzy Fingers" by Zez Confrey.

I expect to make videos of myself playing some of these pieces as a way to keep myself enthused and motivated. Meanwhile you can help me out in my quest to improve my ragtime repetroire and goal to attend a Ragtime festival and get a better piano by going to my Cafepress store "Deaf Ragtime" and order one of the many ragtime products. In fact, the button you see at the top is one of the many ragtime products you can buy.

So, now it comes down to this. If a deaf or hard of hearing person like me can play ragtime piano, so can you! Even if you're not deaf.

UPDATE: Here's a YouTube version of "Black and White Rag" by Marty Mincer, ragtime pianist. This is what I'm working on just recently and I'm doing well so far. Just to give you an idea what the finger action looks like for those who want to see the piano playing visually.