K.K. Ragtime

K.K. Ragtime this is a song that came from a Nintendo video game called "Animal Crossing." K.K. Slider is the name of the dog character seen in this video. Kazumi Totaka is the original composer of the song in the video but this K.K. Ragtime piano piece was arranged by Ron O'Dell. This is no old-timey ragtime song but it is certainly a modern ragtime piece that Tom Brier exclaimed after playing it for the first time, "Oh, that's cute!"

I love playing this piece. It is indeed fun to play it on my piano, especially my antique player piano.

Hope you like Tom Brier's video!

Ragtime Era Clothes

One good way to research ragtime era clothing (between 1890 and 1929) is to examine the cover sheets of old ragtime scores. This can be done by browsing at digital libraries such as the University of Colorado Digital Sheet Music Collection or any number of sources seen in the link on the right side column of my blog (scroll down some) under "Free Ragtime Sheets." In there you will find cover sheets that depict people or couples wearing clothes at the time of publication. A fairly accurate way to ensure that the clothes you see is indeed ragtime era clothing between 1890 and 1929 (which is the end period prior to the terrible stock market crash in 1929). Good times before everything went south. This will help gain a better understanding on the types of clothing to wear if you decide to dress correctly for that era such wearing costumes for ragtime festivals, ragtime society groups, or compete in World Championship Old Time Piano Playing contests when the rules call for clothes as an authentic period dress, preferably so between 1890 and 1929.

Enjoy!

A deaf pianist?

A  deaf pianist??  Is there such a thing? Certainly. I am one of them. Specifically, a deaf ragtime pianist. I am also hard of hearing if that helps since I do have useable hearing in my right ear I take advantage of with my hearing aid. My left ear is no good.

Playing the piano is something I love to do and it is no mystery to me that deaf people can be pianists, enjoy playing it and be good at it. When I get the chance to sit down at the piano it becomes a relaxing affair even when I'm practicing a new ragtime piece. I'm no beginner here. I began playing the piano since I was 7 years old. That was over 40 years ago. Discovered ragtime in my early teens.   I continue to play and practice new ragtime songs on my 1920 Thompson player piano as well as my Kohler & Campbell piano. I play pieces like Kitten on the Keys by Zez Confrey, Black and White by George Botsford, Bag of Rags by WR McKanlass, Scott Joplin pieces, K.K. Ragtime by Kazumi Totaka, Apple Sass by Harry Belding, American Beauty by Joseph Lamb and many, many more.  The links are pages to free music sheets download.

Not all pianists born with a hearing loss have the same amount or type of frequency hearing loss. Some are born with mild hearing loss others have severe to profound hearing loss. I wear a hearing aid in my right ear while my left is no good. I can hear all of the 88-key notes. Some deaf pianists are unable to hear the higher notes or the lower notes even with the help of a  hearing aid. Some pianists wear cochlear implants.  Each of us has a preference to a particular type of piano pieces we like to play whether it'd be classical, country, jazz, ragtime, rock, or boogie woogie. For me, I am simply fascinated with the ragtime and novelty pieces. So I prefer to spend my time playing those pieces than classical scores.

What do you prefer to play?

Revival

It's been awhile since my last post. Things have been busy distracting me from my blogging.  I also had to stop playing the piano for several months to allow my upper back to heal. I could not sit for more than 10 minutes on my piano bench without getting some serious aches and pain between my shoulder blades. Results of sleeping on a bed that did my back no favor. Switched to a different bedding and can see the improvements. I now can sit on the bench an hour or so at time and not feel the effects. Plus, my left hand has been experiencing trigger finger type condition. I just do too much with my hands working the yard, chopping woods, hammering, working on the computer laptop, piano playing and any gripping motion. So, I'm trying to limit my playing time on the piano but I have recently been practicing and playing more over the last month playing the piano about 2 times a week. I'd like to do it everyday but that may have to wait. 

I plan on doing more ragtime piano blogging. Being a (the only) deaf pianists, that I know of ,who enjoy playing ragtime. It is not often I come across a deaf or hard of hearing pianist. But, ah, so many things to do right now.

My first vintage player piano

Last week I bought a vintage Thompson player piano for $250.  Beautiful mahogany wood. Everything seems to work fine and all of the notes still ring. No cracks on the piano. The sound board looks solid. Some of the ivory keys are missing. Everything works. I was told by piano's previous owner that it hadn't been tuned up in over 50 years. Yet it sounds remarkably well for it's age despite the lack of tuning.

50 piano rolls came with the piano.  Most of the titles I don't even recognize. Some titles are downright racist and demeaning but that's how the era was like. Some minor adjustment is needed to add a slight tension to the reel to help keep the piano roll paper lined up and not crinkle along the edge. I'll figure it out on how to do that. Pumping the pedals isn't quite perfect but it works and takes a bit of doing and adjusting the playing speed.

I plan on posting some of my videos playing some ragtime pieces now that I have a real vintage player piano.

Captioned Video: Deaf Man's Passion for the Piano

Here is Ron Tan, who was born with 80 per cent hearing loss, teaching himself to play the piano was a turning point in his life.

"I realised that what I really want is to produce music, and that has to come from my heart."

And having discovered and developed his own passion, Ron is now eager to help other people with disabilities stoke theirs. His talent management outfit for special needs performers, called Inclusive Art Movement (I.AM), is one of the entries in the Singapore International Foundation's Young Social Entrepreneurs programme, which seeks to inspire, equip and enable youths of different nationalities to embark on social enterprises. Interested in taking part or supporting I.AM? Get in touch at ContactUs@ArtsMovement.sg.

Grand Piano Passions

If you have a love for grand piano (mine would be to have an Estonia grand piano someday) and have a hearing loss here's an online magazine called "Grand Piano Passion" created by the founding editor Nancy M. Williams who herself has a (genetic) hearing loss.  She can hear across a wide range of frequencies, from the lowest note in the bass to the highest note in the treble. There's a "Hearing and Music" section that covers piano and hearing loss, and how pianists deal with their hearing loss or their hearing aids.  It's a good site to go to for good reading. Although I'm a ragtime/novelty rag pianist at heart I have practiced and played classical piano growing up until I discovered ragtime as a young teen.