Customer Reviews

Library Of Ragtime and Early Blues Piano ((the Library of....)) (Library of Series)

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The Library of Ragtime and Early Blues by Amy Appleby and Peter Pickow is Outstanding.

As a New York school music educator, this is the best and most complete musical tribute of this era that I have seen. It deserves 10 stars and will definitely be a fantastic addition to add to your home music library. I highly recommend it for the more advanced piano student since ragtime and blues can often be a bit challenging to play.

The book has a beautiful introduction, table of contents (grouped by composer) and index. I like the fact that the name is printed on the edge of the white plastic binding, making it easy to find on a book shelf. All of the Amsco books in the library series that I own are attractively the same height. Each and every "rag" in this book is not only fun and exciting to play but appears to be easy on the eyes due to the fact that it is printed clearly on heavy, white bond paper.

My favorite ragtime composer is Scott Joplin. To my delight, there are 22 of his original compositions in this book. I began playing my favorite of all ragtime pieces, "The Maple Leaf Rag" the minute I received this book as a gift. It was the best gift ever! I didn't even know that Scott Joplin wrote a "Wall Street Rag." I liked the annotations over the different sections of this piece, such as "brokers feeling melancholy" or "good times have come."

I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the other 40 composers in this book such as James Scott, W.C. Handy, Joseph Lamb, Scott Hayden, Irving Berlin, Tom Turpin and Eubie Blake, etc. There is also a whole section on Ragtime songs, such as Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" along with cakewalks, classic rags, blues rags and folk rags. I have hours of enjoyment ahead of me.

What a wonderful collection! I'm an intermediate-level pianist and relative newcomer to ragtime/blues piano. I was looking for a big sample of all these styles, and this is definitely it. Over 300 pages of stuff, in a sturdy book with a spiral binder (a must-have for big piano books!) I've played this book 'til my hands were sore, and there's still lots I haven't gotten to yet!

Contains some of Joplin's good stuff, but that's widely available. What's really neat about this book is the great selection of other ragtimers' best -- James Scott's Grace and Beauty, Great Scott Rag, Eubie Blake's Chevy Chase Rag, some other great pieces I'd never heard of.

Also, classic old-time blues included, such as W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues and St. Louis Blues, Ballin' The Jack, Tiger Rag, etc.

Also, some wonderful pieces called Cake Walks; kinda like ragtime but slower. Really lovely stuff!

I am a 14 year old pianist, and I love Ragtime & stride. This is a good collection. It comprises of many Joplin rags, 2 Eubie Blake rags, some James Scott, etc, and some Early Blues. It is one of the biggest ragtime collections available. I am disappointed, however, that some of the later (ie, 1915-25), more advanced ragtime is absent. It really could have used some 'Kitten on the Keys', or 'Cataract Rag' to "break the ice" on what is otherwise a bit of a dull, repetitive folio. What is there is good, but most is basically just the same.

I would instead turn to Dover for some more interesting ragtime folios

This indeed contains more good ragtime pieces than any book I've found. The section with early "Blues Rags and Songs," with 12 pieces, some blending into jazz, and 3 by W.C. Handy, is an added bonus, and alone worth the price of the book.

If you're just taking up ragtime this would certainly be the place to start. There are 22 works by Scott Joplin, 3 by Tom "Million Dollar John" Turpin, some by Eubie Blake and Joseph F. Lamb. Also pieces by Julia Lee Niebergal and May Aufderheide that Max Morath plays on his Ragtime Women Album.

Ragtime is not usually considered easy to play (or, many would say, easy to listen to) but it's a kick to learn. I know it took me a year to get down my first ragtime piece, and 30 years later I'm still improving with it. Even now, giving a couple of hours a day to practice, I'm pressed to learn 3 or 4 new ragtime pieces a year. Those with lots of talent and good teachers will go faster, but I think anyone will still find a lifetime's worth of good music and fun here.

Includes: The Entertainer, Easy Winners, Swipsey, Maple Leaf Rag, Elite Syncopations, Weeping Willow, and more of Joplin. Also contains several cake walks, ... delightful pieces not often heard. This book removed the mystery of ragtime for me, an amature pianist, and I discovered to my great amazement, that, with some effort ... I can play it, even the Maple Leaf!