Customer Reviews

Mel Bay Presents Complete Works of Scott Joplin: 52 Piano Rags, Waltzes & Marches Transcribed for Guitar Solo (Editiones Classicae)

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This is an excellent book if you want to play Scott Joplin on guitar. There is no tab in the book so you need to know how to read standard music notation to learn the pieces. An added bonus is that Prof. de Chiaro has recorded all the pieces in the book on a set of 4 CDs from Centaur Records, so you can use the CDs to help you to learn to play the pieces. I am currently learning "Maple Leaf Rag" from the book and I am very happy with the results (after previously trying other, inferior transcriptions). Unreservedly recommended!

De Chiaro is to be admired for his gumption to transcribe so many of Scott Joplin's works for the guitar. The introduction given to each piece -- placing them in the historical / emotional context of Joplin's life -- is priceless, as tools for creating your own informed interpretation of the music. And its excellent sight reading practice for those of us who've mostly learned Blind Blake & Gary Davis tunes in tablature.

So I have two chief complaints about this extensive collection: 1) Damn near every transcription is in G. and 2) The approach is a little too bland for my tastes. De Chiaro gets what lots of performers don't about Joplin's rags, so there's a lot of "not too fast" tempo notations at the beginning of the pieces. But speed restraints don't mean the rag can't swing, and its a real task to get bass notes to thump & grind on nylon strings. So if you're a guitarist interested in studying ragtime, the De Chairo's book / recordings are excellent starting resources to get the theory behind Joplin's sense of harmony & melody, but also enrich your ears & mind with old piedmont blues artists, early New Orleans jazz pianists, and the Crumb soundtrack (with David Boeddinghaus and Craig Ventresco). You could even study Bach for the similar counterpoint ideas -- whatever helps you learn. Chances are you'll start swingin' those eighth-notes, push the voice & range of your guitar, get a better sense of ragtime rubato, and in general, become more confident with your performances and improvisations on Scott Joplin's indelible masterpieces.

Very complete review, it will take years before i go trough all of this...just went trough the entertainer, it was easier than I thought.

Most of these arrangements are in open G : DGDGBE

Have fun!