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Maple Leaf, Dixieland, and the Zone

Last Night's Practice:

Last night I worked on that nasty diminished-seventh part of the Maple Leaf Rag "C" section, and I got a little frustrated. I'm doing a much better job of not flexing my thumb back, but now it's like my thumb doesn't know what to do. When I practice slowly, it tucks under like a good thumb, but when I speed up, it sort of freezes, thinking, "I know I'm not supposed to stick way out, but ... now what was I supposed to do again?"

It ended up not feeling like a great practice. I was still struggling with thumb issues, and when I played through individual sections, I was missing notes left and right. I went to bed feeling a little down about the whole thing. I love this music so much, and I really want to be able to play it well.

This Morning: Thinking in Terms of Dixieland Jazz

My plan for this morning was to work on Chopin, but Maple Leaf wouldn't leave me alone. As I was getting ready for work, I listened to some traditional Dixieland jazz (Preservation Hall) and started thinking about the similarities between Dixieland band music and ragtime piano.

If I think of Maple Leaf Rag as a Dixieland band tune, I can imagine the tuba and the banjo in the bass, where the tuba is playing the octaves and the banjo the chords. Though there is also a trombone down there, sliding some of the octaves.

Our other brass instruments are in the right hand, taking turns soloing--clarinet and sax in the B section, maybe trumpet in the A section, all of them in the joyful C section. And what is that in the D section? I almost hear a plucking banjo, but it could be a trumpet as well. Maybe it's a banjo the first time around, and then the trumpet takes over.

Anyway, I came to Maple Leaf Rag this morning with a Dixieland jazz band in my head, and ... something magical happened. I started dancing in my seat as I was playing, and my hands were dancing on the keys, somehow hitting the right notes (mostly) as I watched and enjoyed the Dixieland band at my fingertips.

Folks, that's called being in the zone! I haven't been in the zone with piano this way since ... I don't even know. It's been decades.

The Performance!

Here is my zone video. In the beginning I talk a little bit about last night's practice struggles. Needless to say, when I finally started playing, those struggles went away. My hands and arms didn't get tired. They felt amazing. I feel like I could have played Maple Leaf Rag all day long.

Sadly, I had to go to work. But I'm listening to this as I work, thinking about the "Dixieland" stylistic touches I want to add. I still need to get to Chopin soon ... but I can't wait to work on this one again!

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