From personal ephemera collection.
Champagne Rag Pam Wedgwood Grade 2 ABRSM 2025 – 2026
Story/character of the piece – the player will need to investigate what the characteristics of a rag are. There is an excellent Wikipedia page that is worth reading on rags. It discusses how the rag had its heyday in the 1890s to the 1910s with its primary characteristic being its syncopated or ‘ragged’ rhythm. It was usually composed for the piano however it was extended to other instruments. Considering that a rag is written in simple duple or simple quadruple time with the L.H. providing a pattern of notes where there are low bass notes on the strong beats, and chords on the weak beats, the rag is best portrayed as a piano composition. The R.H. accompanied the L.H. with a syncopated rhythm. Some rags were played on player pianos.
This exam piece is not overly syncopated with little syncopation present in the first and last sections. The middle section has a syncopated pattern present.
The rag is a distinctly African-American form of music with its roots in the Mississippi Valley and in St Louis particularly. It is closely related to marches and often contains several distinct themes which are usually arranged in repeats and reprises. According to the Wikipedia article the term rag ‘could have originated from the dance events hosted by plantation slaves that were known as ‘rags’. Some information suggests that the slaves were imitating the walk of their plantation owners. At these events, the music was provided by a fiddle and bajo player with the banjo providing the syncopation.
One of the main composers of rags was Scott Joplin whose ‘Maple-Leaf Rag’ and “The Entertainer’ are well-known. Rags influenced other genres such as jazz and blues and composers such as Stravinsky, Satie and Debussy were influenced by rags.
The player should imagine particular instruments playing each part and there should be a change of instruments in the middle section.
The player would benefit from playing some of Martha Mier’s Rags that are in her ‘Jazz, Rags and Blues’ series.
Form – there are three sections in this piece, with the third section being the same as the first section. The middle section contains completely different melodic material in comparison to the outer sections thus providing a contrast. The first and last sections are in F major with additional chromatic notes which add colour and interest to the music. In the middle section the key is D minor and bar 16 neatly facilitates the return to F major.
Main part of the music – as indicated by the composer this should occur in the final bar at a fortissimo level. Each section will need to have a main point too however the player must ensure that the dynamics are not consistently loud.
Phrasing – this piece has phrases of consistent length, all being four bars long. Each section contains two phrases and these present in a set of two with the second phrase ‘answering’ the first phrase. All phrases in this rag commence on the first beat of the bar.
Tempo, time signature and rhythmic patterns – the suggested tempo of 120 crotchet beats per minute is an appropriate tempo for the character of the music. The composer has written – ragtime (bubbly!) at the start. If played too fast the ragtime character will not be portrayed and the syncopations will not be as effective. Even so, too slow a tempo will not convey the rag characteristics. There is a danger that the player will play this piece too quickly, especially as they become familiar with it. This piece is written in simple quadruple time allowing for long phrases containing repetition and sequential patterns. As already stated, this piece does not contain much syncopation, so the player must highlight what is written in the music. The rhythmic pattern in bars 4 and 20 should be initially learnt away for the piano so that the last quaver is played at the end of beat 2 and not on beat 3, as could easily happen. The player and the teacher could clap a duet using the rhythmic patterns from the middle section as in bars 9 and 15.
Touch/articulation – the L.H. quavers and crotchets need to be played with a detached touch, ensuring that the crotchets are held longer than the quaver notes. As a contrast, the notes in the middles section could be played a little more detached even though this section requires quieter dynamics. However, the longer notes in the L.H. such as bars 3, 5 – 7, 19 and 21 – 23 will require a legato touch with a degree of resonance. It is interesting to not though that the composer has used staccato dots in the L.H. in the middle section but not in the outer sections. The R.H. could be played entirely detached however some players may find that a little complex. Another approach could be to play the R.H. with an energetic legato touch but lift at the end of bars 1, 2 and 3 so the sequential patterns are highlighted. As a contrast, the following phrase could be played legato apart from the accented notes in the phrase’s final bar. Any accented notes played in this piece must be considered in relation to the dynamics of the phrase. The L.H. minims must be played with resonance.
By Scott, James, 1885-1938 - Library of Congress[1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4848475
Balance between the hands – although the R.H. has the balance in this piece the L.H. has an extremely important role to play in this piece. The L.H. supports the R.H.’s dynamics as well as providing the beat for the music. In bars 4 and 20 the hands should be equal in balance during the chromatic passage. During the middle section the balance should be to the R.H. but less so than it is in the outer sections. The hands are more closely aligned in this section.
Dynamics – a wide range of dynamics can be used when playing this from ppp to fortissimo. The composer has provided many excellent dynamic suggestions for this piece. The largest range of dynamics should be reserved for the final phrase. It is interesting to note that there is a crescendo sign present in bar 4 but not in bar 20. The L.H. dictates the dynamics, especially in the middle section.
Agogic effects – this should not be a major aspect of the playing of this piece however a slight easing of the tempo in bar 16 before the return of the original music is appropriate. The composer has marked a poco rit in the final bar however this, as the composer suggests, should be limited.
Considerations when playing this piece –
· Moving to the BB in the L.H. in bar 6 is a little awkward. The player needs to prepare for this movement by moving the hand forward.
· The player must be aware of where the changes occur considering there is some repeated material at the beginning of the phrase.
· In bar 22 I feel there should be a natural sign on the C at the beginning of the fourth beat.
· In the middle section the melody is being played by the top notes of the chords however there is one R.H. note in bars 10, 12 and 14 played on the second half of beat three. Ther player must ensure that these notes a given enough tone, so they are heard as well as those melodic notes that are part of a chord.
· A triumphant ending.
· In the first section there should be a feeling of restraint.
· The highest note of melodic pattern need not be the loudest.
· There is a danger that the player could wait too long on the first R.H. quaver in bar 9.
· The player should highlight the top notes of the R.H. melody in bars 9 – 16.
· There needs to be a significant difference in the playing of bar 8 and bar 24.
· The hands need to be positioned well forward on the keys as this will result in the player being able to play the black notes with relative ease.
References
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragtime