The Strenuous Life (1902)..Scott Joplin.

[Steve Harrison]

I've always steered clear of Joplin tunes as I think most of his best ones sound best on piano and don't translate very well to other instruments. However, Ian heard his wife playing this one on piano and suggested to me that it may be playable on banjo.

It flows along nicely at a very sedate pace and  once the chords have been sorted out, it's quite pleasing to play. The score and midi are in the library.....Steve

[Trapdoor2]

Interesting Steve!

Just at first glance, this would probably be an excellent Banjeaurine solo. Dips below F are rare and could be re-arranged (or perhaps taken by a 2nd bjo part for 'regular' banjo).

Hmmmmmmm....

[Richard William Ineson]

I've played The Ragtime Dance, Weeping Willow, Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, Something Doing, and Magnetic Rag, which all seem made for the banjo, there are few others, which I cannot recall at the moment.

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Marc, I've also done an arrangement in G which is a bit easier to play although I haven't added any finger positions yet. Would this be better for banjeaurine>...Steve.
Trapdoor2 said:

Interesting Steve!

Just at first glance, this would probably be an excellent Banjeaurine solo. Dips below F are rare and could be re-arranged (or perhaps taken by a 2nd bjo part for 'regular' banjo).

Hmmmmmmm....

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Richard, my comments on Joplin were just my personal preferences...Steve
Richard William Ineson said:

I've played The Ragtime Dance, Weeping Willow, Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, Something Doing, and Magnetic Rag, which all seem made for the banjo, there are few others, which I cannot recall at the moment.

[thereallyniceman]

For some reason I never liked "The Entertainer" on classic banjo, perhaps it was just the saturation of the  media with the piece when "The Sting" was released. Ragtime Dance..brilliant, Maple leaf..more brilliant!

I don't know Weeping Willow or Something Doing .. do you have scores available Richard?

... As Steve says, it is all down to personal preference. I haven't tried to play Strenuous Life yet but really like the tune as it seems to go at a speed that I may actually be able to keep up with.  ;-)

[Richard William Ineson]

Yes Ian, The Entertainer was overworked, but it was popular and easy to play, and it fitted in nicely when I got the inevitable 'can you play something we know' request from some drunk at a wedding reception.

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Richard..I suppose it's better than Duelin' Banjos!...Steve.

Richard William Ineson said:

Yes Ian, The Entertainer was overworked, but it was popular and easy to play, and it fitted in nicely when I got the inevitable 'can you play something we know' request from some drunk at a wedding reception.

[Trapdoor2]

I suspect part of the 'adaptability' of Joplin tunes to the banjo stems from their being written at the height of the banjo's popularity. It is said that Joplin's mother played the banjo.

I have TAB for "Heliotrope Boquet", "Ragtime Dance" and a few others (I think maybe "Elite Syncopations")...and I've tried to arrange "Solace" (without much luck). "Solace" is on my bucket list of tunes.

If someone has an arrangement for "Magnetic Rag", that's another favorite of mine.

Steve, I think the banjeaurine could play your current arrangement transposed down a 4th. Most of the original dots treated it (notationally) as a regular banjo with "C" as the 4th string note...even though it actually is tuned cFCEG. So, I would take your arrangement and transpose it down a 4th, reset the start key to F (I'm guessing!) and see what happens.

I'll mess around with it this weekend.

[thereallyniceman]

Steve has now completed a second arrangement of Strenuous Life and this one is in the Key of G.

Steve suggests that the G version is much easier to play than the C version.

This additional score has been added to the MUSIC LIBRARY.

[Steve Harrison]

Thanks Ian, I've got super economy sized hands and found the C major version a bit restricting at the top end of the fret board so I lowered it down to G which I find much easier to play...Steve.

thereallyniceman said:

Steve has now completed a second arrangement of Strenuous Life and this one is in the Key of G.

Steve suggests that the G version is much easier to play than the C version.

This additional score has been added to the MUSIC LIBRARY.