Comment by Alan Sims on June 18, 2012 at 19:31

thats really different to anything ive heard you play before mike.sounds extremely difficult .i wonder whats next.

Comment by Jody Stecher on June 18, 2012 at 20:12

One of my favorite pieces of banjo music. And yeah, it's got to be in A flat to sound right. I once gave a cassette copy of Van Eps' early recording of this (it was issued as "The Oriole") to bluegrass banjo wizard Bob Black. The pitch was off on the recording and Bob learned the whole thing in G major which he managed by tuning the bass string to B natural. (for those who haven't attempted to play this tune, the character of the first part is dependent on the the open C string which is played a few times but also provides overtones which color the timbre of the fingered notes on the other strings)

Your performance is amazingly true to the notation Ian and I came up with when we collaborated a few years ago. We agreed on what the notes were but had different ideas about how to finger it. The fingering indications do not always reflect what Van Eps did. Sometimes it represents that, sometimes Ian's preferred fingering, sometimes mine. It was amazing and actually rather startling to watch you use my fingerings, some of which are definitely not how Van Eps obtained the same notes (but then he used different fingering strategies on the two recordings I've heard of him playing this tune). It was also validating. ("Would you look at that? It actually works")

Comment by Mike Moss on June 18, 2012 at 20:31

@Alan: Yes, it's every bit as difficult as it sounds!

@Jody: Thank you. At first I found the position playing to be very awkward and I had trouble getting an even tone from the different strings, but with practice it's an extremely efficient way of playing such a difficult piece. I had trouble with some of the stretches and due to the fact that my cheap banjo loses tone up the neck, but it's inspiring to see how amazing this piece sounds on the banjo -- I would draw a parallel between this and Albeniz's reaction to listening to his Rumores arranged for the guitar. It's almost as if it was meant to be played on the banjo.

Comment by Jody Stecher on June 18, 2012 at 21:56

Yes, efficiency is what I was aiming for.  Sometimes that means making the kind of moves one is accustomed to and sometimes it means inventing something.  Van Eps used whatever fingering involved the least amount of fret jumping. this resulted in passages with a number of successive pitches on the same string.  Ian opted for familiar chord positions and partial chord positions as that would reduce the panic factor. I went for whatever sounded the most flowing and sacrificed left hand predicability for right hand liquidity. 

Comment by thereallyniceman on June 19, 2012 at 8:36

Great stuff Mike,

Jody has just about summed it up as being a favourite piece for both of us on the banjo. I think the pace that you set if perfect. Van Eps (as usual) plays too fast as the original score instructions state "DO NOT PLAY FAST". Jody and I had many hours of discussion/ negotiation on the best way to play the piece, as he mentioned. I am pretty sure that we have all the correct notes at the correct time! Since we transposed it in 2009 I have changed my ways of getting to notes several times and ended up with a method that suited me.   The score in the MUSIC LIBRARY is the one by Jody and I in 2009 , but if you want to have a look at my current 2012 fingering:

DOWNLOAD RAGTIME ORIOLE PDF HERE

I have indicated very  position for LH and RH for every note in this..what a job that was :-)

I sent this copy to Mike some time ago and I see that has chosen bits from both to suit his playing...  all part of the fun of Classic Style :-)

You stole my thunder there Mike.. I was going to record that one day. I will have to be REALLY good now to match that :-)

Comment by Mike Moss on June 19, 2012 at 8:41

Thanks, Ian! Here's an easy way to beat my version -- record Ragtime Oriole with your wife playing accompaniment on the piano! ;-)

Comment by marc dalmasso on June 21, 2012 at 14:58

Très bon ; nice comment from Nice

Comment by Mike Moss on June 21, 2012 at 15:54

That's really Nice! Send my regards to Brice!

Comment by marc dalmasso on June 21, 2012 at 16:10

did you see this movie  ..  ? ...i hate this ; with all the fantastic artists , musicians & others  coming on the  South east coast , this from years ago ,people remember this garbage ' brice ; sorry for this

Comment by Mike Moss on June 21, 2012 at 16:35

Fortunately I never watched the film, I only saw a few segments on Youtube and yes, it does look like a very daft movie :P

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