“Skedaddle Rag” by Rick Robertson is an intermediate level showcase solo in a Ragtime style. It has major hit potential as a recital or festival selection.
About “Skedaddle Rag”:
The word “skedaddle” hit me at my day job, and I decided to write an etude-like piece with lots of running passages. The end result didn’t really “skedaddle”, so it became “Rain is Falling.” I thought that the idea might work as a rag. The problem was, I had never written a rag. But the ideas came to me quickly. I had the whole thing sketched out in two days, but it took almost two weeks to get the texture “just right”–a combination of being both “hand-friendly” and “effective in performance.” I tried to eliminate the awkward left-hand leaps that make ragtime so difficult to play for pianists at an intermediate level. I also aimed for a thinner texture, but not too much so.
The piece is dedicated to Jennifer Eklund-Beaty, who lent a patient ear as I worked through this process, and as a result we got two pieces out of it! Jennifer believed in me and took me on as a member of the Composers Community, and I am so grateful for that.
To assist the performer, I added a little more fingering than I normally do, because I had to write some in as I learned to play it! This will make the learning process much easier.
Technical tips:
Pedal to connect, not to sustain. The whole piece can be played without pedal, but some may need help to connect in places such as measure 4 to measure 5.
I suggest pedal on the quarter notes marked with a dash (tenuto), but not too much. It should be crisp.
If you want to “play” with the dynamics a bit, that is fine! I find myself doing “echo” effects here and there.
If the performer wishes to make the piece a bit longer, here is a suggestion for repeats. It may make the piece more repetitious, but ragtime music often IS repetitious. Personally, I play it as written, and the 1:30 timing puts it in line with pageant and talent show guidelines.
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