Professor King’s Optimistic Rag

Description

This ragtime piece starts off exceptionally happy, but the middle section contrasts with a nervousness and tense feeling, thanks to the diminished chords and contrary-motion chromatic scales. Performers who enjoyed Professor King’s Celebrated All-Purpose Exceptional Invigorating Effectacious Good-Time Spirited Composition for the Modern Piano-Forte will have a great time learning and performing this piece! (And the title is easier to remember!)

Key: C major

Mood: happy, positive, tense in the middle section.

Pedagogy: chromatic scales, staccato, syncopation, diminished chords