Blues, Bluegrass, and Beyond: The House of the Rising Sun - A Stride and Swing Blues Piano Version

Piano Keys with Metronome and A-Style Mandolin. Photo Original

Today, I would like to share my stride and swing/blues version of The House of the Rising Sun with the world. Stride and Swing is one of my favorite genres of music to play on piano. Stride and swing is a type of early jazz. It was the next generational step of the ragtime genre hailing from the early 20th century. Unlike ragtime however, stride and swing was heavily influenced by blues roots and gospel. During the 1920's and 1930's, stride and swing was at its height in popularity in the growing cities of New York and Chicago. This style of music developed in traditionally black areas such as Harlem, New York. During the Harlem Renaissance, legendary pianists such James P. Johnson, Thomas "Fats" Waller, and Art Tatum, to name just a few, developed the stride and swing genre from blues, ragtime, and their own musical acumen. These musicians integrated with other legends of the time such as Bessie Smith, "Dizzy" Gillespie, and Cab Calloway. The genre of Stride and Swing later led to the Big Band music of the 1940's, and served as an inspiration to many future pianists such as Little Richard, Ray Charles, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Eventually, stride and swing would also serve as a forerunner to Boogie Woogie and modern 4-beat jazz.

Click here To check out a book that teaches stride and swing playing styles.

Piano Keys. Photo Original.

Stride and swing, like its earlier relative, ragtime, is rhythmic, percussive, and usually features a driving beat. Stride and swing left-hand accompaniments usually incorporate a single bass note, or bass octave or tenth, followed by a chord, while the right hand plays syncopated melody lines with blues based embellishments, fill patterns, and riffs. Much of Stride and swing isn't written in sheet music. Stride and swing pianists often would play popular music in stride style. Sadly, since many of these pianists would improvise when playing, sheet music for their songs has never been transcribed.

Lately, as I had mentioned above, I crafted my own stride and swing rendition of The House of the Rising Sun. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this song is probably over 200 years old. Originating from 16th century England, the song has notoriously told the story of a destitute woman. Other versions of the song depict a brothel to which there is no escape. The song was revamped in the early 20th century in the southeastern United States, now featuring a new setting in New Orleans. The song has been played and recorded by blues, bluegrass, rock n'roll, country, jazz, and metal artists alike. Therefore I decided to share my stride and swing version of the famous tune on this site. Check out the video and sheet music I have posted below.