stride piano

American  

noun

1. a style of jazz piano playing in which the right hand plays the melody while the left hand plays a single bass note or octave on the strong beat and a chord on the weak beat, developed in Harlem during the 1920s, partly from ragtime piano playing.

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Etymology

Origin of stride piano

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

“In the Nina Simone one, it’s like a crazy version of stride piano, something that jazz pianists know how to do,” he said.

From New York Times • Jan. 28, 2020

He also happens to be one of jazz’s most riveting pianists — a largely self-taught master of stride piano, with a lightning-fast right hand.

From New York Times • Oct. 11, 2018

He plays me the first few bars of something caught between ragtime and barrelhouse, full of stride piano left-hand chords, his long fingers flicking this way and that.

From The Guardian • Sep. 30, 2018

“Luckily, the sound that we associate with the Piedmont guitar style comes from stride piano, where the left hand plays a bass note then a chord and the right hand plays the melody,” Clayton said.

From Washington Post • Nov. 23, 2016

The two girlfriends climb the stairs, led straight to the right place more by the stride piano pouring over the door saddle than their recollection of the apartment number.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison