Description
The subtitle "A Ragtime Classic Two Step" carries Joplin's lasting insistence that his pieces were classic rags rather than popular songs. The rag was published in 1908 by the Seminary Music Company in New York.
Over 2,600 notes are packed into under three minutes of B-flat major, putting it among the denser rags he wrote. The right hand moves continuously with few rests, so the hands work harder than the piece sounds.
So many notes mean that in this intermediate rag, raising the tempo quickly outruns the fingers. Find first a speed at which the whole piece holds together, and mesh the left-hand leaps with the right-hand figures there. The denser the rag, the faster its outline dissolves the moment you try to play it quickly.
Ragtime pieces centered on Scott Joplin's syncopated rhythms — a lively American genre that helped pave the way for jazz.
Browse all songs in Ragtime →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
Scott Joplin was an African American composer born in Texas, known as the "King of Ragtime." Blending syncopated, buoyant rhythms with sophisticated harmony, he brought the genre to national prominence with the enormous success of "Maple Leaf Rag." This site includes 18 of his works, such as "The Entertainer" and "Elite Syncopations."
View all works by Joplin →