Description
The "slow drag" of the subtitle was a Black social dance of the period, slower than the two-step and danced with a dragging step. The rag was written in 1901 with Scott Hayden, Joplin's pupil and friend from his Sedalia years, with whom he collaborated on four pieces.
True to its name, this B-flat major rag is not a piece that runs: it moves with its weight low and its pace unhurried. The melodies are straightforward and much repeated, and the singing line matters more here than the skip of the rhythm. Perhaps because it is a collaboration, the strains differ more in character than in Joplin's solo rags.
Taking it slowly is the style itself in this intermediate piece. A slow tempo leaves nowhere to hide the spacing between the left hand's bass and chord, so evenness of pulse is tested more, not less. Written to accompany dancing, it asks above all that the meter never waver.
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 →