While he didn’t invent ragtime, Joplin achieved enormous success and fame as the Ragtime King after composing the Maple Leaf Rag, the most popular and influential hit of its day. OCLC 3649875.When I was recently asked to perform selections of Scott Joplin for an upcoming performance, I decided it was time to revisit the iconic composer before deciding on the repertoire. Some composers (such as James Scott) made frequent use of two-bar phrases and others (such as Joseph Lamb) tended to employ eight-bar phrases. The sixteen-bar strain is often structurally divided into 4 four-bar phrases, the third phrase repeating the first. The treble clef (played by the right hand) typically contains the syncopated melodic theme, while the bass clef (the left-hand part) grounds this theme rhythmically with a regular, alternating pattern of eighth-notes (a walking bass). Rag strains themselves have considerable structure. In the later years of ragtime, under the influence of Tin Pan Alley, a shorter three-strain form (omitting the D strain) became common. Brief transitional phrases may be inserted between strains.Some repetitions of strains may be omitted, usually one of the repeats of the A strain.The D strain may be omitted altogether, or replaced with a restatement of the A or B strain.The D strain may return to the original key rather than stay in the subdominant key.The C and D strains may continue in the original key rather than use the subdominant key.The introduction may be longer or shorter than four bars, or may be omitted altogether.This can be written more succinctly as: INTRO AA BB A CC DD.įew classic rags follow this idealized form, which is only a generalization there are a number of standard variations: It concludes with a pair of 16-bar themes in the subdominant key (the key with one additional flat, or one less sharp), commonly called the trio, in the following sequence:.It continues with a pair of 16-bar themes, in the following sequence:.

It starts with a four-bar introduction.In idealized form, the classic rag has the following structure: The 'classic rag' form can thus be considered a typical form of a ragtime piano composition, though it is by no means the only form. As the 20th century dawned most composers, arrangers, and publishers began to settle on a common set of notational and structural conventions, and because Scott Joplin was the best-selling ragtime composer in that era, his conventions eventually predominated. Pieces appeared in common meter, in 4/4 time, and in 2/4 time, and often followed conventions of earlier musical forms such as the march. In the earliest days of ragtime, there was little consensus on how to print the syncopated melodies of ragtime, so there was considerable variety in the formatting of sheet music. Today, any composition fitting this particular ragtime structural form is considered classic rag. These compositions were first considered 'classic' by Joplin's publisher, John Stark, as a way to distinguish them from what he considered the 'common' rags of other publishers. Cover of Scott Joplin's 'The Ragtime Dance'Ĭlassic rag (short for classical ragtime) is the style of ragtime composition pioneered by Scott Joplin and the Missouri school of ragtime composers.

Scott joplin ragtime piece