Maple Leaf Rag
in A♭ major
Scott Joplin 1868–1917
A♭ major
Key
Tempo di marcia
Tempo
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Difficulty
Our estimate Intermediate
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Themes & character
Best selling rag of its era·Named for a Sedalia club·Classic ragtime form·Syncopated melody
At a glance
- Key
- A♭ major
- Tempo / character
- Tempo di marcia
About the piece
Published in 1899 and named after the Maple Leaf Club, a social club in Sedalia, Missouri, where Joplin performed. It became the best selling piano rag of its time and is generally credited with launching the ragtime craze that swept American popular music in the years that followed.
Built in the standard march-like, multi-strain form of classical ragtime, its crisp, syncopated melodies over a steady left-hand pulse set the template Joplin and countless other ragtime composers would follow for the next two decades.
The composer
Scott Joplin
1868–1917
Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag. Joplin considered ragtime to be a form of classical music meant to be played in concert halls and largely disdained the performance of ragtime as honky tonk music most common in saloons.
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