Piano History: Scott Joplin

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Scott Joplin is among the best known ragtime musicians and composers. He set the standard that many ragtime performers after him followed. Joplin was born in Linden, Texas and he was born in 1886 or 1887 and died April 1, 1917. His mother bought a piano for the family, and at an early age he started to play.

Joplin’s first formal training experience came from Julius Weiss, a German music teacher. Weiss gave Joplin free piano lessons because of his outstanding musical abilities. Under Weiss, Joplin learned all about the classical music form which he later incorporated into ragtime in his own way. After his training from Weiss, Joplin went to George R. Smith College to study Composition.

One of Joplin’s famous works that you might be familiar with is the “Entertainer.” Joplin wrote this piano piece when he lived in St. Louis with his wife. This was after he already became famous from his "Maple Leaf Rag."

In April 1917, Joplin died just a few days before The United States entered World War 1. Jazz was quickly becoming more popular than Ragtime at this time, and his death did not make the papers. However in 1974, an adaptation of "The Entertainer" by Marvin Hamlisch became number 3 on Billboard’s Top 100.