Maple Leaf Rag
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Image:Maple Leaf Rag.PNG The "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) is an early ragtime composition for piano by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, and is one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces.
It is a multi-strain ragtime march with athletic bass lines and upbeat melodies. Each of the four parts features a recurring theme and, always, a jumpy left hand with a lot of seventh chords.
It is more carefully constructed than almost all previous ragtime tunes, and the syncopations, especially in the transition between the first and second strain, were arrestingly novel at the time.
While not an extremely difficult piece rhythmically or musically, a pianist must have a well developed command of his or her left arm in order to perform the piece successfully--especially the third section. When it was first published, it was considered significantly more difficult than the average Tin Pan Alley and early ragtime sheet music common at the time.
The tune became a huge hit. Over 1 million copies of the sheet music were sold, making Scott Joplin the first musician to sell 1 million copies of any type of music. In addition to sales of sheet music, it was also popular in orchestrations for dance bands and brass bands for years.
The tune continued to be in the repertoire of jazz bands decades later, with artists such as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in the 1920s, and Sidney Bechet in the 1940s giving it up-to-date adaptations, maintaining a timeless quality to it.
The Maple Leaf Rag is still a favorite of ragtime pianists.
As the copyright has expired, the composition is in the public domain. It appears in the soundtracks of hundreds of films, cartoons, commercials, and Bally Midway's 1983 arcade videogame, Domino Man.
External links
- Maple Leaf Rag at the Mutopia Project (musical transcription and MIDI file)
- Maple Leaf Rag A unique version of Maple Leaf Rag with elements of stride piano. This MIDI file was arranged by the late John Roache.
- Maple Leaf Rag A 1906 Recording by the U. S. Marine Band