Scott Joplin – American Composer

Scott Joplin The “King” of Ragtime

Born in eastern Texas in 1868His father was a former slave.Scott loved music but racial

segregation made it hard for African American children to take private music lessons, so he couldn’t find a teacher very easily.

His mother worked as a maid/housekeeper for a white family. That family allowed Scott to take piano lessons with their children’s piano teacher.

A music teacher from Germany took interest in him and began teaching him, introducing him to all kinds of classical music.

• Scott’s first jobs were playing in local men’s clubs for the members - not concerts, but general music as background for conversation, meals, etc.

• These clubs were places the members could go to hang out with friends, eat, play cards

• Next he had jobs playing piano with travelling groups of musicians

In the 1890s Joplin went to George R. Smith college,

an all black school in Sedalia, Missouri. This is a picture of one of the school

buildings.

Scott Joplin was really great at playing and composing in a new style of music called “Ragtime”. Please watch all of this next video. Look and listen for:a. How the left hand keeps the pulse(Beat)b. How the right hand plays a syncopated

rhythm in the melody.c. How at first it was improvised (made up on

the spot) and then later written downd. How it was also for instrumental groups as

well as just piano

The next video describes how ragtime was popular with the young people, and not so popular with the older people. There is actual video from the early 1900’s of people dancing to ragtime in a street parade in New Orleans. Ragtime was important in helping Jazz to develop.

Getting published Joplin was composing his own music. “Rags” were highly popular – but

considered “lower class” because they were often associated with the piano players in saloons

Most publishers would not consider his music because he was black and they didn’t think it would sell

He got a publisher in Sedalia to take a chance with his “Maple Leaf Rag” – named after a social club for men that he worked at

It was the first piece of instrumental music to sell over a million copies of sheet music

He earned one cent for each copy sold – around $10,000

Joplin became famous Ragtime became more acceptable

Sheet music

Most homes had pianos, so many people bought sheet music

If people couldn’t play the piano, they often bought “player pianos” that could play themselves mechanically.

The next slide shows a player piano playing a ragtime piece by a different composer.

The next slide shows how a player piano paper roll is made.

There were other mechanical instruments.Sometimes mechanical instruments would combine a variety of traditional instruments.The next slide is a “Orchestrion” playing Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag.

The Entertainer

This piece is one of Scott Joplin’s most famous piano rags. You may have even played a little of it yourself if you have taken piano lessons.

On the next slide the right hand would play the green notes and the left hand would play the blue notes.

Scott Joplin’s ragtime became popular again in the 1970’s because it was used as a movie soundtrack for an award winning show “The Sting”.

The next slide is a commercial for this movie that made ragtime popular again in the 1970s.

While Joplin became very famous as a ragtime composer, he was never

considered to be a “serious” composer during his own lifetime. This was in part because of racial

prejudice and in part because ragtime was not considered to be

“serious” music.