Scott Joplin

Known as the "King of Ragtime," Scott Joplin was a very talented and successful musician and composer of ragtime music. It took over fifty years after his death before he was recognized for his amazing compositions.

He began to demonstrate his extraordinary talent at a very early age in which his parents encouraged and felt it was a rewarding tool of expression. Joplin had become very proficient on the piano as well as the banjo and guitar. Joplin left home in his early teens and began performing at Saloons and Brothels.

In 1893, Joplin performed with a band where he played cornet and then would later tour performing his own compositions. While touring and composing he had released two compositions which were a classic waltz rather than his original compositions which were ragtime. Those two releases were "A Picture of Her Face" and "Please Say You Will." After touring, he enrolled into George R. Smith College where he would further is music education.

In 1899 he released his first Piano Rags, "Original Rags" and "Maple Leaf Rag." A publisher by the name of John Stark had heard Joplin play at the Maple leaf and offered Joplin $50.00 and a Royalty contract which was nearly unheard of at that time. In the first year, only 400 copies had been sold earning him $4.00. All though the first year of sales were not as successful as Joplin had hoped, the following years brought him better success by selling half a million by 1909 which earned him $5,000.00.

Once Joplin was financially secure, he devoted the rest of his time to composing and teaching. He began to compose an Opera, Treemonisha which some claim to be his greatest accomplishment as a composer. The Opera was not successful, partly due to people not accepting this form of Opera at that time.

In 1917 Joplin became deathly ill and passed away after he had acquired complications caused by syphilis.

Fast Facts:

1. Born: November 24, 1868
2. Birthplace: Near Linden, Texas
3. Died: April 1, 1917
4. Also known as "King of Ragtime"
5. 1970 inducted into the Sonwriters Hall of Fame
6. 1976 won a Pulitzer Prize for his contributions to music
7. "The Entertainer" was featured in the movie The Sting
8. 1983 the United States Postal Service issued a stamp of Scott Joplin
9. 1987 inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
10. 1989 received a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
11. Discography

Quotes:

1. "One day the 'Maple Leaf' will make me King of Ragtime Composers." —Scott Joplin, after completing the "Maple Leaf Rag."
2. “When I'm dead twenty-five years, people are going to begin to recognize me.” —Scott Joplin
3. “Don t play this piece fast. It is never right to play ragtime fast.” —Scott Joplin

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