The Entertainer

“The King of Ragtime,” Scott Joplin is a household name when talking piano, composition and the history of American music. Some of his most notable works are more than a century old and they still continue to dazzle listeners’ ears. “The Entertainer” was composed in 1902 and can be identified as a classic rag. This strict standard of composition allowed Joplin and his publisher to market their sheet music to a more affluent audience and helped ragtime migrate from its earthy origins to the parlors of the middle class. (Source)

Joplin was instrumental in preserving aspects of African-American popular heritage through the post-Civil War years, fusing elements from his formal musical training with the syncopated rhythms of ragtime.“The Entertainer” features syncopated rhythms, chromatic voice leading and parallel intervals. This is an arrangement of the main theme with a 5-note accompaniment. It is in the key of C major with solfège.