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Analysis of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag

This document provides a summary of the structure and form of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag". It notes that the piece has four distinct themes (A, B, C, D) that are played twice each. It follows a ternary form (ABA), changing to a new key for the C section before returning to the original key for the D section. The rhythmic interplay between the syncopated right hand melody and steady left hand accompaniment established the basis for many ragtime and early jazz pieces. While Joplin's piano roll of the piece may seem stiff due to his declining motor skills, it provides insight into his interpretation and the common practice of improvisational embellishment in ragtime

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66 views1 page

Analysis of Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag

This document provides a summary of the structure and form of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag". It notes that the piece has four distinct themes (A, B, C, D) that are played twice each. It follows a ternary form (ABA), changing to a new key for the C section before returning to the original key for the D section. The rhythmic interplay between the syncopated right hand melody and steady left hand accompaniment established the basis for many ragtime and early jazz pieces. While Joplin's piano roll of the piece may seem stiff due to his declining motor skills, it provides insight into his interpretation and the common practice of improvisational embellishment in ragtime

Uploaded by

Edy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Listening Guide 3-1_6a.

Maple Leaf Rag 2 beats per measure


ELAPSED TIME

FORM

EVENT DESCRIPTION

0:00

Piano (16 measures: 8 1 8)

0:23

(16 measures 8 1 8)

0:45

(16 measures)

1:07

(16 measures)

1:30

(16 measures)

1:52

New key (16 measures)

2:14

(16 measures)

2:37

Back to original key (16 measures)

2:59

(16 measures)

3:21

End
This recording of Maple Leaf Rag features a player piano roll of a performance
by Scott Joplin himself. He performed the rag on a special piano that placed dotted
marking on the paper, which was punched out later and duplicated. The roll was
made in 1916 when Joplin was suffering from the effects of syphilis, one being the
gradual loss of his motor ability. For this reason, the piano roll performance is
rather stiff and clumsy, but we can still see how Joplin would interpret his most
famous piano rag.
Maple Leaf Rag, like all rags, is a multithematic form; that is, it is a
composition made up of a succession of three or four melodic sections. It shares
this form with the march, its primary model. (Listen, for instance, to John Philip
Sousas Stars and Stripes Forever and note its three distinct themes.) Maple
Leaf Rag has four themes, and like the march and other rags it changes key after
the second theme.
The rhythmic relationship between the left and right hand is typical of all rags.
The left hand alternates an even bass/chord accompaniment to the syncopated
melody in the right hand (see Figure 4.1).
The concept of this compositional form and texture would provide the basis for
many rag and jazz compositions and performances until around 1930.
It is interesting to note that Joplin does not play Maple Leaf Rag note for note
from the printed music. His use of improvisation is minimal, with just a few
embellishments. It was a common practice for piano roll editors to add extra notes
to live performances to give the piano a bigger, orchestral sound. Ragtime
researchers and interviews with Joplins contemporaries have confirmed that this
type of improvisatory embellishment was also a common practice in ragtime.

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