Scott King of rag time “The entertainer”.. Joplin

Early life. Scott Joplin was born on November 24 in Texas. He grew up in a musical home. Joplin’s mother played the banjo and sang while his father played a fiddle, which is any kind of stringed instrument. Scott learned to play a lot of instruments, but his most favorite instrument to play is the piano. Joplin’s family cant afford a piano because they are very poor so he would play the piano at the place his mother is working at.

Piano lessons When Scott Joplin was 11 years old, a local German piano teacher recognized his talent and said he had a gift of playing the piano and gave him FREE piano lessons. Before he knew it, he was composing his own music! In his music, he mixed up African songs with melodies of classical music from Europe. Joplin used his left hand to play a steady while the other hand plays a fast melody. A lot of people loved to listen to “ rag time music” because of its entertainment. Some people thought his music is horrible and should be wiped out!

All grown up Scott Joplin went around USA composing, playing and teaching rag time music. He also got an agreement with w a music publisher that he will get 1 penny for each sheet of music for the song“ maple leaf rag” that was sold. It was very upsetting that he only made 4 dollars in a year!!

Joplin’s death Joplin composed over 50 pieces of music when he was alive. But by the time he had died, people were forgetting about him. This is what he sad: “… when I’m dead 25 years, people are going to begin to recognize me.” his predictions were so close. 56 years after his death, a movie played one of his songs and many people came to watch it. That’s when Scott Joplin was becoming famous once more.

I admire Scott Joplin because…. I admire Scott Joplin because his song were very entertaining and was very catchy. My favorite pieces are the “entertainer” and “rag time”. He reminds me of myself because he loves the piano just like me.

questions If Scott Joplin was alive these are the questions that I would ask him: How old are you? What is your favorite piece you made? Are you happy with you life? How much money do you have now? Do you like being a composer?