103: Composer Spotlight on African American Composer Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime

What happens when a single composer helps shape the sound of American music for generations to come?

In this Composer Spotlight episode of the Music in Our Homeschool podcast, Gena Mayo introduces homeschooling families to Scott Joplin, the composer known as the King of Ragtime. Perfect for Black History Month—or anytime you’re studying American music—this episode turns Scott Joplin’s life and music into an engaging, story-driven listening experience for kids and parents alike.

You’ll learn how ragtime grew out of traditional marches and how Joplin’s use of syncopation completely changed the feel of popular music. Gena explains this musical concept in a simple, approachable way, making it easy for elementary and middle school students to hear and understand the difference between steady march rhythms and the playful bounce of ragtime.

Listeners will also explore Joplin’s inspiring life story—from his childhood in Texas and early piano studies to the incredible success of Maple Leaf Rag, the first piece of sheet music to sell over one million copies. Along the way, you’ll hear how Joplin insisted his music be taken seriously and how ragtime went on to influence jazz, Broadway, and composers like Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.

This episode is adapted from a live music appreciation lesson inside the Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership and works beautifully as a 15-minute music lesson, during homeschool Morning Time, or while driving your car together as a family.

Tune in to discover why Scott Joplin’s music still matters—and how listening together can spark meaningful conversations about music, history, and culture in your homeschool.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/composer-spotlight-scott-joplin/ 

Please follow/subscribe to the podcast and leave a 5-star review and comment if you liked this episode! Find all courses at https://Learn.MusicinOurHomeschool.com ,free music lessons here: https://MusicinOurHomeschool.com/FreeMusicLessons , and lots more links here: https://linktr.ee/genamayo !

Transcript

E103 Composer Spotlight Scott Joplin

Speaker: [00:00:00] Hello, Harmony Heroes. Welcome back to the Music in Our Homeschool podcast. I'm your host, Gena Mayo, and today we're continuing our Composer Spotlight series with a very special episode for Black History Month, one that highlights a composer whose music still feels joyful, fresh, and instantly recognizable more than a century later.

Today, we're talking about Scott Joplin, often called the King of Ragtime. This episode is based on a live music lesson I taught inside my Music in Our Homeschool Plus membership, where we listened, compared styles, talked about rhythm, and even connected Joplin's music to what came next in American musical history.

I've adapted it here into a story-driven listening experience that works beautifully for homeschooling families, whether you are listening together in the car, during Morning Time, or as part of a short, 15-minute music lesson. [00:01:00] But if you're interested in checking out the membership, please head over to MusicinOurHomeschool.com/membership because we do a live music appreciation lesson every single month.

To really understand Scott Joplin, we need to start with what came just before his musical style of ragtime. In the late 1800s, one of the most popular musical styles in America was the march. Marches are very steady and predictable. They emphasize a strong downbeat, beat one. If you've ever tapped along t o a march like "Stars and Stripes Forever," by John Phillip Sousa, you could feel how grounded and regular it is. It's like this. So it's 1, 2, 1 2, 1 2, 1 2, or if you're marching left, right, left, right, left right.

Well, [00:02:00] ragtime turned that idea on its head. Instead of emphasizing beat one, ragtime often emphasizes beat two, the upbeat. So instead of down, up, down, up, you're going up, up. And that rhythmic surprise is called syncopation.

Anytime music emphasizes a beat that isn't expected or isn't the regularly emphasized strong beat, we call it syncopated. The rhythmic bounce is what gives ragtime its playful toe-tapping feel. Ragtime grew out of marches, but it added something new and something distinctly American.

So let me tell you a little bit about Scott Joplin. He was born on November 24, 1868, in Texas. He grew up in a musical household. His father played the violin; his mother sang and played the banjo. Music was part of [00:03:00] everyday life, but opportunities were limited, especially for African American children in the late 1800s.

After his father left the family, Scott's mother worked as a cleaner, and she made sure her son could practice piano in the homes where she worked. A local music teacher noticed Scott's talent and taught him for free, an extraordinary opportunity at that time. Joplin began his career writing marches, but by his mid-twenties, he had found his voice in a new style: ragtime piano music.

In 1893, he attended the Chicago World's Fair, an enormous international event, showcasing new inventions, ideas, and cultural expressions. Rap time music was everywhere at the fair, and it quickly became a national craze. Later, at the age of 28, Scott Joplin was [00:04:00] able to attend college. By the end of his life, he had composed around 50 works, and more than 40 of them were ragtime piano pieces. He also wrote a ragtime ballet and two operas, showing that he saw ragtime as a serious, lasting, musical style, not just a fleeting entertainment. He died in 1917, just as ragtime was beginning to fade from popularity.

In 1899, Scott Joplin published the piece that would make him famous, the Maple Leaf Rag. This wasn't just a hit, it was historic. Maple Leaf Rag became the first piece of sheet music ever to sell over 1 million copies. That's an incredible achievement, especially at a time when music was shared t hrough mostly live performances and printed pages, not through recordings or streaming.

Joplin is very clear about how his [00:05:00] music should be played. He insisted that ragtime not be played too fast, even though it's lively and energetic. He meant it to feel steady and controlled, with the syncopation doing the work, not the speed. Because of his mastery of the style and success of his music, Scott Joplin became known as the King of Ragtime.

In classic piano ragtime, the left hand plays a steady bass pattern, almost like a march, while the right hand plays a syncopated melody. The combination creates a wonderful tension between structure and playfulness.

Some other famous rags that Scott Joplin wrote were The Entertainer, the Pineapple Rag, and Solace. You may recognize The Entertainer. Many people do because of its use in the 1970s film The Sting, which sparked a huge ragtime revival decades after [00:06:00] Joplin's death.

Scott Joplin didn't just create a popular style. He laid the foundation for what came next. Ragtime directly influenced early jazz music, and many composers later absorbed its rhythms and spirit.

Two major figures influenced by ragtime music were Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. Irving Berlin's Alexander's Ragtime Band brought ragtime rhythms into popular song, while Gershwin would later blend classical music, jazz, and American popular styles into works such as Rhapsody and Blue. Ragtime also led to a fascinating piano style called stride piano.

Scott Joplin's story is deeply connected to Black History Month, not just because he was a black composer, but because he shaped American music in such a lasting way. He insisted that his music be taken seriously. He believed [00:07:00] ragtime belonged on the concert stage, and he created a uniquely American sound that influenced jazz, Broadway, film music, and popular song.

When we hear Scott Joplin today, we're not just enjoying cheerful piano music, we're hearing the roots of so much that came after. If you'd like to listen to some of Scott Joplin's music now, head over to the accompanying blog post that goes with this episode, and have some fun listening to Scott Joplin's ragtime music with your kids this week.

Thanks for joining me today. It's been a pleasure having you here at the Music in Our Homeschool podcast, and I would love to see you back next week.

Please subscribe and follow this podcast and leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. Have a wonderful time listening to music in your homeschool this week. [00:08:00] Bye.

Find links to all resources mentioned in this episode here: https://musicinourhomeschool.com/composer-spotlight-scott-joplin/