Pineapple Rag

in B♭ major

Scott Joplin 1868–1917
B♭ major
Key
Slow march tempo
Tempo

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Difficulty
Our estimate Intermediate
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Themes & character
Later New York rag·Slow march tempo·Published 1908·Refined syncopation

At a glance

Key
B♭ major
Tempo / character
Slow march tempo

About the piece

Published in 1908, from the period after Joplin settled in New York and turned much of his attention toward larger ambitions, above all his opera Treemonisha. Its syncopations are subtler and its harmonies richer than in the earlier Missouri rags, part of a general refinement in his late work, and it too carries his familiar instruction to keep the tempo of a slow march.

The composer

Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin
1868–1917

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag. Joplin considered ragtime to be a form of classical music meant to be played in concert halls and largely disdained the performance of ragtime as honky tonk music most common in saloons.

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