1899Primary sourceWell documented
Scott Joplin and Ragtime
On the timeline · around 1899 · The Recording Age
What happened
The African American composer Scott Joplin published his 'Maple Leaf Rag' in 1899, and it became a sensation. Ragtime's cheerful, syncopated 'ragged' rhythms — a bouncy left hand against an off-beat right hand — swept America through sheet music and player-piano rolls.
Why it matters
Ragtime was one of the first Black American musical forms to reach a mass national audience, and its syncopation fed directly into the jazz that would follow. Joplin's rags remain classics of American music.
Sources
- Library of Congress. Scott Joplin & the Magical 'Maple Leaf Rag' · Primary source