First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The piano rag is musical form unlike any other. Although melodious, ragtime's excitement and appeal derives from its syncopated rhythms. Ragtime music achieved notoriety through its greatest composer, Scott Joplin (1868-1917). At an early age he studied with an old German musician who introduced him to the piano and music theory. While still in his early teens he earned his way playing piano in the honky-tonks of villages and towns in the Mississippi Valley. He was intrigued with the folk music of his people and the jig piano style of the self-taught pianists with whom he worked. Take a musical journey through Scott Joplin's prolific career and perform these time-honored ragtime piano pieces as they are transcribed here for solo guitar. Written in standard notation only with fingerings and historical/ performance notes.

In 1974, the academy award-winning film The Sting brought back the music of Scott Joplin, a black ragtime composer who died in 1917. Led by The Entertainer, one of the most popular pieces of the mid-1970s, a revival of his music resulted in events unprecedented in American musical history. Never before had any composer's music been so acclaimed by both the popular and classical music worlds. While reaching a "Top Ten" position in the pop charts, Joplin's music was also being performed in classical recitals and setting new heights for sales of classical records. His opera Treemonisha was performed both in opera houses and on Broadway. Destined to be the definitive work on the man and his music, King of Ragtime is written by Edward A. Berlin. A renowned authority on Joplin and the author of the acclaimed and widely cited Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, Berlin redefines the Scott Joplin biography. Using the tools of a trained musicologist, he has uncovered a vast amount of new information about Joplin. His biography truly documents the story of the composer, replacing the myths and unsupported anecdotes of previous histories. He shows how Joplin's opera Treemonisha was a tribute to the woman he loved, a woman other biographers never even mentioned. Berlin also reveals that Joplin was an associate of Irving Berlin, and that he accused Berlin of stealing his music to compose Alexander's Ragtime Band in 1911. Berlin paints a vivid picture of the ragtime years, placing Scott Joplin's story in its historical context. The composer emerges as a representative of the first post-Civil War generation of African Americans, of the men and women who found in the world of entertainment a way out of poverty and lowly social status. King of Ragtime recreates the excitement of these pioneers, who dreamed of greatness as they sought to expand the limits society placed upon their race.

In addition to the 54 original and collaborative works presented in this impressive volume, Scott Joplin: The Collected Piano Works includes 34 pages of scholarly insight and history that help the pianist determine performance practices and authentically reproduce the sound and style Joplin intended. With editions of 19 publishers reproduced in this volume, a colorful variety of music typefaces and printing styles is offered. Together with the evocative original cover designs, they present a vivid panorama of the Ragtime Era. Because study of the original publications has revealed great numbers of errata of various kinds, and since this edition is primarily intended for study and performance, the editors have incorporated corrections into the facsimile pages rather than perpetuate original errors for antiquarian interest. Titles include: Maple Leaf Rag * The Entertainer * The Chrysanthemum * Rosebud * Eugenia * Gladiolus Rag * Wall Street Rag * Solace * Paragon Rag * Lily Queen * Heliotrope Bouquet * Kismet Rag * School of Ragtime * Swan Rag * Treemonisha and more.