Scott Joplin

Books about Scott Joplin and his music

Barbara Mitchell and Hetty Mitchell Raggin': A Story About Scott Joplin (Creative Minds Books) Carolrhoda Books, 1987; ISBN 0876143109; 64 pages Price indication: $ 22.60

Edward A. Berlin King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era Oxford University Press, 1995; ISBN 0195101081; 352 pages 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. Written by Edward A. Berlin, a renowned authority on ragtime, this extraordinary book has been quickly accepted as the definitive work on Joplin's life and music. It reads almost like a detective story as Berlin leads us through a succession of clues, deductions, and discoveries, producing startling new information unsuspected by previous Joplin biographers. Painting a vivid picture of the ragtime years and placing Scott Joplin in his historical context, King of Ragtime brings to life the story of a post-Civil War African American who found in the world of music a way out of poverty and lowly social status. Price indication: $ 21.50

Steven Otfinoski and F Watts Scott Joplin: A Life in Ragtime (Impact Biographies) Franklin Watts, 1995; ISBN 0531112446; 144 pages The story of America's most famous composer of ragtime music. Price indication: $ 20.00

C. Ogbu Sabir Scott Joplin the King of Ragtime: The King of Ragtime (Journey to Freedom) Child's World, 2000; ISBN 1567667465; 40 pages Examines the life and accomplishments of the well-known ragtime pianist and composer, who wrote over 500 pieces of music, including a ballet and two operas. Price indication: $ 28.50

John Bankston The Life and Times of Scott Joplin (Masters of Music) Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2004; ISBN 1584152702; 48 pages As a member of the first generation of African Americans who were born just after the end of slavery, Scott Joplin faced a world of unique challenges. His musical family scraped out a living by sharecropping and cleaning houses—but Scott was exceptionally gifted, and his mother made sure he got piano lessons. Classically trained, he spent several years playing in churches and saloons. While for a time he wanted to compose classical music, he was drawn to ragtime, an early form of jazz that featured African folk tunes and syncopated rhythms. After his first composition, "Maple Leaf Rag," was published in 1899, Scott Joplin was able to keep ragtime popular for the next two decades. In fact, ragtime influences can be heard in later forms of music, such as jazz, blues, and even rock and roll. Scott Joplin, the Father of Ragtime, whose compositions cut across geography, race, and class, was truly a Master of Music. Price indication: $ 13.57

Susan Curtis Dancing To A Black Man's Tune: A Life Of Scott Joplin (Missouri Biography) University of Missouri Press, 2004; ISBN 0826215475; 265 pages By using Scott Joplin's life as a window onto American social and cultural development at the turn of the century, this biography dramatizes the role of one brilliant African American musician in defining the culture of a still-young nation. "Dancing to a Black Man's Tune renders Scott Joplin as a man and an artist whose musical genius served as his weapon in the struggle toward a whole America. Susan Curtis's book is more than biography, more than cultural history. It is a skillfully interwoven telling of Joplin's story within the mosaic of America's social and cultural evolution at the turn of the century."--John Hope Franklin "If one is to know American culture and the place and 'trials and tribulations' of African American music in setting the foundation and flavor of American music, Dancing to a Black Man's Tune is, to date, the primary source."--Journal of American History Price indication: $ 13.57

Kitty Preston Scott Joplin (Black Americans of Achievement) Chelsea House Publications, 1988; ISBN 0791002055 Price indication: $ 9.95

Angela Shelf Medearis and Scott Joplin and Michael Bryant Treemonisha Henry Holt & Company, 1995; ISBN 0805017488; 37 pages Children's book: Tremonisha retold. Price indication: (used only): from $ 2.95

Peter Gammond Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Era St Martins Pr, 1977; ISBN 0312704909 Price indication: (used only): from $ 3.25

James Haskins Scott Joplin Doubleday, 1978; ISBN 038511155X; 248 pages Price indication: (used only): from $ 1.01

Mark Evans Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Years Dodd Mead, 1976; ISBN 0396073085; 120 pages Price indication: (used only): from $ 0.50

Timothy Frew Scott Joplin & the Age of Ragtime (Life, Times and Music Series) Friedman/Fairfax Pub, 1996; ISBN 1567993052; 64 pages Price indication: (used only): from $ 12.75

Sheet music, libretti, etc.

18 Rags in Easier Versions - G. Schirmer, Inc.
"The Entertainer," "Maple Leaf Rag" and other ragtime classics specially arranged for the student or intermediate pianist. With a minimum of musical adjustment we've made them a lot easier to play.

Best of Ragtime: Piano Solos - Warner Bros Pubns

Complete Piano Rags - Dover Publications
This wonderful book brings together in one superbly produced playing edition all 38 of Scott Joplin's piano rags, including his six collaborations, plus Joplin's own primer on how to play ragtime, the "School of Ragtime". Each rag has been reprinted, along with its sheet-music cover, from the original publisher's edition.

Joplin - Complete Rags for Piano (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics) - G. Schirmer
American popular music at its classical best! This is a complete edition of these wonderful piano pieces, all newly engraved. 42 of Joplin's most famous rags in one comprehensive collection, including: Bethena * The Easy Winners * The Entertainer * Eugenia * Maple Leaf Rag * Original Rags * Solace * Something Doing * and many more.

Mel Bay Presents Complete Works of Scott Joplin: 52 Piano Rags, Waltzes & Marches Transcribed for Guitar Solo - Mel Bay Pubns
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.

Music Minus One Violin: Great Scott: Joplin's Ragtime String Quartets: The Zinn String Quartet (Book & CD) - Music Minus One

Ragtime (Music Scores) - Konemann

Ragtime Classics - Marks

Ragtime for violin and piano - Schirmer Books
Great Performer's Edition. Contents: Bethena, Ragtime Waltz * The Easy Winners * Elite Syncopations * The Entertainer * The Ragtime Dance * The Strenuous Life.

Scott Joplin Collected Piano Works - Warner Bros Pubns

SCOTT JOPLIN FOR GUITAR - Warner Brothers Publications
A collection of ten transcriptions for the guitar of classic rags by Scott Joplin, the greatest and most inspired of all ragtime composers. The works selected for this volume are an excellent cross-sampling of Joplin's rags. Titles include: The Entertainer <br>* The Cascades <br>* Maple Leaf Rag.

Solace and Other Short Works - Dover Publications

Treemonisha Vocal Score - Dover Publications