List of compositions by Scott Joplin


The following is a complete list of musical compositions by Scott Joplin.
Scott Joplin was born in Arkansas in around 1867, just outside Texarkana, and was a street performer before settling in Sedalia, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, and finally New York City where he died in 1917. He was an American composer and pianist, who achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his career, Joplin wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag" has been recognized as the archetypal rag and influenced subsequent rag composers for at least 12 years thanks to its rhythmic patterns, melody lines, and harmony.
His finances were precarious throughout his career, despite a steady income from the "Maple Leaf Rag". Joplin had the majority of his works published by John Stark of Sedalia, Missouri although he did use other lesser-known companies including his own "Scott Joplin Music Publishing Company". His first opera A Guest of Honor was lost after an unsuccessful tour in 1903. After the death of his widow, Lottie, in 1953 a number of manuscripts of unpublished work were lost and no copies of them are known to exist.
When Joplin was learning the piano, serious musical circles condemned ragtime because of its association with the vulgar and inane songs of Tin Pan Alley. As a composer, Joplin refined ragtime, developing it from the dance music played by pianists in brothels in cities like St. Louis. This new art form, the classic rag, combined Afro-American folk music's syncopation and nineteenth-century European romanticism, with its harmonic schemes and its march-like tempos, in particular the works of John Philip Sousa. With this as a foundation, Joplin intended his compositions to be played exactly as he wrote them – without improvisation. Joplin wrote his rags as "classical" music to raise ragtime above its "cheap bordello" origins and produced work which opera historian Elise Kirk described as "...more tuneful, contrapuntal, infectious, and harmonically colorful than any others of his era."
There are many inconsistencies between the titles of compositions, their subtitles and their respective cover titles, which was seen by the editor of the collected works as reflecting "an editorial casualness" on the part of the publishers, and indicating a genre in which many dance-steps could be performed interchangeably. Many of the works cannot be dated with certainty and the pieces were not always sent to the Copyright Office for copyright registration. In many cases the publication date is the only indication of when the piece was composed.
TitleStyleYearFormKeysCommentsNotes
Please Say You WillSong1895Intro Vs1 Ch Intro Vs2 Ch Intro Vs3 ChBbLyrics by Scott Joplin.
A Picture Of Her FaceSong1895Intro Vs1 Ch Coda Vs2 Ch CodaFLyrics by Scott Joplin.
March1896Intro AA BB CC DD E D2 E D2Dm/F/F/Bb...
Combination MarchMarch1896Intro AA Trans. BB Trans. CC DDBb/Bb/Eb/Eb
Harmony Club WaltzWaltz1896Intro AA BB CC DD EE FF GG A BBb/Bb/Gm/Bb/G/C/F/Bb/Bb
Original RagsRag1899Intro AA BB CC Abbr.Intro A DD EEG/G/C/G/D/GArranged by Charles N. Daniels, although this involvement is doubtful.
Maple Leaf RagRag1899AA BB A CC DDAb/Ab/Ab/Db/Ab
Swipesy CakewalkCakewalk1900Intro AA BB A CC DDBb/Bb/Bb/Eb/BbWith Arthur Marshall.
Peacherine RagRag1901Intro AA BB A CC DDEb/Bb/Eb/Ab/Ab
Sunflower Slow DragRagtime Two Step1901Intro AA BB A Trans. CC DDBb/Bb/Bb/Eb/Eb
Augustan Club WaltzWaltz1901Intro AA BB CC DD CodaBb/Bb/Gm/Bb
I Am Thinking Of My Pickaninny DaysSong1901Intro Vs1 Ch Vs2 ChBbLyrics by Henry Jackson.
Ragtime Two Step1901Intro AA BB A Trans. CC DDAb/Ab/Ab/Db/Db
A BlizzardUnknown1901Lost – unpublished. Mentioned in Indianapolis Freeman, November 16, 1901.
CleophaMarch and Two Step1902Intro AA BB A CC DDF/F/F/Bb/Bb
A Breeze From AlabamaMarch and Two Step1902Intro AA BB CC Trans. DD Trans. BBC/C/Ab/F/C
Elite SyncopationsRag1902Intro AA BB A CC DDF/F/F/Bb/Bb
Ragtime Two Step1902Intro AA BB A CC Trans. DDC/C/C/F/C
March MajesticMarch and Two Step1902Intro AA BB CC D C D CG/G/C...
Ragtime Two Step1902Intro AA BB A Trans. CC DDC/G/C/F/F
Song1902Intro A B CC Trans. DD EE Bb/Gm/Bb/Eb...Lyrics by Scott Joplin.
Something DoingRagtime Two Step1903Intro AA BB A CC DDF/F/F/Bb/BbWith Scott Hayden.
Weeping WillowRagtime Two Step1903Intro AA BB A CC DDG/G/G/C/C
Little Black BabySong1903Intro Vs1 Ch1 Vs2 Ch2BbLyrics by Louise Armstrong Bristol.
Palm Leaf RagRag1903Intro AA BB CC Trans. AABb/Bb/Eb/Bb
A Guest of HonorRagtime Opera19032 actsN/ALost.
Dude's ParadeOpera Excerpt1903Lost – unpublished. Excerpt from A Guest of Honor. Announced in the Indianapolis Freeman, September 12, 1903.
Patriotic PatrolOpera Excerpt1903Lost – unpublished. Excerpt from A Guest of Honor. Announced in the Indianapolis Freeman, September 12, 1903.
Maple Leaf RagSong1904Intro Vs1 Ch Int1 Intro Vs2 Ch Int2 Intro Vs3 ChEbLyrics by Sydney Brown. A simplified arrangement not produced by Joplin.
Concert Rag1904Intro AA BB CC DDG/G/C/C
Ragtime Two Step1904Intro AA BB A CC DDBb/Gm/Bb/Eb/Eb
Rag1904Intro AA BB Trans. CC DDC/C/Bb/Eb
Afro-American Intermezzo1904Intro AA BB A CC DD CBb/F/Bb/Eb/Cm/Eb
BethenaConcert Waltz1905Intro A Trans. BB Trans. A Trans. CC Trans. DD EE Trans. A CodaG/Bb/G/F/Bm/D/G
Binks' WaltzWaltz1905Intro AA BB A CC A CodaBb/Gm/Bb/Eb/Bb
Sarah DearSong1905Intro Vs1 Ch Vs2 ChFLyrics by Henry Jackson.
The Rosebud MarchMarch and Two Step1905Intro AA BB CC Trans. AAG/G/C/G
LeolaTwo Step1905AA BB A CC DDAb/Ab/Ab/Db/Ab
You Stand Good with Me, BabeSong1905Lost – unpublished. Announced in Indianapolis Freeman, July 22, 1905.
EugeniaRag1906Intro AA BB A C D C D CBb/Bb/Bb/Eb...
Stop-Time Two Step1906Intro AA BB CC Bb/Eb...
AntoinetteMarch and Two Step1906Intro AA BB C D C D CG/G/C...
Good-bye Old Gal Good-byeSong1906Intro Vs1 Ch Ch Vs2 Ch ChFMusic by H. Carroll Taylor, lyrics by Mac Darden, arranged by Joplin.
Snoring Sampson: A Quarrel in RagtimeSong1907Intro Vs1 Ch Vs2 ChCMusic & lyrics by Harry La Mertha, arranged by Joplin.
Ragtime Two Step1907Intro AA BB CC DDBb/Bb/Eb/Eb
When Your Hair Is Like The SnowSong1907Intro Vs1 Ch Vs2 ChCLyrics by Owen Spendthrift.
Gladiolus RagRag1907AA BB A CC DDAb/Ab/Ab/Db/Db
Searchlight RagRag1907Intro AA BB A CC DDBb/Bb/Bb/Eb/Eb
Lily QueenRagtime Two Step1907Intro AA BB A CC DDC/C/C/F/FBy Arthur Marshall, edited by Joplin.
Rose Leaf RagRagtime Two Step1907Intro AA BB A CC DDC/C/C/F/F
Heliotrope BouquetSlow Drag Two Step1907Intro A BB A CC DDG/G/G/C/CWith Louis Chauvin.
Fig Leaf RagHigh Class Rag1908Intro AA BB A CC DDBb/Bb/Bb/Eb/Eb
Sugar CaneRagtime Two Step1908AA BB A CC DDBb/Bb/Bb/Eb/Bb
SensationRag1908AA BB A CC DG/G/G/C/CBy Joseph F. Lamb, arranged by Joplin.
Pine Apple RagRag1908Intro AA BB A CC DDBb/Bb/Bb/Eb/Eb
School Of Ragtime – 6 Exercises for PianoExercises1908AA; BB; CC; DD; EE; FFC
Pleasant MomentsRagtime Waltz1909Intro A BB A CC A CodaG/D/G/C/G
Wall Street RagRag1909Intro AA BB CC DDC/C/F/F
SolaceMexican Serenade1909Intro AA BB A CC DDC/C/C/F/F
Country ClubRagtime Two Step1909Intro AA BB A CC DDC/C/C/F/F
Euphonic SoundsSyncopated Novelty1909Intro AA BB A CC A CodaBb/Bb/Bb/F/Bb
Paragon RagRag1909Intro AA BB A CC DDG/G/G/C/C
Stoptime RagStop-Time Rag1910AA BB A CC DD EE D FF GGC/Am/C...
Pine Apple RagSong1910Intro Vs1A Vs1B Ch Vs2A Vs2B ChEbLyrics by Joe Snyder.
TreemonishaOpera19113 acts, 27 chaptersN/A
Felicity RagRagtime Two Step1911Intro AA BB CC Trans. DDC/C/C/F/CWith Scott Hayden. Likely composed before 1903.
Lovin' BabeSong1911Intro Vs1 Ch Vs2 ChGLyrics by Al. R. Turner, arranged by Joplin.
Scott Joplin's New RagRag1912Intro AA BB A CC Trans. D A CodaC/Am/C/C/Em/C
Kismet RagRag1913Intro AA BB A CC DDC/G/C/F/CWith Scott Hayden. Likely composed before 1903.
A Real Slow DragOpera Excerpt1913Intro A B1 B2 Trans. CC B1 B2 CodaBm/F/Bb/FRevised excerpt from Treemonisha.
Prelude to Act 3Opera Excerpt1913A B CC A CodaG/Bb/C/GRevised excerpt from Treemonisha.
Silver Swan RagRag1914Intro AA BB A CC Intro ABb/Gm/Bb/Eb/BbOriginally published only on piano roll. Sheet music published in 1971.
Magnetic RagRag1914Intro AA BB CC Trans. DD AA CodaBb/Gm/Bb/Bbm/Bb
Frolic of the BearsOpera Excerpt1915Intro A B1 B2 C Trans. A B1 B2 C Trans. A CodaEmRevised excerpt from Treemonisha.
Morning GloriesSong1915Lost – incomplete, and unpublished. Announced by the composer in the Indianapolis Freeman newspaper, September 4, 1915. Seen by biographer Rudi Blesh in 1950.
Syncopated JamboreeVaudeville Act1915Lost – unpublished. Announced in the Indianapolis Freeman newspaper, September 18, 1915.
Pretty Pansy RagRag1915?Lost – incomplete, and unpublished.
Recitative RagRag1915?Lost – incomplete, and unpublished.
For The Sake Of AllSong1915?Lost – incomplete, and unpublished.
IfMusical Comedy1915Lost – announced in the New York Age September 7, 1916.
Symphony No. 1Symphony1916?Lost – announced in the New York Age September 7, 1916.
Piano ConcertoPiano Concerto1916?Lost – unpublished.
Reflection Rag Rag1917Intro AA BB CC DD EEBb/Gm/Bb/Eb/EbPublished posthumously by Stark, likely from much older unpublished manuscripts.