"The Entertainer" subtitled "A Rag Time Two Step" (a popular early 20th
century N. American dance and style of music common among rags) was
completed in 1902 by the African-American composer Scott Joplin (1867-1917).
He wrote several ragtime piano compositions or "rags" (his most famous being
"Maple Leaf Rag"), operas, ballets, marches and waltzes. Ragtime preceded
Jazz which would become the dominant popular music in the U.S. by 1917.
He wrote several ragtime piano compositions or "rags" (his most famous being
"Maple Leaf Rag"), operas, ballets, marches and waltzes. Ragtime preceded
Jazz which would become the dominant popular music in the U.S. by 1917.
It has an A B A C D structure or four 16 measure segments of music. Syncopation
(a basic characteristic of this style of music) is omnipresent.
The piece became famous in 1973 with the release of the multiple Oscar winning
film The Sting ("The Entertainer" was featured as the theme music and the
soundtrack won an Oscar).
It was originally composed for piano in C (remember the piano was the main
instrument of Ragtime) and there are countless transcriptions for many different
instruments and instrumentations. Here's my arrangement for guitar in the key of G
with some right and left hand fingerings.
with some right and left hand fingerings.
