Piano songs · Advanced
Maple Leaf Rag on piano
The Maple Leaf Rag is the rag that started a craze: a bouncing left hand and a right hand full of syncopation, notes landing just before the beat. Here's the famous first strain.
this song
About the piece
Scott Joplin published the Maple Leaf Rag in 1899 in Sedalia, Missouri, naming it after the Maple Leaf Club where he played. It became one of the best-selling pieces of sheet music of its time and made Joplin the "King of Ragtime". Joplin later printed a warning on his music: it is never right to play ragtime fast.
The notes
The letters above are the tune, played by your right hand: A♭ E♭ A♭ C E♭ G E♭ G B♭ E♭; A♭ E♭ A♭ C E♭ G E♭ G B♭ E♭ E♭ A♭ B E; E♭ E♭ A♭ B E E♭; A♭ B A♭ A♭ B A♭ A♭ A♭ A♭ A♭ A♭ E♭ F C; E♭ F A♭ B♭ B A♭ B♭ C A♭ C A♭ B♭ A♭ A♭; A♭ A♭ A♭ A♭ E♭ F C E♭ F A♭ B♭ B A♭ B♭; C A♭ C A♭ B♭ A♭. Longer boxes are longer notes. Press Play and follow along, slow it down with the speed slider, or turn on Wait for me and play each note yourself.
How to learn it
- The left hand is a march: a low bass note, then a chord, in a steady "oom-pah". Learn it alone first.
- Syncopation: the right hand's notes often land between the beats. Clap the rhythm over a steady count before playing.
- Four flats: A♭ major. Expect black keys everywhere.
- Not fast: Joplin meant it. Ragtime should swagger, not race.
Learning Maple Leaf Rag on a real piano? Ivory listens to you play and tells you what's off: a note that's missing, a hand that lands late, a rhythm that runs away. Then it shows you how it should go.
Questions people ask
Is the Maple Leaf Rag hard?
Yes: it's an advanced piece, with wide left-hand jumps and quick syncopated chords. The Entertainer is a gentler first rag.
Who wrote the Maple Leaf Rag?
Scott Joplin, published in 1899. It's in the public domain.
More songs to play
Notes checked against the public-domain Mutopia Project edition (mutopiaproject.org). Piano sound: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, CC BY 3.0.