DESCRIPTION:
While this video is a brief overview of the life and career of Scott Joplin, it serves as a vehicle for an original piano composition of mine. "Sedalia" is one of my original rags from the recording "Boardwalks and Tank Towns". It reflects the classic form established by Scott Joplin in the late 1890s. Playing ragtime music is a lot of fun but harder than it sound. After giving many lecture recitals on Scott Joplin and his music I set out to write many rags of my own.
Classic ragtime form requires 4 separate sections with repeats, modulations and revisiting of the main theme at some point. It's a lot of notes but rewarding when it is finished.
Joplin lived in Texas, Missouri and New York. But Sedalia, Missouri was where he began publishing his early rags that established him as the "King of Ragtime ". There is an annual festival in his honor held there every spring. It keeps his music alive and expands the opportunities of pianists to play ragtime and listeners to appreciate the genre.