Maple Leaf Rag (3:16)

“Maple Leaf Rag” is a multi-strain ragtime march with athletic bass lines and upbeat melodies. Each of the four parts features a recurring theme and a striding bass line with copious seventh chords.

Published in 1899, “Maple Leaf Rag” was not an immediate hit. It wasn’t until
1907 that two recorded versions of it sold a modest number of copies—one by the U.S. Marine Band and the other by Vess L. Ossman. Scott Joplin himself never recorded “Maple Leaf Rag” but did make a piano roll of it for player pianos in 1916, a year before his death.

Out of all songs written before 1955, “Maple Leaf Rag” went on to become one of the 100 songs that has been recorded by the most number of different artists.