This is a question for music Read about ragtime. Then answer the questions that follow.
to play ragtime, the left hand and the right hand must do two very different things. the left hand plays a march-like rhythm. the accent is on the first and third beats. the right hand plays a syncopated melody. rags are composed in three or four sections, each 16 measures long. the pattern repeats itself in the form aa BB CC DD.
the most famous ragtime composer is Scott Joplin (1868–1917). as a child, Joplin taught himself how to play piano. a piano teacher, Julius Weiss, heard him play and gave him lessons in the european classical style. although Joplin would go on to earn his living composing rags, he wished to be a classical composer, probably because of his teacher.
Joplin left home when he was in his teens and settled in St. Louis. there he began composing a new kind of music: ragtime. ragtime combined classical music styles with african american harmonies and rhythm. In 1898 he sold one of his first two rags, but the staff arranger got credit for it. So the next year, Joplin hired a lawyer to help him publish his most famous composition, “the Maple Leaf rag.” the lawyer wrote a contract saying that Joplin would receive a one-cent royalty for every copy sold. this was unusual. Most composers were given a flat fee for their work. the royalty gave Joplin a small income for the rest of his life. In his lifetime, he composed more than 40 rags, two operas, and several marches and songs.
ragtime’s popularity began to fade in the 1920s, probably because its form was too restricted and mechanical. However, ragtime continues to live on. In 1973 Joplin’s rag “the entertainer” was featured in the movie The Sting. this created a renaissance of ragtime. In 1976 Joplin was awarded a Pulitzer Prize posthumously for his opera Treemonisha.
1. Describe some of the musical characteristics of ragtime.

2. How was Joplin paid for writing “the Maple Leaf rag,” and how was this different from the standard compensation of his day?

3. How did Scott Joplin’s piano lessons influence his life?

4. What effect did The Sting have on recognition of Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha?