Transcript Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin:
Ragtime King
His Life
Teacher’s
Page
Windows
and Mirrors
By Paul Provencio and Joy Agre
Scott Joplin Teacher Page
Read about Scott Joplin’s life together as a class.
You may add other tidbits of information if you
choose.
Next have students do the Windows and Mirrors
activity. You may choose to do this as a class and
then have each student do it individually. Each
child will need a separate sheet of paper. This
activity can be used as an assessment also.
Scott Joplin - His Life
Scott Joplin was born on November 24,
1868 in Texarkana, Texas. Joplin’s father
played the fiddle and his mother played the
banjo as a hobby. His mother was sure her
son was destined for a musical career even
though no black man before had made a
respectable living in music. His mother
worked hard to pay for his piano lessons
until music teachers started offering him
lessons “for free.”
Scott Joplin - His Life
By age 14, Joplin entered school and had
developed quite a reputation as a pianist. At
17, he left home and began playing piano in
bars. He settled in St. Louis in 1885 where
he learned a lot about music of the day and
began to compose his own music in a style
that became known as RAGTIME.
Scott Joplin - His Life
In 1894 he moved to Sedalia, Missouri. It
was there that he published his “Original
Rags” and “Maple Leaf Rag” (which was
named after a nightclub called the Maple
Leaf where he had played) and opened a
teaching studio. He moved to New York City
in 1907.
Scott Joplin - His Life
In 1911, Joplin published an opera,
“Treemonisha”, at his own expense. Staged
in a concert version in 1915, the opera failed
with the audience leaving the composer’s
spirit permanently broken. It wasn’t until a
performance 57 years later that it was
recognized as the first truly American opera.
Scott Joplin - His Life
On April 1, 1917, Scott Joplin died from
advanced syphilis. Joplin never achieved
the recognition in his lifetime that has since
come his way. He was buried on Long
Island, New York in an unmarked grave.
However, after winning the Pulitzer Prize in
music in 1976, his gravestone now reads
“Scott Joplin, American Composer.”
Scott Joplin
Windows & Mirrors
Divide your paper into two sections.
Label one half “Windows” and the other half
“Mirrors”. List five things in each category.
Windows:
How
are
you different
from Joplin?
Mirrors:
How are
you the
same as
Joplin?