The Entertainer: What Most People Get Wrong About Scott Joplin

You know the tune. Even if you think you don't, you do. It’s that jaunty, high-stepping piano melody that sounds like an ice cream truck or a silent film chase. But here is the thing: The Entertainer by Scott Joplin isn't just a catchy jingle. It is actually a piece of musical defiance.

When Scott Joplin published the piece in 1902, he wasn't just trying to write a "hit." He was trying to prove that African American music belonged in the same breath as Mozart and Beethoven. Most people today hear it and think of old-timey cartoons. Back then? It was a revolution.

The King of Ragtime and the Myth of "Fast" Music

Scott Joplin had a specific pet peeve. People kept playing his music too fast. Seriously. If you look at the original sheet music for his rags, there’s often a stern warning: "It is never right to play 'Ragtime' fast."

Why was he so insistent? Because ragtime is about the syncopation. Basically, your left hand acts like a steady marching band (think tubas and drums), while your right hand plays a "ragged" or syncopated melody. If you blast through it like a runaway train, you lose the soul of the composition.

Joplin was a classically trained musician. He studied under a German immigrant named Julius Weiss in Texarkana, who taught him the European masters. Joplin’s goal was to fuse those formal structures with the rhythms of the Black American experience.

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• Maple Leaf Rag made him famous in 1899.
• The Entertainer cemented his legacy in 1902.
• But he died in 1917 feeling like he'd failed his true mission.

Why The Entertainer Almost Disappeared

It’s hard to believe now, but The Entertainer was largely forgotten for decades. By the time Joplin died in a New York state hospital, ragtime was being shoved aside by the faster, more improvisational sounds of early jazz.

Joplin’s dream of being a "serious" composer had mostly stalled. His opera, Treemonisha, never got a full staging in his lifetime. He spent his final years obsessed with it, but the world had moved on to the "Jazz Age."

Then came the 1970s. Honestly, the 70s were weird, but they did one great thing: they brought Joplin back from the dead.

In 1970, a pianist named Joshua Rifkin released an album of Joplin’s rags on a classical label called Nonesuch. It was a shock. It wasn't played like honky-tonk bar music; it was played with the elegance of Chopin. Then, in 1973, the movie The Sting starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford used The Entertainer as its main theme.

Suddenly, a song written in 1902 was #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974.

The Sting and the Great Historical Mix-up

There is a huge misconception that started with The Sting. The movie is set in the 1930s (the Great Depression). Because the movie used Joplin’s music, a whole generation grew up thinking ragtime was the sound of the 1930s.

It wasn't.

By the 1930s, ragtime was considered "grandpa music." Using The Entertainer in a movie about the 30s was a total anachronism, sort of like playing 1990s grunge in a movie about the 2020s. It worked for the vibe of the film, but it totally warped our collective memory of when this music actually lived.

What Really Makes it "The Entertainer"?

The title itself is a bit of a mystery. Some historians think Joplin named it after a specific Vaudeville performer or perhaps as a nod to the "entertainers" who played in the saloons of St. Louis and Sedalia.

Musically, it’s a "ragtime two-step." It follows a very strict structure:

1. Intro: That famous descending line.
2. Section A: The main theme everyone knows.
3. Section B: A slightly more driving response.
4. Section C: A key change (usually to the subdominant).
5. Section D: The big finish.

It's actually quite complex. Joplin used homophony—a clear melody over a chordal accompaniment—but he peppered it with "accidentals" (notes outside the main key) to keep it from sounding boring. It’s "high-brow" music disguised as a "low-brow" dance tune. That was his genius.

The Tragic End and the Pulitzer

Joplin’s life ended in a way that didn't match the joy of his music. He struggled with syphilis, which eventually took his mind and his ability to play. He died almost penniless in 1917, just as the first jazz recordings were being made.

It took nearly 60 years for the world to catch up. In 1976, Joplin was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his contribution to American music.

You’ve probably heard this song in a thousand commercials or as the background music for a silent film montage. But next time you hear those first few notes, try to hear what Joplin wanted you to hear. Don't listen to it as a joke or a "funny" old song.

Listen to the precision. Listen to the way he forced European classical structures to dance to an African American beat. It isn't just entertainment; it’s the DNA of every American song that followed it.

How to Truly Appreciate Joplin Today

If you want to move beyond the "ice cream truck" version of The Entertainer, here is what you should actually do:

• Listen to the Joshua Rifkin recordings. They are the gold standard for how Joplin intended his music to sound—deliberate, elegant, and not too fast.
• Look up the lyrics. Yes, people actually wrote lyrics for it later (Milton Berle famously sang a version on The Muppet Show). They aren't original to Joplin, but they show how the song evolved.
• Check out his "Solace" or "Magnetic Rag." If you only know the hits, these more melancholic, complex pieces will completely change how you view Joplin as a composer.
• Watch the 1970s performance of Treemonisha. Seeing his opera staged helps you understand that he wasn't just a "ragtime guy"—he was a man who wanted to change the world with a baton in his hand.