Scott Joplin -- Complete Piano Works: Rags, Waltzes, Marches

First off, the contents of this publication are absolutely fantastic. As the complete collection of Joplin's work, this edition is unrivaled in the ragtime literature.However, from the standpoint of the printing quality, it's rather poor. Many of the pages were falling out when I received the book, and several other pages are faded as if printed when the printer was low on ink. I unfortunately was preoccupied with other things and missed my return window, so cannot exchange it in hopes that mine was just a bad printing, but please be forewarned that this is one of the worst jobs of bookbinding I've ever seen.

When the movie "The Sting" revived Scott Jopin's popularity lots of editions of sheet music and collections of his music came out. I bought a nice spiral bound edition of his complete works that I have used ever since, but it finally has fallen to pieces, so I had to get a new collection. After looking at several, I settled on this for many reasons.First, it is complete. It does not have any of his songs (but these are available in a second volume), which I miss, but it clearly states that this is works for piano. And everything I am aware of is in here. This is important. Some are just collections of rags and leave out vital works such as the lovely waltz "Bethena".Second, I love the large format and the clear printing. This is far superior to the collection I had before (which is no longer available anyway). Too many editions now save money by printing in a smaller format that is really just about note paper size. It is harder to read music in the smaller format and this is large and durably bound. This is an edition that is meant for actual use and to last a long time.Third, this edition includes black and white reproductions of the cover art of the sheet music. This is surprisingly nice for students to see and get a feel for the culture of the time the music was written and popular.Fourth, the introductory essays provide a great deal of historical background that students will find most useful in understanding the music and Joplin's context in the music of his time (and ours). The appendixes and index also provide valuable background material that will expand the aficionado's appreciation of the piano rolls created of Joplin's music, old 78 rpm recordings of his works, and a few of the 33 1/3 LP records of Joplin's music. The index covers the works in this, volume I, and the works contained in volume II. I guess this is a clever way of interesting us in reaching out for volume II!You can certainly find cheaper and less comprehensive editions, but I would encourage you to go with this one. For what you get the price is very reasonable. I find it a necessary part of my music library and I hope you will add it to yours.Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI

For someone truly advanced in piano, this is the Joplin to buy. Not much more to be said. We typically photocopied the piece and taped the pages together so no page turns… but we would with any book. For younger students who are unusually advanced, be aware most Joplin requires a pretty big stretch in the left hand. If your student is a beginning or intermediate pianist, you’ll want to look for a modified version—probably sheet music—of one of Joplin’s popular pieces. Joplin is so beloved there are multiple levels of The Entertainer to choose from. If you are fortunate to have a sheet music store in your area, it is worth going there to look at the music itself. If you are not a pianist and in doubt, bring one of your student’s current music books with you to show the staff. Usually they can help based on that.And as a final thought for any serious piano teachers out there… isn’t it time to return Joplin to his rightful place in the Syllabus? A seriously tonedeaf move on the organizers’ part.

I was so excited to play my favourite rags again, so I opened it up and started to play - and at the first page turn, the page fell half-way out. Same with the second page turn. Top-notch sheet music and editing, garbage binding.

I love playing Joplin's rags, and this book organizes all of his rags and collaborative rags in one convenient volume. The preliminary essay by ragtime scholar Rudi Blesh makes for interesting reading. I love having all the original cover art for the rags, too!The music is typeset clearly, making it easy to read. However, since the book is quite thick, it doesn't lay flat on a music rack. I'd definitely recommend photocopying the pages you'd like to play because of this. Keep in mind that this is not music for the beginning pianist; it is more suitable for intermediate to advanced players (RCM Grade 6+). Playing ragtime is very good for learning syncopation, improving one's sense of rhythm, strengthening the fingers, and having fun at the piano.It's too bad that this book is no longer in print; it's a fantastic resource and a definite must have book for anyone who's interested in Joplin's music.

Awesome collection of Joplin's music. These are not someone else's arrangements, these are the actual work as if Joplin were sitting here and playing them. I started playing the piano when I was 8 yrs. old. By the time I was 14 I was playing Maple Leaf Rag, The Pineapple Rag, and others (Bethena's Waltz). When I started high school the piano teacher saw this book; heard me play a few rags, and he wanted to borrow the book for a couple of weeks. He loved it. As a Junior I won the Talent Show ( Grand Prize!) by playing the Maple Leaf Rag and Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# minor. Anyway, I'm bragging, and I mean to brag about Joplin's work in this book. There are wonderful rhythms to learn.....syncopation and more. If you're an intermediate piano player and on, you will absolutely love this book. The low price is well worth it. I'm sure, in 1972, I paid at least $25-$30 bucks. Thanks Amazon for offering this work at a great price!

Overall this book of Scott joplin's complete rags, waltzes and marches is excellent, I did notice that a few pages hadn't been cut at the bottom meaning two pages were joined together, rather than sending the book back I used a utility knife to cut the pages, also another slightly worrying problem is the ink used to print the music tends to rub off when using an eraser, if you like to work out the fingering by writing them in for future reference then be careful not to make any mistakes ! If you rub too hard the ink fades, otherwise I'm very happy with the book and recommend it to anyone interested in this great music.

A very good and recommended book for Joplin-lovers! All sheet music is big enough and it comes with a large introduction on Joplin and how his music was received back in the day. As it's such a thick book it needs pegs on the sheet music stand to hold the pages back from flicking forwards, but otherwise no problems.Great book with all his pieces in and at a brilliant price, thus highly recommended!!

Love ragtime music and especially Scott Joplin since I started playing 15 years ago. It gives me a break from classical music. This book contains all of Joplin’s solo piano works l

Great value, one volume all works

5 Star