Retrospective for a Ragtime King

Joplin really laid the stage for the emergence of jazz music. The ragtime conventions are deceptively simple, they carry a kind of counter balance between the cleffs almost resembling polka at times, but the rhythmic styles often are more subtle with off beat progressions. The song structures progressing through chapters of themes are particularly interesting and lacking from most modern popular music.

Odd that this article doesn't mention his piano teacher: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Weiss

It's generally pretty hard for me to get through stuff written in this article's style, but overall I get the point.

As an amateur pianist, who has always loved ragtime music, I remember how irritated I was when I tried to choose a Scott Joplin piece to play at a recital or competition and was told I couldn't because it was "popular music".