Despite the huge level of what now looks like racism (even the cover of The Entertainer is so offensively stereotypical it could have been drawn by a Big Brother contestant), black composers to attain a level of financial success never before known. Thanks to the fact that pianos were regarded as a women’s instrument in the 1800’s, a very large number of ragtime composers were women (read up on the subject on The Ragtime Emphemeralist). Ragtime music was the first music to cross all international, racial and gender barriers. I associate with dreary childhood Sunday afternoons watching snooker. It has since been used numerous times on TV and by ice-cream vans. The Entertainer (dating from 1902) is easily the most well known ragtime piece, but it only came into prominence in the 70’s when it was used as the theme to the film The Sting (set in 1936 – more than 15 years after ragtime fell from popularity). You know the one.” Luckily, everyone recognises Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer. I suspect that, after ripping through the 24 caprices, Paganini’s grandma screeched, “ Play that one off the cigar advert. The fact is, no matter how technically adept you are, most people want to hear something they’ve heard a million times before. “ Play something I’ve heard of,” a cry I often hear from elderly family members who are less than impressed with my Roy Smeck imitations.
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