... . Joplin was the first black ragtime composer to publish such a Manual. By 1900, ragtime was becoming a national craze, and in fact it gave the new decade its popular name, the "gay nineties."" One reason for its popularity was the amateur music movement. In the decades since the Civil War, the parlor piano had become the favorite of American middle-class culture ... Sounds, and Solace (Mexican serenade). Solace was Joplin's only work in tango rhythm. Euphonic Sounds, one of Joplin's masterpieces, was a difficult challenge to many pianists. It became the kind of test piece that, years ea...

• Word Count: 3626
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography