The Entertainer sheet music (easy)

Scott Joplin (c. 1868–1917), Level 4 · Intermediate, 0:27

Download PDF
The Entertainer (Easy), keyboard staff, page 1 of 2The Entertainer (Easy)Scott Joplin (c. 1868–1917). Regular keyboard staff. Print at 100%, not fit-to-page.CCDDEFFGGAABBold red line: C4 · Solid line: other Cs, D F G A · Dotted grey line: E | F and B | CC3C524DE♭ECECECCCCDE♭ECDEEBDGCGCGGDC3C54CDE♭ECECECCAGF♯ACEEDCACGCGCADAC3C58DDE♭ECECECCCCDE♭ECDEEBDGDCGCGGDC3C512CCDECDEECDCECDEECDCCGCGCGSource: Site-owned easy edition. Melody: The Entertainer (first strain, high phrases an octave lower), Scott Joplin (1902), public domain, checked against The Mutopia Project: The Entertainer(https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=263). Left hand written for this site.The Entertainer (Easy) · Page 1 of 2
The Entertainer (Easy), keyboard staff, page 2 of 2C3C515ECDEEBDCGDCGSource: Site-owned easy edition. Melody: The Entertainer (first strain, high phrases an octave lower), Scott Joplin (1902), public domain, checked against The Mutopia Project: The Entertainer(https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=263). Left hand written for this site.The Entertainer (Easy) · Page 2 of 2
Sheet music cover of The Entertainer
The Entertainer, first edition cover. Unknown cover artist, 1902. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Key facts

Level
Level 4 · Intermediate. Estimated from the notes (0 of 8 on our difficulty score)
Time signature
2/4
Key signature
No sharps or flats
Length
17 bars, 2 pages
Playing time
0:27
Notes
110
Range
G2 to E5

Source and licence

Licence of the source: Public domain melody.

Source: Site-owned easy edition. Melody: The Entertainer (first strain, high phrases an octave lower), Scott Joplin (1902), public domain, checked against The Mutopia Project: The Entertainer. Left hand written for this site.

Source: The Mutopia Project: The Entertainer.

Playback sounds: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm (CC BY 3.0); Upright Piano KW by Gonzalo and Roberto of FreePats (CC0 1.0); Fluid R3 GM by Frank Wen and contributors (CC BY 3.0). Full sound credits.

How to play The Entertainer (Easy)

Ragtime in easy mode: the right hand gets the bouncy tune and the left hand keeps a steady two-step. The trick is the off-beat swing, and you can master it.

Where your hands go

Right hand: the pickup is D4, D♯4, then E4. Try fingers 2 and 3 for D4 and D♯4, then your thumb on E4 so your little finger can reach C5.

Left hand: mostly two notes a bar, C3 then G3, one per beat. Little finger on C3, thumb on G3.

The piece is in 2/4, two beats a bar, and nearly all the right-hand notes are sixteenths, four to a beat.

The tricky bars

Bars 1–2
The leap game: E4 and C5 bounce back and forth in a pattern that lands off the beat, and the last C5 of bar 1 is tied into bar 2. Hold it; do not play it again.
Bar 3
E5 is tied across the middle of the bar, so the next note, B4, sneaks in late. Count "1 e and a" to place it.
Bar 7
F♯4, A4, C5, E5 climb up a chord, with the left hand moving to D3 and A3.
Bars 13–15
The same five-note figure, E5, C5, D5, E5 then a tied E5, three times in a row. Count the repeats so you know when to stop.

Your practice plan

  1. Clap the right-hand rhythm of bars 1 and 2 while saying "1 e and a 2 e and a". This is the whole secret of ragtime.
  2. Right hand alone, bars 0 to 4, at half speed with the Speed control.
  3. Left hand alone: a steady march of C3, G3. Keep it rock solid; it is the floor the tune dances on.
  4. Hands together, two bars at a time, still at half speed.
  5. Bring the speed up a step at a time, then play it all with Listen on.

Watch out for

  • Playing the tune square, with every note on the beat. The tied notes and off-beat starts are what make it swing.
  • Restriking tied notes, especially the C5 from bar 1 to bar 2 and the E5 in bars 3, 11, 13, 14 and 15.
  • Forgetting the D♯4 in the pickups to bars 1, 5 and 9.
  • Letting the left hand speed up with the right. Ragtime should feel relaxed, not rushed.

Power-up: press Loop, tap the first and last of the tricky bars, and they repeat until they feel easy. Hands in Options lets you practise one hand at a time. New to the notation? Start with how to read keyboard staff, then how to practise piano.