Pineapple Rag • Scott Joplin's Hidden Gem (1908) • Ragtime Piano Performance

This one doesn't get the love it deserves. While everyone knows Maple Leaf Rag, Pineapple Rag is honestly one of Joplin's most elegant pieces. There's something different about it—it breathes a little more than his other rags, with a relaxed swing that gives you room to really feel the syncopation. The third section is especially beautiful. It's so lyrical that Joe Snyder actually added lyrics to it in 1910 and turned it into a song. You can hear why—that melody just sings. Joplin wrote this in 1908 during his New York years and dedicated it to "the Five Musical Spillers" (a vaudeville family act). He even noted on the original sheet music: "Do not play this piece fast"—advice I definitely tried to take to heart here....as it's easy to let it get away from you :-) One interesting detail: musicologists point out that Joplin uses a flatted blue seventh in the C section, showing how he was already absorbing blues elements into ragtime. Some also consider this one of the earliest examples of a walking bass pattern that would later become essential to boogie woogie. If you've never heard this one before, I hope you enjoy discovering it as much as I enjoyed learning it. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Piano performances are original recordings performed by M.R. Lane. While the underlying musical compositions are in the public domain, this/these specific performance(s) is/are protected by copyright. © 2026 M.R. Lane. All rights reserved. These recordings were performed, recorded, and produced independently by M.R. Lane. No pre-existing recordings were sampled, copied, or used. Each performance is an original creative work protected under copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of these performances is prohibited without written permission. 🎹 Performance Copyright: M.R. Lane 📹 Video Production: M.R. Lane