About the piece
Published in 1899, it is named after the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri, where Joplin played. It was one of the first American instrumental pieces to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of sheet music.
It has four themes, all with the classic leaping left hand and a right hand full of syncopations and octaves.
How to practise it
- Start with the first theme, the most famous one, hands separately.
- Play the right-hand octaves with a loose wrist, slowly at first.
- Keep the left hand as steady as a metronome: the syncopations only work over a stable bass.
- Joplin marks it Tempo di marcia: firm, not frantic.
Free sheet music
First page. Complete sheet music (PDF) on the Mutopia Project (public domain, edition by Chris Sawer); in the Piano Learning app you read it two pages side by side while you play.
Frequently asked questions
Is it harder than The Entertainer?
A little: a key with four flats, more octaves and wider leaps.
Why “Maple Leaf”?
It was the name of the club in Sedalia where Joplin worked.