🎹 Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" - the 1899 ragtime masterpiece that launched American popular music! This isn't just a piano piece - it's the first instrumental composition to sell over one million copies and helped establish ragtime as a major musical genre. That syncopated rhythm? Pure ragtime magic. The sophisticated melodic structure? Revolutionary for its time. Fun fact: "Maple Leaf Rag" was named after the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri, where Joplin worked as a pianist. The piece helped establish Joplin as the "King of Ragtime" and influenced countless musicians who followed. The composition's success helped pave the way for the development of jazz and other American musical forms, making it one of the most important pieces in the history of American music. ✨