Classic ragtime (which would include Joplin's rags) is often compared to the "Classic" era of European music(Haydn,Mozart, Beethoven) in the sense that it is formed in well organized sections and relies heavily on the bass register supplying a clear harmonic foundation.Rags are in 2/4 or 4/4; waltzes in 3/4...you could convert Maple Leaf Rag to waltz time, but it would drastically alter the standard view of "classic ragtime"structure. Joplin DID write in the waltz format-check that out for fun!
ah thankyou for your reply! I still think there is some waltz into, maybe just at the start of the song, look at the incipit: if you take in the starting quarter, it is a camouflage 3/4! to me the ba-rum-pa-pa ba-rum-pa-pa of the first 4 bars and 1/4 is a reminiscence of waltz, don't you think so? But maybe this is what you mean in the last sentence but I do not get always 100% english, I'm sorry for that.
never thought of that Spanish influence, you're really a live music encyclopedia! About this, I would like to make you a question: while I'm trying to learn Maple Leaf Rag, I felt in the bassline some European music feeling, Waltz in the specific, do you recon that as well or it just my idea?
