His waltzes were part of the White Star Line's orchestra repertoire, and likely played on the fatal maiden voyage of Titanic.

[4] His first known composition, completed at the age of 11, was a march that was performed several times by the conductor Dan Godfrey (in his pre-Bournemouth bandmaster days).

He began his professional career as a pianist at London's Oxford Music Hall in the 1890s[5] but soon also started playing for the ballet, most notably the company run by Katti Lanner at the Empire Theatre of Varieties in Leicester Square with Madame Genée as its leading ballerina.

[10] In the 1990s Philip Lane helped lead a revival of interest in Joyce with a radio documentary, The English Waltz King,[11][12] also providing new arrangements of his music for a Marco Polo recording (re-issued on Naxos in 2022).

[6] Other early waltzes include Remembrance, Boating, À jamais, and Vision d'Amour in 1909, and Love and Life in Holland and A Thousand Kisses in 1910.

[14][16][17] Joyce's early two-steps include I'll Dance till de Sun Breaks Thro' and Mickey's Birthday (or An Irish Stew), both written in 1909.

[6] Other highly successful waltzes quickly followed, including When the Birds Began to Sing in 1911, Charming and Passing of Salome in 1912, Always Gay and Maiden's Blush in 1913, Entrancing in 1914, and Love's Mystery in 1915.

[6] Songs by Joyce include I’m Skipper of a Submarine, God’s Greatest Gift, The Rogue of the Road, Awake, The Morning Light, Dreams of Bohemia, Friends Dear to Me and The Modern Girl.

[6] Although billed by his publishers (Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew) as "The English Waltz King", the implied comparison with Johann Strauss II is not valid, according to Jason Tomes.

Other contemporary examples of the English light waltz include Destiny by Sydney Baynes and Nights of Gladness by Charles Ancliffe, both 1912.

Dreaming was given lyrics by Earl Carroll and introduced in the US by Miss Kitty Gordon in Oliver Morosco's comedy with music, Pretty Mrs Smith (1913).

[24] Joyce disliked jazz, avoiding the syncopation and saxophones favoured by the younger generation of dance hall composers.

In fact, the White Star Line Repertoire book (which the orchestra members were required to memorize) contained several works by Joyce: Passing of Salome, A Thousand Kisses, Dreaming, Sweet Memories, Boating, Vision d'Amour, Love and Life in Holland, Vision of Salome, Songe d'Automne, and Remembrance.