The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered on September 18, 1899)[1] is an early ragtime musical composition for piano composed by Scott Joplin.

The "Maple Leaf Rag" was already known in Sedalia prior to its publication in 1899; composer and pianist Brun Campbell claimed to have seen the manuscript of the work in or around 1898.

[5] Prior to its publication, Joplin anticipated that the piece would be a success—he told Arthur Marshall that "The Maple Leaf will make me the king of ragtime composers".

The "Maple Leaf Rag" was published between August 10 and September 20, 1899, when the United States Copyright Office received two copies of the score.

Generally, the "Maple Leaf Rag" is considered difficult to play;[12] a pianist must have very good coordination in the left hand to perform it successfully, particularly for the trio, which involves leaps of two octaves.

When it was published, it was considered significantly more difficult than the average Tin Pan Alley and early ragtime sheet music common at the time.

[11] Brown's lyrics tell the story of a poor man from Accomack County, Virginia, who stumbles into a ballroom where, in spite of his anxiety over the state of his appearance, he manages to wow the crowd with the Maple Leaf Rag.

[2][18] Joplin's first biographer Rudi Blesh wrote that during its first six months the piece sold 75,000 copies, and became "the first great instrumental sheet music hit in America".

Berlin theorizes that by the time Joplin made these recordings he may have been experiencing discoordination of the fingers, tremors and an inability to speak clearly, symptoms of syphilis, the disease that took his life in 1917.

[20] The recording of "Maple Leaf Rag", on the Aeolian Uni-Record label from June 1916 was described by biographer Blesh as "shocking ... disorganized and completely distressing to hear".

[22] The piece was a selection in the White Star Line songbook in the early 1900s, and could have possibly been played aboard the RMS Titanic during its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912.

The tune continued to be in the repertoire of jazz bands decades later, with artists such as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in the 1920s, and Sidney Bechet in the 1930s giving it up-to-date adaptations, maintaining a timeless quality to it.

[29] Most recently, Maple Leaf Rag was featured as one of the piano exam pieces in Grade 8 for the years 2025 and 2026, by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM).