what type of music was scott joplin noted for?
Ragtime
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 Near the end of his life , Scott Joplin was taking ragtime in a new direction by adding emphasis on form and tonality , and attempting to combine the characteristics of classical Western music and traditional ragtime . This is an entirely different direction than the one that jazz would take . 

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 Some music historians evaluate " Magnetic Rag " , as well as other works from Joplin 's late period , as being indicative of his unstable mental condition which resulted from the effects of syphilis . One of these is Martin Williams : 

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 Joplin combines the waltz ' " oom @-@ pa @-@ pah " rhythm and its conventionally accented three quarter notes in the bass , with a syncopated melody in the treble . The main melody line used in the introduction and then repeated regularly throughout , with its alternate unaccented eighth notes and accented quarter notes , is the rhythm of the Cakewalk minus the final note . The Cakewalk was a popular African @-@ American dance which originated in plantation slave communities in nineteenth century America , and ultimately contributed to the musical style Ragtime . The simultaneous sounding of the two independent rhythms , he combination of the waltz in the bass and the syncopation of the main theme in the treble , is an example of a 4 against 3 polyrhythm . There are many subtle variations of this sequence which occur throughout the work . 

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 With the Brahmsian darkness of . . . " Magnetic Rag , " the last piece he completed , Joplin had pushed the music far beyond the boisterous beerhall ambience that characterized , for many listeners and players , the rag idiom . This was music on a large scale that was now being squeezed into the narrow confines of rag form — so much so , that the music often burst at the seams . 

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 Joplin produced " Magnetic Rag " during what several musicologists consider to be his experimental period . It was at this time that Joplin attempted to write rags that were not confined to the standard " oom @-@ pah " left @-@ hand beat and that incorporated several other novelties . 
