Scott Joplin was born in Texas in 1868.
His father, who was a [?] slave, played the violin, and his mother played the banjo, but Scott's favourite [?] was the piano.
His father worked [?] to buy him a second-hand grand piano.
Music [?] naturally from Scott's [?], and he quickly became famous in his [?] town.
Scott didn't learn to [?] music until he was 11 when he received [?] lessons from an old German music teacher.
He played classical music as well as his own [?] music.
As a result, when he started to [?] music, he produced a wonderful [?] of classical European and African beat.
This unique style was [?] as Ragtime.
In 1882, he moved to St Louis and started playing Ragtime piano in cheap bars in a [?] area of the city.
The sound of music was everywhere : black, white and mixed. His musical [?] continued to [?].
Altogether, he wrote about 50 piano rags. Scott Joplin [?] in 1917.
Today, he is the undisputed King of Ragtime.