Ragtime Solos for Classical Guitar

Scott Joplin was born in Northeast Texas in around 1867, just outside Texarkana, and was a street performer before settling in Sedalia, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, and finally New York City where he died in 1917. He was an American composer and pianist, who achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas.

As a composer Joplin refined ragtime. This new art form combined Afro-American folk music's syncopation and nineteenth-century European romanticism, with its harmonic schemes and its march-like tempos. With this as a foundation, Joplin intended his compositions to be played exactly as he wrote them – without improvisation. The composer wrote his rags as "classical" music to raise ragtime above its "cheap bordello" origins and produced works which were described as "...more tuneful, contrapuntal, infectious, and harmonically colorful than any others of his era."

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About the Arranger

Internationally acclaimed guitarist Gregg Nestor has built up a strong following for his abilities as soloist, accompanist and arranger. Finalist in the New York Concert Artist Guild Competition (one of 16 out of 2,800 competitors) held at Carnegie Hall, Gregg Nestor has recorded and broadcast in Holland, Belgium and Spain, and for the BBC (England). In his London debut, The Times critic commented on his being “uncommonly communicative, a real artist in timing and shading, in stylish fluency and tact besides wholehearted communication with his composers.”

Over 60 works arranged by Gregg Nestor for solo/duo guitars or with various ensembles have been published with diverse groups such as Warner Bros. Music, Boosey and Hawkes (England) and Clear Note Publications. Gregg continues to be active in music and score preparation for Hollywood theatrical films and video games.