<Tr> <Th> Years active </Th> <Td> 1895--1917 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <P> Signature </P> </Td> </Tr> <P> Scott Joplin (/ ˈdʒɒplɪn /; c. 1867 / 68 or November 24, 1868--April 1, 1917) was an African - American composer and pianist . Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime". During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas . One of his first, and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag . </P> <P> Joplin was born into a musical family of railway laborers in Northeast Texas, and developed his musical knowledge with the help of local teachers . Joplin grew up in Texarkana, where he formed a vocal quartet, and taught mandolin and guitar . During the late 1880s he left his job as a laborer with the railroad, and travelled around the American South as an itinerant musician . He went to Chicago for the World's Fair of 1893, which played a major part in making ragtime a national craze by 1897 . </P>

Scott joplin is best known as a composer of what kind of music