Swipesy was written with Joplin's pupil Arthur Marshall in 1900 and its syncopated opening is uncannily reminiscent of Debussy's Golliwogg’s Cakewalk written many years later. Joplin's tutor book, the School of Ragtime, shows tremendous pride in his art form. In the opening remarks he comments: "That real ragtime of the higher class is rather difficult to play is a painful truth which most pianists have discovered. Syncopations are no indication of light or trashy music". He goes on to give deta...