Duke Ellington's Soda Fountain Rag

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Duke Ellington When Ellington was seven years old, he took piano lessons. Ellington was a kind- hearted person growing up. Ellington childhood friends noticed that his casual, offhand manner and his stylish clothing gave him a nice looks. He earned his nick name “Duke” because of his gentleman ways. Ellington went to Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C. In 1914, Ellington wrote his first composition, “Soda Fountain Rag”. When he wrote that composition he worked as a soda jerk at the Poodle Dog Café. When he created that composition piece he didn’t really learned how to read and write music around that time.
At the age fourteen, Ellington sneaked into the Fran Holiday’s Poolroom and listened to the pianists played in the

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