Joseph Lamb's 'American Beauty' is a sophisticated rag-time waltz that departs from the standard 2/4 march-style rag. It features lush, romantic harmonies that distinguish it from the more rhythmic works of Scott Joplin.
The main challenge is balancing the internal melodic lines within the chordal textures while keeping the flow smooth.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
American Beauty is rated Henle level 4 of 9 — intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 5–6. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 4 — meaning you can already play level 3–4 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of American Beauty lasts about 4 minutes.
American Beauty is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Bohemia by Joseph Francis Lamb, American Beauty Rag by Joseph Francis Lamb, Belle of the Ball by Leroy Anderson — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.