Dat Lovin' Rag is a quintessential example of the ragtime genre that became popular in the early 1900s. Its musical identity relies on the interplay between a driving bassline and a syncopated, playful melodic line.
At Henle 4 this is an intermediate piece that expects secure technique and real attention to phrasing. The main demands: a left hand with real melodic or rhythmic responsibility of its own; precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; and fine finger independence within the hand.
Ensure the rhythmic tension between the left-hand pulse and the right-hand accents remains precise.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Dat Lovin' Rag is rated Henle level 4 of 9 — intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 5–6. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 4.
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 Dat Lovin' Rag lasts about 3 minutes.
Dat Lovin' Rag 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 Waltz No. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich, Caramel mou by Darius Milhaud, Columbine by John Ireland — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.