You Are Reading the First 6 FREE Chapters (470 pages)
2.6.9Ragtime Music: Origin and History
Origins
Ragtime was a style of piano-based syncopated jazz that emerged in the mid 1890s. Some musicians played ragtime on other instruments, such as the banjo.
Like New Orleans jazz, ragtime had roots in the “square” marches and dances of Europe, combined with African American syncopation.
In ragtime piano style, the left hand plays a “square” march rhythm or dance rhythm against the right hand’s syncopated melody, resulting in a characteristic “ragged” sound.
One of the main differences between ragtime and New Orleans jazz was that ragtime was usually (but not always) formally composed and notated, whereas jazz was usually (but not always) improvised. Some musical historians argue that much ragtime music was completely improvised, but only the composed pieces remain for the record, as do ragtime piano rolls.
Rhythmically, both New Orleans jazz and ragtime were syncopated, yet sounded markedly different.
Breakout
Ragtime became all the rage for a few years, both in America and Europe during the first decade of the 20th Century.