Ragtime (alternately spelled
Ragged-time) is an originally American musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918.
[1] Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged", rhythm.
[2] It began as dance music in the
red-light districts of American cities such as
St. Louis and
New Orleans years before being published as popular sheet music for piano.
[3][4] It was a modification of the
march made popular by
John Philip Sousa, with additional
polyrhythms coming from African music.
[5] The ragtime composer
Scott Joplin became famous through the publication in 1899 of the "
Maple Leaf Rag" and a string of ragtime hits that followed, although he was later forgotten by all but a small, dedicated community of ragtime aficionados until the major ragtime revival in the early 1970s.
[6][7] For at least 12 years after its publication, the "Maple Leaf Rag" heavily influenced subsequent ragtime composers with its
melody lines,
harmonic progressions or
metric patterns.
[8]Ragtime fell out of favor as Jazz claimed the public's imagination after 1917, but there have been numerous revivals since as the music has been re-discovered. First in the early 1940s many jazz bands began to include ragtime in their repertoire and put out ragtime recordings on 78 RPM records. A more significant revival occurred in the 1950s as a wider variety of ragtime styles of the past were made available on records, and new rags were composed, published, and recorded. In 1971 Joshua Rifkin brought out a compilation of Scott Joplin's work which was nominated for a Grammy Award,[9] and in 1973, the motion picture The Sting brought ragtime to a wide audience with its soundtrack of Joplin tunes. Subsequently the film's rendering of Joplin's 1902 rag "The Entertainer" was a top 40 hit in 1974.
Ragtime (with Joplin's work in the forefront) has been cited as an American equivalent of minuets by Mozart, mazurkas by Chopin or Waltzes by Brahms.[10] Ragtime influenced Classical composers including Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky.[11]
Ragtime originated in African American music in the late 19th century, descending from the jigs and marches played by black bands.[12] By the start of the 20th century it became widely popular throughout North America and was listened and danced to, performed, and written by people of many different subcultures. A distinctly American musical style, ragtime may be considered a synthesis of African syncopation and European classical music, especially the marches made popular by John Philip Sousa.
