Passage V

Ragtime

Ragtime music is one of the most original American art forms. Ragtime did not sprout up like daisies out of a honky-tonk piano in the 1890s, however; its origins and influences run deep and wide.

Ragtime can be traced to the African drumming and African-Caribbean dance rhythms incorporated into American slaves' music. This mix created a unique layering of complex rhythm patterns over a regular beat. A somewhat simplified version of these rhythms was later heard in the banjo tunes of minstrel shows in the 1840s. (62)

While ragtime is basically derived from African American music, and it can be seen as a multicultural enterprise in its origins and influences. Some of its structures were based on European dances like the quadrille and the polka. The minstrel show, finally, was a multicultural enterprise, with both blacks and whites performing in, managing to owning the shows. And while the vast and biggest majority of ragtime performers were black pianists, the old ragtime "cakewalk," for instance, was originally performed first for white audiences by John Philip Sousa's band.

[1] The most influential ragtime musician of all, however, was a black man, by the name of, Scott Joplin. [2] A traveling saloon musician for many years, the “King of Ragtime" settled in Sedalia, Missouri, in 1896, he played at the Maple Leaf Club. [3] He began to publish his own musical pieces, which were traditional Victorian songs and piano compositions. [4] Swept up by the ragtime craze, Joplin was soon writing and publishing his own rags and went on to become the master of the form. [5] “Maple Leaf Rag," honoring the club where he played, became the most famous rag ever. [6] Joplin also wrote a ballet, and two operas were also written, but these were not nearly as successful as his rags. (73)

Scott Joplin is remembered as a major contributor to American culture. Many recordings of Scott Joplin's music are still being made.