A Guide to Ragtime: What Is Ragtime Music?

Ragtime is an American musical style that developed in the 1890s from both European and African styles, mostly performed by Black American artists. Ragtime composers such as Scott Joplin, James Scott, and Joseph Lamb created enduring compositions filled with syncopated rhythms, sophisticated chord progressions, and memorable melodies. Their ragtime songs inspired Vaudeville and Broadway songwriters, as well as early jazz bands.

Early ragtime composers drew inspiration from both marching band music (particularly the popular marches of John Phillip Sousa) and minstrel music—which was often performed by white musicians in blackface. Despite these influences from white artists, ragtime flourished in the hands of Black American composers working around the turn of the twentieth century.

• Ragtime composition: Pianist Scott Joplin set the standard for ragtime composers. Joplin composed ragtime classics such as "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer." Born in Texarkana, Texas, Joplin spent most of his professional career in St. Louis, Missouri, and New York City. He studied piano and music theory with Julius Weiss, a Jewish American music professor born in Germany, from whom Joplin likely learned the European art of polka, which inspired the syncopation he would infuse into his ragtime compositions.
• Ragtime influenced jazz: In the early 1900s, the nascent ragtime movement caught on in New Orleans. There, Jelly Roll Morton incorporated ragtime piano into his jazz compositions. Morton, along with Harlem pianist James P. Johnson, helped bridge the gap between ragtime and early jazz music—although, unlike jazz, ragtime adheres to its sheet music and does not venture into improvisation.
• Fading popularity: Ultimately jazz overtook ragtime as America's popular music of choice in the 1920s. However, the genre lives on through ragtime revival bands. Ragtime has also become a source of inspiration for many classical music composers, including Arthur Honegger, Igor Stravinsky, George Gershwin, Erik Satie, Darius Milhaud, and Claude Debussy.

During its heyday at the turn of the century, ragtime was defined by a few central characteristics:

1. 1. Largely piano-based music: Most ragtime music was composed for piano and exploits the vast potential of that instrument. Subsequent arrangers have built large orchestrations for these piano-based songs, but in its purest form, ragtime is often performed by a solo pianist.
2. 2. Syncopation: Ragtime is identifiable by its jaunty rhythm and frequent syncopations. When combined with a duple meter (such as 2/4 or 6/8) plus a heavy swing feel, ragtime becomes somewhat danceable.
3. 3. Mixture of African and European influences: Ragtime music shows obvious influence of German polka and Anglo-American marching band music—particularly that of John Phillip Sousa, who was popular during the ragtime era. Yet, starting with Scott Joplin, the most iconic ragtime musicians were Black Americans and many incorporated elements of Black spirituals and blues music of the American South. In particular, ragtime borrowed from a southern Black dance form called cakewalk.
4. 4. Harmonic sophistication: Like classical music before it and the jazz that would follow, ragtime songs tend to cycle through sophisticated chord progressions and key changes. However, unlike jazz, ragtime does not call for improvisation over these chord progressions.

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