Ragtime Music Essay
Ragtime Music – The Beauty of Syncopation
Ragtime originated in the 19th century from the combination of African and European musical ideas in the southern states of the U.S. The music was more a result of experimentation and informal learning by example, often by self-taught musicians who played in streets and bars. This relaxed folk music became formalized into Ragtime by composers like Ben Harney and Scott Joplin who played the music to large audiences and published it so that its popularity spread across the country. Missouri was the heartland of ragtime. The word ‘Ragtime’ is a musical meter to show a style of playing piano. In Joplin’s “ Elite Syncopations”, the melody is ‘broken up’ into short or syncopated rhythms while a steady overall beat is either played or expressed in the lower range. The excitement of ‘Ragging’ or ‘Jig Music’ came from syncopation – the displacing of the beat from its regular course of meter. In a typical Ragtime piece as in “Elite Syncopations” by Joplin, the left hand plays a heavy 2/4 rhythm and March. The right hand plays eight beats in the same interval, but accents every third beat. Some ragtime pieces used a device called "stop-time" where the rhythmic pattern of the music seems to pause for a few bars …show more content…
Ragtime’s popularity faded around 1917 with the rise of another catchy term--"jazz"--used to describe peppy, noisy, popular music. It was continued to be supported and played in swing versions in dance bands. In 1970, ragtime music had a great come back. Several of the ragtime compositions were used in popular movies. Ragtime, like any other music, must be heard and really cannot be defined by words--just as words cannot be defined by music. But through more than 100 years, ragtime has had no trouble making its presence known and its composers, performers, and admirers all look forward to its
Ragtime originated in the 19th century from the combination of African and European musical ideas in the southern states of the U.S. The music was more a result of experimentation and informal learning by example, often by self-taught musicians who played in streets and bars. This relaxed folk music became formalized into Ragtime by composers like Ben Harney and Scott Joplin who played the music to large audiences and published it so that its popularity spread across the country. Missouri was the heartland of ragtime. The word ‘Ragtime’ is a musical meter to show a style of playing piano. In Joplin’s “ Elite Syncopations”, the melody is ‘broken up’ into short or syncopated rhythms while a steady overall beat is either played or expressed in the lower range. The excitement of ‘Ragging’ or ‘Jig Music’ came from syncopation – the displacing of the beat from its regular course of meter. In a typical Ragtime piece as in “Elite Syncopations” by Joplin, the left hand plays a heavy 2/4 rhythm and March. The right hand plays eight beats in the same interval, but accents every third beat. Some ragtime pieces used a device called "stop-time" where the rhythmic pattern of the music seems to pause for a few bars …show more content…
Ragtime’s popularity faded around 1917 with the rise of another catchy term--"jazz"--used to describe peppy, noisy, popular music. It was continued to be supported and played in swing versions in dance bands. In 1970, ragtime music had a great come back. Several of the ragtime compositions were used in popular movies. Ragtime, like any other music, must be heard and really cannot be defined by words--just as words cannot be defined by music. But through more than 100 years, ragtime has had no trouble making its presence known and its composers, performers, and admirers all look forward to its