Generating page narration, please wait...

Overview

In the years 1890-1920 in the United States, "ragtime" came to be used as a collective term to identify various musical practices and new social dances. Through instrumental works and songs available to the public as mass-marketed media products labeled as ragtime-sheet music and, later, recordings and popular entertainment-ragtime attained a broad audience throughout North America, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe.

Be ready to:

Articulate the social and historical significance of the three most important precursors to the development of ragtime music.

Explain the effects of racial profiling as exemplified through Blackface Minstrelsy.

Describe the main characteristics of ragtime music performed by the three prominent composers of this genre.

Discuss the importance of James Reese Europe to the development of Syncopated Brass Band music and its early development as the forerunner of Jazz.

Discover Music

Discover Video

Keywords

Listening Guides

References

Conclusion

Ragtime developed in post-Reconstruction American society amongst the spread of many racial stereotypes surrounding Black music culture. Precursors to the style of music included "coon songs," blackface minstrelsy, and the cakewalk, each being influenced by racial undertones and impacting the growing Black social and cultural identity in the eyes of both Blacks and Whites. Furthermore, the emergence of individuals such as James Reese Europe, Scott Joplin, and James Lamb served to develop the genre through their stylistic choices leading to distinct characteristics of the genre and the introduction of syncopated brass band music as a forerunner of jazz.

Reese Europe

In my opinion, there never was any such music as "ragtime." "Ragtime" is merely a nickname, or rather a fun name given to Negro rhythm by our Caucasian brother musicians many years ago.