Ragtime

Syncopation over a steady bass

Ragtime arose in the late 19th century in African American communities in the USA. Its hallmark is the contrast between the two hands: the left hand plays a steady alternation, in 2/4 time a bass note on the first and third eighth notes and a chord on the second and fourth. Above it the right hand plays a syncopated melody whose stresses fall between the beats. The name probably goes back to “ragged rhythm”.

Structure in several sections

A classic rag consists of several sections of 16 bars each. One example is the order AA BB A CC DD, as in the “Maple Leaf Rag”: the first two sections are repeated, the first returns once, and then two new sections follow, also repeated.

Scott Joplin and the heyday

The best-known composer is Scott Joplin, the “King of Ragtime”. His “Maple Leaf Rag” of 1899 began his series of influential compositions; “The Entertainer” is also his. Ragtime flourished from the 1890s into the 1910s, before jazz overtook it in popularity in the early 1920s. It influenced composers such as Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky and contributed to the emergence of jazz.

Common mistakes

• Syncopating the bass as well: The left hand stays steady; the syncopations belong in the right hand.
• Confusing ragtime and boogie-woogie: In ragtime the left hand alternates between bass note and chord; in boogie-woogie it plays rolling, repeated bass figures.
• Misreading the repeat plan: AA BB A CC DD means that section A is heard three times, twice at the beginning and once after B.