Ragtime Music - it's History, Composers and Influences

Playing the Piano - close-up Ragtime sprung up as a form of music towards the end of the 19th century, and this was one of a number of musical styles which had their roots in this time period. This increasing diversity resulted from the fusion of African and European musical ideas in the Southern States of the U.S. It wasn't so much a deliberate crafting by music scholars, but more the result of experimentation and informal learning by example, often by self-taught musicians who played in streets and bars. This informal folk music became formalised into Ragtime by composers like Harney and Joplin who played the music to large audiences and published it so that its popularity spread across the country.

A Brief History of Ragtime

scott joplin piano rolls CD cover In its purest form Ragtime was played as an instrumental on a solo piano, an instrument which most honkytonk bars and saloons possessed. The word Ragtime means "syncopated time", the main characteristic of these pieces being the Right Hand playing a syncopated tune while the Left Hand plays a simple regular line of alternating bass notes and simple chords, often called a "two-step" and not unlike the "Alberti Bass" used in classical music by the likes of Mozart and Haydn. Despite the fact that the Right Hand syncopations were far in excess of anything produced in classical music, the structure of these pieces was nevertheless quite strict in a classical sense. They were usual in 2/4 time, and consisted of a number of contrasting 16 bar sections (sometimes with a middle "trio" section), with repetitions and returns to previous sections or a "Da Capo" (return to the begining). This structure is very similar to various march or dance forms or to the classical form known as a Rondo. Towards the end of each section or phrase there might be rising bass lines, changing harmonies or accidentals to give colour and emphasis to the cadences (phrase endings).

Scott Joplin 18 rags in easier versions - sheet music book cover Ben R. Harney was one of the first practitioners to bring ragtime to the Vaudeville shows in New York. An all round entertainer, he did much to popularise ragtime allowing it to spread beyond its humble beginings. He was closely followed by Scott Joplin, who with the publication of the Maple Leaf Rag had the equivalent of a top ten hit. It's easy to see why this style became popular. The tunes and rhythm are "catchy" and foot-tapping, the syncopations lively and with humour (often poking fun at serious or pretentious music), and anyone with a piano could participate. Joplin continued to lead this new art form producing a large number of piano rags, cakewalks and other similar forms, and even demonstrating that ragtime could be adapted with different time signatures including the 3/4 Waltz time. Although many performers had a tendency to play ragtime very fast for comic effect, Joplin frequently indicated on many of his rags that they should be played quite slow or "not fast", and the piano rolls which he created and left for posterity demonstrated the desired slow tempo.

Influences and Revival of Ragtime

black upright piano with sheet music Ragtime was an influence on songwriters of the day, who wrote songs called rags although they were only loosely based on the conventions of genuine ragtime. Many of Ben R. Harney's works were songs and among other songwriters, there was Irving Berlin who wrote "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "Everybody's Doing It" among many other popular songs. Thus it is not an exaggeration to say that ragtime has had an impact on the development of modern song-writing. In the same way that Jazz was later to influence classical composers like Ravel, Ragtime also had an influence on some classical composers. One of those was Claude Debussy who wrote a number of piano pieces in this style, including the Golliwog's Cakewalk. Igor Stravinsky was also inspired when he left Russia and heard jazz and ragtime music in France, and as a result he composed his "Piano Rag Music" though this the work is not true ragtime but an impressionistic piece with only subtle hints of ragtime and jazz.

Marvin Hamlisch and Scott Joplin - The Sting soundtrack CD cover Ragtime was less popular by the 1920s by which time Jazz was making an impression, which unlike ragtime had an emphasis on improvisation. Ragtime was unstoppable however and made a number of comebacks. There was a major revival of fortune for ragtime music when Marvin Hamlisch used Joplin's music extensively in the soundtrack to the movie The Sting. "The Sting" soundtrack included The Entertainer as its main theme, together with Solace and other rags, played in the original piano versions or as arrangements. More recently the soundtrack to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button included another Scott Joplin piece at the end of the movie, called Bethena: A Concert Waltz. Certain film composers have composed new tracks in a ragtime style for their film scores. Two of the best known examples of this are when John Williams used a fusion of alien ragtime, jazz and latin for the "Cantina Band" music in the original "Star Wars" (IV: A New Hope), while Jerry Goldsmith composed the "Gremlins Rag" (with whacky electronics) for the film "Gremlins".

An Introduction to Ragtime Sheet Music

Below you will find a list of the key ragtime composers and a selection of ragtime pieces which are free to download for personal use. However it is fair to say that many piano rags are a little bit difficult to play, particularly for young players with small fingers. However much ragtime has been arranged into simpler versions so that even the less-experienced pianist can have a go. If you want to try the original more difficult pieces then scroll down to the composer section below, but if you would rather start by playing some simplyfied version then we suggest the following sheet music collections from external websites as suitable starting points for the young pianist interested in ragtime:

Now scroll down the page to find links to ragtime sheet music by Scott Joplin, James Scott and other composers.


Ragtime composers and selected Sheet Music:

We list just a few of the better known ragtime exponents, and some of their works.

Ben R. Harney (1872-1938)

Ben R. Harney photograph Benjamin Robertson Harney (a white American) is sometimes credited as the originator of Ragtime. That claim is uncertain but he was certainly one of its early practitioners and popularisers, and his "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" is thought to be the first published rag in 1895. In 1896 Harney moved to New York where, in addition to publishing more sheet music, he also published the book "Ben Harney's Rag Time Instructor" which explained how to turn well-known melodies into rags. He played and sang in several venues in New York, and also toured across the USA and the world with his wife and other entertainers performing his Vaudeville style show. Many of his works are not the familiar instrumental ragtime of Joplin and others, but more like popular songs with a ragtime chorus. His works include:

James Scott (1885-1938)

James Scott photograph James Scott's skills as a pianist became obvious when he worked in a music store demonstrating the pianos there. Some of his own compositions which he played there became very popular and the store owner Charles L. Dumars published his "A Summer Breeze" in 1903. Scott moved to St. Louis in 1906 where he met Scott Joplin who introduced him to his own publisher John Stillwell Stark who published many of his compositions after the success of "Frogs Legs Rag". Over the next decade or so Scott composed a large number of successful ragtime works though, once ragtime started to lose its popularity, Scott became a music teacher and an accompanist for silent movies. Among his most popular works are:

Joseph F. Lamb (1887-1960)

Joseph F. Lamb photograph Joseph Francis Lamb was an American composer of Irish descent. He was a self-taught pianist with a passion for ragtime music. He was purchasing some sheet music by Joplin and Scott in the New York office of publisher John Stark when he met Joplin himself. Joplin was impressed by Lamb's own ragtime compositions, and (like he had previously done with James Scott) he introduced Joseph Lamb to his regular publisher John Stark. Stark duly published Lamb's sheet music with "Sensation" being the first to go into publication. Over the next decade many more rags were published and Lamb became one of the "Big Three" ragtime composers along with Scott Joplin and James Scott. Among his works are:

Arthur Marshall (1881-1968)

Arthur Marshall was born in Missouri and he was still a teenager when he met Scott Joplin. Joplin became a friend of the Marshall family and he stayed with the Marshalls for a time. Arthur Marshall became a protege of Joplin and the pair co-wrote "Swipesy" and "The Lily Queen". Marshall also published a number of rags without Joplin's direct help including "The Pippin" and others:

Scott Hayden (1882-1915)

Scott Hayden was another young Missouri-based musician who learned ragtime from Scott Joplin. Together the two men wrote the "Sun Flower Slow Drag" and three other popular rags. In his short life Hayden did not complete any of his own composition - "Pear Blossoms" was unfinished when he died in 1915.

George Botsford (1874-1949)

George Botsford: Black and White Rag - sheet music cover George Botsford was another American composer who helped to pioneer ragtime with his first publication being "The Katy Flyer Cake Walk" in 1899. He was born in South Dakota and grew up in Iowa, where he received a formal musical education and gained experience as a performer. He published both ragtime and non-ragtime works, with his most famous piece being the "Black and White Rag" which he published in 1908. Although this work was popular in many decades, it became well-known in the UK when it was used as the theme tune to the Snooker television programme "Pot Black". Another popular work was the Grizzly Bear Rag which became a song when Irving Berlin added lyrics to it. Using animal names for music and songs was popular at the time, and this is when the "Turkey Trot" and "Fox Trot" originated. Botsford moved to New York and worked in Tin Pan Alley as a successful Bandleader and arranger.

Scott Joplin (1868-1917)

Scott Joplin photograph While Ben R. Harney is known as the Father of Ragtime, then Scott Joplin is known as the King of Ragtime (though in both cases these labels were part of their own publicity). Certainly Scott Joplin is the best-known of all ragtime composers. He had the 19th century equivalent of a chart hit with his sheet music for the "Maple Leaf Rag" and published many more hits after that. He was the most ambitious ragtime composer who wanted ragtime to be viewed as equal to classical music. He wove ragtime into a number of serious musical forms including his opera Treemonisha, but that failed to live up to his expectations. Long after his death it was also Joplin's music which spearheaded a revival of interest in ragtime during the 1970s, due mainly to "The Entertainer" being used as the theme music for the movie "The Sting". On mfiles there is a dedicated Scott Joplin page with a biography and list of his works, and the following are available for download:

Irving Berlin (1888-1989)

Irving Berlin photograph Irving Berlin was an American composer and song-writer of Jewish Russian origin. He was certainly not a true ragtime composer like Scott Joplin, but he incorporated the syncopation of ragtime into popular song to become one of America's best known composers. His first big hit in 1911 even mentioned ragtime - it was of course "Alexander's Ragtime Band". In a way he softened the strict form of ragtime, to create accessible and popular song forms (often performed as a dance) which caught the public appeal at a time when recorded music was becoming more common. There is some controversy about the melody in "Alexander's Ragtime Band". Scott Joplin felt that Berlin had taken the idea from "A Real Slow Drag" (a song from his opera Tremonisha). He showed Berlin the score but Berlin went ahead and published his song anyway, and then Joplin revised his "Real Slow Drag" so that people would not accuse him of stealing from Berlin. Nevertheless, though he wasn't a ragtime composer, Berlin kept the idea of ragtime in the public consciousness and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" became a musical in 1938, and the song was also used in the musical "There's No Business Like Show Business" in 1954.




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