RAG TIME? WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!
Ragtime came out of African Americans community in the Southern Parts of the midwest specifically in St. louis. Missouri was the center of all things ragtime. Ragtime was very popular in the late 19th century up until the first two decades of the 20th century. This style of music came right after jazz. Ragtime grew on a nationwide scale through published sheet music that was sold. Ragtime was written to generally be played on a single piano. This style of music had a very syncopated or “ragged” rhytm which made it not as easy to play.
Born in the late 1860s, Scott Joplin came to be known as the king of Ragtime. As a teen Joplin became a traveling musician, performing in bars and dance halls. Joplin was the lading composer of Ragtime in the early 20th century. His most famous work was “Maple Leaf Rag,” which became the template for all ragtime compositions. This piece was one of the most popular ragtime pieces and the biggest selling son in this genre ever. Joplin became the first artist to sell 1 million copies of an instrumental piece. Through his music he was able to pave the way for a lot of Jazz artists that followed after
Eubie Blake was another influential figure in Ragtime during the 20th century. Born February 7, 1887 in Baltimore Eubie began playing the piano at the age of 16, around the same time he wrote his first piece “Sounds of Africa.” He was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of Ragtime, Jazz, and popular music. His musical career had not really flourished until he met a woman by the name of Noble Sissle and collabed with her creating many hits. Together they produced “Shuffle Along,” which was the first all black broadway show.