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Ragtime and the U.S.A. Midwest

Jim Andris, June 4, 2002

Ragtime is a fusion of German march music and syncopated vocal music carried from Africa to the U.S.A. by slaves.

The acknowledged classical master of ragtime is Scott Joplin (1868-1917). “Original Rags” was his first published rag in Kansas City in 1899, followed by “Maple Leaf Rag,” published the same year by John Stark & Son in St. Louis, MO. People who want to understand the classical rag form can do so by studying the structure of the Maple Leaf Rag. Joplin was in St. Louis most of the time between 1885 and 1908. He was probably at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, and the piece “The Cascades” may have been performed there.

Joplin was a natural collaborator and helped memorialize the works of students and acquaintances in several rags, including “Swipesy Cakewalk” (with Arthur Marshall, 1900), “Sunflower Slow Drag” (with Scott Hayden, in 1901) and “Heliotrope Bouquet (with Louis Chauvin, 1907). He spent some time in New York City. In his lifetime he wrote over 50 works, including rags, waltzes, marches, slow drags, two-steps and two operas.

Two other masters of ragtime are generally acknowledged to have published a bit later than Joplin. James Scott, an African American, lived and played generally in Kansas City. He became famous through “Frog Legs Rag” in 1906, and continued to publish rags into the early 1920’s. Ragophiles admire his “Grace and Beauty Rag” (1909). A later rag is “The Troubadour Rag,” published in 1917.

Joseph Lamb, a Caucasian, is the third person in the classical rag triumvirate. Scott Joplin, who heard Lamb’s “Sensation” rag in 1907 in New York City, helped Lamb publish it. Lamb had a unique style and tended to write either light and strongly rhythmic pieces (Bohemia Rag, 1919) or slower pieces of great charm and beauty (Ragtime Nightengale, 1915).

Ragtime was generally heard throughout the Midwest, especially in town and cities along the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers in saloons and sporting houses. Many rags had words to them, but to today’s ears, they seem to be full of somewhat offensive racial and sex role stereotypes. However, in the first two decades of the Twentieth Century, these songs were on millions of lips.

Somewhere around 1905, ragtime became a more respectable form of music and moved into the middle-class parlors of this country.

There were quite a few women ragtime composers after 1905. May Aufterheide of Indianapolis achieved fame with “Dusty Rag” (1908) and “the Thriller Rag” (1909). Other famous women ragtime composers were Irene M. Giblin and Julia Lee Niebergall.

The beloved composer, Irving Berlin, capitalized on the success of the ragtime movement by writing “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” in 1911. Even though this piece is not strictly a rag, it captured the hearts of “America.”

There are literally hundreds of ragtime composers, and this overview has not even scratched the surface. Ragtime continues to be composed today.

Ragtime died a natural death during the Roaring Twenties by evolving into other forms of music. During the Twenties, the so-called novelty piano became extremely popular. It had some of the features of ragtime, but was especially designed to show off the pianistic abilities of the performer. Zez Confrey was probably the most famous exponent with “Kitten on the Keys” (1921), “My Pet” (1921), and “Stumbling” (1924). Another form that evolved is called stride piano. Stride also shares characteristics with ragtime, but is characterized by moving 10ths in the base. James P. Johnson is probably the most famous exponent here, with “Snowy Morning Blues.” He continued to play into the 1940s. Fats Waller is also known for stride and for his exceptional vocal performance, e.g. in “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

It is also important to remember that other forms of music were developing parallel to ragtime. Blues, a 12 bar form, contrasts with ragtime, which is a 16 bar form. Jelly Roll Morton, from New Orleans, was a gifted musician and composer more into this line of music. Also, jazz, which evolved into dixieland jazz and boogie woogie during the 1920s, is still an important movement today. In fact, jazz continued to evolve throughout the Twentieth Century. Dixieland tended to involve smaller ensembles of wind instruments, piano, drums and banjoes. Boogie woogie was first a piano form and later a big band form. We remember Meade Lux Louis in “Honky Tonk Train Blues.”