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Ragtime Unit Presentation
Miss Biscella
7th and 8th Grade Classes
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What is Ragtime?
 Style
of music which served as a precursor
to JAZZ
 Melody
features highly syncopated (or
“ragged”) rhythms above a rhythmically
steady harmony
 Began
as improvisation
 “Ragging” the
 Mostly
classics
piano music
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Origins of Ragtime
 Developed
in the 1890s and remained
popular into the 1920s
 Partially
inspired by a dance called the
CAKEWALK
 Competitive
couples dance invented by
African Americans in slavery
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7DmFXj
NDoM
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Origins of Ragtime
 Combination
of Classical/European and
African music conventions
 European
Elements included:
 Supported
rhythm in the harmony
 Set form (either ABCD or ABACD)
 Chord progressions (I and V)
 African
Elements include:
 Syncopation
 Multiple
layers of rhythm
 Repetition of short rhythmic or melodic patterns
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Composer of the Day (3/5)
Thomas Turpin
(1871-1922)
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Thomas Turpin (1871-1922)
 Born
in Savannah, Georgia
 Moved
with his family to St. Louis, Missouri
 Father—business
man and politician
 Invested
in gold-mining with brother,
Charles in Nevada
 Moved
back home and eventually married
his wife Willamete
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Thomas Turpin (1871-1922)
 Rosebud
Bar—St. Louis
 Often
served as his own star of the show by
performing at the piano each night
 Opened
numerous other businesses in the
years that followed
 Died
at the age of 50
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Turpin as a Composer
 Gifted
 Often
pianist since his early teens
only composed when business was down
 Wrote “The
Harlem Rag” in 1897
 First
ragtime piece published not only in St.
Louis, but anywhere
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx6XmoH30q
s
 Other
compositions include the “Buffalo Rag”,
“Pan Am Rag”, “St. Louis Rag”, and “A Ragtime
Nightmare”.
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Let’s Review, Shall We?
 What
is the primary instrument in rag?
 What
is the relationship between the melody and
harmony in ragtime?
 When
was this style popular?
 Ragtime
is a mixture of musical conventions from
which two areas of the world?
 Who
was the composer we discussed yesterday?
 What
song is considered the first published
ragtime piece?
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Syncopation
 Definition—placing
the accent on the offbeat (or “and” of a beat) in a piece of music
 Very
important in ragtime and later jazz
 Here’s
what it looks like!
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Composer of the Day (3/6)
James
Scott (1885-1938)
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James Scott—Beginnings
 Considered
one of the BIG THREE in
ragtime**
 Born
in Neosho, Missouri to former slaves
 Mother
taught him as well as his five
siblings to play piano by ear
 Had
some actual lessons as well
 Ability to notate music
 Met
Charles R. Dumars of Dumars Music-made him a published composer
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James Scott—Career Peak
 Published
 “A
his first rags in 1903
Summer Breeze” and “The Fascinator”
 Performed
in cities around the country on
his own or with the Light Guard Band
 Travelled
to St. Louis and met Scott Joplin
 Introduced
Stark
 Frog
to prominent publisher John
Legs Rag (1906)
 Most works since were published by him
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James Scott—Later Years
 1920—moved
to Kansas City and opened
his own teaching studio
 Led
to nickname “Little Professor”
 Theater
and silent film bands
 Continued
composing despite the decline
in ragtime’s popularity
 Nothing
 Works
published since 1922
ignored and grave unmarked until
the “ragtime revival” during the 1970s
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Review Questions
 What
is syncopation?
 Who
can demonstrate syncopation for the class?
 Who
was the composer we studied yesterday?
 This
composer is part of the _________ _________
 What
was the name of the piece we listened to
yesterday?
 What
was the name of the publisher James Scott
met in St. Louis?
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Let’s Play….
Name That Tune!
“The
Entertainer”
by...
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Scott Joplin (1868?-1917)
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A Brief Overview

Considered the “King of Ragtime” and a
member of the BIG THREE
 Composed
over forty piano ragtime pieces
including “The Entertainer” and “The Maple
Leaf Rag”
 Wrote
both rag and classical pieces
 Finished
composing two full-length operas
before his death in 1917.
 Able
to perform on several instruments
including the piano, cornet, violin, and voice
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Joplin’s Early Years
 Despite
his prominence in ragtime, some of the
details of his early life are a mystery
 Birth
year and place
 Taught
 He
himself piano
had perfect pitch too!!
 Eventually
Germany
worked with a piano teacher from
 Introduced
 Went
him to classical music
to high school in Sedalia, Missouri—
which later served as his “home base”
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Start of Joplin’s Career
 1891—first
concrete evidence of Joplin’s career
 Performed
in various ensembles in Sedalia
 Attended
some college-level courses to study
music notation which then allowed him to
compose away from the piano
 Wrote
a few classical pieces and started
writing rags with only some success
 1899—Met
John Stark who helped him publish
“The Maple Leaf Rag”
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Joplin’s Later Years
 1901—moved
 Where
to St. Louis (the heart of rag)
he composed “The Entertainer” in
1902
 Able
to focus on composing, teaching, and
collaborating with other ragtime musicians
 1903—First
opera called A Guest of Honor
 Opera
company dissipated after just a couple
months
 Three
marriages between 1901 and 1917
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More on his Later Years
 Began
work on his second opera,
Treemonisha, in 1907
 Submitted
it to Irving Berlin for publishing
in 1910 but it was rejected
 Eventually
published it himself in 1911
 Tried
many times to put on a full production
but could never see it happen in his lifetime
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Finally staged during the rag revival of the
1970s
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Here’s Some More Review!
 Who
is considered the “king of ragtime”?
 Name
one piece we listened to by this
composer?
 What
 Who
city is considered the heart of rag?
was Scott Joplin’s main publisher?
 What
other types of music did he write while
he was alive?
 Anyone
want to demonstrate syncopation
today? 
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This Week’s Agenda…
 Monday
and Tuesday—Finish new material
 Wednesday—Substitute Teacher
 Likely
watch a movie in the band room
 May want to take the time to study what we’ve
covered in class
 Thursday—Review
Game
 Friday—RAGTIME
UNIT TEST
 Study
guide to come soon!
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Historical Contexts of the
Time
 Industrial
Revolution
 It’s
all about
efficiency!
 Planes, trains, and
automobiles
 Segregation
 Women’s
 Right
Suffrage
to vote
 Feminism
 Peak
of immigration
 “Melting Pot”
 Age
of Giant
Corporations
 World War
 Sinking

I (1914-1919)
of Titanic (1912)
Prohibition (1919)
 Speakeasies
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Daily Life at the Time of Rag
 Faster-paced
living
 Sports
 Baseball
 Basketball
(invented 1893)
 Bicycling
 Radio/
Playing music
 Ballroom
 Travel
dancing (1900s-on)
becoming faster/easier
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Connections to Ragtime
 Fast-paced
tempo
 Up-lifting
melody/mood
 Blending
of cultural music conventions
 Precision
is key!
 Piano
rolls
 Improvisation was
unacceptable
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Composer of the Day (3/10)
Joseph
Lamb (1887-1960)
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Joseph Lamb Childhood
 Born
in 1887 in New Jersey
 Came
from a musical family—learned
piano and composition from this older
sisters who received formal training
 Inspired
by Scott Joplin at an early age
 Attended
 Began
1900s
school in Ontario, Canada
writing/publishing work in the early
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Career Beginnings
 1908—Chance
 Performed
to meet his idol Scott Joplin
his rag “Sensation” for him
 Joplin
was impressed and took the young
composer under his wing
 Introduced
to publisher John Stark who
published most of his works since
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Rest of his Early Career
 Married
in 1911 and moved to Brooklyn
 Best
rags written during this time including
“The Bohemia”, “American Beauty”, and
“Alaskan Rag”
 Got
into the textile business and music
became a hobby
 Rarely
 When
performed publicly
rag eventually lost favor in the 1920s,
Lamb removed himself from the public eye
living a normal life with his family
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The Come-Back Kid
 Joseph
Lamb returned to the spotlight when
his pieces started regaining popularity in
the late 40s and early 50s
 Now
that music recording was available he
reworked some of his pieces and created
piano albums
 One
of just a couple original composers to
see the rag revival before his death at the
age of 72
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Time for Some Review!
 What
were some historical events that
happened while rag was popular?
 What
time?
were some aspects of daily life at the
 What
connections can be made between these
last two questions and ragtime?
 Who
was yesterday’s composer of the day?
 What
were some things that made him unique
from Joplin and Scott?
 Can
someone NOTATE an example of
syncopation for the class today?
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Composer of the Day (3/11)
Jelly
Roll Morton (1885?-1941)
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Morton’s Childhood
 Born
in New Orleans, LA
 Several
different dates provided for his birth
date, no one is sure which one is correct
 Real
name is Ferdinand Joseph LaMotte
 When
mother married William Mouton—he
took that name changing it slightly to “Morton”
 Interested
in a variety of instruments including
the violin, drums, trombone, and guitar
 Started
learning piano at the age of 10
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Early Career
 Moved
in with his grandmother in 1901 in a
district of New Orleans that exposed him to a
variety of musical styles—including rag
 Travelled
all over the South playing piano in
vaudeville shows
 Liked
to make-up stories and exaggerate his
own life story
 Claimed
 Some
to have “invented jazz” in 1902
of his early performance techniques
would later become standard practice in jazz
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More on his Career…
 Lived
in Chicago from 1914-1917 and
began composing his own pieces including
the popular rag “Frog-I-More-Rag” and a
blues piece titled “Jelly Roll Blues”
 From
the 1920s on he focused solely on jazz
now that ragtime had lost its popularity
 Some
of his major jazz compositions
included “Grandpa’s Spells” and “Black
Bottom Stomp” which were recorded with
his jazz band between 1926 and 1930
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How Rag Later Influenced Jazz
 New
Orleans, Louisiana
 Blues, Ragtime, and
Marching Bands were
everywhere and quite popular
 Many
musicians in the area enjoyed these
styles, but also had a passion for
improvisation (a low-class practice at the
time)
 Started
to combine their respective styles
together with added improvisation and
imitation thus jazz was born!
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Why Rag Eventually Lost Favor
 Ragtime
did not experience much
development as a style
 People
grew tired of the strict rules
involved and wanted to have room to
interpret the music for themselves
 Jazz
really grew in popularity and it’s new
freedom was more appealing to the general
public
 Considered
a brief but important fad in
music history
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That’s All She Wrote Folks!
 REMEMBER:
 Written
test is on FRIDAY (3/15)
 Performance Assessment (Syncopation) will
occur early next week—See me if you are
struggling
 Study Guides will be posted on Showbie by
the end of the day
 Questions?
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References

A History of Western Music (8th Ed) by J. Peter Burkholder,
Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca

http://shs.umsystem.edu/historicmissourians/name/t/turpin/in
dex.html

http://www.jazzinamerica.org/jazzresources/stylesheets/4

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200035811/def
ault.html
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http://ragpiano.com/comps/tturpin.shtml
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http://allmusic.com
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http://jstor.org
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http://www.scottjoplin.org/biography/

http://www.grainger.de/music/composers/lambj.html
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References Continued…

http://wwwappskc.lonestar.edu/popculture/19thcentury189
0.htm

http://wwwappskc.lonestar.edu/popculture/20thcentury190
0.htm

http://wwwappskc.lonestar.edu/popculture/20thcentury191
0.htm

http://www.scaruffi.com/history/jazz1.html

http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/composerjelly-roll-morton-ragtime-early-jazz

http://www.doctorjazz.co.uk/page10a.html#onthe

http://www.jazz.com/encyclopedia/morton-jelly-rollferdinand-joseph-lamothe