Musically, marches have a strong regular rhythm and are commonly associated with military brass bands and orchestras. When publishers began issuing ragtime sheet music in the 1890s, the cover pages frequently indicated the dances for which it was appropriate, most commonly the march, two-step, and cakewalk. The Grand Promenade kicked off the march, with couples entering the hall in a procession and marching in time to the music around the perimeter of the room. In the mid-1800s, most formal balls for elite society in Europe and America began with a Grand March, which consisted of a variety of figures. A technique developed in which the left hand held down a steady rhythm, while the right hand played a syncopated melody – a hallmark of ragtime piano.Ī march represents both a type of song and dance. As few could read music, they improvised and adapted their syncopated banjo styles to keyboard instruments. While many African Americans could not afford pianos, they purchased smaller, less-expensive keyboard instruments, including organs and harmoniums, on lifetime installment plans. In the 1870s, the Fisk Jubilee singers brought further acceptance to black religious music through their performances of choral arrangements of spirituals on concert stages.īy the late nineteenth century, the piano was common in the parlors of American homes. The abolitionists who assembled the 1867 book Slave Songs of the United States, the first published collection of spirituals, observed incorrectly that secular songs were rare among African Americans. Elite white people deemed these religious songs more acceptable than those from the minstrel stage, perhaps, because they reinforced the values of Christian America. Eager for any opportunity for advancement, African American entertainers took to the minstrel stage in increasing numbers in the decades after emancipation.Īlso after the end of slavery, spirituals gained exposure and respectability outside of the plantation context in which they originated. While white performers dominated the industry, black troupes also participated in minstrelsy since the 1840s. They were enjoyed primarily by middle and lower class white audiences. Though filtered through white performers in blackface makeup, the music incorporated African American folk elements, including banjo styles learned from Southern black musicians.Ĭapitalizing on negative stereotypes of African Americans, minstrel shows were the most popular form of entertainment in the United States in the middle decades of the century. Ragtime and the music industry, including sheet music publishing and new phonograph and player piano technologies, enjoyed a symbiotic relationship and rapid growth.įifty years before ragtime became a national sensation, touring minstrel troupes gave much of white America its first taste of a version of black music. While dancers and audiences, both black and white, embraced it, some scorned it as an African American cultural invasion. It burst onto the national stage during the Gilded Age in the 1890s, when sentimental love songs dominated popular music. Ragtime emerged from African American communities in the South after the Civil War. The term “ragtime” likely derived from a contraction of “ragged-time,” indicating the highly-syncopated rhythm that characterizes the music. The suffix “-time,” as commonly applied in the late nineteenth century, referenced the rhythm of a musical composition: jig-time, waltz-time, march-time, etc.
It results in more rhythmic diversity and excitement. Syncopation occurs when notes are stressed or accented between beats, interrupting the regular flow of rhythm and emphasizing the weaker beats. Rhythmic syncopation pre-dated this era and style, but ragtime gained notoriety for its pervasive use throughout a composition or improvisation. Ragtime derived its name from the insistent, highly-syncopated “ragged” rhythm that distinguished it from other contemporary styles. Ragtime and blues, a related African American musical form that developed concurrently, are essential components in jazz music, which rose in popularity as interest in ragtime waned. The genre eventually took a variety of forms, including vocal and instrumental music, intended for a listening audience.
Rooted in African American folk dance traditions, it evolved in the decades after emancipation, incorporating both African and European musical elements. Ragtime was one of the most popular forms of music in the United States between 18.
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