Jazz Notes

Originally an American musical genre which enjoyed popularity from the late 1800s to around 1920.

Ragtime fell off when Jazz hit the big scene

Ragtime is a descendant of jigs and musical marches played by black bands.

Many Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) Bands got their start from the ragtime era...

"Novelty Ragtime" involved the use of a rolling scroll on old pianos allowing the performer almost complete creative freedom, since the music was nothing more than hollow chords or what is now refferred to as fake sheets.

Ragtime has several sub-categories: (You will need to familiarize yourselves with these)

Cakewalk- A pre-ragtime dance form popular until about 1904. The music is intended to be representative of an African-American dance contest in which the prize is a cake. Many early rags are cakewalks.

Two step- A pre-ragtime dance form popular until about 1911. A large number of rags are two-steps.

Coon song- A pre-ragtime vocal form popular until about 1901. A song with crude, racist lyrics often sung by white performers in blackface. Gradually died out in favor of the ragtime song. Strongly associated with ragtime in its day, it is one of the things that gave ragtime a bad name.

Ragtime song- The vocal form of ragtime, more generic in theme than the coon song. Though this was the form of music most commonly considered "ragtime" in its day, many people today prefer to put it in the "popular music" category. Irving Berlin was the most commercially successful composer of ragtime songs.

Foxtrot- A dance fad which began in 1913. Fox-trots contain a dotted-note rhythm different from that of ragtime, but which nonetheless was incorporated into many late rags.

Composers that you will need to be familiar with are:

Scott Joplin- the most famous ragtime composer by far. Famous for "Maple Leaf Rag" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAtL7n_-rc)and the "Entertainer."(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPmruHc4S9Q&feature=related)

Jelly Roll Morton- jazz pianist, bandleader and composer. Famous for Black Bottom Blues and Buddy Bolden's Blues

Tom Turpin- African-American composer of ragtime music. He was so large in stature (6'4", 300lbs.) that his piano had to be raised on bricks to accomodate his stomach. He is also a Savannah, GA native