Ragtime Musicians in Early Twentieth Century

downloadDownload
  • Words 1451
  • Pages 3
Download PDF

Ragtime as one of the most important music genre in American history was birth in the late nineteenth century and primely populated in the first two decades of the twentieth century. It combines early jazz and the rules of the black rhythm with the Synopation. It prevailed during the prosperous period of the US economy before the First World War. However, most of the ragtime musicians were not able to learn music systematically, but ragtime still left a gorgeous piece in history.

It is not possible to not talk about ragtime if you want to know the history of Jazz music, ragtime is one of the most important cornerstones of the formation of Jazz music, Jazz music nowadays still maintain an obvious style of ragtime.

Click to get a unique essay

Our writers can write you a new plagiarism-free essay on any topic

Ragtime was originated from African American music, most of the composers do not accept western classical music, many folk African American musicians who did not have the chance to go to school even don’t know the existence of western music. Most African American lives in their own community with their own group and culture. African American composers created a music genre that meets their needs, reflects on their personality. In addition, when ragtime was formed at the very beginning it was tightly related to piano. Music has become an indispensable part of African Americans. For slaves who have just been liberated, one of the best ways to celebrate freedom is to buy the instruments they dream of. Many black musicians learned music through the home according when they were young. William Christopher Handy, the father of blues music, and Ragtime pianist Eubie Blake got the music enlightenment education in this way.

Ragtime is an American pop music style that emerged at the end of the 19th century. It has experienced three stages of rise, development, and decline. In the 20-year complete life cycle, Ragtime music is closely related to the culture of African-American blacks. It is not only derived from black music, but also reflects the resistance of black people in American society.

Ragtime’s earliest performers were the nameless musicians on the Mississippi River and the East Coast. They played the piano in the snack bar, cafe, and teahouse bar, and sometimes they received a tip. A musician will play the game instead of the entire band. When dancing, the musicians will play the bass beat with their left hand, while the right hand will play a typical melody with a split rhythm.

Few of the early players of Ragtime are familiar with reading the music notation, but this does not pose a major obstacle to the emergence of a new type of piano music. On the contrary, it is a kind of promotion. The ragtime music was formerly popular dance music among black people. Before the Civil War, people often saw slaves dancing under the accompaniment of violin and banjo. The musicians slap on the feet and the audience claps their hands. In the ragtime music, the left hand is equivalent to the original foot and clap, and the right-hand part of the melody is roughly equivalent to the tuning part of the violin and banjo playing.

Black comedian Ernest Hogan wrote a song called All Coons Look Alike To Me, which makes black songs popular all over the country, white songwriters and black composers actually imitate. The song was very popular as soon as it was published, and the real ragtime music was about to be formed.” On January 23, 1900, the World Ragtime Music Competition was held at the Tamani Concert Hall in New York. It is All Coons Look Alike To Me by Ernest Hogan.

Many black songwriters are as unrecognizable as many Ragtime pianists to music notation. They sang their own songs on the piano, and asked the professional arrangers to record and record on the spot. For this reason, there were a lot of lost ragtime songs. The instrumental music of the ragtime music composer is so touching that it is far more exciting than all the American light music works until then, and the rhythm plays an important role.

For many years, black pianists played ragtime music in nightclubs and cafes, but it was only in 1897 that someone decided to publish such music. This person is a white band conductor in Chicago named William Henry Krell. He has been to many parts of the southern United States and is familiar with other dance music and music from Ragtime and Black. He collected and published the Ragtime music collection of blacks, titled Mississippi Rag, and the main part consists of four songs. In the same year, black pianists and composers began to contact publishers to print their own works. With the cooperation of white people, a large number of quite good works have come out. However, the music publishers in New York immediately flooded the market with a large number of low-quality works.

As early as the end of the 19th century, Ragtime music was popular in many parts of the United States. There were black bands, special performance venues and unique styles everywhere. Black musicians usually played in black areas. Because ragtime is the most popular there, pianists often win prizes in the Ragtime music competition. Many people become legendary characters. They usually play the piano in the small living room in the back of the bar for Ragtime. Lovers and other pianists appreciate it. Composers and performers rarely think about organizing their own works for two reasons: one is busy playing, there is no time, and the other is that the fee is too low.

During the St. Louis Expo in 1904, Tom Turpin and his son organized a large Ragtime music competition, and black pianists from all over the United States flocked. As a result, New Orleans pianist Alfred Wilson won the first prize; Charlie Warfield won two And other awards. After 1906, St. Louis’s performers went out to Chicago, Kansas City or New York.

In 1905, four famous Ragtime pianists were born in Mobile City, Alabama: Porter King, Baby Gryce, Frazier Davis, and Frank Rachel.

In the first decade of the twentieth century, many pianists in the South moved to Chicago. They found that there was a fixed ragtime tradition, which was formed no later than 1893, when Chicago was holding an international fair, Chicago. Novice Johnny Seymour has a great playing skill and is famous at the Chicago Fair. Their talents combined with other musicians at the time produced significant results, and the center of Ragtime music moved from St. Louis ten years ago to Chicago.

In 1899 and 1900, many music named after ragtime was published, and ragtime music began to frantically become popular. Ragtime music is simple, witty, brisk and lively. In the era of ragtime music, the ragtime era, a group of outstanding ragtime composers emerged, which made great contributions to enriching and developing ragtime music, such as Scott Joplin, James Sylvester Scott, and Joseph Francis Lamb. One of the most important ragtime music leaders, Scott Joplin, wrote a number of distinctive ragtime music, which was later hailed as the ‘king of ragtime.’ His creations focus on the piano Maple Leaf Rag, Original Rags, the Entertainer, The Easy Winners, etc. are his classics.

For a period of time after 1910, the relaxed and witty ragtime music was sought after by most young people. A large number of young composers began to engage in ragtime music creation, ragtime music began to fully cater to the public taste, becoming a national and national fashion trend. These young composers are energetic, active, and innovative. A large number of ragtime songs have been published and published, ragtime live concerts are in full swing, and a large number of high-quality ragtime recordings are being released, and people are always on the go. Dancing in the recreation room, in the boat, in the restaurant, and enjoying the ragtime, it has ignited the enthusiasm of the American people and prospered the entire American social music world. It also paved the way for another new trend of jazz after the 1920s.

References

  1. Berlin, E. (1980). Ragtime: A musical and cultural history. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  2. Blesh, R., & Janis, H. G. (2007). They all played ragtime: The true story of an American music. Place of publication not identified: Nelson Press.
  3. Hasse, J., Waterman, G., Schreyer, L., Berlin, E., Schuller, G., Tichenor, T., . . . Cohen, David. (1985). Ragtime: Its history, composers, and music.
  4. Peretti, B. (2009). Lift every voice: The history of African American music (African American history series (Lanham, Md.)). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  5. Southern, Eileen (1997) [1971]. The Music of Black Americans: A history (3 ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-03843-2.
  6. Tirro, F. (1993). Jazz: A history. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
  7. Vulliamy, G. (1982). Jazz & blues. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

image

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.