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The musical genre called ragtime is uniquely American. It was at its most popular in the American South around the turn of the twentieth century (from 1900–1918). A dance form, ragtime is played in 4/4 or 2/4 time and includes a “walking” legato bass line emphasizing even beats (2 and 4), staccato chords played on odd beats (1 and 3) and a synchopated melody.
Ragtime is primarily a musical form written for solo piano. Although ragtime is without question an important jazz precursor, it lacks two of jazz’s most important (perhaps defining) characteristics, melodic improvisation and blue notes.
Rags, as ragtime compositions are often called, were written and sold as sheet music and also as rolls for player pianos. Many of the more sophisticated rags employ a sonata form with four distinct themes and a variation on the first theme.
There have been periodic revivals of ragtime music including an American revival in the 1970’s following the release of the movie “The Sting” which featured ragtime music on the soundtrack.
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