Ragtime

ragtime: see jazz.

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ragtime

U.S. popular music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries distinguished by its heavily syncopated rhythm. Ragtime found its characteristic expression in formally structured piano compositions, the accented left-hand beat opposed in the right hand by a fast, bouncing melody that gave the music its powerful forward impetus. (The term probably derives from “ragged time,” a description of syncopation.) Ragtime compositions typically featured three or four discrete 16-bar strains performed at a moderate tempo. The most celebrated ragtime composer was Scott Joplin. The rhythm and structure of ragtime were important influences on the development of jazz.

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ragtime

a style of jazz piano music, developed by Scott Joplin around 1900, having a two-four rhythm base and a syncopated melody
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragtime
www.dropbears.com/r/ragtime
www.jazzinamerica.org

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Ragtime 

(1) A form of everyday dance music of urban American Negroes, which developed in the second half of the 19th century. A unique, sharply syncopated form of music, ragtime was a forerunner of jazz. Early examples of an artistic treatment of ragtime are encountered in A. Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (subtitled “From the New World”) and in his string quartet.

(2) An American salon and ballroom dance for couples, based on a rhythmic form of ragtime in 2/4 time. Ragtime came into fashion circa 1910. The two-step, the one-step, and the foxtrot are among the dances that developed from ragtime. I. F. Stravinsky used elements of this type of music in several works, including Ragtime (for 11 instruments) and the ballet pantomime The Soldier’s Tale.