Ragtime for Rock

Throughout its history, Rock and Roll has been influenced and molded by many different artists and genres. A more prominent catalyst for the evolution of rock would be Ragtime. One of the earliest forms of jazz, ragtime was characterized by its syncopated and “ragged” rhythms, and blazed the path for almost every modern day music genre. Ragtime was a variation of the then popular type of music, march. Even before the 1900’s, this was a popular dance music of red-light districts in African American communities of places such as St. Louis and New Orleans (Rock and Roll). Rhythmically broken up melodies made the sounds lively and springy, and therefore ideal for dancing. Eventually, the genre began being published as piano sheet music. This transition gave ragtime much more exposure to the public and created a lot of buzz. With the help of composers such as Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb, and James Scott, ragtime took the music community by storm. It’s the innovative styles were demonstrated years beyond ragtime’s fifteen minutes of fame and influenced many artists later to hit the scene. Artists such as the great Ray Charles, who was famous for his syncopation and his seemingly improvised music (Ray). Ragtime was an essential part to the development of rock and roll because of its use of syncopation, talented composers, lively music, and influence it had on many great artists to come. The most prominent composer in the ragtime music genre was undebatably Scott Joplin (Rock and Roll). This pianist from Texas is often referred to as the “King of Ragtime.” Joplin’s first big hit, and arguably most influential one, was called, “Maple Leaf Rag.” Written in the unique structure, “AA BB A CC DD,” this composition contains an energetic bass line along with catchy off-beat melodies on only the piano. All four of these different parts seem to have a recurring theme and bass line, all with copious seventh chords (Berlin). You can tell that the composition was structured with much more detail than that of previous rags at that time, and Joplin’s use of syncopation, especially in between the first and second sections, was extremely innovative at that point in history. Not many artists even fathomed playing melodies that didn’t sync with the song’s beat, but Joplin did it to perfection. Syncopation like this has been portrayed by many artists since the times of rag. “Maple Leaf Rag,” is often categorized with the tag “archetypal,” because of its influence on the the type of music being composed (Berlin). Its structure would later on be the basis for many other great works in the rag genre. Components of the “Maple Leaf Rag” were used by many of the jazz groups in later decades, and is well known for being the most influential rag record of all time. Another piece that personifies the innovative styles of ragtime would be a different Scott Joplin hit, “Weeping Willow.” It is sub-titled "a ragtime two step", which was a form of dance popular until about 1911, and a common style among rags written at the time. Just like many of his other rag songs, “Weeping Willow” is written in an “AA BB A CC DD” structure. But, unlike “Maple Leaf Rag,” the song has a much slower tempo. This piano tune is played mostly in the key of G major very lofty and highly melodic. The "B" section creates interesting melodic shifts, by making good use of alternating patterns. The “C” section is in the key of C major; its chord progression was popular in African American folk songs. Where as the “D” section portrays a very fine melody, and really accentuates the the variety between sections of the song (Berlin). Even though that this is one of Scott Joplin’s less popular songs, it perfectly personifies the evolutionary styles that are shown in the ragtime genre. Components of “Weeping Willow,” along with “Maple Leaf Rag,” were very much ahead of their time, and implemented in many musical works in the future. Throughout the 1900’s, many artists has used styles that were made popular by Scott Joplin and many ragtime composers. In the decades shortly after Joplin’s death, many jazz artists released recordings and variations on Joplin’s work, using many of the same styles that were used in the original. These jazz performers, like Tommy Dorsey and Jelly Roll Morton, were just a few of many artists to incorperate rag’s style of music into their own. Another one of those such artists would be Ray Charles. In almost every one of his works, Charles demonstrated an unbelievable ability to syncopate in his songs (Ray), while still having a very high quality of music. Throughout the movie about his life, “Ray,” you see a behind the scenes look a how he made his music. A goo demonstration of Charles’ work being influenced by ragtime would be his hit song, “Mess Around.” Which involved many areas of syncopation and energetic piano riffs (Ray). Whether it would be playing melodies that didn’t correspond with the beat and tempo, or just music that was popular to dance to in the African American community, almost everything Ray Charles did was influenced in some way by ragtime. He is regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time, which gives great credibility to ragtime music. Throughout the past century, rock and roll has been influenced by a large number of artists and styles of music. One of the most influential genres in the development of rock and roll was ragtime. Characterized as one of the earliest forms of jazz, ragtime was known for its syncopated and ragged rhythms, and played a huge role in the evolution of different types of music and composers, especially rock and roll. Like genres that were a variation of ragtime, rag music was a twist off of an already popular form of music, march. As early as 1895, ragtime music was being used as dance music in red-light communities of areas such as St. Louis and New Orleans. Its rhythmically broken up melodies made the sounds energetic and upbeat, which was an ideal type of music to dance to. Ragtime composers demonstrated many innovative qualities in their music, such as syncopation, which was a foundation to many popular artists to come in the music world. Ragtime was extremely crucial to the develpment to rock and roll because of its groundbreaking style, and the popularity of rock has much to do with these styles that have been carried on through the music generations.

Works Cited
Berlin, Edward A. "Biography & History of Scott Joplin." Biography & History of Scott Joplin.
Sullivan Creative, 1998. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.
Campbell, Michael. Rock and Roll: An Introduction. N.p.: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
Ray. Dir. Taylor Hackford. Perf. Jamie Foxx. Bristol Bay Productions, 2004. DVD.