Ragtime
piano music first appeared in the late 1800's as a syncopated evolution
of March music. The ragtime era dominated the music scene of the 1st decade
of the 20th century, featuring ragtime, blues, and stride piano, which
was the foundation for novelty piano, modern jazz, and blues rock.
Ragtime was the first truly American style of music, bridging an extremely
important gap between European music and a style that represented everything
that America stood for. Ragtime became popular at the beginning of the
Progressive Era, and set a perfect backdrop to the change and reform going
on in America at the time. It was time for the country to re-evaluate itself,
and the development of ragtime was following close behind. Society was
quitting it's practice of conventionality and beginning to look more like
an individual, and following in the footsteps of the spirit of change was
ragtime. The music of ragtime itself was anything but conventional: it
was syncopated, loud, joyous, and most importantly, energetic. It challenged
generations of musical tradition, becoming a completely unique and visionary
art form. However, at the same time it was also a very valid and influential
art form that flourished throughout America and paved the way for all other
styles of American music that followed.
Ragtime is believed to be
a mixture of European classical music, especially late Romantic music,
and African American folk music dating back as far as slavery. Ragtime
gained it's unique sound through the use of syncopation, the art of using
accents on beats that aren't traditionally accented while the bass keeps
a steady rhythm. The use of syncopation at the turn of the century was
simply revolutionary, but infectiously appealing to an American audience
that craved innovation and change. Ragtime was primarily a piano-oriented
style, but the use of other instruments, such as clarinets, banjos, and
the human voice, wasn't uncommon.
"Topliner Rag" was considered by Lamb to be his best
ragtime
composition. The title is derived from an old vaudeville
expression,"TOP LINER", which refers to the best act on the playbill -
the one on the top line.
Ragtime
piano music first appeared in the late 1800's as a syncopated evolution
of March music. The ragtime era dominated the music scene of the 1st decade
of the 20th century, featuring ragtime, blues, and stride piano, which
was the foundation for novelty piano, modern jazz, and blues rock.
Ragtime was the first truly American style of music, bridging an extremely
important gap between European music and a style that represented everything
that America stood for. Ragtime became popular at the beginning of the
Progressive Era, and set a perfect backdrop to the change and reform going
on in America at the time. It was time for the country to re-evaluate itself,
and the development of ragtime was following close behind. Society was
quitting it's practice of conventionality and beginning to look more like
an individual, and following in the footsteps of the spirit of change was
ragtime. The music of ragtime itself was anything but conventional: it
was syncopated, loud, joyous, and most importantly, energetic. It challenged
generations of musical tradition, becoming a completely unique and visionary
art form. However, at the same time it was also a very valid and influential
art form that flourished throughout America and paved the way for all other
styles of American music that followed.
