Ragtime
Before the 1890's, black communities in northern and southern American cities, played a type of music from which Ragtime descended. On southern plantations, the roots of Gospel and the Blues were introduced in work songs and "field hollers" based on the musical forms and rhythms of Africa. Meanwhile, another form of the "shout", influential in the development of Jazz, was practiced within the context of praise and prayer.
Ragtime, a uniquely American, syncopated musical phenomenon has been a strong influence in the musical composition, entertainment and scholarship for over a century. It emerged onto the larger music scene in the early 1900's and flooded the music publishing industry .
Much of what became the key ingredients of Ragtime came from self-taught, largely uneducated and play by ear musicians: slaves, hill folk from the Blue Ridge Mountains and minstrel troupe musicians. The unwritten complexities of the "heard in the head" music and the emphatic use of syncopation partly derived from African drumming and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Instruments such as the banjo, mandolin, violin, drums, guitar and the piano were all considered primary to the sound. Scott Joplin, Charles Hunter and Charles L. Johnson, to name a few, were some of the original composers of Ragtime who roamed from region to region introducing the country to what was considered the new brand of 'Jig" and "coon" music.
Ragtime, a uniquely American, syncopated musical phenomenon has been a strong influence in the musical composition, entertainment and scholarship for over a century. It emerged onto the larger music scene in the early 1900's and flooded the music publishing industry .
Much of what became the key ingredients of Ragtime came from self-taught, largely uneducated and play by ear musicians: slaves, hill folk from the Blue Ridge Mountains and minstrel troupe musicians. The unwritten complexities of the "heard in the head" music and the emphatic use of syncopation partly derived from African drumming and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Instruments such as the banjo, mandolin, violin, drums, guitar and the piano were all considered primary to the sound. Scott Joplin, Charles Hunter and Charles L. Johnson, to name a few, were some of the original composers of Ragtime who roamed from region to region introducing the country to what was considered the new brand of 'Jig" and "coon" music.
"The origins of the blues is not unlike the origins of life. For many years it was recorded only by memory and relayed only live and in person ."
The Blues was born in the North Mississippi Delta following the Civil War. influenced by African roots, field hollers, church music and rhythmic dance tunes called "jump-ups" evolved into a music for a singer who engages in call-and-response with his guitar. The blues was popularized between 1911 - 1914 by the composer W.C. Handy (1873 -1958). During the twenties the blues became a national craze and because of its Jazz influence it was brought into mainstream music and made possible the records of legendary blues singers like Bessie Smith and later in the thirties, Billie Holiday.
During the forties and early fifties, musicians such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon ,John Lee Hooker among others, continued recording national hit music with blues songs.
The Blues was born in the North Mississippi Delta following the Civil War. influenced by African roots, field hollers, church music and rhythmic dance tunes called "jump-ups" evolved into a music for a singer who engages in call-and-response with his guitar. The blues was popularized between 1911 - 1914 by the composer W.C. Handy (1873 -1958). During the twenties the blues became a national craze and because of its Jazz influence it was brought into mainstream music and made possible the records of legendary blues singers like Bessie Smith and later in the thirties, Billie Holiday.
During the forties and early fifties, musicians such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon ,John Lee Hooker among others, continued recording national hit music with blues songs.