246 Culture, Identity, and Community: From Slavery to the Presentrhythms, syncopation and syncopated rhythms are defi ning
features of African American music.
Th e syncopation of ragtime music served as a starting
point for some who were curious of the origin of the word
“ragtime.” Th e elaborate syncopated rhythms led some to
believe that the word “ragtime” is descriptive of the type of
physical reaction one had to the elaborate rhythms. Others
proposed that the word “rag” was descriptive of the cloth-
ing of its performers, with “rag-time” denoting the fact that
this music was played by African Americans individuals
and bands from the American South. Consequently, the ac-
tive use and interpretation of the word “ragtime” implied
that it was time for the “ragged” entertainment of African
American ragtime bands. What is certain, however, is that
the dynamic yet unclear origins of the word refl ected the
African American social, cultural, political, and economic
reality of the times from which it emerged.
Th e popularity of ragtime music in a time of intense
American racism was cause for concern to some. Some crit-
ics of ragtime asserted that the music appealed to the worst
of human tastes because the content of the early tunes re-
fl ected the African American people as racialized social
products of the times. Ragtime was thus viewed as an ex-
tension of the “coon song” and thus was not appealing to
mainstream white America because it allegedly represented
a musical production of the lowest cultural kind.
Being an African American invention, ragtime music
was further derogated because of that fact alone. Further,
piano ragtime music was derogated because it fi rst found
life in social establishments not very respected by main-
stream white America, further providing impetus for criti-
cism of the genre as a legitimate art form. Ragtime music,
however, would enjoy sustained popularity for this very
reason.
Th e sustained popularity of ragtime was partly due to
the creative ways in which African Americans allowed the
genre to expand and become inclusive. African Americans
composed and performed ragtime, but they also allowed
other racial groups and women to compose and perform
their art, allowing for a sustained longevity of the complex
and elaborate art form in various derivations.
Ragtime music was innovative, complex, rich, and tex-
tured; it was a sophisticated way through which African
Americans critiqued the social, political, and economic re-
alities of the times. Ragtime provided a medium through
which African Americans could communicate to eachpoignant example of the U.S. government’s unwillingness
or inability to treat people of all races with equal consid-
eration. Even aft er the Civil Rights movement, racial cat-
egories such as “quadroon” still shape the way some people
think about human diff erences.
See also: Amalgamation; Miscegenation
Michael PasquierBibliography
Berlin, Ira. Many Th ousands Gone: Th e First Two Centuries of
Slavery in North America. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press, 1998.
Ragtime
Ragtime is a popular musical genre originated by African
Americans that emerged in the United States during the
late 19th century. One set of the genre’s roots resides in
the African American work songs and spirituals from the
American South. Ragtime was fi rst prominent during the
years 1897–1919 and was notably associated with composer
Scott Joplin. Th e genre of ragtime was considered by some
to be an early form of jazz, and although also considered by
many to be primarily composed for the piano (i.e., instru-
mental, ragtime also existed in vocal form.
Classic piano ragtime compositions were composed
mostly of three or four themes. Each theme was conceived
to be a complete, independent, 16-measure musical entity,
with the measures of each theme combined and recom-
bined in order to produce sound. Melodically and structur-
ally, ragtime compositions resemble the march. In addition
to the march, the foxtrot, cakewalk, “coon-song,” and vari-
ous African rhythms have each served as a source for early
ragtime compositions.
Most ragtime compositions were distinguished by their
elaborate syncopated rhythms. Th e act of musical syncopa-
tion involves placing an emphasis on a usually unstressed
beat. In ragtime music, primarily delaying or advancing
a melodic note accomplishes syncopation. Th e important
types of syncopations within ragtime music are “tied,”
“untied,” and “augmented.” Syncopation is an enduring,
distinctive element of ragtime music, but syncopation is by
no means the primary defi ning element. Although there are
many ragtime compositions that do not contain syncopated