Ragtime and Dixieland
Purpose: To hear the origins of Jazz – Ragtime and Dixieland – and learn the differences between the two.
Material: CD/Player
Note: With all of the songs, you’ll have to play just a minute or two or the program will be too long.
INTRO
How many of you have heard of music called jazz? Jazz was first developed here in the United States, it’s mostly instrumental in nature and of Afro-American creation. But the roots of early jazz stemmed from the music that was created initially on plantations where slaves worked for white owners in the early to middle 1800s. Gradually, this music developed into other forms.
Today, we’re going to discuss two different types of music: Ragtime and Dixieland. Have you heard of any of these types of music? You’ve probably heard them before, but maybe didn’t know what they were called.
Ragtime
Ragtime is a piano-based music that was popular about a hundred years ago. 1895-1915. It began as dance music in places like St. Louis and New Orleans and then grew in popularity.
How do you think people heard music 100 years ago? Did they have CDs? Records? Do you think they had radios?
They didn’t have any of those things! But, most people did own a specific instrument. What do you think that instruments was? (the piano).
People played their pianos, and families and friends gathered around the piano to sing or play songs that they purchased printed on paper. This was called sheet music. You can still purchase sheet music today if you go to a music store. But today it’s not nearly as important as it was 100 years ago. Back then, music then was sold almost exclusively by sheet music and that’s how many musicians made their money.
Ragtime music had two rhythms going on at the same time. In the left hand, the low notes, you’d hear a very strict 1-2-3-4 beat. But in the right hand, the melody would often play in between these beats – this is called syncopation – and it made the songs sound catchy.
The first piece we’ll play is called The Entertainer. In the 1970s, many years after this was written, it became very popular after it was featured in a movie called The Sting. It was played on the radio all the time and even reached #4 on the music charts.
Play track 1, The Entertainer, Scott Joplin (piano only on CD)
? How did the music make you feel?
? Do you understand why Ragtime is considered happy music? (There are two explanations as to why Ragtime is called Ragtime. The first reason is that it didn’t have a smooth rhythm, but a “ragged” from note to note. After a while “ragged” was shortened to “rag.” The second explanation is that in Ragtime you were “tearing a tune to tatters.”)
? What would you call a piece of fabric that has been torn in many places? (A rag.)
That piece was written by Scott Joplin who is considered the king of ragtime. He was born shortly after the Civil War near a small town in Texas but was raised in a town called Texarkana
What two states do you suppose this town borders? Texas and Arkansas.
Here’s another song written by Scott Joplin. It’s called “Maple Leaf Rag’” one of Joplin’s most well known songs. Maple Leaf refers to the club Joplin played in when he was in New Orleans.
Play track 2, Maple Leaf Rag Scott Joplin
Let’s listen to the same song, but this time with a more Dixieland type sound. We’ll talk about Dixieland music in a moment, but notice how the same song can sound quite a bit different with different instruments and a different arrangement.
Play Track 3, Maple Leaf Rag
Now we’ll listen to a Ragtime waltz.
? Does anyone know what a waltz is?
A waltz has a 1-2-3 beat, instead of 1-2-3-4. If you clap it, you’d clap STRONG-light-light, STRONG-light-light.
This song is called Bethena, see if you can hear the 1-2-3 rhythm.
Play track 4, Bethena
Another Ragtime musician was a man named Jelly Roll Morton. He was considered the main person responsible for the transition of Ragtime to early Jazz. Morton was a flashy dresser that had a diamond stud in his front tooth. He actually was the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz” and most people would agree. Morton was one of the first successful jazz composers and arrangers. He was considered also one of the first jazz musicians to make their home here in Chicago. Listen to one of his most famous songs, Tiger Rag. At first, he had no name for this song, but the customers in the club he played said that parts of the songs sounded like a tiger roaring. Listen as his full arm is used across the piano keys.
Play track 5, Tiger Rag (1:05) Jelly Roll Morton
Dixieland
While African-American musicians started ragtime, Dixieland was first made popular by white musicians who were influenced by Ragtimers. The first popular Dixieland band was called the “Original Dixieland Jazz Band.” They helped make Jazz music popular because they were the first to put jazz music on record albums for everyone to hear.
Have any of you seen records before? Do any of you have them at home? They’re big black disks – not unlike CDs, but larger, and you played them on a record player that spun the disk around and around.
Dixieland developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City. Dixieland jazz combined brass band marches, ragtime and blues with several different instruments improvising at the same time.
Do you know what improvisation is? It’s when a player composes a melody at that moment. The notes aren’t written down anywhere – the player has to think of them as he or she is playing them. This is very common in Jazz music, and even in Rock and Roll. When you hear a guitarist play a solo in a song, he’s probably not playing it exactly the way he played it last time. He’s improvising.
In Dixieland, you don’t have just one instrument improvising: you have several instruments improvising at the same time, often a trumpet, a trombone and a clarinet. Underneath these instruments you have instruments that keep the beat and harmony going – a piano, a guitar or banjo, drums and a bass or tuba. They play a steady rhythm, and the other instruments improvise on top of them.
Let’s listen to a popular Dixieland song Basin Street Blues. In this song, you’ll hear trumpet take the melody at first, and as the song builds, you’ll hear the trumpet, clarinet, and trombone all improvising.
Play Track 6, Basin Street Blues, Silver Leaf Jazz Band
Here’s a song you might know. Has anyone heard the song, “When The Saints Go Marching In?” This is a Dixieland version of the song.
Play Track 7: When The Saints Go Marching In, Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Eventually, Ragtime and Dixieland were no longer popular, as swing music in the 1930s took over. But both forms of music were important to the development of jazz music, and both are terrific musical forms that are still enjoyed today.