Blues and Ragtime Origins

• The Atlantic slave trade brought West Africans to the United States against their will.
• African and European cultural traditions clashed, leading to new musical forms by African-Americans.
• These forms merged into blues and ragtime.

Blues

• Blues is central to jazz and evolved from field hollers, spirituals, and Christian hymns.
• Categories of blues include country blues, urban blues, instrumental blues, and classic blues.
• The blues influenced country, gospel, rock, and popular music.
• Frank Tirro describes the blues as music of people, a style, a performance type, a state of mind, and a musical form.
• Continuous improvisation over a recurring harmonic framework is important to jazz.
• Improvisation is a key characteristic of jazz.
• The harmonic and rhythmic framework is the form of the music.

Ragtime

• Ragtime is a syncopated European style of piano music with a formal structure from polkas and marches.
• The polka/march structure was combined with African syncopations.
• Solo piano is the main instrument, but brass bands, solo banjo, and vocal with accompaniment were also utilized.
• Ragtime is through-composed (linear) music, with no improvisation.
• Ragtime influenced classical composers like Debussy, Satie, and Stravinsky.

Blind Lemon Jefferson (1897 – 1930)

• Born in Texas to a farming family and blind from birth.
• His music is an example of country blues.
• His music reflected work songs, religious pieces, and rural Afro-American life.
• He moved to Chicago and recorded extensively.

Elmore James (1918 – 1963)

• Born in Mississippi and died in Chicago.
• He was influenced by Robert Johnson.
• He was an urban blues guitarist noted for his use of the slide guitar.
• He inspired artists including The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and ZZ Top.

Scott Joplin (1868 – 1917)

• Born in Texas, the son of a former slave.
• He was a classically trained pianist and composer.
• He lived in St Louis, Chicago, and New York.
• Joplin dedicated his life to raising the artistic profile of ragtime.
• He fused ragtime with classical ballet and opera.
• Lack of public response to his fusion contributed to his ill health and death in a mental hospital.

Blind Lemon Jefferson – Lonesome House Blues

• Style: Blues
• The melody and improvisations are from the pentatonic/blues scale.
• The piece makes use of ‘call and response’.
• The form is cyclical and 12 bars in length.
• The harmony is I, IV, V with a 12/8 rhythm.
• The instrumentation (solo guitar/vocals) is typical of rural/country blues.
• Country blues has a rougher vocal timbre.
• Blues is generally homophonic in texture.

Elmore James – Dust my Broom

• Style: Blues
• The melody and improvisations are from the pentatonic/blues scale.
• The piece makes use of ‘call and response’.
• The form is cyclical and 12 bars in length.
• The harmony is I, IV, V with a 12/8 rhythm.
• The instrumentation (guitar/vocals with piano, bass, drums) is typical of urban blues.
• Urban blues uses a strict tempo.
• Blues is generally homophonic in texture.

Scott Joplin – Maple Leaf Rag

• Style: Ragtime
• The melody consists of contrasting themes which are diatonically derived.
• There is no improvisation.
• The form is linear: AABBACCDD.
• The harmony uses tonic (I), subdominant (IV), and dominant (V) relationships.
• It has a two beat pulse (2/4 ‘oompah’ feel).
• The syncopated melody line has "ragged time".
• The instrumentation is solo piano.
• Ragtime is generally homophonic in texture.