Ragtime: from piano to guitar

Ragtime music originated in urban African-American cities such as New Orleans and St Louis, around the turn of the 20th century. Essentially, it was a dance style performed on the piano, characterized by jaunty melodies set against a leaping bass to create strongly syncopated rhythms with an upbeat feel. It is arguably a fusion of traditional African rhythms and classical or march idioms.

Although it gave way in popularity to jazz in the early 20th century, it was also a notable influence on it.

The music of Scott Joplin remains the most famous and recognizable of the ragtime musicians, with The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag being the hits of their day. 

Although primarily written for piano, many early blues guitarists attempted to capture the stride piano feel by using an alternating bass technique on the beats and offsetting it with a ‘ragged’ (syncopated) melody. This approach informed a playing style known as Piedmont blues, which was generally Tighter-hearted in feel but more technically challenging than the primitive Delta blues of, say, Robert Johnson or Charley Patton. Notable Piedmont blues figures included Rev Gary Davis, Elizabeth Cotton, Blind Lemon Jefferson and the king of ragtime guitar, Blind Blake. Although more complex in technique, many of these players fingerpicked with only the thumb and forefinger; an approach later adopted by country and western star, Merle Travis, whose pieces such as Cannonball Rag remain staples of fingerpickers today.

Although ragtime fell out of mainstream favour as jazz took a hold, a younger generation of folk, blues and ragtime revivalists such as Stefan Grossman, Tommy Emmanuel, Woody Mann and John James kept the torch alight with the mastery of modern virtuosity.

Blind Blake’s playing in particular stands out to this day as some of the most challenging to emulate, due to his speed, dexterity and quirky techniques. Unlike other ragtime players, he would subvert the structure of playing bass notes on the beats by instead anticipating chord changes with a bass note on the four and (last eighth note of the bar). This created a bounce and movement that other players lacked.

Ragtime guitar is a fantastic style to play, as it can really hone your technique - plus everyone loves it so you’ll be the life and soul of any musical party!