Acoustic Blues Guitar - Where Did Ragtime Guitar Come From?

Acoustic Blues Guitar - Where Did Ragtime Guitar Come From?

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Most people recognize the name of Scott Joplin, an African American born in the USA in eighteen sixty eight. For many people, he is the creator of the music christened 'ragtime', and more precisely, ragtime piano.

If Scott Joplin were here today, he would find himself a rich man indeed, in view of the fact that his creations are used all over the world for film sound tracks and for many other purposes (remember the ragtime piano pieces in that wonderful film 'The Sting' with Robert Redford and Paul Newman?) Before exploring the related musical style of ragtime guitar, maybe we should look at the origins of classic ragtime played on.

Joplin - Piano Genius And Brothel Musician

Scottt Joplin was taught to play piano quite early on in his childhood and soon left home to earn his living as a pianist. For an African American at that time, this meant playing any where that would offer to pay him. In the early years, he often played in houses of ill repute and low down. Nevertheless, being trained as a classical pianist, he dreamed of composing his own style and eventually having his music acknowledged as important work.

Coupling his tuition in European classical piano with his natural instinct, and a fiercely proud ancestry, he invented a style of piano playing that was complicated, but very rhythmic with a complex beat. This rhythmic way of playing was dubbed 'syncopation' and came to be as ragtime, possible after a dance prevalent amongst the negro communities of that era, the 'rag'. This was how ragtime piano was forged by the joining of two different cultures.

Ragtime Blues Guitar Came From Ragtime Piano

Although the ragtime tempo was somewhat complex, the piano bass notes had a distinctive cadence and a repetitive structure, moving between two bass notes in an alternating beat. At that time, groups of wandering string musicians travelled through the land to entertain people in small townships, very often using banjo and guitar. Even though blues guitar music can be extremely diverse, the two extremes could be summarized as the sombre, emotional blues guitar music of the delta on the one hand, and the ragtime 'Piedmont' way of picking on the other. Of course, other styles were evident, such as blues guitar Chicago style.

The Piedmont style of playing guitar was ideal for dancing, often had quite a quick, syncopated tempo and was a direct relation to the ragtime style of playing the piano. Guitar players of the time attempted to copy the intricate piano sounds, which was a tricky thing to do, because the guitar had only six strings! (In later years, when the instruments were electrified, the guitar tried to mimic the sax.)

Some astute musicians realized that the thumb on the picking hand could move between two or more notes, while the other fingers may pick out a melody - ragtime blues guitar music, often referred to as the happy blues, was born.

Ragtime Blues Guitar Come Of Age

Several artists developed this style and made it into a commercially successful commodity, most notably Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Blake, Blind Willie McTell and many many others. Also, other performers featured the style in their existing performances so that their act had a more diverse appeal when they play the blues. It should be noted that very few performers played at the high technical level of skill as Blake, Gary Davis or Blind Willie Walker.

About the Author:
Jim Bruce is a working blues man making a living playing blues guitar and teaching in Europe. His acoustic blues guitar lessons are fast becoming the standard to reach for acoustic blues guitar picking.

Main website: http://www.play-blues-guitar.eu
Youtube Channel- http://www.youtube/user/acoustictravellersl



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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