Early Ragtime and Blues Piano Sheet Music

Download and print blues and ragtime piano sheet music by some of the most popular composers of the early 1900s.

Early Ragtime and Blues

Ragtime and blues are two music styles that developed in the early 20th century. They both originated in the southern United States and quickly spread to other parts of the country. Both genres were popular among African Americans and whites.

Pre-1899 Ragtime and Blues

Pre-1899 Ragtime and Blues is a form of music that developed in the Southern United States towards the end of the 19th century. It is a combination of African American work songs, spirituals, and folk music. The earliest known ragtime song is “Yankee Doodle”, which was published in 1869.

Ragtime and blues became popular forms of music in the early 20th century. They were often played on pianos in bars and nightclubs, and later on phonograph records. Ragtime was particularly popular from about 1897 to 1918, while blues became more popular from about 1915 to 1930.

Many early ragtime and blues songs were written by African American composers such as Scott Joplin, W.C. Handy, and Jelly Roll Morton. However, some white composers also wrote ragtime and blues songs, including Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.

Ragtime and blues have influenced many other genres of music, including jazz, rock and roll, and country music.

1899-1912 Ragtime and Blues

During the first decade of the twentieth century, a new kind of music known as ragtime began to emerge. This music was characterized by its syncopated (or “ragged”) rhythm, which was created by accenting the weak beats in a measure. Ragtime was usually played on pianos, and its popularity quickly spread throughout the United States.

One of the earliest and most famous ragtime composers was Scott Joplin, who wrote such classics as “The Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer.” Another well-known ragtime composer was Jelly Roll Morton, who helped to develop the style of New Orleans jazz.

Ragtime evolved into a new style of music known as blues in the early 1910s. The blues was originally sung by African American laborers in the southern United States. These songs often told stories of hardships and heartache, and they were typically accompanied by simple guitar or piano chords.

One of the earliest and most famous blues composers was W.C. Handy, who wrote such classics as “St. Louis Blues” and “Beale Street Blues.” Another well-known blues composer was Bessie Smith, who was one of the first African American musicians to achieve mainstream success.

Ragtime and Blues Pianists

Ragtime and blues music originated in the southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first ragtime pianists were playing a style of music that was a blend of African-American folk music and European classical music. The first ragtime and blues pianists were playing music that was a mix of both African-American folk music and European classical music.

Scott Joplin

Ragtime composer and pianist Scott Joplin was born in 1868 in Texarkana, Arkansas. He was a seminal figure in the development of ragtime music, and his best-known composition, “The Maple Leaf Rag,” became one of the most popular pieces of sheet music in history. Joplin began his musical education on the violin, but he quickly took to the piano, which would become his primary instrument. His first published composition, “Please Say You Will,” came out in 1896; two years later, he released his first full-length ragtime piano piece, “Maple Leaf Rag.”

Joplin’s compositions were known for their intricate melodies and rhythmic vitality. His playing style was highly syncopated, and he often improvised while performing. In addition to ragtime, Joplin was also influenced by marches, waltzes, and hymns. He popularized a new genre of music known as “strenuous ragtime,” which featured faster tempos and more complex rhythms than traditional ragtime pieces.

Joplin achieved national fame with “The Maple Leaf Rag,” which sold over a million copies of sheet music and became one of the best-selling songs of the early 20th century. In 1899, he released his second major work, “The Entertainer,” which became an instant classic and is still widely performed today.

Joplin died in 1917 at the age of 49, just as his popularity was beginning to decline. Nevertheless, his legacy as one of the most important figures in early ragtime and blues piano lives on.

Jelly Roll Morton

Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941) was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is recognized as a major innovator in the development of early jazz and ragtime piano styles. His many compositions reflect the various music genres prevalent in New Orleans at the turn of the century, including blues, marches, waltzes, and Cuban influences. Morton’s best-known composition is “The Entertainer”, which became a worldwide hit after being used in the film The Sting.

W.C. Handy

One of the most important figures in the history of American music, W.C. Handy was a businessman as well as a musician, and he helped to bring early ragtime and blues to a wider audience. A skilled trumpet player, he began his career playing in military bands and touring with minstrel shows. In the 1890s, he settled in Memphis, Tennessee, and began publishing his own songs, including “The Memphis Blues” and “St. Louis Blues.” He also put together a band that toured extensively throughout the South. Handy’s music had a profound influence on later generations of musicians, and his work helped to shape the sound of 20th-century popular music.

Ragtime and Blues Piano Styles

Ragtime and blues are two different styles of music that originated in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Ragtime is a style of music that is characterized by its syncopated rhythms. Blues is a style of music that is characterized by its use of blue notes.

Barrelhouse

As the name suggests, barrelhouse was originally music played in bars and brothels. It was a loud, rowdy style that was based on the “boogie-woogie” piano style. Barrelhouse was very popular in the South, especially in New Orleans, from the 1880s to the 1920s. It later spread to other parts of the country, especially Chicago.

Barrelhouse was usually played by solo pianists, who would improvise on a simple blues or ragtime chord progression. The left hand would play a repetitive bassline, while the right hand played rhythms and melodies. The piano would often be “jumped” (i.e., moved around) during solos to create a percussive effect.

Many barrelhouse pianists were self-taught; they learned by listening and watching others play. As a result, there was no strict definition of how barrelhouse should be played. This helped to create a lively and improvisational feel to the music.

Some of the most famous barrelhouse pianists include Pete Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis, and Albert Ammons. Barrelhouse music influenced many later styles of music, including boogie-woogie, rock and roll, and even jazz.

Boogie-woogie

The first known use of the term “boogie-woogie” was in an advertisement in the Chicago Defender on August 10, 1915 for a local musician, Albert Ammons. He used it to describe his energetic piano playing style. The original blues boogie-woogie style was a simpler form of the music that developed later and is sometimes referred to as “barrelhouse” or “barroom” style.

Most early boogie-woogie tunes were 12-bar blues. The bass line was usually played with the left hand while the right hand played chords or single notes on top. This type of piano playing was sometimes called “stride.” As the music developed, players began to use more complicated bass lines and improvised melodic patterns on top of the basic chord structure.

Some of the most famous boogie-woogie pianists include Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, Meade Lux Lewis and Jimmy Yancey.

Stride

The stride style developed in New York around 1910 and was the first truly American piano style. It incorporated elements of ragtime, march, and Negro spirituals into a unique, exuberant sound that was perfect for dancing. Fats Waller and James P. Johnson were the two greatest exponents of stride, but there were many others, including Willie “The Lion” Smith, Luckey Roberts, Eubie Blake, and Thomas “Fats” Wiggins.

The basic stride pattern is quite simple: the left hand plays a walking bass line while the right hand plays a syncopated melody or “riff.” The left hand usually covers a range of two octaves, giving the music a big sound that was perfect for dancing. The right hand typically plays a repeating figure that is four or eight bars long. This figure might be improvised or it might be based on a popular song or nursery rhyme.

One of the defining features of stride piano is the way that the left hand and right hand interact. The right hand often “breaks up” the steady rhythm of theleft hand by playing staccato (short, disconnected) notes in between the left-hand bass notes. This gives the music a lively, syncopated feel.