Scott Joplin
...s still set the foundations for jazz as we know it. One of ragtime’s main contributions is the presence of off-beats, also know as syncopation. This involves the accenting of before and after beats off the main beat of the song. It helps to provide “rag” with the lively light foot type of feeling. This feature provided a psuedo swing feeling to the songs. Also ragtime contained an extensive repetition of brief patterns. Musicians use ostinato to describe this characteristic. This is an obvious characteristic in Scott Joplin’s composition. It helps to add to the swing feeling and keep a common theme in the song. This characteristic came from accompaniment rhythms in folk music and march music. Another feature of ragtime is the polyrhythm. This is the practice of sounding different rhythms at the same time. It helps to provide a rhythmic excitement and a catchy hook for listeners of ragtime. “The Entertainer” carries all these features in it, which helps to make it a Ragtime classic. It contains many brief repetitions. It is obvious throughout the song as the listener can always identify the same sounding parts. Also there is syncopation helping to provide the lively swing type of feeling to it. The syncopated beats can be clearly heard on the piano and felt by the listener. Both other selections contain the same features and implement them in the same way. Selection 1 – I’ve been hearing pieces of this song sing I was a little kid. They always play this song on commercials and tv shows. This is the first time I had to chance to listen to the song the whole way through. I was very impressed by this so...