Scott Joplin, the composer/pianist known as the "King of Ragtime", called the effect "weird and intoxicating". The ultimate (and intended) effect on the listener is actually to accentuate the beat, thereby inducing the listener to move to the music. This results in a melody that seems to be avoiding some metrical beats of the accompaniment by emphasizing notes that either anticipate or follow the beat. The defining characteristic of ragtime music is a specific type of syncopation in which melodic accents fall between metrical beats. Ragtime is not a "time" ( meter) in the same sense that march time is 2/4 meter and waltz time is 3/4 meter, but rather it uses an effect that can be applied to music in any meter. It is also written in 3/4 time, being called "ragtime waltz". A composition in this style is called a "rag". Being a modification of the then popular march, it was usually written in 2/4 or 4/4 time (meter), frequently with a predominant left hand pattern of bass notes on odd-numbered beats and chords on even-numbered beats accompanying a syncopated melody in the right hand. It began as dance music in popular music settings years before being published as popular sheet music for piano. Ragtime was the first truly American musical genre, preceding jazz. It has had several periods of revival in popularity and is still being composed today. Ragtime is an American musical genre enjoying its peak popularity between 18. ![]() Second edition cover of "Maple Leaf Rag", perhaps the most famous rag of all
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