![]() ![]() ![]() Cobb and others were formally trained, as the quality of their output certainly indicates, and that even Joe Lamb, who was taught to a degree by his sister, and further by his studies of Etude magazine, had a collective basis in music education that contributed to the brilliant works he turned out. ![]() Also note that Scott Joplin, James Scott, Clarence Woods, Artie Matthews, George L. So even though the composer may not have felt that they needed, or usually could not obtain the full breadth of experience and education necessary to bring their ideas to fruition without assistance, it was often the arrangers that filled in these gaps, showing that the criteria we have been discussing does help to some point. The work done by Artie Matthews in the 1910s is a good argument to support this point, since his arrangements of the works of many other composers often had great similarities to his own Pastime Rags. The second point is that many of these rags made it into print through the efforts of experienced and educated arrangers who were able to take a basic rag that was played for them, apply effective chord changes and syncopation or other points of composition, and create what was in essence often more of a collaboration than a transcription. But again, this usually entails one or two basic ideas or themes within a structure that varies from that of ragtime. In a song there are lyrics to help define and convey the intended ideas, and if married to an effective melody and chord progression those lyrics and the song as a whole will potentially have the maximum desired effect on the listener. Writing a song is also very different from writing a rag. The same is true for song composition, whether it is rock, rap or rhythm and blues. Much of what is required, or equally not required for jazz composition, would either leave a void in rag composition or simply not apply at all. ![]() But modern jazz is also one basic theme or idea that is expanded upon in variations, whether they are applied to the progressions, melodic lines, or through the use of multiple timbres. It is often more about the chord progression or the rhythmic patterns than about melody, even though the latter is important as the starting point. However, even structured jazz in most cases is much less restrictive than ragtime. Modern jazz is sometimes absolutely free form in all planes, including harmonic, melodic rhythmic and metric. The collective information is more likely to result in personal success than just trying to mete out something from scratch, but more detail is contained below.ĭo these criteria apply just to ragtime composition? Yes and no. I urge you to also ask other composers for their points of view as well, and to look to both modern and vintage compositions that appeal to you as a style template as well. Mine is only one voice in a sea of many valid opinions on ragtime composition, or composition in general, so should be used only as intended - as a general guide for getting started and avoiding certain pitfalls. It is sometimes hard to separate the two, but where I can I do. The rest of the content is based on common sense or known fact. A caveat, though: Even though I always try to present a collective point of view, some of what is expressed in here is a matter of personal taste or opinion, either mine or members of the ragtime community that I know fairly well. However, I have the experience in the genre to at least provide some guidelines to follow or things to avoid, while leaving lots of room for personal choice and potentially improving the end result. Even as an award-winning composer, for which I am grateful, I can't exactly ease the process of ragtime composition. Why did I even attempt tackling it? Over the years I had received increasingly larger numbers of requests for composition tips, as well as compositions to evaluate, and nearly all of them seemed to ask for some kind of guide to make things easier. Composition is a tricky topic since so much of it is subjective. ![]()
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