Jazz And Ragtime Comparison

Dante Bedrosian

Professor Elliott

MUSC 140

31 March 2023

Comparison Project 1 Jazz being one of the most popular genres of music in America, there are many branches of Jazz. Jazz first started in America around the late 1900’s, when wars were starting and ending, and people turned to music to find calmness and peace. Two very well-known types of jazz are Blues and Ragtime. These styles of music both consisted of different patterns in beat, rhythm, harmony, as well as various instruments. Both genres of jazz are unique and similar, but also have differences in the way they might be played. Both were brought to America around the late 1800’s and very early 1900’s. Both styles developed in the southern states. Blues was mostly in the southern area of America, while ragtime was near the Midwest but also around the south. Both genres

This type of Jazz came out when the wars were going on, and the depression hit America. Therefore, most of their songs were religious and healing songs to help cope with the issues they would have to deal with daily.

Blues included a lot of guitar and vocals, but also had some piano every now and then. Ragtime also had piano, but also consisted of the banjo and violin. Vocals weren’t big in the ragtime genre. Both had a syncopation rhythm, but the blues had a steady rhythm with the banjo. The blues used a steady rhythm to help with the weak beats.

Delta Blues was folk music that originated from the northwestern part of Mississippi in the early 1900’s. This style of music was mostly guitar solos that were sung by artists using different techniques to make it unique. Robert Johnson was an American blues composer, singer, as well as a guitarist. He was an African American who grew up in Mississippi. He would play his guitar with his thumbs and slide his fingers up and down the strings to make unique patterns and sounds that would be a