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No one really knows the exact date Ragtime started. Like all good things, it was slowly developed over several years. Around the late 1800's and early 1900's, Ragtime began showing up in various places, mostly saloons and brothels in the South, giving the budding musical genre an immediate reputation as "lower-class" and "un-Victorian." But soon the upbeat and gay melodies spread like wildfire up and down the United States.
The style of Ragtime was one reason why Ragtime was so popular. The style of the music was not that of any Classical or Baroque music, but of a style in and of itself. The complexity of the pieces were unmatched. Syncopation and other complex rhythms created a different, but altogether pleasant sound and flow. Ragtime could be played almost anywhere because of the need for only a piano and ocassionally a bass or banjo; there was no need for an Orchestra or Band.
Yet dispite its extreme popularity, there were people who opposed Ragtime. One avid opponent of the music was, ironically, John Philip Sousa, a black composer. Sousa stated "[Ragtime's] primitive rhythms... excite the basic human instincts." That was the basic argument against Ragtime. Unlike previous music forms, Ragtime boldly ventured in the realm of syncopation. The Ragtime music being produced was unconventional. Ragtime was influenced much by the lower class of America; the social class untouched by the upper and middle class's "Victorian Moral Code."
Ragtime attracted many people and placed many in the limelight. Some of these people have been etched into music history, such as Scott Joplin and James Scott. But with the slew of Ragtime composers and performers came exploiters and con-artists who tried to cash in on the wealth to be gained by connecting, somehow, Ragtime, with themselves.
