<Ul> <Li> Jazz </Li> <Li> boogie woogie </Li> <Li> country </Li> </Ul> <P> Ragtime--also spelled rag - time or rag time--is a musical style that enjoyed its peak popularity between 1895 and 1918 . Its cardinal trait is its syncopated, or "ragged", rhythm . </P> <P> The style has its origins in African - American communities in cities such as St. Louis . Ernest Hogan (1865--1909) was a pioneer of ragtime and was the first composer to have his ragtime pieces (or "rags") published as sheet music, beginning with the song "La Pas Ma La", published in 1895 . Hogan has also been credited for coining the term ragtime . The term is actually derived from his hometown "Shake Rag" in Bowling Green, Kentucky . Ben Harney, another Kentucky native, has often been credited for introducing the music to the mainstream public . His first ragtime composition, "You've Been a Good Old Wagon But You Done Broke Down", helped popularize the style . The composition was published in 1896, a few months after Ernest Hogan's "La Pas Ma La ." Ragtime was also a modification of the march style popularized by John Philip Sousa, with additional polyrhythms coming from African music . Ragtime composer Scott Joplin (ca . 1868--1917) became famous through the publication of the "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) and a string of ragtime hits such as "The Entertainer" (1902), although he was later forgotten by all but a small, dedicated community of ragtime aficionados until the major ragtime revival in the early 1970s . For at least 12 years after its publication, "Maple Leaf Rag" heavily influenced subsequent ragtime composers with its melody lines, harmonic progressions or metric patterns . </P> <P> Ragtime fell out of favor as jazz claimed the public's imagination after 1917, but there have been numerous revivals since the music has been re-discovered . First in the early 1940s, many jazz bands began to include ragtime in their repertoire and put out ragtime recordings on 78 rpm records . A more significant revival occurred in the 1950s as a wider variety of ragtime genres of the past were made available on records, and new rags were composed, published, and recorded . In 1971 Joshua Rifkin brought out a compilation of Joplin's work which was nominated for a Grammy Award . In 1973 The New England Ragtime Ensemble (then a student group called The New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble) recorded The Red Back Book, a compilation of some of Joplin's rags in period orchestrations edited by conservatory president Gunther Schuller . This also won a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance of the year and was named Billboard's Top Classical Album of 1974 . Subsequently, the motion picture The Sting (1973) brought ragtime to a wide audience with its soundtrack of Joplin tunes . The film's rendering of "The Entertainer", adapted and orchestrated by Marvin Hamlisch, was a Top 5 hit in 1975 . </P>

Ragtime is a blend of what two musical styles