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. 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 1895, 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.
who wrote many of the classics of the ragtime repertoire
Scott Joplin