There are a number of ways to tell if a piece of music is ragtime, whether or not you can read music. First, here is the first four bars of Creole Belles, with lines drawn through the notes in the treble and the bass which line up. This is NOT syncopation:

Engravers were very good in those days. Yeah, they made some mistakes, but for the most part, they knew how to line up notes so when the right and left hand strike together, it looks together. All of the notes on the red lines are played at the same time, indicating that there's no syncopation going on here.

But wait! What about the rest of the notes, you ask? How do they line up? Here's how:

Notice how these notes in the treble don't line up with the notes in the bass? That's syncopation! Woohoo! If you want to listen to it again, click here. You have yourself a piece of ragtime interest, even though it is a cakewalk and not a full blown RAG. "What?" you say? Here, again, is a piano rag, with the much more complex rhythms associated with that more developed form:

Again, notice the tied syncopation and oh, so many notes! Hint... the more lines you see connecting groups of notes, the more notes the player has to play between beats. Click here if you want to listen to Jamaica Jinjer again. Ragtime ain't easy to play. Reading it and playing that fast is hard enough, but a good ragtime pianist knows where to put accents - when to use the sustain pedal - when to improvise.

So, you want to know what other clues can you find on sheet music to tell you that it's a rag or that it's ragtime. Well, there are a few hints.

1. Look for a racially-stereotyped cover. Subjects are often the South, Dixie, Cotton, Plantations, Levees, Mammies, etc.
2. The sub-title will often contain clues: Characteristic March and Two-Step, A Southern Breakdown.
3. Inside, on the title page, just above where the music starts, you will sometimes see tempo indications like: Slow Drag, Tempo di Rag, Tempo di Niggerino, and such. Chances are you have a ragtime piece in your hand if any of those remarks are present.
4. Get a copy of it and give it to someone who can play - any instrument. A pianist is best, but someone can play the melody line on a clarinet, a flute or a guitar (or a Theramin, for that matter), and if you know what syncopation sounds like, you will know if it is a rag, or at least part of the ragtime genre.
5. DON'T BE FOOLED by titles, particularly in songs. The anthem, Alexander's Ragtime Band, is virtually devoid of ragtime in the chorus! However, it can be played in a ragtime style, and that's a whole other subject entirely. Scott Joplin titled many tunes without the word "rag" in them at all - Heliotrope Bouquet, The Chrysanthemum, Euphonic Sounds, Easy Winners, etc. Learn to hear the sounds of ragtime, and find a friend who plays an instrument if you don't.
6. E-mail me!

Hope This Helps!

RAGards,

Tracy Doyle

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