Ragtime progression

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The ragtime progression (Fahey 1970) is a chord progression typical of ragtime music and parlour music genres though its use originated in classical music and spread to American folk music:

• (V⁷ / vi − > ) V⁷ / ii − > V⁷ / V − > V⁷ − > I

and its close variants. (van der Merwe 1989, p.321)

In C major this is:

• (E⁷ − > )A⁷ − > D⁷ − > G⁷ − > C

The progression is an example of centripetal harmony, harmony which leads to the tonic and an example of the circle progression, a progression along the circle of fifths.

[edit] Examples

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008)

• "Sweet Georgia Brown"
• Liszt's "Liebesträume", no. III.
• Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant
• The Ballad of Casey Jones
• The Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four"

[edit] Sources

• van der Merwe, Peter (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.
• Fahey, John (1970). Charley Patton, p.45. London: Studio Vista. Cited in van der Merwe (1989).

[edit] External links

• MoneyChords: "Ragtime Progressions" History

v • d • e Chord progressions
ii-V-I turnaround	50s progression	Andalusian cadence	Backdoor progression	Borrowed progression	Circle progression	Coltrane changes	Double tonic	Eight-bar blues
Harmonic cadence	Omnibus progression	Passamezzo moderno	Ragtime progression	Rhythm changes	Sixteen-bar blues	Stomp progression	Twelve-bar blues

This music theory article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e