..........what a great question!

Most of you know what my life is like from January through March - yep, state band contest preparation. This year we're beginning the program with a Karl L. King March, Alamo; followed by James Swearingen's, Blue Ridge Saga, and we will conclude with The Blue Goose Rag. Playing the rag will be a bit risky. It's not really mainstream for concert contest; but, it has that quality of being a bit of a renagade that I really like. While rehearsing the other day, I asked the students to do a little research on Ragtime music and let me know what they found. A few days later, I asked if anyone had done the research. Several students had taken the time to look-up some information. I was truely impressed by their attention to my request. I got a question that I wasn't ready to answer. The first chair flute player asks me; "What's the relationship shared by a rag and a cakewalk?" I had to fall back and regroup. I should have known the answer right away; but, I told her I would like to research the styles a bit myself before I gave her the final answer. Here's some of what I found.............

First, the ragtime style:

Ragtime (alternately spelled Rag-time) is an American musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1899 and 1918. It has had several periods of revival since then and is still being composed today. Ragtime was the first truly American musical genre, predating jazz. It began as dance music in popular music settings years before being published as popular sheet music for piano. Being a modification of the then popular march, it was usually written in 2/4 or 4/4 time (meter) with a predominant left hand pattern of bass notes on odd-numbered beats and chords on even-numbered beats accompanying a syncopated melody in the right hand. A composition in this style is called a "rag".

Now, for the cakewalk:

Cakewalk is a traditional African American form of music and dance which originated among slaves in the Southern United States. The form was originally known as the chalk line walk; it takes its name from competitions slaveholders sometimes held, in which they offered slices of hoecake as prizes for the best dancers. It has since evolved from a parody of ballroom dancing to a "fun fair" like dance where participants dance in a circle in the hopes of winning a free cake.

At this point, my best answer would be the relationship in the use of rhythmic syncopation in both styles. The connection would be the influence of African American slaves. In the Blue Goose Rag, I can definitely identify the connection with a march format. There's an initial theme that is developed in a first and second strain; but, both strains use essentially the same melodic idea. There's then a change in tempo, key, and melody to replicate a trio section; and then a brief recapitulation to the original melody and tempo for the finale. The tempo for a rag seems to be a crucial issue as well. All of the directors I have consulted share the same idea - be very careful to keep the tempo at 80-90 bpm. I don't think the cakewalk construction is quite as strict, and the tempos won't be as restrictive.

Alright, you've seen some brief research results and my take on it. Am I on the right track?