What is?

Ragtime is an American musical genre that became popular at the end of the nineteenth century derived from the march, characterized by a syncopated melody and an accentuated rhythm in odd times (first and third). Among its roots are elements of march in the style of John Philip Sousa and rhythms from African music.

It is one of the first truly American musical forms and one of the influences on the development of jazz. Its main composer was Scott Joplin, who rose to fame after the publication in 1899 of Maple Leaf Rag, which, along with other later hits, helped define the form known as classical ragtime, with a particular harmony, structure and metrics, in contrast to the more primitive forms of ragtime characterized by greater flexibility.