Ragtime progression

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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:

• III⁷ − VI⁷ − II⁷ − 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 of fifths.

[edit] Examples

• "Sweet Georgia Brown"
• Liszt's "Liebesträume", no. III.
• Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant

[edit] External links

• History

[edit] Source

• 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).