The first jazz was played in the early 20th century. Jazz musicians were inspired by ragtime and blues which also evolved at the beginning of the century.

Ragtime was a musical style that came from St.Louis. It was played mostly on the piano and quickly became popular with orchestras. A blues was originally a sad song, a ballad that was sung slowly and accompanied by a piano or guitar. Some people say that blues were songs that the slaves sung.



The Bolden Band - one of the first jazz bands - around 1905
Image:AnonymousUnknown author,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 



Words

  • accompany = to play a musical instrument while someone else sings a song 
  • ballad = a slow love song
  • century = a period of a hundred years
  • evolve = to grow slowly
  • inspire = here: to get ideas or motivation from 
  • musician = person who plays music
  • popular = liked by many people
  • ragtime = a type of music that was popular in America in the early part of the 20th century
  • slave = someone who is owned by another person and works for them for no money