A Symposium On Popular Songs

This film shows how popular music is affected by changes in society. Also attempts to motivate students to become more familiar with music from different eras. The style of Ragtime music is introduced, with the King of Ragtime composers Scott Joplin featured. Joplin played the syncopated rhythms of Ragtime in 1893 at the Chicago World’s Fair, but it was not until 1899 that his tune “Maple Leaf Rag made Ragtime a national craze. From there host Ludwig Von Drake has audience members ask questions about popular music. After the Ragtime discussion Von Drake explains that new sounds in popular music emerge with each new generation. He takes audience members from there to the music of the Roaring Twenties and up through the Rock and Roll era.