Multi-theme music (usually four themes, which were grouped either ABACD or ABCD)
Harmonic orthodoxy
Simple syncopation; the music was rarely rhythmically complex
An interest in key relationships which reflects its affinity to European Art Music; this simply means that certain traditions were established regarding how each section related to the other vis-à-vis key
Recapitulation (return to the theme statement) was mandatory
Usually the compositions had 16-measure segments, which were divided into four equal parts
The left hand was supportive and never syncopated
The harmonic movement was essentially that of tonic to dominant (I to V)
Ragtime was essentially a piano music
Ragtime was a music which descended from the cakewalk
Ragtime music was hard, bright, cheerful and machine-like

Additional characteristics

The music was white (or European) in essence, although most of its practitioners were black
Ragtime was a composed music
Ragtime pieces were conceived as pieces capable of standing alone; embellishments and improvisation were superfluous and not usually permitted
It was desirable to play a piece the same way every time
Ragtime was a printed music
Its orientation was towards classical concert music
Circus psychology was predominant; the tendency was toward faster tempos and sensational technical exploits
The performance goal of ragtime was the successful realization of a predictable result
It was characterized by an emulation of white techniques, which seems to belie the instinctual character of American Negro music
It was machine like, impersonal music (dehumanized); the idea was to make the live performance sound mechanical like the piano roll, which is one reason why the piano roll was so popular during the ragtime era
There was a desire for meticulous precision and technical facility
Ragtime centered around the cities; it was a music that called for publishers and mechanized instruments
This music was accepted by the black bourgeois in spite of its sterile and static nature
Upper class blacks enjoyed the ragged semi-classics
"Ragging" the classics was a popular phenomenon
The time period that the music was at its height was 1900-1920

The Demise of Ragtime

By 1920 ragtime had become a national fad in watered down, ricky-tick form
In ragtime, content was subservient to form (in jazz, form is usually conceived of as just one of the musical resources available)
Ragtime failed to develop internally
The discipline of ragtime was too restrictive for jazz
Ragtime forms remained completely static
There was over-exploitation of the music by commercial interests as well as the high pressure promotion of pseudo-ragtime
The mechanical repetition of the ragtime formula became boring
Jazz music presented tremendous possibilities (as an alternative)

The Entertainer - John Arpin