Original Rag by Scott Joplin (1868-1917) By Valérie Duchâteau. Fashionable between the end of the 19th century and the 1920s, ragtime is a genre of American origin that experienced a resurgence of interest in the 1950s. The quintessential ragtime instrument is the piano, whose left hand typically jumps from a bass note to a chord to establish a beat in eighth notes. Hence the difficulty of adapting it for guitar. Original Rag is Joplin's first ragtime to be published, in 1899. This piece follows the following form: AA-BB-CC-A-DD-EE.