American Original.

If any art had come into its own as a purely "American" form by the turn of the century, it was popular music, and popular music was a veritable medley. The rhythms of jazz, the sentimental strains of ballads, the syncopation of ragtime, the poignancy of the blues, the lively melodies of show tunes—all were sung, played, hummed, whistled, recorded, and enjoyed by Americans during the decade. American "popular song" was taking on a character of its own, distinct from the song of other countries. Music was also the basis of a rapidly expanding industry: sheet music, instruments, phonographs, and record cylinders or disks were spreading musical fads countrywide at an unprecedented rate. The ragtime number improvised in a Louisville honkytonk in 1900 was being played in an Omaha parlor by 1902; the catchy tune showcased in a Broadway musical one month was on the lips of the hometown barbershop quartet the next....