The Music of the 1910s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alexander's Ragtime Band

Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" released in 1911 was the song that turned him from a lowly Tin Pan Alley songwriter into a force to be reckoned with. The tune caught on in vaudeville and on the sheet-music market, spreading from music halls to parlor pianos and helping popularize ragtime-style music for the more mainstream audiences, but not in the way you'd think.

You see, despite the title, the song isn't strictly ragtime in the Scott Joplin sense. It's more of a popular, syncopated number that borrows a little ragtime flavor while keeping one foot firmly in the world of Tin Pan Alley standard songwriting. That didn't stop it from sparking a nationwide craze, inspiring countless performances, and later lending its name to the 1938 Hollywood film "Alexander's Ragtime Band", which celebrated Berlin's songs.

Answer: Flat disc phonograph records

In the 1910s, the flat disc phonograph really started to come into its own, moving quickly from a quirky new toy to the must-have at-home listening experience. Companies like Edison and Victor were busy refining the technology, embracing sturdier discs and moving away from cylinders, which were kind of the ice-cream cones of early audio tech: delicate, melty, and easily ruined.

Edison's team experimented with new materials, such as phenolic resins, to make records flatter, tougher, and less likely to warp. At the same time, grooves were cut more precisely, sometimes using vertical cut methods, which gave listeners cleaner sound and longer playtime, about five minutes per side on a 10 inch disc.

Answer: Nora Bayes

"Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over there-
That the Yanks are coming,
The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum-tumming
Ev'rywhere."

- George M. Cohan (songwriter)

Nora Bayes was a major star of early 20th-century vaudeville, beloved for her comedic timing, singing voice, and stage presence. She became widely known for light comic numbers such as "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" and "Turn Off Your Light, Mr. Moon-Man". Her popularity grew as she toured nationally, headlining major theaters and shaping the decade's popular musical comedy style.

Her fame soared even higher during World War I, when she introduced and helped popularize patriotic songs, most notably the rather optimistic "Over There!" in 1917, written by George M. Cohan. Bayes's performances turned the song into an American staple of the time and helped make her one of the most popular performers of the decade.

Answer: W.C. Handy

W.C. Handy didn't invent the blues, but he did more than just about anyone to bring it into the American spotlight. He was a trained musician who knew how to write and publish music, and when he heard the blues being played down South, he realized it was something special that deserved to be shared and celebrated. Songs like "Memphis Blues" and especially "St. Louis Blues" helped turn what was once a local folk style into a hugely popular and influential musical form.

Back then, most blues musicians didn't get recorded or even credited for their work. Handy changed that by composing, arranging, and publishing blues as sheet music, bringing the sound to audiences nationwide. His published sheet music and band arrangements were picked up by big bands, jazz groups, and dance orchestras, helping the blues become an integral part of American music.

Answer: The Rite of Spring

When "The Rite of Spring" premiered in Paris in 1913, it did not exactly have the warm, fuzzy reception a composer might hope for. Within minutes, one fraction of the audience was booing, another group was shouting back at the booers, and somewhere in the middle the dancers were trying to perform choreography that looked like a cross between stomping and convulsing in what seemed like a commendable attempt to anger traditionalists. Stravinsky, understandably distressed, reportedly fled backstage while the conductor soldiered on like a man trying hard to ignore an oncoming tornado.

What was scandalous in 1913 actually became foundational... eventually. Today, "The Rite of Spring" is widely considered one of the most influential works of the 20th century, although I'm not certain that a few traditionalists today wouldn't get cranky watching a ballet about ancient pagans sacrificing a young virgin, who then dances herself to death.

Answer: It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary

"It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary" started life in 1912 as a jaunty British music-hall number by Jack Judge and Harry Williams. It wasn't exactly meant to inspire soldiers charging across Europe, but history is funny that way. When the British Expeditionary Force marched through Boulogne in 1914 singing it at the top of their lungs, the tune quickly became the background music for troops far from home and badly in need of a morale boost.

The song's appeal was its chipper melody paired with lyrics about homesickness for a distant Irish town that were just sentimental enough without requiring anyone to admit they had feelings in public, because the British don't DO that.

Newspapers picked it up, recordings spread everywhere, and before long it had become the unofficial marching song of the BEF. If you were a soldier in 1914, chances were good that you either loved it, tolerated it, or wished the guy next to you would either shut up or kindly learn the second verse.

Answer: The Foxtrot

The Foxtrot glided slow-slow-quick-quick onto the scene in the mid-1910s with thanks to Vernon and Irene Castle, the era's most fashionable teachers of tasteful toe-tapping. While many social dances look like they were designed for people trying not to fall over, the Foxtrot brought a smoother, more refined style to the ballroom.

It caught on quickly with anyone who wanted to look sophisticated without needing acrobatic skills, two long steps forward (and side, together) for poor schmucks who couldn't master another big dance of the time: the tango.

Answer: Original Dixieland Jazz Band

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ODJB) made history in 1917 when they recorded "Livery Stable Blues" and " Dixie Jass Band One-Step," generally recognized as the first commercially released jazz recordings. Were they the best jazz musicians in New Orleans? Um... no. Were they the first to convince a major record label that the wild new sound called jazz might actually sell? Yup, and quite well at that.

Their records introduced millions of people to jazz, even if the band's style was a somewhat stiff, heavily rehearsed version of what real New Orleans musicians were playing at the time. Still, the impact was huge. Suddenly jazz wasn't just a local scene but on its way to becoming a national craze. ODJB basically opened the industry door for much better bands (and far more influential musicians) to come charging through... but that's a tale for the 1920s.

Answer: Scott Joplin

You have to love Scott Joplin, often called the "King of Ragtime," who wrote "Maple Leaf Rag" in 1899, which practically became the national anthem of the era (if you're curious as I was, the U.S. had no official national anthem at the time). It also earned him steady royalties, rare good fortune for a Black composer at the turn of the century. Joplin's music combined syncopation with classical compositional skills, giving ragtime a level of sophistication that helped move it from saloons to parlors and even concert halls.

By the 1910s, Joplin was pushing the boundaries of the genre with ambitious works like his opera "Treemonisha," but it turns out the public wasn't quite ready for that level of ragtime sophistication. He died in 1917 after years of declining health, largely unrecognized in his final decade. His reputation was restored much later, especially during the 1970s ragtime revival amplified by the film "The Sting," which brought his music stampeding back into popular culture.

Answer: The Southern Syncopated Orchestra

The Southern Syncopated Orchestra (SSO) brought jazz to Europe in the late 1910s, dazzling audiences who weren't quite sure whether to dance, clap politely, or just sit there wondering what syncopation meant (syncopation places accents on off-beats or weak beats instead of the expected strong beats). Founded by Will Marion Cook in 1919, the group was a dizzying mix of ragtime, spirituals, blues, and early jazz. They came loaded with a repertoire of hundreds of songs, because that whole less-is-more idea has never been an American thing. With star performers like clarinetist Sidney Bechet and soprano Hattie King Reavis, the SSO toured Britain and Ireland, filling halls with thousands of curious listeners. Even the future King Edward VIII invited them to Buckingham Palace, proving that jazz could charm the socks off royalty as easily as it could make future flappers flail around wildly.

While the orchestra's tours were wildly popular (Glasgow alone saw over 300,000 paid admissions in 1920), the adventure had some bad notes. In 1921, tragedy struck when the SS Rowan, carrying members of the orchestra to Dublin, collided with two other ships in heavy fog. Thirty-six people died, including nine musicians, and suddenly jazz had made headlines for reasons no one wanted. Still, the SSO's legacy endured: they were among the first large-scale Black ensemble to bring jazz across the Atlantic, sowing the seeds of Europe's own jazz scenes to come.