Hold on - where did we get into "the only purely American form of folk music"? The origins of ragtime are in popular commercial music,and rather surprisingly were almost rigidly formal in structure - listen to the huge output of Joplin and pick up how he put them together. The pickers got hold of it and adapted (and largely simplified the style) for the guitar. If you want to hear original rags on guitar, seek out "The New Ragtime Guitar" by Dave Liebman and Eric Schoenberg. But folk music...it just don't define that easily. Happy New Year
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