One similarity is the fact that both ragtime and blues were originally played by African Americans and emerged in areas with great ethnic diversity. Furthermore, both are credited with crucial importance in the birth of jazz, yet many argue that ragtime's impact was much more substantial than that of blues. Ted Giova's book The History of Jazz states that “ragtime music rivals the blues in importance – and perhaps surpasses it in influence – as a predecessor of early jazz. In fact, in the early days of New Orleans jazz, the line between ragtime and jazz was so thin that the two terms were often used interchangeably” (20) This means that, although both genres of music contained their own meaning, ragtime it surpassed that of the blues, and by 1914 ragtime was the most popular music in America. Unlike ragtime, blues featured almost no syncopation and was known for its improvisation. This improvisation was an important part of the blues and it was often the leader who performed the first solo, then, after the chorus was finishing, the soloist would usually turn to someone in the band and nod indicating it was his turn, with usually the last improviser is the bass player. Blues songs were also known for their way of expression