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Addicted to a Vamp (A child is born)

hi all,
anyone else fond of the two-chord vamp in the first few bars of 'a child is born'?, in bb the vamp is bb maj7 to eb-7/bb. i love the vamp so much that sometimes when playing another tune in bb, i get to the end of the tune arrive at the tonic, then irresistibly drift off into this vamp for a brief period before ending the song.

not looking for encyclopedic knowledge here, are there any two-chord vamps out there that you are particularly fond of??? not necessarily at the beginning of the song, also middle or ending.

by time to talk on 09/22/2011, 04:58

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here's a few that come to mind. try changing the ebm7/bb to ebm6/bb or ebm6/f or b/f....you might also try an f pedal tone (use f as a bass note on both chords).

it's fun to screw around with different triad/bass note combinations.

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by Dr. Whack on 09/22/2011, 06:00

thanks for the ideas dr whack..... there are so many ideas over just two chords. sometimes i get afraid to dig in for fear of being swallowed up by all the options, but i tried the f pedal tone thing last night.... very nice alternative..

LJP Like

by time to talk on 09/23/2011, 06:47

thanks for the thanks:) it's nice to be helped and to know when you've helped!

pedal tones with parallel second inversion triads can yield some groovy sonorities. the more you experiment the more sounds you'll have in bag of tricks....but be sure to use the wildest ones sparingly...they work better when the come outa nowhere

LJP Like

by Dr. Whack on 09/23/2011, 13:25

another nice (and simple) vamp is:
cmaj7 - dm7 alternating.

also try playing the c as a first inversion c6 chord, with dm7 in root position.

putting a g pedal note in the bass under both chords turns the dm7 into a g9sus4.

or with a db chord in place of g7:

cmaj7 - dbmaj7#11
cegb - dbfgc

or:
cmaj7 - db7#11
cegb - dbfgb

a rootless version of this i - v vamp could go like this (left hand):
c6/9 - g13
egad - fabe

or with an altered dominant:
c6/9 - g7b9#5
egad - fabbeb

LJP Like

by DrJazz on 09/29/2011, 17:10

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Addicted to a Vamp (A child is born)

There are 4 comments, leave a comment.

by Dr. Whack on 09/22/2011, 06:00

by time to talk on 09/23/2011, 06:47

by Dr. Whack on 09/23/2011, 13:25

by DrJazz on 09/29/2011, 17:10

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Addicted to a Vamp (A child is born)

There are 4 comments, leave a comment.

by Dr. Whack on 09/22/2011, 06:00

by time to talk on 09/23/2011, 06:47

by Dr. Whack on 09/23/2011, 13:25

by DrJazz on 09/29/2011, 17:10

Reply to Thread

Jazz Piano Notebook Series

"Latinesque"

LJP Jazz Piano Blogs

Most Recent Discussions

Articles

Top Sheetmusic Picks

Jazz piano education is cool.

Rock on. Follow your passion.

Sign In