Moreover, it may happen that the services of a skilled pianist are not available, and in these circumstances any one who can vamp will be deemed a useful acquisition.
The object of this chapter is not to give either intricate or comprehensive instruction, but rather to suggest, even to those who have had no musical training, a few rules whereby they will be enabled to step into the breach occasioned by the absence of an accomplished player.
An ordinary piano has fifty notes, comprising A, B, C, D, E, F, G, in succeeding order.
The whole keyboard is divided into two portions—treble and bass, the former starting from the fourth C up from the left; the notes below the fourth or middle C comprise the bass. (See [Fig. 1]. Arrow denotes middle C.)
Each black note above a white is its sharp, and each below its flat. For example, taking the treble note G, the black note above it is G sharp, the one below it G flat.
Before starting to vamp to a song, the singer must hum over a line or so of the song in order that the “vampist” may keep both the time and tone in his mind for transference to the piano.
His ear will tell him when he has struck a few chords whether they are in the key in which the song is written. If he finds that when a few bars of the song completing a distinct or rhythmical period have been hummed the note finished on is C, then he will know that the key is C, and find his chords as suggested by the diagrams given.
Vamping Chords and their Relative Changes
There are three principal chords in a key which are sufficient to cover the range of melody. Starting in C, the first chord for the right hand from the little finger to the thumb is made up of the notes middle C, bass G, and bass E. The left hand strikes the octave C immediately below the right hand thumb on E. ([Fig. 1].)
The second chord starts from little finger of right hand on F, first finger on C, and thumb on A in bass, the octave F, below the right hand A, being struck in the bass. ([Fig. 2].)