Lesson 13
Notes to Lesson 13
Mickey's introducing us to "Vamps", saying that they are an important part of "jump" and novelty tunes. If you're like me, I still have to ask "What's a vamp?"
The best, shortest, and most concrete definition I could find is a vamp is a short sequence of repeating chords. Let's analyze the "Standard" that Mickey is using for his lesson on vamps.
C - G dim7 - D min - G7- and a repeat: That sure looks like one of our old friends, the turn-around. This sort of explodes any fixed notion that turn-arounds were just for the last two bars of a musical section.
C - C7 - F - F min: A I - IV (or as we recently learned, a tonic to sub-dominant) progression for a little 2-measure variety.
C - G dim7 - D min - G7: A repeat of the initial turn-around.
There you have it, 8 bars essentially created from a simple turn-around. Using this formula, I'm certain that any of us could write a vamp based on our favorite turn-around(s).
About our exercises: This lesson is transposed into all of Mickey's orchestra keys. Guess what? Most of us can't play them all in all keys on 99% of the guitars we may play. All of the exercises in the key of C are the "prime" or restating Mickey's example with chord diagrams. What I have done is transpose all four exercises in all keys. If it was just futile to attempt to actually play the exercise with the suggested chord forms, I wrote a modified exercise with chord forms from the SAME PHILOSOPHY. If an exercise just had, say, one chord that was too difficult to reach, then I just modified the one chord in the exercise. That is to say, read through every exercise and look for any changes. You may even want to use TablEdit's chord diagram capabilities to add a few diagrams. And just because I can't reach a chord on my guitar, doesn't mean necessarily that you can't, so try everything.
I continue to write the exercises using the "Chunk" (swing) rhythm. Mickey advises us that the String Bass (Boom Chick) and Arpeggio rhythms work especially good with vamps for a fuller sound. That gives us an excuse to review Lesson 8 and practice the vamps with our favorite rhythms.
Now if you're just "itching" for an assignment:
Try transposing these exercises to the missing guitar friendly keys: D, A, and E. As always, if you send me your work to share with others, I'll put it in a special distribution and add it to the lesson. Don't forget to tell me if you want credit for your work.
And if you just can't get enough!!!: Take your favorite turn-around in any group of chords from this course, or previous knowledge, and write your own vamp. Here's one of mine based on an improvisation I transcribed of a Bossa Nova many years ago:
C - Eb7 - D min7 - C#7 - C - Eb7 - D min7 - C#7 - C - C7 - F - F# dim7 - C - Eb7 - D min7 - C#7
Make a TEF out of it, and "pretend" it's the standard. Now play any of Mickey's variations against it.
And if you want worldwide fame as only the Internet can provide: If you have a better or more useful definition of "Vamp", sent it to me. I'll edit this page by adding it and credit. Remember that if it comes from a copyrighted source, please send that reference so we can footnote it.
Just keep it FUN!