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"ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL": VAMP IN MUSIC

"The Orange Blossom Special" typically starts out in the key of E with a fiddle solo over a vamping tonic chord. This goes on for as many bars as the improvising fiddler wishes. (A vamp is a simple accompanying chord progression that can continue indefinitely, over which a soloist improvises. In “Orange Blossom Special,” the vamp consists of nothing but the E major chord, played fast for many bars.)

When the fiddler finishes improvising, the progression goes from E to E7, then quickly moves to A, establishing a new tonality. With the chord A now the tonic chord, the tune goes into its characteristic breakneck-speed melody.

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