MUSC 101 Music Fundamentals - Spring 2012

Ragtime 4 - Oom-pah bass

[Overview] [Ragtime Form] [Syllabus]

A typical left hand part in piano ragtime is the "oom-pah" bass.

Step 1 - Walking bass in eighth notes

Convert the walking bass quarter notes into eighth notes.

This should leave a rhythm pattern of eighth note - eighth rest.

Step 2 - add triads on the off beats

Fill in the rests with chords.

• The walking bass note plus the chord on the rest outline a triad or triad inversion.
• You can double the root, third, or fifth.
• Try to make the top note of the chords provide a counter melody to the original walking bass.
• Any time you have a V chord, you can use a V7 chord.

Here are three examples.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Step 3 - walking bass In Octaves

Add octaves to the walking bass notes in the left hand to create the standard ragtime left hand part. You can add the octave above or below the walking bass note. Here are three slightly different versions of Example 1 above.

Example 1a

Example 1b

Note the different rhythms used in measures three and four.

Example 1c

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[Overview] [Ragtime Form] [Syllabus]

Revised by John Ellinger, Spring 2012.