There are many keyboard methods that promise to teach you this longed for skill. You look over one, then another... and put them to the side. So much complexity:  major, minor, dominants, tonics, harmonic function, modulation... How much time will you need to make sense of all this mumbo jumbo? And you want to be able to play now - or at least in a couple of days.

Author Emma Mamayeva has found the fastest, simplest, most sensible method for learning accompaniment.

It turns out that for a thoroughly correct and pleasing accompaniment all you need is:

1.  To know how to relate the 7 notes of the musical scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) to the keyboard;

2.  To get used to some very simple patterns of keys that form the basics of simple accompaniment.

You will be getting together with friends in one week - and they have a big surprise in store. Your friends will be singing along to your accompaniment. Your new-found ability will bring great pleasure to them and to you.

After explaining basic concepts (note values, finding the correct note intervals) How to Find the Right Accompaniment to Your Favorite Melody will teach you 18 accompaniments that will give your playing great diversity in a short period of time.  Listen to them on the accompanying CD and you'll see right away what you have to look forward to!

Each accompaniment comes with suggested uses, but you'll soon be coming up with your own.

Accompaniment No. 1  Demonstrated here using  Row, Row, Row My Boat; Down in the Valley, Ach du Lieber Augustin, Greensleeves, this accompaniment is also suitable for songs such as Angel of Music (Phantom of the Opera), Santa Lucia (Neapolitan song), Silent Night, Silver Bells, Moon River.

Accompaniment No. 2  Demonstrated using Amazing Grace, House of the Rising Sun and German Dance, this accompaniment goes well with songs such as Piano Man, Open Arms, Edelweiss and When a Man Loves a Woman.

The Waltz Accompaniment (No. 3)  Demonstrated here using Santa Lucia, On Top of Old Smokey and Dark Eyes, this accompany is perfect for any waltz, such as The Skater's Waltz, Merry Widow, Blue Danube, Somewhere my Love (Dr. Zhivago), Fascination, Sunrise Sunset, Emperor Waltz, Artist's Life.

The Arpeggio Accompaniment (No. 4)  For songs such as Silent Night or Silver Bell, this accompaniment is shown here using Lullaby and Happy Birthday;

Accompaniment No. 5  For songs such as Memory (Cats), Do You Hear the People Sing? and At the End of the Day (both from Les Miserables) and many other songs in 6/8 times. It is shown here using For He's a Jolly Good Fellow and Pop! Goes the Weasel.

Accompaniment No. 6  For songs such as Let It Be, All I  Ask of You, Titanic, Unchained Melody, When I Fall in Love, Hey Jude, This Land Is Your Land and many other songs with a 4/4 rhythm. Shown here using Song about a Friend  and Vive la Compagnie.

Accompaniment No. 7  For songs in 4/4 such as Speak Softly (Godfather), Somewhere in Time, And I Love You So, From a Distance, Think of Me (Phantom of the Opera), Forest Gump, When I Fall in Love, Over the Rainbow, Colors of the Wind.  Shown here using Moscow Evenings and London Bridge.

Accompaniment No. 8  For songs in 4/4 such as Music of the Night, Tears in Heaven, What a Wonderful World, Misty, Eternal Flame. Shown here using Danny Boy, Auld Lang Syne and Alouette.

Accompaniment No. 9  Shown here with Nocturne and Loch Lomond.

The Carmen Accompaniment No. 10  For songs such as O Sole Mia (Neapolitan Song), Love Story, Mona Lisa, Amapola, La Cucaracha, Alone and Blue, Strangers in the Night, Yellow Days, La Palome, Summer Wind, Take a Bow, Un-Break My Heart. Demonstrated here using Improvisation and I'm Singing to You.

The Bossa Nova Accompaniment (No. 11)  For songs such as I Just Called to Say I Love You, Red Roses for a Blue Lady, A Day in the Life of a Fool, Nature Boy, The Windmills of Your Mind, The Girl from Ipanema, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, C'est Si Bon, Ciao, Ciao Bambino. Demonstrated here using Round the Village, Flower of Lavender, Oh! Vaudeville.

The March Accompaniment (No. 12)  Demonstrated here using March and The Marine's Hymn, this accompaniment goes well with songs such as The Stars and Stripes Forever, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Radetsky March;

The Tango Accompaniment (No. 13)  For songs such as Kiss of Fire, La Cumparsita, Tango of Paris, Mucho. Shown here using Tango and Last Tango.

The Slow Tremolo Accompaniment (No. 14)  Demonstrated here using Hava Nagila and Sertaki, this accompaniment also goes well with Theme from the Phantom of the Opera and The Macarena.

The Foxtrot Accompaniment No. 1 (No. 15)  For songs such as Foxtrot, Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer, Clarinet Polka, My Fair Lady, Entertainer, All I Do is Dream of You, Alexander's Ragtime, Beer Barrel Polka, Baby Face. Shown here using John Grey, The Yellow Rose of Texas and The Big Deer.

The Foxtrot Accompaniment No. 2  (No. 16) Shown here using John Grey.

Blues Accompaniments No. 1 (No. 17) Demonstrated here using Dixieland and New Orleans Nightfall. Both this and the following accompaniment go well with a variety of blues songs, including Dixieland Combo and Canal Street Blues. Demonstrated here using  Bourbon Street Saturday Night and The Constant Bass.

Blues Accompaniments No. 2 (No. 18) Demonstrated here using  Bourbon Street Saturday Night and The Constant Bass.