What, how and why are you transcribing?

[zonedout]

The system for learning from others I have found very effective. Learn to sing the piece first with the recording and then without.

Then play it on your instrument. I find it the fastest wZy to get it into my head.

Entirely! But if 1 does not have a singing voice, such as myself, I hum

 

[Jazzaferri]

Whistling , humming, singing, it's all good, though if you can hum in tune you can sing in tune. Nobody should worry about whether they have a "nice" sound in this.

Does two things, it gets the phrase inside your head, and it hones your ear to pitch in the process.

 

[GJ77]

I'm currently working on Shoeshine Boy by Lester Young. Great solo, which will hopefully get me taking a more economical approach. I love the way he works on a motif and shifts rhythms about.

 

[ferguscullen]

Working on 'bag of blues' by Bud Shank. This will be my first alto transcription and I picked it because it seems quite simple except for a few tricky bits which are quite fast. So should help increase my speed a little. Plus it's a killer boppy blues number. @Michaelmurray I think I know the Cathal Roche you mentioned in your initial post

 

[Tiberius]

Currently transcribing Moondance coz it's the current 'song of the month' and I got bullied into having a go

How: I got a backing tracks with a chord chart, that seems to have C# and F# in it. That's the same as the Summertime I just played. in that, it seems to be mostly also B and D, with a few A's also. Now the song is a pop song, so I'm not expecting any weird notes, so I play the melody using various combinations of the above notes, until it sounds ok.

Result is now posted up in SOTM.

Does it count as transcribing if I don't actually write it down? My teacher can do that on Saturday

 

[ferguscullen]

I usually don't write it out because I don't see the need.

Currently transcribing Moondance coz it's the current 'song of the month' and I got bullied into having a go

How: I got a backing tracks with a chord chart, that seems to have C# and F# in it. That's the same as the Summertime I just played. in that, it seems to be mostly also B and D, with a few A's also. Now the song is a pop song, so I'm not expecting any weird notes, so I play the melody using various combinations of the above notes, until it sounds ok.

Result is now posted up in SOTM.

Does it count as transcribing if I don't actually write it down? My teacher can do that on Saturday

 

[Nick Wyver]

I usually don't write it out because I don't see the need.

I'd have 2 problems with that approach.
1. I do not have a very good memory. If I worked out a tune today I'd have forgotten it by the day after tomorrow.
2. I'm usually doing it for a student. Me not writing it down would not be much help for them.

 

[Tiberius]

...If I worked out a tune today I'd have forgotten it by the day after tomorrow.

I'm about to have another go at the tune I worked out yesterday...I'll let you know if my fingers remember it

Also, my teacher writes things out for me, if I write them out I can barely read them

 

[Theblusteryday]

IMO

When transcribing learn as much of the solo as you can before writing anything down! And before you start playing it, sing it! Then write it down when you've learnt it, and then analyse it!

Good rhythm changes solos to do:

Coltrane: Oleo

Dexter Gordon: second Balcony Jump (the studio version is good and there some some brilliant live recordings as well)

Sonny Rollins: Oleo

Zoot Sims: I Got Rhythm

 

[fibracell]

Working on 'bag of blues' by Bud Shank

@ferguscullen Great tune. I transcribed the chords for this tune (if you want them), and I play it regularly. I was also going to transcribe the solo - would love a copy when you have finished it.
In return, I can give you a copy of Bud Shank's solo playing 'just a few', which I recently transcribed. It is a Rogers bop tune.

 

[ferguscullen]

@ferguscullen Great tune. I transcribed the chords for this tune (if you want them), and I play it regularly. I was also going to transcribe the solo - would love a copy when you have finished it.
In return, I can give you a copy of Bud Shank's solo playing 'just a few', which I recently transcribed. It is a Rogers bop tune.

Hey Fibracell. I'd really love those chords. Thanks very much! I'm just transcribing the solo without writing it down, if you know what I mean but when I'm done I'll write it out as an exercise. I'll let you know when I'm done!

 

[fibracell]

here's the concert and Eb alto lead sheets

https://db.tt/n5ILw2Bd

https://db.tt/tWmmrTq3

 

[ferguscullen]

Many thanks! Sorry for the slow reply

here's the concert and Eb alto lead sheets

https://db.tt/n5ILw2Bd

https://db.tt/tWmmrTq3

 

[BrianJoeSandy]

1) What are you transcribing at the minute?
2) How are you going about doing the transcribing, whats your method(s)?
3) Why are you transcribing this particular player/solo/lick etc.

1) Toni Kofi's Village walk blues
2) Using Transcribe. Taking a phrase and playing over and over along with the recording adding one note at a time and checking when difficult. Gradually getting up to speed.
3) Heard a fantastic performance with Alan Barnes. Bought the CD.
Woodville CD Aggregation
Haven't understood the harmony. It's blues in F. The first 2 bar phrase is repeated in bars 3,4 and in 7,8 as expected. Repeated up a fifth (not a fourth) to C for bars 5,6. Then get arpeggios going down in A then Cminor.

 

[nickh]

Hi folks. Great idea for a thread.

I've just done a really short transcription of the intro to a tune called Black Orpheus. I'm learning the tune from a real book. I went onto YouTube to check out people's versions of this tune and found someone playing a nice lead to it. So I tried to learn it by ear. Surprisingly it only took 10 mins. I just made a note of the lead in in the margins.

 

[kevgermany]

Black Orpheus - lovely tune!

 

[zonedout]

1) Nothing at the moment. I had in mind to do some of Elton Dean's solos on "Dedicated To You But You Weren't listening", notably "Black Horse", but other stuff has intervened and I haven't got round to it.

2) If it's something simple I'm doing for a student or the band then I'll just work it out on the sax and write it down. I get a bit more systematic if it's complicated. I use Transcribe and mark in bars and beats then put in notes that fall on bar lines so I can place the solo in some sort of framework. If I don't have a sax to hand I'll write down the rhythm over the top. Then it's just a question of filling in the gaps, slowing it down if necessary. Which makes it sound easy but it can be very laborious. I don't do enough for it to be quick. Probably the hardest part is trying to notate the rhythm if the player is particularly free. You have to compromise between accuracy and not making it look over complex. Bent notes and other saxophony inflexions are a bit of a nuisance too.

3) I transcribe stuff because I get asked to or if I like it enough and I can't find a transcription of it somewhere else. I won't bother to do a solo that someone has already done. There's not much point when there's so much out there that hasn't been done.

wow... love these words

 

[Eoe]

A original I wrote because we spend 15 minutes trying to rember how I wrote it for some reason..

 

[Jonesy]

Not exactly transcribing, I'm having a go at doing arrangements for the band.

Just about finished "By The Rivers Of Babylon" and got the harmonies sounding right. Now what key to do it in?
The original key (concert A) sounds a bit raucous on saxes & clarinets, Bb sounds a bit better, but I think I'll go for concert F. Just the rhythm section section to sort out and learn how to write for drums, bull fiddle, and joanna.

Started also "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals, sounding good, but I can't quite get the "ooh-ooh"s and a couple of the guitar chords. No rush, plenty of time to get it right.

 

[EatSleepSax]

1) What: currently These Foolish Things by Lester Young
2) How: Listen, Play, repeat (I don't slow or write it down)
3) Why: I realised that I can't start transcribing with stuff from Sonny, Stan etc. Well, I could and did but it did not help me to grow a lot in terms of improvisation because I could not "unterstand" what they were thinking. Lester Young seems a good place to start for that because (1) it makes sense historically and (2) his lines are less technical, so I can focus more on harmonics, phrasing, sound etc.