The ability
to transcribe, or write down on paper what you hear on a
recording, is one of the most valuable tools a musician can
possess. It enables you to do many things that are of great use
in a wide variety of musical situations. First and foremost, it
allows you to learn from the masters via their recorded works.
When you are able to write down or at least figure out on your
instrument, what someone is playing on a recording, it is just
like taking a private lesson with that person.
Therefore, you can sit down with your tape machine or CD player
and take a private lesson with anyone from Chick Corea to Eddie
Van Halen. All of their musical ideas are there for you to study
and absorb for all time. It is also the best ear training that
there is. It makes you concentrate on recognizing intervals,
chord progressions, rhythms, and single note lines. All of these
can have direct applications to “on the gig”
situations. For example, if someone calls a tune that you
don’t know, you can follow the root motion of the pianist,
hear the chord types, and recognize forms. These are extremely
useful things to be able to on the spot.
When you transcribe regularly, you focus in on these skills and
refine them so that they can become available to you in an
instant. How does one actually begin to transcribe? It all starts
by choosing something relatively simple and just diving in. A
knowledge of intervals and music theory is helpful but not
required. What is required is the ability to listen very closely
and recreate what you hear onto your instrument. Pick out the
first few notes of a solo. I started with artists like Chet Baker
and Miles Davis. I chose the simplest melodies at first. Some
people transcribe without writing anything down on paper.
I find it more useful to write things down so that I can refer to
them in the future. It is nearly impossible to remember
everything that is contained in even eight or twelve bars of
someone’s solo. Nevertheless, some people prefer to learn by
ear and commit it to memory. That is cool too if you can do it.
There are also some basic techniques and tools that one should
have when you sit down to transcribe. First is a good half speed
tape deck. Some things you hear on records go by so fast that
having the ability to slow them down is very useful. Many
“Rockman” type tape decks have a speed control that you
can use to slow the tape down.
I also think that having a good set of headphones is important.
By putting the music right in your ear, you can hear things that
you might otherwise miss. I prefer to transcribe with my
instrument on hand. Some experienced transcribers sometimes have
the ability to transcribe without any tools other than their
ears. At first though it is a good idea to have whatever
instrument you play with you to check your accuracy. As I
mentioned before, the more theoretical information you have, the
faster you will be able to recognize things like root motion,
intervals, and chord progressions. If your goal is to transcribe
somebody’s individual solo on a particular song, it is
helpful to know the chords that are in that song.
If it is a standard type tune, you may be able to find the chord
progression in some type of fake book. These progressions are
notoriously inaccurate however, and can’t always be depended
on. Also, there are often substitutions that the artists makes in
his/her solo and you will want to know what those are. It may be
a good idea to transcribe just the chord progression of a
particular song first before attempting the solo. The best way to
begin recognizing chord progressions is to get near a piano or
guitar. Play the various chord types, (major, minor, altered,
dominant, diminished, augmented, and sus 4 etc) and get these
sounds in your ear. Be able to recognize the difference between
them. Listen for the “color” tones such as the 9th,
11th, or 13ths.
These tones are often altered in some way especially in the
improvisation. After you have the chords, you will be ready for
the solo itself. Be aware of the meter and form of the song. This
is the skeleton upon which the person is hanging their
improvisation. I recommend taking no more than two measures at
one time. Listen for the starting note. Sing it to yourself.
Singing is crucial. After you sing the note find it on your
instrument. Write it down. Fast! Before you forget! After that
it’s a matter of hearing the intervals. Where does it go
from the first note? Is it a whole step? A minor third? This too
requires practice.
Play all the different intervals on you instrument. Become
comfortable with recognizing them and their different sounds.
Only by doing this a lot will you begin to be able to pick out
the different intervals quickly. I will often listen to the whole
solo several times in a row. I listen for the overall shape of
the lines and any landmarks that may help me such as turnarounds,
or repeating figures. I also pay attention to the rhythms. This
is a whole other field of study in and of itself.
If you plan on writing down the solo, the rhythms are going to be
crucial. Many times it is the rhythm of what you are transcribing
that makes it so compelling. The notes may be ordinary in the
sense that they are within the scale of that particular chord but
the rhythm of it is what makes it special. I have even done what
I call a rhythmic transcription. By that I mean I’ve written
down the rhythms first and plugged in the notes later. Different
people do it different ways. There is no “correct” way
to transcribe per se.
The only thing that matters is that the transcription is accurate
to whoever is reading it. Music is a language and by studying
transcriptions, either your own or someone else’s, you are
studying the language of music. I have learned more by
transcribing than by any other means. I went to a major music
school in the Northeast and I can honestly say that I learned
more from transcribing than I did from any of my private lesson
instructors. It wasn’t that the instructors weren’t
good, it’s just that in my particular case, the information
that I was really after was contained in and easier to absorb
directly from the music of the artists that I really loved.
Before music schools musicians learned from each other much more.
There were very few books on improvisation, and if you wanted to
learn a tune or someone’s solo on a tune you sat down and
transcribed it by ear. Unfortunately, this art has died out among
many younger players. Most of all though, if you haven’t
transcribed something before, don’t be afraid. You really
can do it.
When you begin to transcribe you will see a whole new world of
information opening up. It will be very frustrating at times. It
will be monotonous at times. It sometimes will seem like you will
never get those two measures no matter how many times you listen
to it! Persevere though. The rewards are worth it. Good luck.
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Last uptdated 22.11.02