Vision Music

[Dave Illig]

I use softward called transcribe, Mark turned me on to it. For me the biggest problem in transcribing is getting the timing exact. Of course straight notes are easy, quarter, eighth, sixteenth etc. I get frustrated when I have to notate dotted notes, unusual phrasing etc. Ballads seem to be the worst. I can play it with no problem but what I put on paper often doesn't match. So,,,, I cheat. I plug the notation into Encore and play it back to see if it sounds correct. If I can't nail it, I record it and save it on an MP3. I have a lot of lines transcribed that aren't quite right, but I can listen to the MP3 and nail it quickly if I have forgotten how it goes.

Ok, is this a good idea?? Probably not in terms of improving my ability to read complex time. But,,,,it gets me back to playing faster so I can spend time with my ax. I am so anal I can spend hours trying to get that dotted sixteenth in the perfect spot. This way, I can nail the lick, have it saved and get on with my playing.

Even players that can't read transcribe. They lift the lick, memorize it and use it. For my buck that is the goal, writing it is just a way to ensure I can relearn it when my 53 year old brain dumps it.

Dave
_________________
The hippest note you can play is a rest.

[Gorecki]

[Gorecki]

[Mark]

[Dave Illig]

Ah yes, I never wrote anything down that I lifted until we argued over it for about a year. You won, I have a "book", albeit a small one. I think there is a benefit to struggling with the time also so a midi guitar controller would probably be counter productive for me, even though it sounds like a great asset.

Btw, for Goreki, if I stall a 737 at 35,000 feet, I really screwed up. I have done them in the simulator though, and it rocks!

Dave
_________________
The hippest note you can play is a rest.

[nylenny]

I have the same issue with rhythms. I can figure stuff out quickly and play it on guitar, but if the rhythms are complex, it takes time to write out.

Complex rhythm is a lot harder for me to transcribe than melodies or harmonies -- especially the rhythms in some slow blues solos. Fast bebop solos are the easiest, because you can slow them down, and there's not a lot of rhythmic complexity. I also find it more difficult to transcribe solos from artists that play around with the beat (ahead or behind the beat), like a lot of horn players that play behind the beat, especially when the bass is in front of the beat. If the rhythm is complex when that's happening, I feel like jumping out the window!

I've found one trick to dealing with rhythms, however. I mark out the beats on Transcribe. Sometimes I'll even mark out the eight notes. You can track those pretty reliably from the drummer's cymbals. Then I get the rhythm fairly close and write it out in G7. The next day, I'll check my work. It is absolutely amazing that merely coming back to a difficult rhythm later makes it loads easier to figure out.

I've also found that a lot of transcriptions are not exact, which has made me a little more comfortable writing things out approximately. This especially applies to note durations.

[Dave Illig]

Thanks for the tips.

Dave
_________________
The hippest note you can play is a rest.

[Gorecki]

[Mark]

[woland99]

[nylenny]

Woland,

That's a great tip for working with the software. Thanks -- sounds like a real time saver.

From a "learning" perspective, however, I don't agree with their forum. What you are describing is similar to how "they" teach melodic dictation in traditional music schools. First take down the rhythm, and then fill in the melody notes. I got passing marks in these classes in college (even got a "B" once !!), but I couldn't figure out a Charlie Parker lick if my life depended on it.

Part of the trick to learning to transcribe is to write it down sometimes; others, just play along with it, enjoy the lick, tweak it, etc. etc. Make it a game. You'll do it more that way. (Check out the book "Golf My Way" by Jack Nicolas --it has lots of great ideas for practicing guitar in it if you use your imagination).

I find the "legit" method impractical as a guitarist, because what I'm really striving (note that I said "striving" and not "doing" ) is to be able to copy phrases when playing with other musicians or just play along with recordings. And I want to learn "language" -- not just pass a dictation test.

What I've found is that the best way to approach dictation (and many other things -- like learning new tunes) is to vary your methods as much as possible. In other words, try taking the rhythm down first one day. The next day take the notes first. Sometimes figure out bass lines; others, chords. You always want to be treading new ground; otherwise, the progress is too slow. Anyways, that's just my opinion as a fellow student, and I'm sure lots of people disagree, but it's worked for me.

Someone once told me another trick that actually works -- ask yourself "what is it about this lick that I like?" (Don't learn stuff you don't like -- it's the quickest path to giving up the instrument ) Maybe it's the use of the mixolydian bebop scale, with the #7 on the off-beat. Maybe it's the use of a sequence in sixths. But understanding why you like it will help you recognize a similar lick the next time you hear it and help you to memorize the instant phrase.

Using the above method, if you transcribe a lot of stuff from one mentor, you'll begin to understand what you like about their style. For example, Robin Ford adds sixths and (sometimes) ninths to a standard pentatonic scale. My favorite RF licks have sixths in them. Once I figured that out, I was on cloud nine! Now, mind you, I don't sound as good as RF by any stretch of the imagination (not even in the same zip code -- not even on my birthday -- not even in my mom's opinion ), but I'm a smidgen closer than where I was before, and that is really cool.

[woland99]

[BarbNY]

[nylenny]

Thanks Barb. Much appreciated.

[Mark]