Jazz Guitar: Transcriptions How-To - Jazz Guitar Lesson
Published on 02 February 2016
Jazz Guitar: Transcriptions How-To - Jazz Guitar Lesson
In this video, I discuss preparation, actual transcription and what to do after you've lifted something from a recording. Those are all the tips I can think of, and they all come from my personal experience of learning solos, songs, compings, arrangements, rhythms (etc.) from great jazz recordings.
I hope you find this useful and please, let me know if you have any questions.
(So, this is just a discussion on the transcription process for jazz musicians. As per a request by Jay Green, a visitor of the website.)
See the "How To" Jazz guitar transcriptions article here:
http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/jazz-guitar-transcriptions.html
See complete note-for-note transcriptions here:
http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/jazz-guitar-transcriptions-1.html
See a nice SOFTWARE to help you transcribe:
http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/song-surgeon-review.html
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Video ORGANIZATION:
0- Intro [Watch the video]
1- Preparation: choosing the materials.
Pick a tune, listen to it a thousand times. It should be firmly in your mind (can you hear the tune in your head?)
Decide on the framework (how much?) It may be one chorus, or 30 seconds. Just decide ahead of time. It should be manageable, for you.
Decide if you are going to write it down, or not. It's up to you, but decide before to start. Personally, when I spend energy writing a solo down, I don't remember it a while after. If I just learn it by ears, I tend to retain it.
Know the tune (the changes and the melody)... know the chords and scales, etc. Or at least: be familiar with the tune! The soloist might use a lot of material for the melody / theme of the song. Think of a solo as some variations on a theme. If you don't know the tune, you may miss some references.
For Bebop: know when you are dealing with a contrafact. For instance, Ornithology was written on the chord changes of How High the Moon. You should know both the bebop head and the original standard tune.
In short: you should be familiar enough with the tune so you can (kind of) play a solo on those changes.
2- The actual ACTION of Transcribing
Use a transcription software!!! (I use Song Surgeon nowadays)
http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/song-surgeon-review.html
Step-by-step: do 10 minutes at a time. It's often hard to get started. Don't be discouraged if the process is very slow. Do what you can, then let it go.
Transcribe a little bit everyday... 5-6 days in a row (at first) so it really gets into your mind / fingers.
When you found some lines, you have to put the recording aside and decide on the fingerings. I call this "consolidating" the fingerings. ALWAYS stick to the same fingerings, be strict.
If something is too hard, just skip over it. Come back later, or not. You may simply take that part out of the solo. Leave it out, that's fine! :-)
3- After you are done with the transcription
Try to "maintain" the solo. Just play it over and over (with the recording). See this article:
http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/how-to-maintain-transcribed-jazz-vocabulary.html
Use your musicians friends as "play along", play your solo at jam session / rehearsals.
Take lines and dissect them ... you get some "licks" out of your transcribed solo. It's not even about the solo anymore, more about the science of it. About all the materials you can create out of it.
LASTLY: let it go. Forget about the transcription you achieve. It's hard ... I know. But keep in mind that what you get out of transcribing is not merely the notes. It's all about the process, the ear training and ... the suffering. ;-)
MOVE ON: pick another tune.
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See the "How To" Jazz guitar transcriptions article here:
http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/jazz-guitar-transcriptions.html
See complete note-for-note transcriptions here:
http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/jazz-guitar-transcriptions-1.html
See a nice SOFTWARE to help you transcribe:
http://www.jazzguitarlessons.net/song-surgeon-review.html
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