Transcribing

Alto

@thegummy purpose is definitely good to work out to feed the motivation! I transcribe (and not just guitarists) when I find something I really love and I want to play it. Or if I'm feeling stagnant and playing the same way all the time. I reckon a really important part of this is to transcribe music you like and do it in small chunks. A favourite one or two bar lick/melody/technique can go a long way if you first transcribe it and then develop it (play in different positions, different modes, add more notes or whatever you fancy). Going for a whole jazz head or solo is just too much in one go especially if you are trying to memorise as well.

It's great for expanding vocabulary and the improving the ability to play what is in your head without having to think too hard! So good for advancing intellectual and physical muscle memory. I'm a fan of Justin but not so much his taste in music so perhaps it would be good to try some different tunes? It's meant to be fun right?!

thegummy

Alto said:

@thegummy purpose is definitely good to work out to feed the motivation! I transcribe (and not just guitarists) when I find something I really love and I want to play it. Or if I'm feeling stagnant and playing the same way all the time. I reckon a really important part of this is to transcribe music you like and do it in small chunks. A favourite one or two bar lick/melody/technique can go a long way if you first transcribe it and then develop it (play in different positions, different modes, add more notes or whatever you fancy). Going for a whole jazz head or solo is just too much in one go especially if you are trying to memorise as well.

It's great for expanding vocabulary and the improving the ability to play what is in your head without having to think too hard! So good for advancing intellectual and physical muscle memory. I'm a fan of Justin but not so much his taste in music so perhaps it would be good to try some different tunes? It's meant to be fun right?!

Good advice, cheers.

Do you think the benefits are just as good even if the position I play the note turns out to be different to the record?

That's kind of what put me off, thinking that it might not be giving me the benefit of learning from that player when I'm not playing it the same way.

robinbowes

bwets said:

thegummy said:

bwets said:

If you transcribe a bit more of the piece sometimes it's easier to work out which position it's in. I find I can tell the difference between strings but sometimes it's just really hard/impossible! 

Interesting, that suggests that it can be more of working out what the position will be based on what it likely was according to the other notes played rather than actually hearing the specific position. That would make sense.

Yeah, it's like detective work. If you can find a clip of them playing it live that can really help!

This ^^

Live clips are really helpful - you can see where it was originally played. You can also see if a capo was used.

Also be aware of alternate tunings. e.g. Kashmir - piece of piss to play once you realise the tuning used.

R.

Lestratcaster

Yeah live versions are always good, then you can see exactly where its played by the original artist! Sometimes though they won't play it like the recording or its in a different tuning, etc etc.

Alto

thegummy said:

Alto said:

@thegummy purpose is definitely good to work out to feed the motivation! I transcribe (and not just guitarists) when I find something I really love and I want to play it. Or if I'm feeling stagnant and playing the same way all the time. I reckon a really important part of this is to transcribe music you like and do it in small chunks. A favourite one or two bar lick/melody/technique can go a long way if you first transcribe it and then develop it (play in different positions, different modes, add more notes or whatever you fancy). Going for a whole jazz head or solo is just too much in one go especially if you are trying to memorise as well.

It's great for expanding vocabulary and the improving the ability to play what is in your head without having to think too hard! So good for advancing intellectual and physical muscle memory. I'm a fan of Justin but not so much his taste in music so perhaps it would be good to try some different tunes? It's meant to be fun right?!

Good advice, cheers.

Do you think the benefits are just as good even if the position I play the note turns out to be different to the record?

That's kind of what put me off, thinking that it might not be giving me the benefit of learning from that player when I'm not playing it the same way.

@thegummy I think one can get caught up in right and wrong. I reckon what matters is what you enjoy and whether YOU think it sounds cool. Personally I wouldn't worry too much. To drop some clichés, Hendrix played licks he learnt and developed from older blues players left handed and upside down, Django had fingers fused in an accident so had to adopt a whole new style and play more vertically than horizontally and this guy thegummy used to play licks in different positions and they sounded great cos he could do this slidey thing that the original player couldn't in the 'correct' position...

So in answer, it's about the music more than the technique for me

thegummy

Lestratcaster said:

Yeah live versions are always good, then you can see exactly where its played by the original artist! Sometimes though they won't play it like the recording or its in a different tuning, etc etc.

That's definitely true, the other day I was playing along to some random live music on YouTube and for some reason I doubted myself because 3 random songs in a row were in the same key.

So I googled and found I wasn't actually playing in the key of the song but when I tried using the key from the sheet music it sounded wrong.

I found the original record and that was in the key on the sheet but the live version was in the key I thought it was, dunno why they'd change it for live.

Also, I've noticed a lot of Beatles recordings, so possibly other stuff from that time, can sound half way between two notes, or even a whole note off, due to the tape being played back at a different speed.

Lestratcaster

thegummy said:

Lestratcaster said:

Yeah live versions are always good, then you can see exactly where its played by the original artist! Sometimes though they won't play it like the recording or its in a different tuning, etc etc.

That's definitely true, the other day I was playing along to some random live music on YouTube and for some reason I doubted myself because 3 random songs in a row were in the same key.

So I googled and found I wasn't actually playing in the key of the song but when I tried using the key from the sheet music it sounded wrong.

I found the original record and that was in the key on the sheet but the live version was in the key I thought it was, dunno why they'd change it for live.

Also, I've noticed a lot of Beatles recordings, so possibly other stuff from that time, can sound half way between two notes, or even a whole note off, due to the tape being played back at a different speed.

Yeah if working out 2 guitar arrangements I will try and look up a live or even an acoustic version so its more stripped back but I notice its either tuned half-a-step lower or the parts have been changed.

Also with the pitch of the recording sounding like its out I've noticed a few tunes are in 432Hz. Or Don't Look Back In Anger in 455hz! Always wondered why my guitar always sounded out against the recording!