Question about transcribing

[Tigerfang]

Hey all, this is my first post on these forums, although I've been a lurker for a couple weeks now and I really have gotten a lot out of the site. But anyway, I have just started Bert Ligon's Jazz Theory Resource Book, and I am a little confused by the writing exercises he recommends. He wants you to transcribe simple tunes from memory without the use of your instrument, like "Happy Birthday". What I don't understand is how you are supposed to know what the first note is if you cannot use an instrument to check. Is there something I'm missing? Hopefully this doesn't make me sound too stupid.

[fep]

That's a great ear training exercise.

Sing the 1st note and then the root. For happy b'day that works for me...
da (1st note)....da (root, lower note), I hear it's a perfect 5th, the song starts on the 5th.

If that doesn't work...

Sing the first note and then sing up a scale or down the scale until you feel the root. Then count back to the note you started with.

If that doesn't work then, sing the whole melody and while you do listen/feel for the root. Then sing the root, sing the first note back and forth and figure out the interval.

[Tigerfang]

Thanks for the response, but I understand how to figure out what scale degree the first note is, but how would you know what letter note it is without knowing what key it's in?

[mr. beaumont]

Think independent of key...you can sing B-day in any key, the intervals are always the same.

[Tigerfang]

Ah okay, so he doesn't care what key, you can just pick one when writing something out. Thanks, I didn't know if it was important to the exercise.

[mr. beaumont]

IMO, relative pitch is more important than perfect pitch.

Why am I being so diplomatic--yes, relative pitch is more important than perfect pitch!

[Tigerfang]

Haha okay thanks for your help.

[TruthHertz]

I don't know what Bert would say to this, but get a sheet of notebook paper and you can put your notes on that, kind of an infinite staff. When I'm teaching students to read, or hear intervals, I do this. You can see chord tones as line to line (or space to space) and you can see direction. Notation is not so important as ear and spacial concept (how far, how long, how loud... the things you hear.) and you can take liberties with the notation.
David

[fep]

Originally Posted by Tigerfang

Thanks for the response, but I understand how to figure out what scale degree the first note is, but how would you know what letter note it is without knowing what key it's in?

I don't use letter names for that exercise, I use numbers.

5 5 6 5 1 7, 5 5 6 5 2 1...

[ottocat]

fep i get it.
very wise
I can hear it
Thanks (Moe Faux)

[Tigerfang]

Originally Posted by fep

I don't use letter names for that exercise, I use numbers.

5 5 6 5 1 7, 5 5 6 5 2 1...

Ah that seems like a much more logical way of doing it. I guess I just got tripped up by the fact that he said transcribing, which made me think of standard notation. Thanks for clearing it up.

[matt.guitarteacher]

Most simple tunes start on 1, 3, or 5. So, for starters, figure that out. You should be able to mentally sing that 1 3 5 and find the other scale tones from there.

[whatswisdom]

Originally Posted by fep

That's a great ear training exercise... Sing the 1st note and then the root. For happy b'day that works for me...

Right on. When you can do that, move on to Baa Baa Black Sheep; Old McDonald; Twinkle Twinkle; London Bridge; Oh Susanna... etc. The simpler the better. Never underestimate the value of simplicity. Great prep for learning to dictate more complex melodies.

[Tigerfang]

Yeah I've only been working at it for a few days and along with singing exercises it has already been very beneficial.

[Modernist5]

Don't think of it as being i any particulr key. just pick any note and start form there. one of the corner stones of jazz is taking evry lick or melody through all twelve keys. good luck.