Anyone here transcribe any horn solos?

**On Sugar Hill** · 10-06-2008, 05:23 AM

I'm looking for sax solos that are not too difficult to play but have really cool phrasing thats doable on guitar. I'm starting to transcribe miles davis solos by ear but I'd like to see which solos you guys have done on guitar, most notably sax or trumpet solos.

**mr. beaumont** · 10-06-2008, 07:57 AM

try out some paul desmond and hank mobley.

**m78w** · 10-06-2008, 09:04 AM

Sonny Stitt is great, so is Clifford Brown. I also like certain Coltrane solos that don't have too many "sax" lines, that are weird to finger on guitar.

MW

**wizard3739** · 10-06-2008, 10:00 AM

Try Paul Desmond, Phil Woods, Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt, Early John Coltrane & Sonny Rollins. All were excellent soloists. My personal favorite was Paul Desmond due to his very tasty melodic abilities. IMHO, He was truly the master of understatement, playing fewer notes with better choices than the others I mentioned.

wiz

**Jake Hanlon** · 10-06-2008, 10:05 AM

I didn't transcribe a guitarist for like the first 3 years of playing. All I did was Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and guys in that era.

I think transcribing horn players is a MUST. It's a different approach because they're not thinking about their instrument the same way.

**Stackabones** · 10-06-2008, 10:34 AM

I usually just grab a phrase or two that catches my ear.

**mr. beaumont** · 10-06-2008, 01:59 PM

that's not a bad way to do it, stacka...although, remember,actually transcribing (meaning actually writing stuff down) is great practice for your reading and writing music abilities.when i "transcribe" i actually rarely write stuff down anymore, i steal it and analyze it right away...the analysis is the most important part, IMHO--it's the whole "give a man a fish, teach a man to fish." i always look for the "hell yeah" moments, but looking at a whole solo can be beneficial too because you can see how the greats built them--they're not just random chains of licks, as i'm sure you know.my students sure do get irritated when they come to me and ask "do you know any ___________ licks?" because i tell them, "learning licks is fun, but deciphering the code will make you a better musician."

**wizard3739** · 10-06-2008, 03:12 PM

IMHO, Mr. Beaumont has the right thought here. When I transcribe a solo, it is usually because I am trying to figure out how the soloist came up with the nice solo. I am looking for analysis and conceptual approach to the solo so I can learn something new.

wiz

**Stackabones** · 10-06-2008, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

that's not a bad way to do it, stacka...although, remember,actually transcribing (meaning actually writing stuff down) is great practice for your reading and writing music abilities.when i "transcribe" i actually rarely write stuff down anymore, i steal it and analyze it right away...

Good point and I probably should've mentioned that it's been a while since I wrote out a full transcription -- but it's worth doing, and it's something I probably should keep up with. Just seems like homework.

Currently, I think I pretty much do the same process as you're doing Mr. B.

**KeithB** · 10-06-2008, 09:09 PM

I transcribed Joe Henderson's Blue Bossa solo. It wasn't too difficult.

**oleo20** · 10-07-2008, 11:04 AM

ive been transcribing a lot of tunes rather than solos recently:
dave weckl - wake up
joshua redman - jazz crimes
that sorta thing, i really ought to start transcribing more solos

listen to michael brecker dude his lines are awesome and very rewarding once you internalise them

**Claudi** · 10-11-2008, 12:16 AM

Hi, all!

On sugar hill, you can find sax scores (and other instruments) on this site. You can put the english language on top right.

Hope that'll help you.

Download SAXOPHONE PDF Free Sheet Music

**frisellfan19** · 10-12-2008, 12:18 AM

Originally Posted by wizard3739

Try Paul Desmond, Phil Woods, Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt, Early John Coltrane & Sonny Rollins. All were excellent soloists. My personal favorite was Paul Desmond due to his very tasty melodic abilities. IMHO, He was truly the master of understatement, playing fewer notes with better choices than the others I mentioned.

wiz

Desmond was a master of lyricism and beauty. There will never be another one like him and my goodness that tone!

**Hidden Dog** · 10-15-2008, 11:50 PM

Hi guys...

Can you guys tell me which horn player solos that is easy to start transcribing?

I've been transcribing mostly guitarist and so haven't had any experience with transcribing horn players...

I just want something that's not too difficult and start off from there...

**oleo20** · 10-16-2008, 05:53 AM

try miles' legendary solo from so what, theres lots of space and some nice lines, then maybe move onto coltranes solo from the same tune or cannonballs, then you wouldve nearly transcribed the whole tune!

**jazzbender** · 10-16-2008, 11:17 AM

These are some solos that I found easy to transcribe, yet full of great jazz language:

Paul Desmond - Take Five
Miles - Four (from the Blue Haze CD. A slower and more melodic solo than other versions)
Chet Baker - Let's Get Lost

Once you get a few of these down you will easily move on to the more challenging ones. I say challenging only because they are uptempo and the phrasing is more complex, so it will take longer to break them down, for example Bird and Dizzy on Bloomdido.

**Mojojojo** · 10-16-2008, 02:59 PM

Man, I just spent about 20 minutes to post a reply but timed out when I went to submit it and lost everything! How's that for being a noobie poster?

Anyway, I wanted to say that I enjoy transcribing Benny Goodman heads and solos because they are simple but memorable, translate well to guitar, swing like crazy, and very lyrical.

My proudest transcription in terms of accuracy and ability to play them convincingly on guitar are Rose Room and Lullaby of the Leaves.

I also wanted to say that you don't have to be great at notation to start transcribing. I used to transcribe with crude tab, symbols and arrows on notebook paper. Heck, I'm not much better today even after teaching myself the rudiments of notation!

**Hidden Dog** · 10-16-2008, 09:24 PM

I had transcribed Benny's rose room as well after I learnt Charlie Christian's solo on that record (one of his solos that I really liked)... I tried to transcribe the xylophone player after Charlie's solo but felt lazy hearing it...

Btw... Thanks for the input guys...

**ZzaJMarc** · 10-18-2008, 08:59 AM

I started transcribe a Sonny Rollins solo on St-Thomas yesterday, a very good solo, not so tough even if its very fast a some points.

**gravitas** · 10-18-2008, 04:50 PM

If you want to slow down the solos for the quicker lines, you can always us Windows Media Player's play speed options

**mr. beaumont** · 10-18-2008, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by ZzaJMarc

I started transcribe a Sonny Rollins solo on St-Thomas yesterday, a very good solo, not so tough even if its very fast a some points.

that's a great one. good call.

i've been transcribing (or rather stealing and applying, i really don't write stuff down much) a lot of dexter gordon lately. pretty accessible and a lot of great content.