The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Hello - I have decided to start transcribing more tunes as a way to develop language, ear, technique etc. I chose (possibly foolishly) Cisco by Pat Martino as I love the tune and never get tired listening to it. Am half way thro the second chorus of the solo and the going is very slow indeed. I am using transcribe! to help as the notes come a little fast for my ear and am just going bar by bar and recording my version over a simple backing track. Just wondering if there are better ways ie picking out some of the passages I like best and then back filling gaps etc or whether the whole point is that it isn't meant to be very quick to start with and I should just crack on with it.
    Any pointers most appreciated.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    It is a slow and difficult process at first. My suggestions would be:

    - start with something simpler first to train your ear, e.g. a Chet Baker solo.

    - you don’t have to transcribe a whole solo, just pick out the phrases you like the most and do those. In the long run I think it is just a few phrases that get absorbed into your own playing, I am not sure that trying to play whole solos is as useful as people think.

    - you don’t have to write it down, just work out, memorise and play around with your favourite 2 or 3 phrases. Just doing this will teach you a lot.


    I think I only transcribed about a dozen or so solos. Surprisingly, I found I rarely went back and played them again later. What happened was that the process of doing the initial transcriptions trained my ears and ingrained enough bits and pieces of vocabulary to get me creating my own ideas. I think this happens because in trying to figure out each phrase, you invariably play it over and over again on the guitar to check the notes. This is probably the most valuable part of the process, because you are absorbing great pieces of jazz language (and their rhythmic and tonal aspects) without realising it.
    Last edited by grahambop; 04-29-2022 at 07:46 AM.

  4. #3

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    I adopt the Transcribe process, too, Joe. I love Transcribe because after all of these years I can finally "hear" those fast lines. I have friends who could transcribe such things off vinyl way back in the day, but I never had good enough ears, and I ruined many a cassette deck trying and failing to work stuff out.

    I still struggle with anything other than single note lines, and the underlying harmony. So sometimes I transcribe a nice line or two but am often sure what sequence it's being played over. Similarly, I recently bought the brilliant Paul Desmond Toronto Recordings set and I'd love to transcribe some of Ed Bickert's solos, but as soon as he starts playing more than one note I'm stuffed :-(

  5. #4

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    Licks are great! Pick up small bits of info you can use for your own ends. Also bop heads - very useful for language.

  6. #5

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    Deciding to transcribe 64 or 128 measures of something is... well, the whole thing has to be divine.

    Keeping a keen ear on tasty things happening in some solo and to do it(mimic) for fun seems the proper way.

  7. #6

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    By playing the all copied solo you practice the so-called jazz phrasing.
    Of course, if you want to expand your jazz language, the so-called jazz licks are highly recommended.

  8. #7

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    A great place to start with transcription is to just transcribe how someone plays the head of a tune. You will learn how the artist phrases, how they relate to the time, embellish the melody etc. Particularly useful as you can use this straight away if you want to play the tune at a session. Also it’s achievable and not overwhelming like doing a whole solo, especially playing it along with the artist in real time, to feel what’s it’s like to be in their shoes as it were, particularly if you haven’t done a lot of transcription previously.
    cheers!
    Last edited by Jazzism; 05-06-2022 at 09:26 AM.

  9. #8

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    Hi Joe

    If you're already swimming in the deep end, transcribing Pat Martino's playing, you might enjoy reading David Liebman's 'The Complete Transcription Process' on his webpage here:

    The Complete Transcription Process | David Liebman

    All the best
    Mick W

  10. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Mick Wright
    Hi Joe

    If you're already swimming in the deep end, transcribing Pat Martino's playing, you might enjoy reading David Liebman's 'The Complete Transcription Process' on his webpage here:

    The Complete Transcription Process | David Liebman

    All the best
    Mick W
    Thanks Mick - I will take a look, anything that might formalise/improve my process is super helpful.

  11. #10

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    I've done many arrangements and a number of transcriptions. The best way to improve is to do it often. When I started, I had a hard time hearing how to notate swing rhythms and used wacky combinations of 16th note rests. I eventually learned to find the simplest way to express a given phrase is the best way. Transcription is an imperfect way to express music. The performance is the real destination. Things like tone, timbre, subtle articulations, intent, mood, etc. often fall by the wayside. It's just an approximation of a whole other form of communication - but it can offer a roadmap.

    There are several essential tools I personally use ...

    transcribe! software to slow down and loop passages, change keys and other powerful functions

    Chordify.com software. They are having a sale this week - about $12.50 for the year for Premium which lets you upload any file. This software can be klugey - hearing base notes as chord changes - but it cn get you in the ballpark.

    GuitarPro 8 to create notation and tab.

    GarageBand to trim source audio to just the parts I want.

    I often have all these going at once. I'm currently transcribing some swing steel guitar records from the 40s and man!, those syncopations are tough but slowing things down to a snail's pace can be very helpful as long as you can keep sight of the line's trajectory.

  12. #11

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    You might try a holistic big picture landscape top down approach, imagining the thing like a landscape profile with peaks and valleys of expressive musical importance.

    Start with the peaks, the distinctive lines that express the most important parts of the thing. Some of these might just be a few notes, but their occurrence and placement stand out to define the thing - these are the most memorable moments of the thing that must be there to authentically characterize it.

    Then you add the lines supporting the peaks - the things immediately before and after (so, the upper slopes) that serve to set the peaks up and bring them down.

    Then you may add filling in the connecting lowlands and valleys.

    Advantages:

    - you learn the most musically important parts of the thing first and best because those layers get the most practice play as you repeat going through it. This naturally produces the effect that playing into the most important parts of the thing is accompanied by an increasing confidence... a great feeling when performing.

    - you don't have to wait until you have all the layers in order to perform it You might decide that the peaks and supporting slopes may be enough, all that's needed, or more appropriate because of the thick instrumentation with whom you are performing, but another time you might include the lowlands and valleys because you are performing as a cozy trio... flexible without complication because of the top down layered approach.

    - you don't have to reproduce the thing completely perfectly, just nail the expression of the peaks. The lower the elevation, the less important the fidelity to the original. Increasing variance as you play lower down the slopes, lowlands, and valleys is fine, relaxing with more flexibility.

    - the resulting plan and organisation of playing/performing the thing naturally comes from the landscape layout sense that emphasizes playing peak to peak. Your focus and level of effort map to the present elevation in the thing automatically, so efficient and still flexible.

  13. #12
    [QUOTE=pauln;1202450]You might try a holistic big picture landscape top down approach, imagining the thing like a landscape profile with peaks and valleys of expressive musical importance.


    This is a really interesting way to look at it. Appreciate you help on this