Transcribing Suggestions....

Chasplaya
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:41 pm
Status: Offline

Fri Aug 07, 2009 2:36 am

I do ear training ... when I tell it to 'Stay' it stays when I tell it to rollover ....Lol

The best way I have found is to watch a video of it and use the replay function a lot. Also finding existing tabs sometimes helps but some are so bad. Another method is to find a midi of the tune import to Guitar Pro which converts it then you have a lot of tidying up to do (not recommended really) Also determining the key helps immensely.


User avatar
Music Junkie
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:17 am
Status: Offline

Fri Aug 07, 2009 11:15 am

AndyT wrote:
Ear training is of course the way to go, but let me offer a way to 'cheat' and get a big jump up on finding chords.

Get your tuner out and turn it on. Set it close to your speaker (not too close) and play the song. Watch the tuner and it should give you the chords as they are played. Now if they change fast, then you need a super responsive digital tuner to get them all, but this will help you get the majority of them down and you can figure out the rest.
Now that is a pretty cool idea. Never thought of that before. I do have a pretty decent chromatic tuner that might do the trick. Thanks for the suggestion. Gotta love this site. It seems that the answers are there for those of us who ask.

Thanks!


User avatar
Music Junkie
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:17 am
Status: Offline

Fri Aug 07, 2009 11:19 am

Chasplaya wrote:
I do ear training ... when I tell it to 'Stay' it stays when I tell it to rollover ....Lol

The best way I have found is to watch a video of it and use the replay function a lot. Also finding existing tabs sometimes helps but some are so bad. Another method is to find a midi of the tune import to Guitar Pro which converts it then you have a lot of tidying up to do (not recommended really) Also determining the key helps immensely.
How do the Sit and speak commands work..................

I try the videos, but it seems that my musical interests sometimes overlap with those songs that are not allowed due to copyright laws. Figures. I have had some success with that in the past and I do use that as a tool from time to time. The TAB sites are pretty cool. A lot of what is there is way off, but you can always at least find a starting point somewhere among the many versions.


Chasplaya
Posts: 0
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2008 8:41 pm
Status: Offline

Fri Aug 07, 2009 5:28 pm

Music Junkie wrote:
How do the Sit and speak commands work..................
The sit is a bit uncomfortable and its better at listening than speaking,


TGSuzanne
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:48 am
Status: Offline

Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:29 pm

Music Junkie wrote:
O.K. everyone. I certainly do dot speak for anyone but myself, but with all of the requests for songs and lessons, it seems that any input on transcribing would be worth sharing. I for one have a difficult time with it. I have a few tools that I use to slow down songs and try to figure part out, but that is a far cry from truly understanding how to do this type of thing. So, that being said, I would love to hear from those of you who kind of have this down.

1. Where do you begin in the transcribing process? What is the first thing you do to get started?

2. What is the second step? Where do you go from there?

3. So on and so on...............

I really want to get better at this and eagerly await any guidance from you pros out there!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,

MJ


To get started, I like to listen and transcribe a bass line if that is present. You'll usually get a good idea what the chord progression is from the bass. Then I go and get chords. I try to listen to the chord quality: is it Major, Minor, diminished, etc.
Rhythm is fairly easy for me to get so once I get that bass line, I try to get any rhythm patterns and then I tackle the melody. I'm not real good at this, but that is my method.


User avatar
Music Junkie
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:17 am
Status: Offline

Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:10 am

tgsuzanne wrote:
To get started, I like to listen and transcribe a bass line if that is present. You'll usually get a good idea what the chord progression is from the bass. Then I go and get chords. I try to listen to the chord quality: is it Major, Minor, diminished, etc.
Rhythm is fairly easy for me to get so once I get that bass line, I try to get any rhythm patterns and then I tackle the melody. I'm not real good at this, but that is my method.
Suzanne:

Thanks for looking at this post. I have such a hard time with transcription. I am working hard on it, but it is such a hurdle for me..... So far, listening to the bass line is working best for me. I miss it at times, but it is better than trying to find chords right away. The other problem I have right now, is knowing when I hear the 1 Chord. I have had it explained to me, and I understand the explanations, but my ear does not cooperate at times.... So, for now, I trudge on,......

Thanks,

MJ


TGSuzanne
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:48 am
Status: Offline

Fri Oct 30, 2009 1:50 pm

Music Junkie wrote:
tgsuzanne wrote:
To get started, I like to listen and transcribe a bass line if that is present. You'll usually get a good idea what the chord progression is from the bass. Then I go and get chords. I try to listen to the chord quality: is it Major, Minor, diminished, etc.
Rhythm is fairly easy for me to get so once I get that bass line, I try to get any rhythm patterns and then I tackle the melody. I'm not real good at this, but that is my method.
Suzanne:
The other problem I have right now, is knowing when I hear the 1 Chord. I have had it explained to me, and I understand the explanations, but my ear does not cooperate at times.... So, for now, I trudge on,......

Thanks,

MJ
If you know the key of the tune (try playing scales over the tune to find the correct tonality if you don't know the key...it often works..) then hold the tone of the root note (first note) of the scale of the key of the tune and when you hear the bass or the chord match that drone, then it is "most likely" the I chord. This doesn't work 100% of the time, but it will get you started.


User avatar
Music Junkie
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:17 am
Status: Offline

Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:01 pm

tgsuzanne wrote:
If you know the key of the tune (try playing scales over the tune to find the correct tonality if you don't know the key...it often works..) then hold the tone of the root note (first note) of the scale of the key of the tune and when you hear the bass or the chord match that drone, then it is "most likely" the I chord. This doesn't work 100% of the time, but it will get you started.
Nice idea! I'll give that a try on the next song I work on. I really appreciate your input, any leads I can get on improving my transcription skills are most welcome1

MJ Image


willem
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 7:53 am
Status: Offline

Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:03 pm

Oke you all, when i had private lessons and i came with a song(the teacher did not know this song) and i ask the chords to it..... he listen and heard the bass, but he hit on his guitar that bass note he presume to hear, he play it back and he hit on the same time to be sure...........the bass note gives you the chord!!!!!


User avatar
Music Junkie
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:17 am
Status: Offline

Fri Oct 30, 2009 4:17 pm

willem wrote:
Oke you all, when i had private lessons and i came with a song(the teacher did not know this song) and i ask the chords to it..... he listen and heard the bass, but he hit on his guitar that bass note he presume to hear, he play it back and he hit on the same time to be sure...........the bass note gives you the chord!!!!!
Willem:

Yes, in a manner. If you get the bass note, you can narrow things down tremendously. There is always the possibility of an inverted chord, but for the most part, you can find the chord from the bass note. So, if you are following along, and you hear an A in the bass, your first guesses might be an A or an Amin......

MJ


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic