Young Trumpeter

I'm in 10th grade and i'm thinking maybe i could give transcribing a shot. my band teacher (trumpet player) suggested to start with licks or written songs as opposed to full blown solos. does anyone have any suggestions for songs to start with, or any advice at all on transcribing? i'm thinking "i remember clifford" (lee morgan, not sure how many different versions there are).

Thanks,
Aaron

Brekelefuw

Try lifting Clifford Brown's solo on Sandu. It is 1 or two choruses of an F blues. He only double times for about a bar and a half, AND it is a killer solo.

A ballad, although slow, is more difficult to lift in my experience because there is much more room for rhythmic expression within the beat, making it tough to notate.

trpt2345

Start with something simple. Miles Davis solos from 1956 or before for example. Sing them first. Then play them. Then write them down. That sequence is important. The first one will take you a long time, the next slightly less, the third less than that, etc.

Michael McLaughlin

My wife was afraid of the dark... then she saw me naked and now she's afraid of the light.
Rodney Dangerfield

beartrumpet74

As a precurser to transcribing solos I think it would be great to follow your band directors advice. Transcribe little melodies wherever you find one you like. You may want to consider Chet Baker solos when you start as well, They tend to be less chromatic than Miles ( even his early work), and the range is usually not an issue with Chet. It honestly doesn's matter who you start with really as long as you sing it so many times you can sing it without the record before you write it down.
MAKE SURE YOU ARE SINGING THE RIGHT PITCHES AND NOT APROXIMATIONS OF WHAT YOU HEAR, THIS IS VERY VERY IMPORTANT.

Other things to consider when transcribing..

1. It's not enough to know the notes and the rhythms - you HAVE to be able to emulate the style of the player you are transcribing. Their sound, articulation, and vibrato are all important factors in really "hearing" their sound.

2. Be able to play it from memory BEFORE you write it down. It does no good to transcribe something you can't play later on without looking at the sheet music you made.

Best wishes on transcribing...it's something we all struggle with when we start off!
Peace
Matt

trpt2345

Excellent and essential points. For some reason when you learn something by "eye", i.e., reading, it has a harder time getting into your long term memory than if you learn it by ear. There are solos I learned by ear twenty years ago that I can still remember that I never wrote down.

Michael McLaughlin

beartrumpet74

Michael - I obviously agree totally. I once was told by a very very big name artist NOT to write down transcriptions because then I would rely on the sheet music and not my ears. His whole point was that jazz is something internal within your ears and that you can't fully develop your ears when you rely on sheet music. The older I get and the more experienced I become, I agree with his sentiments more and more. I'm at the point of learning tunes off recordings and only refering to the lead sheet when need to correct some difference between the version I have on record and the actual head, and to memorize and then FORGET the changes!
Peace
and GOOD VERY GOOD THREAD!
Matt