TR-004 • The Importance Of Transcribing

[Nolita]

A bit of formating help...

If you have a really long link, here's how you post it so it doesn't do that scrolling thing(which can throw folks off):

Code: [Select]

[url=yoururlhere.com]Name of what you're sharing[/url]

That way your post stays nice and tidy .

Oh BTW, no offense; but I think you answered your own question.  You said yourself what he trasncribed is right for the original version.  So it stands to reason he transcribed it from the original version of the song.  Doubting we'll get an official verdict on the matter for awhile.  Call me crazy but I expect he's very busy with the tour and will be exhausted for a day or 4 when he gets home.  That's just how I figure it.  Then again maybe he runs to an internet cafe every chance he gets.  

Back to the Billy Joel controversy.  Here's a bit of a funny.  I just had a random memory, from one of those Behind The Music type shows.  The song Piano Man was apparently transcribed wrong.  So when Billy goes to a restaraunt or bar where there's a piano, the "piano man" plays the song as transcribed.  But one note's wrong.  It makes Billy cringe a bit every time  :lol:

[justinguitar]

I think the smelly cat chords are right lol

J

[Cozza]

:lol: Got to love Phoebe's playing- she's as crap as me now that's saying something! :lol:

Peace!
Cara xx

[Cliff]

Hello,

Firstly, thank you for this lesson. This is a very helpful lesson that is helping me move out of a rut I've been having in my practices.

But...

A question that keeps on coming up when I try to plan my practice is how to go about deciding which songs should be BBQ songs for my repertoire and which I should try to transcribe. I can see that a song I transcribe fully would basically be incorporated into my repertoire but every BBQ song I can think of tends to seem better fitted for  transcription. How do I choose which songs to put into repertoire time and which to put into transcription time?

Cliff

[unleash]

do you have any tips on transcribing solos?

[justinguitar]

got more stuff planned, but still to busy - it is on the to-do list...

J

[guitar_albo]

Hi Justin: Thanks again for this whole site. I'm following your advices and I'm trying to transcribe some songs (In fact it's fun, despite I was sure it was boring). Since I'm an beginner-intermediate player like to play fast solos, but they sound like crap so I take a "step back" to take "two steps forward" later. I started transcribing summer of 69' (Bryan Adams) chords and I got them pretty quickly, so I tried and move to something of Journey lead guitar. Amazingly (for me at least) I have an 80% of "When you love a woman" solo and fills, but because this song have a piano throughout, it's difficult to me get the chords down (irony get the solo but not the chords?). I've tried many combinations and I get nothing. So I would be really grateful if you (or anyone here) help me to figure out:

1.- Maybe I'm out of tune?? I'm using standard tuning (like Neal Schon does), but maybe just this song Neal Schon uses a different tuning.
2.- Maybe I suck in this and should give up guitar (hope not  )??
3.- If question 1 is false... Should  I try to get the chords using a capo?? I don't have a capo, so I didn't tried this before.
4.- In general... how can you realize that there is a capo in a song?? If I understand well, a capo makes you sound 1 semitone higher for each fret you have behind it (hope it's clear)

I hope I didn't bother you

Regards from Chile (South America)

[Laban]

I've been playing guitar for around 2 months, and I want to start learning to transcribe. But I only have a old acostic nylon stringed guitar, and most of the songs I can think of use a steel stringed guitar, and that will make it a lot harder now wont it? Should I try to transcribe all the songs I know that use steel stringed guitar, or try to look up some songs played with nylon strings? Now I'm buying an electric guitar after christmas, I could just wait til' then to start transcribing.

[desy2478]

Hi Laban

It may make it a little harder as nylon strings have a slightly different sound to them but......if you have it tuned correctly the notes will be just the same and there's no reason you can't go ahead and have a go at transcribing. I strongly recommend that you get some kind of device to help you get it in tune properly. I have an electronic tuning device just check it will work with your guitar. With practice you can do it by ear but there's no point learning on an out of tune guitar.

Good Luck!

[desy2478]

Advice needed on where to play chords.

I'm transcribing the Stone Roses Song 'Ten Storey Love Song'. I figured out all the chords in their most common and easiest to play positions and now I'm working on the lead parts. I just completed the intro lead which is followed by the chord (and song key) of D major. The song chords appear throughout the song and are strummed occaisionally by Squire between twidly bits. Should I play these chords in their conventional positions or, using the caged system is it better to play them further up the neck near to where the next solo part is. I've noticed that many guitarists do this but don't know why.

Thanks

[andrew29]

i am wondering if anyone has some some beginner solos to transcribe for beginners
thanks andrew

[MBGoose]

You have inspired me to transcribe Justin!

[chubacha7]

you convinced me to start transcribing Justin  and that i thank you! .. 2 days transcribing and i am like a maniac ( in a good way ) cant stop transcribing. Its crazy how i'd check your site daily/weekly to see if you posted new songs or lessons. Now i can figure songs myself .. Picked up the ''Art'' quickly

Thank you ..

[Yogen]

How fast or slow should I go? I got the 5 exercises on  TR-105 (the pentatonic) kind of fast (less than a week and justin said it could maybe take a couple of weeks),  I'm still waiting for the answer sheets though, but I'm 90% sure I'm correct. I will try to be 100% sure, don't worry.

I think I got the exercise a bit "easy" because I kind of relied on my memory (which notes are located on which frets) of the minor pentatonic.

Anyways, is it ok to go at this pace or should I "rest" a little while, or go through all of them again?

I'm asking because I don't want to have problems on the long-run, a bad ear or something.

Thanks

P.S I actually have a pretty hard time when trying to transcribe other songs, but maybe it's because is full of distorsion and too fast?