So here’s my first transcription of a complete song which is basically a trumpet solo interpreted by yours truly.
It took about 15-16 hours over a period of 2 weeks. I still have second thoughts about 2 or 3 notes but I’m satisfied with it on the whole. I wrote it out in tab but I’m thinking about doing it in standard notation as well so that I can see if my results fit in a key.
I thought the whole process would take longer and by the time I will have finished I would have my new guitar and something to inaugurate it with. Oh well… maybe I’ll record a video of this piece with that one once it arrives
Lessons learned:
Trust your ears, but not always. I had a few moments when the pattern on the fretboard helped put certain notes in place.
Patience is the key. I had to repeat some sections, especially the little slurred part, dozens of times to get it right on paper. Playing it is a different thing.
I need to find a suitable tone with a longish sustain but not much distortion on my amp.
Adjusting the intonation of the guitar can be a real pain. But patience works wonders with that, too.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t add bar lines to my tab as the tempo does not seem to be 100% consistent. I tried to stick to the original as much as I could.
Looking forward to your comments and any advice you can give.
Thank you Actually, I’m more of a Miles Davis person myself, but his level is still out of sight for me. But this song has that kind of wistful air to it that I like in slower jazz.
I’ll keep on working on this, especially those 3-4 slurred notes as there must be a way to play them more fluently on the guitar.
So, I rewrote the tab in standard notation and these are my findings provided my tab is correct:
The majority of the solo except for a short portion* (from 3:45 to 3:53 in the original) is in the key of F major. The only modified note is A# that alternates with A natural, and there’s one G# which can easily be notated when it occurs. As the key with only 1 # in it (F#) is G major, it is better to use the enharmonic equivalent of A# and call it Bb. The key with only 1 b in it (Bb) is F major, and the 1 G#/Ab can be marked when it occurs.
*The short portion has C#, G#, F#, D# and A# notes alongside a B and a G natural. The key with only these 5 #s in it is B major. The lone G natural can be marked when it occurs.
Your transcription sounds like the original to me, well done.
Re key, think about minor keys too. The relative minor of F is Dm. Dm has the same notes as F, but I guess you could say the focal notes differ. The piece also does have kind of a minor sound quality to it. (I cheated btw and looked up the key ) I also wouldn’t call A# a modified note, because in the keys of F & Dm there is a Bb (so therefore I would call it a Bb and not an A#). And yes when writing out standard score the accidentals would definitely be marked (i.e. the Ab, which I would call it Ab rather than G# because Dm has flats in it (well, 1 flat), rather than sharps.
You’ve done very well for sure, that’s quite a lengthy piece to transcribe!
Wow Jozef,
Nice job of transcribing. Play was pretty good, possibly timing and fretting could improve a bit, but practice will iron that out. All in all, nice job!
Thanks for all your kind words It was indeed a long piece for my first transcription project, but the first section is repeated at the end, so that made it easier.
Of course, I’ll work on improving my performance and I’m thinking about doing a version with single notes mixed with chords, if I can figure out how it should be done.
moments when the pattern on the fretboard helped put certain notes in place.
