How to transcribe a song accurately

Rocker

Trying to work out how to play 'News' by Dire Straits. I want to do it by ear, there are lots of videos on the internet, but I want to find a way to figure it out myself. All tips and suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

fretmeister

Do you have an iOS device? There are few apps that let you slow down without changing pitch. Great tool for transcribing.

No doubt versions for other platforms are available.

Phil_aka_Pip

Count out the bars and divide the song into sections eg the intro, verse, choruses etc. get the "map" sorted first.

Then you can try to establish the key or at least the tone centre for each section.

Lastly in the "mapping out" phase, work out the chord changes (eg a bar of this then a bar of that, or two beats of this then 2 beats of that). Make sure you know where any sudden accents appear (on or off the beat).

After this you can work on guitar licks - which will make more sense in the context of the chord they are played over. Guitar licks naturally includes repeated riffs, fills in between vocal lines, and finally solos. But since you already have a chordal/harmonic "map" these things should be easier to suss in context.

Jalapeno

fretmeister said:

Do you have an iOS device? There are few apps that let you slow down without changing pitch. Great tool for transcribing.

No doubt versions for other platforms are available.

Audacity can also do the slow-down keeping it in pitch (sort of) thing to on PC/MAC.

But if you're going to use a tool might as well go all the way and get Transcribe! from seventhstring.com.

ChrisMusic

Big +1 to Phil_aka_Pip's approach above.

Obviously you will need to repeat sections over and over, think through and hear and identify the intervals, and practice till it all comes together.

It's about developing your ear, as well as your chops.

I think Riff Station is good for this sort of thing, allowing isolation of parts, slowing down, or removing the guitar solo so you can play over the song as a backing track, as well as looping sections to keep on keeping on, so to speak.

Duration 4:12

https://www.riffstation.com

octatonic

I use Transcribe!

I'd like to suggest an approach that I don't see many people use but was shown to me by Dario Cortese.

Rather than slowing down a piece of music to get entire phrases you zoom in and get one or two notes at full speed, then writing it down and building the phrases up in smaller chunks.

It helps you to develop your aural recognition a bit quicker and eventually you get very good at picking larger sections up at full speed, which helps your ability to lock into other players when playing live.

I've been doing it for the last 10 years or so and I prefer it.

Phil_aka_Pip

@octatonic I like that idea, I'd use it after making my "map"

EricTheWeary

Not my area of expertise "> but I remember Dweezil Zappa describing using slow down software to work out Frank Zappa tracks, it seemed reassuring somehow. Otherwise what Phil said - treat it like a big jigsaw and start filling in the pieces wherever you can. If you listen in order to work out the structure, the words, where things repeat (or where they don't but you thought they did), etc, then these are good ways to get listening in depth. When you then start picking up your guitar you have a map (mental and across sheets of paper) so you know where the song is going long before you get to working out the notes.

richardhomer

I'd try to find a video of Knopfler playing it, if at all possible. There's a German concert on YouTube from around that era - I can't remember if they play that song - but I find watching someone play enormously helpful.

Most YouTube instructional vids are pretty poor in my experience. There are loads which show the intro of 'Need Your Live So Bad' with instructors going to great lengths to stress it's all about phrasing. They invariably then go on to demonstrate that they have no grasp of it whatsoever.

To me, nailing the feel is absolutely as important as the notes.

stratman3142

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Count out the bars and divide the song into sections eg the intro, verse, choruses etc. get the "map" sorted first.

That's where I start. Also, sometimes it's easier to hear the part in one section than another, where things repeat.

octatonic said:

I use Transcribe!

I'd like to suggest an approach that I don't see many people use but was shown to me by Dario Cortese.

Rather than slowing down a piece of music to get entire phrases you zoom in and get one or two notes at full speed, then writing it down and building the phrases up in smaller chunks.

It helps you to develop your aural recognition a bit quicker and eventually you get very good at picking larger sections up at full speed, which helps your ability to lock into other players when playing live.

I've been doing it for the last 10 years or so and I prefer it.

I use Transcribe! but I always slow things down, if I can't make it out straight away. The approach you suggest seems good and I can see the logic in it. I'll give it a try.

Danny1969

First thing I'll do is find the key, gotta take into account a lot of guitar stuff it tuned down a semi so knowing the key in terms of pitch doesn't mean it was played in that key. As a quick example Sweet Child of mine is in C#  but played in D on a guitar that's tuned down a semi. If you don't get this part right you might end up trying to play Mr Brightside in C# and wonder why you can't get the right sound 

Get some basic chords together from the song, just the rough chord outline to start with. The song your going to do has 3 to 4  basic chords and what we call passing tones 

Then I'll find the voicing cos this is important on guitar, listen for tale tale open string sounds, familiar sounds of chord shapes. This tells me where the parts are played on a guitar in terms of neck position. Dirty open chords played low down like Malcolm Young in AC DC songs have more power and ring out longer than fretted chords played higher up the neck. More so with a clean sound

Once your armed with the above you get more detailed and start copying as close as you can. Guitarist like Knopler rarely play basic Janet and John chords but pick out groups of notes in triads to imply chords and they get the chord movement from that. 

Lead wise you tend to find a lot of great guitarist repeat themselves a lot in terms of their licks, This makes working out their solo's easier and easier the more you do. For example someone who's never worked out a Van Halen solo might find it hard at first but once you've done a few you start to hear the same licks and tricks, just in different keys. 

There are very few guitarist that don't repeat themselves IMHO. 

I rarely slow things down. I do tend to load the song into Reaper and flip the phase on one side to cancel out a lot of vocal and drums so I can hear things better though.