Jazz Guitar Transcriptions :

On Transcribing
(for Jazz Guitarists)

This is a "how to" article about transcriptions for jazz musicians. Please click here to view a collection of note-for-note transcriptions on this website...

Would you like to study with the best jazz musicians in the world?

Jazz is an aural tradition and the best jazz education is on recordings! Start taking advantage of them : Transcribe from classic jazz albums!

Learning and playing along to a recorded solo is like walking in someone else's shoes. It enables you to hear and understand how a specific player dealt with the music at a certain point in history.

Transcriptions are most commonly used to study jazz improvisation. It is also possible to study accompaniment (comping) from famous jazz recordings.

The greatest thing about learning jazz guitar transcriptions from recordings is the possibility for endless repetition: you can repeat the playback of the same passage a thousand times when needed! (no hidden fees!)

Writing it Down?

I believe it is not necessary to write down the music learned from jazz guitar transcriptions. A prime example of this is Wes Montgomery, who picked-up Charlie Christian's solos without writing a single note!

Jazz guitar transcriptions will help you improve (ears, chops, repertoire, feel, etc.) ... even if you don't read or write music. It's in the ears!

Note : You can write everything down if you wish to get better at music notation. But always remember that the ultimate goal is playing the solos... not reading/writing them!

Who?

I suggest you first learn solos by guitarists. It is always easier to hear "from" (and "on") your own instrument. Studying the sound, feel and phrasing is also more natural when it's done "from guitar to guitar".

My favorites are Wes Montgomery (a definite must!!!), Jim Hall, Ed Bickert, Pat Metheny and Jimmy Rainey.

It's also advisable to transcribe from other instruments. For jazz guitarists, I highly recommend trumpet. Phrasing seems to fit the guitar naturally. I have personally worked on many jazz guitar transcriptions from trumpeters Chet Baker, Red Rodney and Miles Davis.

How?

My best advice for jazz guitar transcriptions is to simply do it! I find it's often a question of motivation (or lack thereof). Just start from scratch.

Here are steps I usually follow:

1. Choosing
   
   Carefully pick a solo on a tune that is familiar. It must be appropriate for you (interest, difficulty, personal taste, etc.) Then Choose the length of your jazz guitar transcriptions. The entire solo or just 2 choruses? Decide right away! There's a psychological aspect to it.
   
   Know the chord progression for the entire tune. Refer to a leadsheet and memorize the chords. Always "keep your place in the changes".
   
2. Listening and Singing
   
   Listen, listen, listen. And then listen a bit more... Get your targeted jazz guitar transcriptions in your ears, then... ...sing it! You should hear the solo in your head without the recording. Singing is a very important step.
   
   Listening and singing will take time but it helps tremendously. Hear and sing the solo then simply "play what you hear".
   
3. Learning
   
   Play the solo phrase by phrase on your instrument. Refer to your singing and hearing, it will speed things up! Nail down each "musical sentence" before moving on to the next. Get the notes and rhythms exactly right.
   
   If a passage is giving you trouble, move forward and come back later. Sometimes, your jazz guitar transcriptions can be all perfect except for *one little spot*. There's nothing wrong with that.

Polish It...

Once you learned it, play the entire solo (or part of solo) with the original recording. You goal now is to imitate the phrasing, articulation and nuances. Do it until you match the original exactly.

We get more than "just a bunch of notes" from jazz guitar transcriptions. The rhythms and the feel are as much, if not more, important. Stick to the solo and recording for a while, you'll learn what's "between the lines"!

... and Go Further!

That's it you're done! But you're never done, trust me! Go ahead and squeeze some more out of your jazz guitar transcriptions :

Take you favorite phrases and write them down. Analyze how the player improvised over the chord changes. After that, learn to play the phrases you wrote in all keys. (This is known as learning jazz vocabulary)

And finally, create your own licks gathering inspiration from your favorites players and favorite jazz lines. You can even compose entire "tribute solos" in the style of any jazz guitar legend!

Have fun and transcribe well!