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Jazz Solo Transcription: The 5 Ws and an H
Jazz Solo Transcription: The 5 Ws and an H
Date Posted: November 02 2011
Written By: Frank Portolese
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There is an old journalism school maxim that says discovering the truth is about getting the “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How” of the story. In part one of this article (September/October issue), we explored the Who, What, When and Where of jazz solo transcription. In this article, we will explore the Why and How. To get the maximum benefit from the experience without wasting time or effort, take some time to think about what is involved.
Why? With all the books of published solos that are out there, why go through the hassle of transcribing solos by hand? All the favorite solos of everyone’s favorite artists have already been written out, and correctly. All those books are for sale. So why bother?
The answer is simple. There is so much more to be learned by going D.I.Y. Of course it is far harder and time consuming. But the ear gets in gear. Reading improves with writing, especially rhythmic writing. You will experience different interpretations of theory and chord changes. In the past I was perplexed by “A Night in Tunisia” and decided that I was going to transcribe multiple solos to determine what the right chords were once and for all. I transcribed Bird, Diz, Joe Pass, Don Byas, Clifford, and one or two home recordings of local guys, all playing “A Night In Tunisia.”
The result was one of those experiences that changed everything––that made me realize I never understood the game in the first place. All those guys heard the changes differently. A Pandora’s Box was opened. It wasn’t as simple as finding out the right changes, then checking the “Night in Tunisia” box off the to-do list. I realized it had always been about being able to hear the other guy’s interpretation, on the spot, and to be able to deal with those changes when I was on his playground. When I lead the gig, the cats have to play my “Tunisia,” which, based on all that work, I should actually be able to interpret with some authority and respect for the tradition. I learned what it meant to be a great sideman. Personal investigation trumps buying a book any old time.
How should you proceed? Anybody can grab a pencil and a CD and dive in, but, again, not so fast. What works best for most people?
Transcription means hearing. Years ago musicians took records designed to be played at 33 rpm and played them at 16 rpm, which was an option on most turntables. This slowed the music down by half, but it also dropped it down an octave. Reel-to-reel tape recorders did the same thing. Now there is digital equipment and/or software that can vary the tempo and/or pitch by any degree, create loops of any length, EQ the sound to emphasize or de-emphasize frequencies, etc.
Superscope makes a line of standalone units, and some people are just more comfortable with transcribing on a dedicated piece of hardware. There are also many products you can purchase online and download to your computer. You can get such a fully equipped software program for around $50. Just be sure it has all the features listed above. Again, free sample downloads are usually troublesome.
The following would be the ideal situation for someone without a lot of experience doing the first few transcriptions: A familiar solo is carefully chosen, one so familiar it can basically be sung along with. You know the tune well enough to play it on a gig. It is possible to already play a competent solo over the changes. The solo was played on your instrument, and it is one or two choruses.
Give yourself a couple hours and start with the first eight bars, with the intention of seeing how much of it can be written out in the time allotted. Loop a measure or a phrase, whichever is shorter. Listen over and over again, without playing. Relax and let it sink in. Then stop the music and try to sing it. Listen some more. Sing some more. Now sketch out the rhythm only, perhaps lightly above the staff or on a scratch piece of paper. Finally, go for the pitches.
One note at a time can work if you are skilled with the pause button. Play a note, hit pause, and quietly let the sound swim in your head for a second or two. Sing it softly and find it, perhaps on a keyboard. This will be very slow, but typical. There are ways to go at it with a little more sophistication. Whatever the changes are, determine what the tonality should be, but don’t jump to conclusions. Is the line played over a minor 7 II chord? If it is, go in with the expectation (but not the assumption) of a dorian mode. Half diminished II chord? That could be several things, such as the VII mode of major, or II chord of harmonic minor.
For me this really helps narrow things down and makes me feel the note is part of a coherent line that can be defined. The lines may not be based on the player’s understanding of the changes, and it may not be based on what the fakebook says (in fact chances are fairly good that they are not). But they will probably be close. If a dead end is encountered, skip to the next phrase.
Again, see how completely you can transcribe eight measures. If there are gaps, just leave space for them. A day or two later, for no apparent reason, the mystery notes might just reveal themselves once the player is ready to hear them. Plod onward until the transcription is complete. It is a messy process, two steps forward and one back.
Meanwhile, start making use of the newly acquired lines. Play a phrase, memorize it, then play it 100 times. Think about where the identical harmonic situation exists in other tunes in the same key. Call those tunes at the jam session and play the phrases on those tunes, over and over, everywhere it fits.
Find a way to work every phrase into some other tune. Write a phrase transposed to other keys, memorize that, then play the phrase in other tunes in other keys. Sequence the phrase, that is, rewrite it a third higher or a third lower (respecting the original tonality) and see how it sounds different, interesting, and yet still correct. Concerning the last two suggestions, you might be forgiven if you change a note or two to make the line more playable in a new key, as long as it does not dumb down the line.
Never retire the solos from the practice regimen. Play the entire solo as well as fragments. The solo will yield different things as the years go by. When one’s musical personality is ready for a certain insight, it will be found within these ever more familiar phrases. One well-chosen solo per year, fully digested and continually re-examined, is the way to go. I remember a tenor sax student of mine who learned Jug and Stitt’s “Blues Up and Down” over a summer, when I wasn’t around to hear him.
When he came back in the fall the difference was unbelievable. He said he learned a chorus at a time. He became a player that summer. That was a pretty dramatic transformation, not necessarily typical, yet those kinds of things can happen. They happen when a player is sick and tired of sounding mediocre, and wants to become the kind of soloist that others want to transcribe.
nCJM
Frank Portolese is a guitarist based in the Chicago area for over 30 years. He has performed across the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. He teaches jazz guitar at the University of Michigan and at Elmhurst College. His CDs, Transparent and Last Call, are on the Southport label. His newest CD (2011) is the self-produced Plectrum Jazz Guitar Solos.
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