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YouTube Playlist: Transcribing
Transcribing notes and rhythms from a recording can be tricky you don’t have a strong background in READING music. Generally, good reading skills make transcribing much easier! (This is yet another reason that singers, drummers and all musicians will benefit greatly by having functional piano skills.) The process of transcribing rhythms involves these two essential components: first, establish a REFERENCE, then determine how exactly your rhythms correspond to that reference.
Step by step summary for transcribing rhythms:
1. Establish your REFERENCE by identifying the PULSE (often this is quarter notes) and SUBDIVISION (often these are 8th notes) of the rhythm you want to transcribe.
2. Listen to the rhythm you are transcribing as many times as it takes to memorize. Take it in short bits you can remember: 2 or 4 bars at a time.
3. Write on paper the PULSE and SUBDIVISION numbers of your reference. In common 4/4 music this will be 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + (“1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and”)
4. Determine exactly where the rhythms you’re transcribing fall in relationship to your reference beats, then circle those beats.
5. Finally, do the math: rewrite the circled rhythms below and fill in any open spaces with rests to make complete measures.
