Piano Transcribe
Piano transcription is an important skill that can make you a more versatile player, whether you’re playing solo or in a band. It’s a great way to build ear training and musical literacy, and it can also open up new possibilities for your music writing. But how do you go about piano transcribing?
First, you’ll need to listen to the piece of music you want to transcribe. This can be done by listening to the mp3 of the song, or by having a recording of it made and using headphones to hear it.
Second, you’ll need to work out the time signature and tempo of the piece. This can be difficult, especially if you don’t have an electronic piano or other keyboard instrument, but it isn’t impossible. To do this, you’ll need to mark the bars and beats on the music.
How Do You Piano Transcribe?
You can do this by using measure markers – just tap the “M” key at the start of each bar or beat (you’ll need to make sure you have auto-subdivision enabled in the Preferences -> Markers menu) and you’ll have a good idea of what tempo the music is at.
Next, you’ll need to learn how to identify intervals – these are groups of notes separated by a certain distance from each other. Intervals are important for transcribing because they tell you how far each note has gone.
There are 12 basic intervals in music, so it’s important to practice identifying them and understanding how they relate to the pitch of the note. These intervals include 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and 5ths.
Once you’ve figured out which intervals you’re dealing with, try singing them. This will help you to understand what you’re hearing and identify any alterations you might need to make to the voicing of the chord.
Another useful step is to pause the recording right after a particular note sounds. Then sing the note you think it might be, and listen to see if it matches up with the voicing in the recording.
If not, try a different interval and repeat the process. You’ll soon start to hear which intervals are most commonly used, so you can focus on those in your transcribed lines.
This can help you to create a more accurate and comprehensive version of the piece. It will also give you a better feel for the timbre of the piece.
After you’ve transcribed the piece, try transposing it into a new key so you can see how the rhythm and phrasing of the melody change with the changes in pitch. You’ll also discover some interesting patterns and shapes that you won’t have seen if you just transposed the song into the same key as it was originally written in.
You can find a lot of information about the process of transcribing by reading the FAQ page in Transcribe!’s Help window, and there are plenty of videos to watch on the YouTube channel.
If you’re a beginner at transcription, I highly recommend starting with simple songs that only have a few instruments involved. Once you’ve mastered that, try going for more complex pieces. However, you’ll want to be patient and work through them one at a time, so don’t push yourself too hard early on.