Re: Beginner transcription...
Phill Lear ( kinglear@cpuinc.net )
Sat, 28 Dec 1996 18:28:02 -0600
CLAY MOORE wrote:
>
> Mitch Brink wrote:
>
> > Who is the best pianist to listen to for transcription purposes? Bill
> > Evans seems to deviate too far from the melody, and Oscar is, well,
> > nearly impossible to imitate.
>
> While I think the Chet baker recommendation is a good one, I think anyone
> you like is a good place to start. You don't have to transcribe an entire
> solo to get some mileage out of doing transcription. I think of multiple
> levels of transcribing, from learning a lick or two (not writing it out),
> to copying an entire album- bass, drums, etc. While whole solos are a
> terrific source of study, often one ends up using just a fraction of what
Personally I think my ability to play heads, solo, and comp improved drasticly
when I tried to start arranging for big band...I thought it would've been easy.
You learn how it all fits togother and how to use theory for melodic(not methodic)
purposes. You also are forced to hear things, and understand them , like countermelody
backgrounds, embelishments, ect...Try it. My first big band tune was Silent Night, the
Christmas song, one year ago. My most recent was Freedom Jazz Dance(big diffrence)