Suggestion for first solo transcription

[GaryLee]

I am looking for suggestions on a tune for a first shot at transcribing.

The requirements I have been given are:

1 - Basic 12-bar blues
2 - Something from the 1940's to early 1960's
3 - Must be a tenor solo
4 - Significant artist = Young, Dexter, Rollins preferred over Getz, Turrentine etc.
5 - Medium swing tempo - no fast be-bop or slow ballads

I have to transcribe and play the entire solo so I don't want too many chorouses. I am also supposed to imitate as closely as possible all of the subtelties of the performance not just figure out the notes.

The selection is intended to help you develop a particular aspect of your playing. In my case I tend to play on top of the beat so it was suggested that I look for a solo which demonstartes playing behind the beat.

[Tim Price]

Gary- try a Prez solo from a Basie record. Might be fun and a very helpful thing. Pick something via a "blues"..that appeals to you.
Ya can't go wrong with Lester Young-and you'll really enjoy the results YOU make on your sax. HTH. 8)

[JL]

You also might want to look for something by Gene Ammons, especially in regard to playing slightly behind the beat. Or try a Dexter Gordon blues for the same reason. I have a book of Dexter Gordon transcriptions called "Dexter Gordon-Jazz Saxophone Solos." Don't know if it's still in print or not, but it has a lot of good 12 bar blues in it.

[Tim Price]

BTW- Transcription teaches us to speak the language the way it is actually spoken and start simple. Don't write things down, do things by ear. If you forget what you did the day before, redo it. Only by repetition and patience will your ears and instincts become acute. Even just playing around and not learning the music on the recordings verbatim is an extremely valuable. It wakes up the ears and helps train one's instincts. It also helps ingrain the rhythmic and swing feel and stylistic tendencies.
On transcription...its a vital thing to do. Everything we cover via transcription is centered around the idea of using our ears, which is the basis for playing this music.

[Gandalfe]

Another phenomenon that I've noticed is that when I learn a song by ear from a CD (transcription), is that I never forget how to play that song. If I play it from sheet music, I have a devil of a time memorizing it. I’d like to blame it on my advancing age, but I’ve always had that problem. Has anyone else noticed that?

[Tim Price]

Another phenomenon that I've noticed is that when I learn a song by ear from a CD (transcription), is that I never forget how to play that song. If I play it from sheet music, I have a devil of a time memorizing it. I’d like to blame it on my advancing age, but I’ve always had that problem. Has anyone else noticed that?

Gandalfe- I agree 1000%. Peoples ears as well as minds can organize and remember things if we don't put limitations on.Writing things down DOES speed up the learning process but..listening is JUST as important. Always let the ears do what they can already do - LISTEN. :)
To hear is to see.
To get a 50-50 blend of ear and eye is the key. Think about an old friend calling you on the phone...and when you HEAR the voice. Its kinda the same. Or when someone calls to you when your not looking their direction...and you KNOW by the voice.Phenomenon is a perfect word !

[altoist]

Another phenomenon that I've noticed is that when I learn a song by ear from a CD (transcription), is that I never forget how to play that song. If I play it from sheet music, I have a devil of a time memorizing it. I’d like to blame it on my advancing age, but I’ve always had that problem. Has anyone else noticed that?

Interesting. I've noticed exactly the same thing. It's not just a slight difference either, I can read a tune dozens of times and not remember it, the next day, but a tune learned by ear lasts for weeks with no practice. I thought it might be a beginner thing, but apparently not.

[altoblues]

All of which is great, and true, but there seem to be very few actual suggestions here.

I'd go with Lester - in many ways, that's where it all started - his solos are melodic, lyrical, a lot of fun, and trickier than you think! Try "Pagin the Devil", it's the first one I learned. Better yet, get a good Lester Young / Basie Record, and pick one that you like. Wouldn't try "Lady Be Good" right off the bat though.

Good Lester Young CDs (IMHO) are the Complete Small Group Sessions on Blue Moon, particularly the 1st one in the 4 cd series, and the Kansas City Sessions.

Very important to learn the solo first! Then write it down. Learn to sing it with the record first, then learn to play what you sang, then learn to play it along with the record - exactly as Prez does, then write it down.

This will take a while, but you'll take an awful lot out of the process.

[GaryLee]

Thanks mjago, I will take another look at my Lester Young CD's but I don't think "Pagin the Devil" is on any of them. The sequence you suggest is exactly what I am supposed to do.

As Tim and others have stated the purpose of doing this exercise is to develop the ears and even more important to ingrain the style.

Where I have been having difficulty is finding a solo that I can remember well enough to sing let alone memorize and play. There are a few solos I have listened to enough times to sing, Don Menza - Channel One Suite, and Coleman Hawkins - Body and Soul (from the Manhatten Transfer vocal) for example but that came from many years not weeks of listening to them. And none of them fit the criteria for this assignment.

While I do have a small collection of Lester, Coleman, Webster and other early artists they have never been at the top of my list to listen to. Primarily because the recording quality is often poor but also because my musical taste in my younger days gravitated toward more comtemporary artists (Tom Scott, Ronnie Laws, Grover Washington etc).

I can now appreciate the value of listening to the early recordings but have discovered that I could spend a small fortune buying CD's trying to locate one solo that strikes my fancy and fits the necessary criteria.

Keep the suggestions comming - at least it will help narrow down my search.

[altoblues]

You should take learing the solo as you would any other form of practice - seriously, and somewhat methodically. This isn't a matter of hearing a solo enough times so that you can kind of sing along, the way that when you hear a song enough you somehow know the words. The point of the excercise is to sit down with the solo and SERIOUSLY listen to it. Over and over and over again, and then section by section. You have to learn to sing it EXACTLY as Lester (or whoever plays it) - inflections and all. And you have to be able to sing it in tune, even without the CD. If you work on it for a half hour or so a day, you should have the singing part down fairly soon. Remember that this too, is a learning process - it used to take me quite a while to get a solo to the point of being able to sing it exactly as played without the recording, but I'm quicker now. Rest assured that spending this much quality time with one of the great soloists can do nothing but help your playing in a myriad of ways - that's the neat thing about this excercise - you learn things you don't even realize.

I'd stop looking for the perfect solo, and just pick one and go for it. You should learn a lot of these over the years...

I can't stress Lester enough ... the more modern players you mentioned all would have done their homework this way, why not you? :D

Give yourself a month as a timeline to get this all done in - if you get it done quicker, great. If it takes longer, you should perhaps look at the time you spent on the process, and how you spent it.

If I were you I would get the Lester Young - Complete Small Group Sessions Vol 1 (Blue Moon). It's fairly cheap, and has all of Lester's great early solos - a lot of them are blues oriented as your assignment suggests / requests, and they're beautiful. There are a lot on the CD that are worth learning, and reasonable as first efforts.

Good luck! 8)