this video has given me the inspiration to finally learn how to read and transcribe music for myself. IM NOT RE-LEARNING UNDER THE BRIDGE FOR THE 100TH TIME JUST BECAUSE I DIDNT PLAY IT FOR A BIT AND NOW I FORGOT IT....thanks Adam!
Sibelius has a little keyboard on the right. It has the # b (natural) stacatto and the whole, half, 4th, 8th, 16th and 32th. Each one of them corresponds to a key note keypad. 1 is 32th, 2 is 16th, 3 is 8th and so on. The name of the notes are the same on the keyboard A B C D E F G. So, he hits 3 on the keypad (8th notes) and then he hits the A key. Ctrl is for octaves and so on.... you have to remember all the shortcuts, but they are pretty easy: L is for LINES, K is for KEY, T is for Time signature, S is for SLURS. The mouse is just for moving things around and going to specific places. And if you have an electric piano it's easier.
I came across your RUclips channel last week and this is literally the best thing on RUclips. Thanks for both the great production values and the deep domain knowledge on music. Thanks again!
Hi Adam, I have the utmost respect for those you can transcribe like you, figuring out rhythms and notes just by listening..... I still have to check everything and play along with the track....thanks a lot for sharing with us, cheers from Portugal!!
@@moddim I've never used a chart in my life. When I'm in a band I memorize the material. Someone who is filling in may need a chart, and that's great work, ... for bass players and drummers. There are so many guitarists in the world that getting gigs sitting in, like Adam does, are not the least bit common for guitar players. Everyone and their cousin plays the guitar. Permanent guitar players are easy enough to find.
This video was SUPER HELPFUL!!!!! First just confirming that writing your own charts is a fabulous idea, but also just watching your charting process! Fabulous. Thanks so much Adam!
I'm a guitarist in a bigband, am familiar with sheet music, but I do miss a D.S. Al Coda A LOT if I don't highlight it on the page. Still like it though. It forces you to remember the piece of music you are playing
I tried this with a "You Shook Me" by AC/DC, and it honestly took me 3 hours to chart it all out (as I'm not fancy with the Musescore shortcuts). I can confidently say I can remember the whole form of the song without the chart. I didn't have to play along with the song 50 times to learn it
this is me, speaking from the 26.5.2019. Adam, I consider myself a rhythm-guitarist and I am more than impressed by your vids. you are the reason who made me overcome my doubts of picking up the bass and I hope to become a decent bassist as such, though I doubt becomming anything less after binging you. keep going, please
"Usually the guitarist" made me smile. Thank you for your clear descriptions. I enjoy learning and learning from your channel keeping it light and deep at the same time. I appreciate you.
I find writing by hand then typing it in and playing it stores it in more muscle, ear and sight neural pathways and that helps too. More pathways easier memory access.
thank you for bring musescore to light, i've been looking for a free musical notation program for a couple of years now for until i have disposable income for something better
Hey Adam, big fan. Thank you so much for this tip. I started my freshman year of college this semester and since then, I've transcribed about 30 songs now. It's so much fun and satisfying to see all my work as I flip though about 80 pages of music I've transcribed with Sibelius. I don't use repeats anymore and I used the tips you suggested and I love it. Thank you!
It was the first time i have seen someone litestening and noting music this way. Music is something I always have a "comeback" months by months. This is just amazing and beautiful to see to me. Thanks for your videos.
Adam, you are an incredible online educator. I've been following you since your early videos (i think you were still studying back then), to your graduation recital, and up till now. I will definitely recommend your channel to my students :)
Even in an orchestra (a double bass player here) during a rehearsal, a conductor usually has to say at some point: guys, it's a damn coda in 3... 2... 1.... NOW! ....f*cking trombones.
Those Codas and rests were the hardest for me playing gospel music in a church as a guitarist who couldn’t really read sheet music well. I ended up writing cues above like you said in plain English as well as chord names above and it helped a lot.Gospel music was a lot harder than I gave it credit for at first.
Generally, all your stuff is useful and intersting. This is even better/one of your best: Terribly useful to see you go through the process. Very appreciated.
Really enjoyed watching you write this out. Don't know why, but it makes me happy that someone somewhere tries to put in the due diligence to their musical vocation.
I played in an 80s cover band for over a decade and we had a really solid bass player. The intro to Just Like Heaven was the only thing out of the ~100ish songs we knew that they kept messing up. Basically they got the yips. We ended up just starting with a four count on the sticks.
3:16 "Usually the guitarist" Dang it he's right, just happened to me recently, have to have the whole band retake multiple times during a recording session just because I need to work on my reading
Thanks for all your great advice and tips. You're a wiz at music notation and so much more. It was very instructive to watch and listen as you went through the process of transcribing the song.
This actually gave me the motivation to start transcribing chromatic percussion parts that have multiple players written onto the music in the Symphonic Band I'm a part of to be just for my part only. I always get frustrated and lost when I start looking at the wrong line or have a ridiculous amount of page turns, so writing it out for myself is gonna help me out a lot. Thanks Adam!
You're doing a huge work. Personnaly I tend to adapt my sheet depending of the song (i'm guitarist and piano player btw). If it's a simple chords song, iReal Pro is my friend. If the grid/structure is too complicated (and if I create sheet also for other musicians), I make a full page of chords. If I need melody, I create a sheet, but usually never more than 1 page. If it's a complicated progressive rock song, I learn it by heart (usually guitar pro helps me learning and keeping a trace) no other choice. And yes, you're right about D.S al coda, repeat... I don't use them very often...
It's amazing to me how you hear the music and start typing the notes on the lines ! I really wish I could read music, so I could stop forgetting the songs I love and once knew how to play really well... more of this please ? Love your videos :)
I'm not sure if he ever addressed you or you ever found the answer but the easiest way to identify chords that are complex is by their color (extensions) when you strum or play a chord enough times try to contextualize what "emotion" that chord brings out and you'll be able to identify they chord much more often, in fact it's the easiest way to identify modal and exotic scales as well! develop your ear and you'll be doing this in no time!
Wow....this would've taken me about a week writing it out on MuseScore. And NOT after only one listen! You're KING!!!! Love your videos, even though I'm not even a guitar person :-) I am still learning a LOT.
That his musical interests don't include The Cure? More musicians than not in the world have no interest in historic rock songs. Much music in the world has nothing to do with rock. That's supposed to be okay.
@@finnelhumano6096 based on the professional musicians I know (and the basic music theory I took in high school), I have no doubt that Adam did this without hearing the song before.
@@Improbabilities Yeah. It's apparent from the video that he has never heard the song. For example at one point he said that he assumes that the guitar riff will only last 8 bars when it actually lasted 16 bars. He also guessed that a new section is going to start, but it just repeated the guitar riff. Also, he seemed genuinely surprised by the way the song ended. If he was familiar with the song (even if he had heard it only once before transcribing it), he would have known the structure of the song in advance, at least in some way, and he wouldn't have been surprised by the ending. What he did in this video wasn't really impressive at all. I could have easily done the same thing as fast as Adam did it, because the whole song just repeats the same four bars over and over again with bass playing root notes in a repetitive rhythm based mostly on 8th notes, and it's basic diatonic chords, aside from the G major chord in the bridge section. If the song had been more difficult, then it could have been more impressive, for example if it had been some kind of a funk bassline that has a lot of variations in it or fast walking bass or something like that, but this particular bassline was almost as simple as it gets.
So fricken helpful. I have to learn 5-10 songs a week for church. This is very helpful. Those ole timey church composers liked to change chords alot. U are a helpful dude.
I love how you took us through the process, step by step. I learned so much by observing. Would be awesome if you took this "transcription" series a little further and looked at transcribing other songs/basslines, preferably ones you've never transcribed before but are really popular in the music/bass community. Keep it up!
Your Videos are on point, so clear not a slither of BS and a clear intent to educate. Not dissing other Music tuition Videos they may help some folks but for me many others seem to have a ploy to mess up the brain.
Hey Adam! I've been watching your videos non-stop for the last two weeks. Thanks for all of your hard work. Also I've got to give a shout out to Noteflight.com another great free composing software.
I really like this idea of learning more songs by writing my own charts. (Most keyboard charts are garbage anyway.) I've got a few songbooks, but somehow they feel hard to crack open. I like the suggestion of adding lots of song-specific details. I also appreciate the "no repeats" rule, which my jazz teacher in college insisted on, but I have not always adhered to. But those guitarists... What do you use when the transcription gets trickier? I personally like to use Audacity to transcribe because 1) by default it will start playing at the same place every time until you move the cursor (useful for listening to one section many times), 2) it can slow the music down without changing the pitch, and 3) it makes it very easy to loop sections. Sometimes slowed down and looped is the only way I can get a tricky passage!
I was being overwhelmed by playing piano in our junior college jazz band --while teaching math --when this video came out. Did I tell you about the time I ended a full four measures before the rest of the band before I realized I was ahead? I just looped back knowing they'd have to end on the tonic eventually. Bass. 😎🍀
Thank you so much for this video Adam. I play in WAY too many cover bands and the one thing I suffer from is sometimes having a brain fart about a song(hence why I watched the video). I will say, I wish I played with professional enough players that would/could actually follow a chart but there’s a couple of projects this would be super beneficial for. It also doesn’t help that I can be the bassist or guitarist based on need.
what you said about not having confidence in published music. In SPADES! They publish some dumbed down version which I inevitably have to tweak. But we like our charts to be on one page, two max. Page turns are not fun for keyboardists & extra pages adds to the size of of your gig book. Spreading it is iffy--takes time, and a tiny breeeze can cause a trainwreck... my onboard music stand only accommodates 2 and I don't wanna haul an extra stand. Even with a tablet (which can be a little funky yes even with foot kick page turn or mouth operated for organ) I feel better with bound paper & clothespins onstage. So we make sure we HIGHLIGHT the repeats.
WOW.... Transcribing th The Cure song right away like the first time you listened to it so fast. That is impressing.. I would kill to have half of your knowledge.
If you hear me moving notes up and down at the beginning of the video, you can faintly hear the Sibelius playback. The first note I clicked was a D, and so I heard that in relationship to the tonic that I heard, which is that of a fourth. From there, I deduced it was in A. I don't have perfect pitch, I just have a well-trained relative ear, which in a lot of ways is more useful.
+Adam Neely hey Adam, would you consider doing a video about the different strings that can be used on basses and what they're best suited for? it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on piccolo bass strings in particular
Hey, Adam - was wondering if you could do a lecture on the subject of modes. What is their function and how are they used in playing/creating/writing bass lines. Great videos! Closest thing to any other bass video series would be to compare what Gary Willis's "101 Bass Tips" is to bass lesson books! Love your playing!
Hey Adam! Love your videos! Can you maybe make a video about transcription? I think being able to transcribe and input efficiently is an important part of being a good musician.
Hi Mr Neely, any chance you could do a video talking about the background process of constructing say a Sungazer tune? Maybe a few highlight picks around production & composition? Super cool stuff going on there. Thanks.
Awesome man. Studying at Bimm London doing my Bmus Guitar in popular music studies (Music Degree to those who don't know). Have sight reading and reading lectures there and this is a handy video to approaching my notation as its something i tend to struggle with. So yeah good video! Cheers!
Not a percussionist but an orchestra musician: you should always arrange your notes so that your page turns are relaxed, preferably in the middle of a pause. The original sheets aren't always laid out like this so might have to make photocopies that you can cut/tape/etc., whatever it takes. If you have to turn a page practically while playing then you haven't prepared properly!
I do pretty much the same thing but for synth parts, which require a couple more layers of fun. If you haven't already, take a look at Anytune Pro iPad for playing back the original track while transcribing.
Great video! I agree that most music books, fake books are not accurate (full of mistakes) and definitely should never rely on those. I also transcribe everything myself (over 3000 songs so far in all styles (jazz, pop, rock, latin, etc.) I can quickly figure out any chords, rhythm, form very quickly and write it down. To speed things up, I usually use a software called "transcribe!" by Seventh String. It's basically an audio editor that has been specifically designed for transcribing music. You can add labels over the waveforms which helps to quickly move from one section to another (for ex, for comparing two verses or to verify the form of a song). there's also some audio tools such as speed/pitch changer, some EQ, that is pretty usefull when the bass in the mix is muddy or too low. You can cut all the highs and transpose an octave higher so you can hear clearly a very low bass part. It's really worth it because it can save lots of time!
Thank you Adam. I love your videos! I play the violin (also in weddings) and I found this video very helpful. Now I'm trying to find another dimension where you are a violinist and have the "Adam Neely's violin lessons" on youtube = ) it would be great haha.
This video is an ear worm for me, so I wrote a tanka: Reliving unplanned turnin' points in your life yesterday watching your diary now thank you since you don't have to let us know how hard it was. Best! 😎🍀❤🍁
I agree to almost all your points and I'm grateful for your tips - but I have to point out, that Plato wrote that writing actually worsened our ability to memorize which is an interesting perspective and might be correct in several ways, I think.
Please do more of these as different songs will require different approaches, please do a piano one!!! I know you're a bass player but I think I have heard you mention you have done charts for other instruments, also there's a lot more notes to transcribe! Thanks for the uploads!!
When Liszt first met the young Brahms, the latter brought his first compositions with him. Liszt played them on sight and said he was a talented composer. Sight reading is super important and a tool for any good musician.
Hey so I'm a bassist in high school who's been committed to his jazz band for quite a while and I also lead my school a cappella group as a side thing. I have absolute pitch which makes me also good and recognizing odd chord or notes or licks or whatever. With my jazz group we've formed this trio my rhythm sect that plays some weddings. At this point we've got some solid experience, but personally I feel like I want to get more efficient with my transcription skills and accuracy especially with denser tunes. I've also been working to get my reading to a solid place and I've been playing piano as well. I'm sure you can relate, as a junior currently I find myself in places where I don't have enough time in my day to write out super clear charts like that anymore. I guess this is more of a musical memory question and maybe I should just go practice but what's your tactic transcribing a tune that's a bit more complex, of course more time is needed, but what are your thoughts.
Like this video. I do the same since the beginning of my gigger (can I write that?) career. I learned early not to trust what we find on the net. And most of the time I even take it on my time to think of the other musicians and give them (impose them, actually) my chart for I know they can be lazy and only have approximate charts or worst, charts from internet. I would like to add to this an essential benefit of making our own charts, it's that it is also the faster way to memorize a new song in short notice.
Greetings from Australia, always enjoy my time with you! So important to find a new part at the left hand margin. If you had either an odd number of bars in a part or a 2.4 bar, your tidy 4 bars per line format goes pear-shaped. I lose the rest of the line & put in a line return so when I'm accessing either the chart or my memory of the song form, should I get lost . . heaven forbid .. a new part has a place, I'm not searching for it mid-page?
I remember learning Just Like Heaven on bass for a cover band I was in before and the drum thing at the beginning really pissed me off! Me and the drummer had to go over and over it several times in rehearsals before the gig, just that bit. It was actually my first professional gig so I really didn't want to screw it up.
wow. I’ve been writing by hand (drummer) and using multibar repeats ‘cause nobody got time to scribble. It’s cool seeing your prowess on software. I also find it interesting using software as a kind of scratch pad for personal reference. I stupidly had this idea that, if it was gonna be all pretty on printed paper (or iPad) like that it should fall in some sort of codified format. I like the use of non-Italian phrases like “guitar in 3rds”.
I just sat here nodding. This is almost exactly my workflow when transcribing, except I'm taking in everything (not just the bass) at some point. When someone asks how I do it, I can point them here.
Random statement, but I really wish I could watch your hands whenever you use Sibelius. You have the best shortcuts. You made took measures away from each line, and, made a new page without even gong to the tabs. Teach me, oh great one! LOL! Also, I did watch your Sibelius training video, several times, but I'm pretty sure you didn't these two steps. Anyhow, yeah.
![The Secret Key to Pinky Finger Strength [ AN's Bass Lessons #14 ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/S_RdSSQeqU0/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Secret Key to Pinky Finger Strength [ AN's Bass Lessons #14 ]](/img/tr.png)
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
"pitbull starts rapping about nothing in particular...."
GOLD!
Adam: Talks about a person forgetting to take the repeat, "Usually the guitarist".
Me: Guilty chuckle.
I lol'd
this video has given me the inspiration to finally learn how to read and transcribe music for myself. IM NOT RE-LEARNING UNDER THE BRIDGE FOR THE 100TH TIME JUST BECAUSE I DIDNT PLAY IT FOR A BIT AND NOW I FORGOT IT....thanks Adam!
I'm astonished by your ability to transcribe a whole songs so quick and accurately! Can you teach us how to get started on this?
Just do it. Over and over again.
Well, when the song is the same 4 notes over and over again the entire song, it isn't very hard to figure it out.
Sibelius has a little keyboard on the right. It has the # b (natural) stacatto and the whole, half, 4th, 8th, 16th and 32th. Each one of them corresponds to a key note keypad. 1 is 32th, 2 is 16th, 3 is 8th and so on.
The name of the notes are the same on the keyboard A B C D E F G. So, he hits 3 on the keypad (8th notes) and then he hits the A key. Ctrl is for octaves and so on.... you have to remember all the shortcuts, but they are pretty easy: L is for LINES, K is for KEY, T is for Time signature, S is for SLURS. The mouse is just for moving things around and going to specific places.
And if you have an electric piano it's easier.
Esteban ..was wondering will it work for a midi guitar or just keyboard.
Guitardudeguy TMark/Osh I think I saw a guy with a Midi guitar on sibelius. It is just MIDI, why not
I have a feeling this may be the most valuable bass lessons I have viewed on YT. bass
16:04 "NO! Not another the Cure song!" hahaha I feel your pain! :D
No..the Cure is amazing 😭
“Usually the guitarist” hit me right in the feels but u low key right
I came across your RUclips channel last week and this is literally the best thing on RUclips. Thanks for both the great production values and the deep domain knowledge on music. Thanks again!
Mike on the Mandolin Same here. Did you come from the classical musicians video in suggested?
I think I came across the channel searching for tutorials on polyrhythms. :)
Hi Adam, I have the utmost respect for those you can transcribe like you, figuring out rhythms and notes just by listening..... I still have to check everything and play along with the track....thanks a lot for sharing with us, cheers from Portugal!!
"usually the guitarist". i just took the biggest L of my life.... because its true
Meanwhile, guitarists memorize their parts, which are about 16 times more complex.
Chuck Haney not really
@@moddim I've never used a chart in my life. When I'm in a band I memorize the material. Someone who is filling in may need a chart, and that's great work, ... for bass players and drummers. There are so many guitarists in the world that getting gigs sitting in, like Adam does, are not the least bit common for guitar players. Everyone and their cousin plays the guitar. Permanent guitar players are easy enough to find.
Chuck Haney I’d say the pianist has it the hardest imo
I resemble that remark!
This video was SUPER HELPFUL!!!!! First just confirming that writing your own charts is a fabulous idea, but also just watching your charting process! Fabulous. Thanks so much Adam!
"(usually the guitarist)"
Truth or personnal vendetta ? :)
bitta both
I think that one was simply a bass players joke.
As a guitarist, I can say it's the truth.
I'm a guitarist in a bigband, am familiar with sheet music, but I do miss a D.S. Al Coda A LOT if I don't highlight it on the page. Still like it though. It forces you to remember the piece of music you are playing
Yup. I don't know why we have a hard time with that.
I tried this with a "You Shook Me" by AC/DC, and it honestly took me 3 hours to chart it all out (as I'm not fancy with the Musescore shortcuts). I can confidently say I can remember the whole form of the song without the chart. I didn't have to play along with the song 50 times to learn it
I found this channel today and I love it.
Also, "Just Like Heaven" is my favorite Cure song! Double the awesome in one video!
this is me, speaking from the 26.5.2019.
Adam, I consider myself a rhythm-guitarist and I am more than impressed by your vids.
you are the reason who made me overcome my doubts of picking up the bass and I hope to become a decent bassist as such, though I doubt becomming anything less after binging you.
keep going, please
"Usually the guitarist" made me smile. Thank you for your clear descriptions. I enjoy learning and learning from your channel keeping it light and deep at the same time. I appreciate you.
I find writing by hand then typing it in and playing it stores it in more muscle, ear and sight neural pathways and that helps too. More pathways easier memory access.
thank you for bring musescore to light, i've been looking for a free musical notation program for a couple of years now for until i have disposable income for something better
why not use that money to support devs for musescore?
Hey Adam, big fan. Thank you so much for this tip. I started my freshman year of college this semester and since then, I've transcribed about 30 songs now. It's so much fun and satisfying to see all my work as I flip though about 80 pages of music I've transcribed with Sibelius. I don't use repeats anymore and I used the tips you suggested and I love it. Thank you!
Im a guitarist and I've had to do the '40 songs in a week' gauntlet run, I wish I'd seen this video years ago. Thanks.
It was the first time i have seen someone litestening and noting music this way. Music is something I always have a "comeback" months by months. This is just amazing and beautiful to see to me.
Thanks for your videos.
Adam, you are an incredible online educator. I've been following you since your early videos (i think you were still studying back then), to your graduation recital, and up till now. I will definitely recommend your channel to my students :)
"God help you if you write a DS Al Coda..."
I'm h appy to have one segno. If you have two segnos, then god help you....
That is my only nightmare. The only thing that still manages to get me lost when sight reading music sheets
Yes!!
Even in an orchestra (a double bass player here) during a rehearsal, a conductor usually has to say at some point: guys, it's a damn coda in 3... 2... 1.... NOW! ....f*cking trombones.
mfw when i use Al coda in every sheet i write so i make sure everything ends up on one pag😬
Those Codas and rests were the hardest for me playing gospel music in a church as a guitarist who couldn’t really read sheet music well. I ended up writing cues above like you said in plain English as well as chord names above and it helped a lot.Gospel music was a lot harder than I gave it credit for at first.
Generally, all your stuff is useful and intersting. This is even better/one of your best: Terribly useful to see you go through the process. Very appreciated.
PRO TIP: Make sure the RUclips version and the original version are in the same key.
/make sure the version you’re playing at a gig and the version you’re learning is in the same key unless you can transpose in your head
This is a wonderful concept with applications everywhere. Making life easier for 'future you' is like being a time traveller. Awesome tip!
I really like how you listen to music. It's more of an intellectual thing, very interesting
Really enjoyed watching you write this out. Don't know why, but it makes me happy that someone somewhere tries to put in the due diligence to their musical vocation.
I played in an 80s cover band for over a decade and we had a really solid bass player. The intro to Just Like Heaven was the only thing out of the ~100ish songs we knew that they kept messing up. Basically they got the yips. We ended up just starting with a four count on the sticks.
3:16 "Usually the guitarist"
Dang it he's right, just happened to me recently, have to have the whole band retake multiple times during a recording session just because I need to work on my reading
Thanks for all your great advice and tips. You're a wiz at music notation and so much more. It was very instructive to watch and listen as you went through the process of transcribing the song.
This actually gave me the motivation to start transcribing chromatic percussion parts that have multiple players written onto the music in the Symphonic Band I'm a part of to be just for my part only. I always get frustrated and lost when I start looking at the wrong line or have a ridiculous amount of page turns, so writing it out for myself is gonna help me out a lot. Thanks Adam!
You're doing a huge work. Personnaly I tend to adapt my sheet depending of the song (i'm guitarist and piano player btw). If it's a simple chords song, iReal Pro is my friend. If the grid/structure is too complicated (and if I create sheet also for other musicians), I make a full page of chords. If I need melody, I create a sheet, but usually never more than 1 page. If it's a complicated progressive rock song, I learn it by heart (usually guitar pro helps me learning and keeping a trace) no other choice. And yes, you're right about D.S al coda, repeat... I don't use them very often...
It's amazing to me how you hear the music and start typing the notes on the lines ! I really wish I could read music, so I could stop forgetting the songs I love and once knew how to play really well... more of this please ? Love your videos :)
This is (possibly) the most useful thing I have ever heard
creating charts is also a way to learn tunes to eventually be done with the charts.. Great video man!
Your dedication and methodology are inspiring.
Great videos man! can you make one about transcribing more complicated stuff like jazz and ways to identify chords?
I'm not sure if he ever addressed you or you ever found the answer but the easiest way to identify chords that are complex is by their color (extensions) when you strum or play a chord enough times try to contextualize what "emotion" that chord brings out and you'll be able to identify they chord much more often, in fact it's the easiest way to identify modal and exotic scales as well! develop your ear and you'll be doing this in no time!
ruclips.net/video/9q4MWdHhgfM/видео.html
Wow....this would've taken me about a week writing it out on MuseScore. And NOT after only one listen! You're KING!!!! Love your videos, even though I'm not even a guitar person :-) I am still learning a LOT.
As an Alt-Rock guy, I find it absolutely hilarious watching you listen to The Cure for the first time.
Michael Beck Love this channel, but the fact he's never heard this record makes me a little suspicious...
That his musical interests don't include The Cure? More musicians than not in the world have no interest in historic rock songs. Much music in the world has nothing to do with rock. That's supposed to be okay.
I would bet he already knew this song, any guesses why he choose this one instead of Forever Young to make a demo?
@@finnelhumano6096 based on the professional musicians I know (and the basic music theory I took in high school), I have no doubt that Adam did this without hearing the song before.
@@Improbabilities
Yeah. It's apparent from the video that he has never heard the song. For example at one point he said that he assumes that the guitar riff will only last 8 bars when it actually lasted 16 bars. He also guessed that a new section is going to start, but it just repeated the guitar riff. Also, he seemed genuinely surprised by the way the song ended. If he was familiar with the song (even if he had heard it only once before transcribing it), he would have known the structure of the song in advance, at least in some way, and he wouldn't have been surprised by the ending.
What he did in this video wasn't really impressive at all. I could have easily done the same thing as fast as Adam did it, because the whole song just repeats the same four bars over and over again with bass playing root notes in a repetitive rhythm based mostly on 8th notes, and it's basic diatonic chords, aside from the G major chord in the bridge section. If the song had been more difficult, then it could have been more impressive, for example if it had been some kind of a funk bassline that has a lot of variations in it or fast walking bass or something like that, but this particular bassline was almost as simple as it gets.
So fricken helpful. I have to learn 5-10 songs a week for church. This is very helpful. Those ole timey church composers liked to change chords alot. U are a helpful dude.
I love how you took us through the process, step by step. I learned so much by observing. Would be awesome if you took this "transcription" series a little further and looked at transcribing other songs/basslines, preferably ones you've never transcribed before but are really popular in the music/bass community. Keep it up!
An interesting video would be compare and contrast learning/charting/transcribing Jazz vs Rock tunes. Thanks for all you do!
Your Videos are on point, so clear not a slither of BS and a clear intent to educate. Not dissing other Music tuition Videos they may help some folks but for me many others seem to have a ploy to mess up the brain.
Hey Adam! I've been watching your videos non-stop for the last two weeks. Thanks for all of your hard work.
Also I've got to give a shout out to Noteflight.com another great free composing software.
Noteflight is great, but the shortcuts are more limited.
I really like this idea of learning more songs by writing my own charts. (Most keyboard charts are garbage anyway.) I've got a few songbooks, but somehow they feel hard to crack open. I like the suggestion of adding lots of song-specific details. I also appreciate the "no repeats" rule, which my jazz teacher in college insisted on, but I have not always adhered to. But those guitarists...
What do you use when the transcription gets trickier? I personally like to use Audacity to transcribe because 1) by default it will start playing at the same place every time until you move the cursor (useful for listening to one section many times), 2) it can slow the music down without changing the pitch, and 3) it makes it very easy to loop sections. Sometimes slowed down and looped is the only way I can get a tricky passage!
This is an extremely helpful video! Keep doing what you're doing.
This was lesson was GOLD. YOU ARE A LEGEND ADAM. LEGEEEEEND.
Thanks. Your lessons and thoughts are always helping.
I was being overwhelmed by playing piano in our junior college jazz band --while teaching math --when this video came out. Did I tell you about the time I ended a full four measures before the rest of the band before I realized I was ahead? I just looped back knowing they'd have to end on the tonic eventually. Bass. 😎🍀
Amazing video. That way you don't have to listen to crappy pop songs more times than you would like for function gigs! Eternally grateful!
Thank you so much for this video Adam. I play in WAY too many cover bands and the one thing I suffer from is sometimes having a brain fart about a song(hence why I watched the video). I will say, I wish I played with professional enough players that would/could actually follow a chart but there’s a couple of projects this would be super beneficial for. It also doesn’t help that I can be the bassist or guitarist based on need.
what you said about not having confidence in published music. In SPADES! They publish some dumbed down version which I inevitably have to tweak. But we like our charts to be on one page, two max. Page turns are not fun for keyboardists & extra pages adds to the size of of your gig book. Spreading it is iffy--takes time, and a tiny breeeze can cause a trainwreck... my onboard music stand only accommodates 2 and I don't wanna haul an extra stand. Even with a tablet (which can be a little funky yes even with foot kick page turn or mouth operated for organ) I feel better with bound paper & clothespins onstage. So we make sure we HIGHLIGHT the repeats.
8:52 - "If something would repeat that many times..."
Well, wouldn't you know.
This channel is the greatest!!!
I love how he starts to giggle when the song is playing.:3
WOW.... Transcribing th The Cure song right away like the first time you listened to it so fast. That is impressing.. I would kill to have half of your knowledge.
Love seeing the space bassist intro ! Almost forgot about him….
Dude. Super helpful video. I run into this problem a lot, this totally solved it.
hey Adam, how can you be so sure about the key only by hearing the first note of the bassline?
+pedroviskp I was wondering the same thing. Did you listen to the texture of the bass or do you have perfect pitch?
If you hear me moving notes up and down at the beginning of the video, you can faintly hear the Sibelius playback. The first note I clicked was a D, and so I heard that in relationship to the tonic that I heard, which is that of a fourth. From there, I deduced it was in A. I don't have perfect pitch, I just have a well-trained relative ear, which in a lot of ways is more useful.
+Adam Neely hey Adam, would you consider doing a video about the different strings that can be used on basses and what they're best suited for? it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on piccolo bass strings in particular
Studying your intervals, I use C as my go to note. And I use the first note of the song and see what interval it is to C.
This is great! I'm learning how to learn
Hey, Adam - was wondering if you could do a lecture on the subject of modes. What is their function and how are they used in playing/creating/writing bass lines.
Great videos! Closest thing to any other bass video series would be to compare what Gary Willis's "101 Bass Tips" is to bass lesson books!
Love your playing!
love it! am a keyboardist myself but found this very useful. thanks! keep all these videos coming! :)
Adam, you inspired me to learn how to read sheet music - thank you! Now, onto actually sinking my teeth into it. ;)
Hey Adam! Love your videos! Can you maybe make a video about transcription? I think being able to transcribe and input efficiently is an important part of being a good musician.
Insanely valuable! Thank you Adam!
Here’s the problem. I’m hooked on these videos. I love theory. But I’m watching when I should be practicing the piano!
Hi Mr Neely, any chance you could do a video talking about the background process of constructing say a Sungazer tune? Maybe a few highlight picks around production & composition? Super cool stuff going on there. Thanks.
I play the piano! This is great, thank you so much for this!
Awesome man. Studying at Bimm London doing my Bmus Guitar in popular music studies (Music Degree to those who don't know). Have sight reading and reading lectures there and this is a handy video to approaching my notation as its something i tend to struggle with.
So yeah good video!
Cheers!
4:38 hey adam, what did the percussionist do/should have done when his sheet just fell off? D:
Not a percussionist but an orchestra musician: you should always arrange your notes so that your page turns are relaxed, preferably in the middle of a pause. The original sheets aren't always laid out like this so might have to make photocopies that you can cut/tape/etc., whatever it takes. If you have to turn a page practically while playing then you haven't prepared properly!
He hopefully has a lot of it memorised and can keep playing the part that fell
I do pretty much the same thing but for synth parts, which require a couple more layers of fun. If you haven't already, take a look at Anytune Pro iPad for playing back the original track while transcribing.
Great video! I agree that most music books, fake books are not accurate (full of mistakes) and definitely should never rely on those. I also transcribe everything myself (over 3000 songs so far in all styles (jazz, pop, rock, latin, etc.) I can quickly figure out any chords, rhythm, form very quickly and write it down. To speed things up, I usually use a software called "transcribe!" by Seventh String. It's basically an audio editor that has been specifically designed for transcribing music. You can add labels over the waveforms which helps to quickly move from one section to another (for ex, for comparing two verses or to verify the form of a song). there's also some audio tools such as speed/pitch changer, some EQ, that is pretty usefull when the bass in the mix is muddy or too low. You can cut all the highs and transpose an octave higher so you can hear clearly a very low bass part. It's really worth it because it can save lots of time!
I learn a lot from these videos, as a guitar guy. Huzzah!
Love Your Music Edutainment Channel! boop boop be bop
1:46 "Big Ass Fill. Wash Hands after." Is it from the Addams family musical?
Having played that, sadly not :(
i play the tuba/sousa in a lot of groups, i find all of your videos very helpful even though i don't play the bass
Thank you Adam. I love your videos! I play the violin (also in weddings) and I found this video very helpful.
Now I'm trying to find another dimension where you are a violinist and have the "Adam Neely's violin lessons" on youtube = ) it would be great haha.
This video is an ear worm for me, so I wrote a tanka:
Reliving unplanned
turnin' points in your life yesterday
watching your diary now
thank you since you don't have to
let us know how hard it was.
Best! 😎🍀❤🍁
I agree to almost all your points and I'm grateful for your tips - but I have to point out, that Plato wrote that writing actually worsened our ability to memorize which is an interesting perspective and might be correct in several ways, I think.
Please do more of these as different songs will require different approaches, please do a piano one!!! I know you're a bass player but I think I have heard you mention you have done charts for other instruments, also there's a lot more notes to transcribe! Thanks for the uploads!!
Thanks for that, I think it´s sparked a little tinder of the transcriber in me :) helpful and inspiring stuff in general dude
AN, you are amazing!
When Liszt first met the young Brahms, the latter brought his first compositions with him. Liszt played them on sight and said he was a talented composer. Sight reading is super important and a tool for any good musician.
Hey so I'm a bassist in high school who's been committed to his jazz band for quite a while and I also lead my school a cappella group as a side thing. I have absolute pitch which makes me also good and recognizing odd chord or notes or licks or whatever. With my jazz group we've formed this trio my rhythm sect that plays some weddings. At this point we've got some solid experience, but personally I feel like I want to get more efficient with my transcription skills and accuracy especially with denser tunes. I've also been working to get my reading to a solid place and I've been playing piano as well. I'm sure you can relate, as a junior currently I find myself in places where I don't have enough time in my day to write out super clear charts like that anymore. I guess this is more of a musical memory question and maybe I should just go practice but what's your tactic transcribing a tune that's a bit more complex, of course more time is needed, but what are your thoughts.
Excuse typos... On an IPhone, but especially tunes with big chords in inversion, what's your technique for that kind of stuff.
Like this video. I do the same since the beginning of my gigger (can I write that?) career. I learned early not to trust what we find on the net. And most of the time I even take it on my time to think of the other musicians and give them (impose them, actually) my chart for I know they can be lazy and only have approximate charts or worst, charts from internet. I would like to add to this an essential benefit of making our own charts, it's that it is also the faster way to memorize a new song in short notice.
4:10 - 'pitbull starts rapping about nothing in particular...'
Finally after three minutes, there is a different chord. What an amazing feat of musical composition!
Great stuff adam. Very important points!
Hey Adam... Your channel is great, keep the good work up..
You just made my life so much easier. Thank you
Thanks, I'm a big fan of your content but this one is indispensable
Greetings from Australia, always enjoy my time with you!
So important to find a new part at the left hand margin. If you had either an odd number of bars in a part or a 2.4 bar, your tidy 4 bars per line format goes pear-shaped. I lose the rest of the line & put in a line return so when I'm accessing either the chart or my memory of the song form, should I get lost . . heaven forbid .. a new part has a place, I'm not searching for it mid-page?
I remember learning Just Like Heaven on bass for a cover band I was in before and the drum thing at the beginning really pissed me off! Me and the drummer had to go over and over it several times in rehearsals before the gig, just that bit. It was actually my first professional gig so I really didn't want to screw it up.
wow. I’ve been writing by hand (drummer) and using multibar repeats ‘cause nobody got time to scribble.
It’s cool seeing your prowess on software. I also find it interesting using software as a kind of scratch pad for personal reference. I stupidly had this idea that, if it was gonna be all pretty on printed paper (or iPad) like that it should fall in some sort of codified format. I like the use of non-Italian phrases like “guitar in 3rds”.
I just sat here nodding. This is almost exactly my workflow when transcribing, except I'm taking in everything (not just the bass) at some point. When someone asks how I do it, I can point them here.
I really Enjoyed this video thanks your for the information you are sharing
Random statement, but I really wish I could watch your hands whenever you use Sibelius. You have the best shortcuts. You made took measures away from each line, and, made a new page without even gong to the tabs. Teach me, oh great one! LOL! Also, I did watch your Sibelius training video, several times, but I'm pretty sure you didn't these two steps. Anyhow, yeah.
Transcribing like a boss!
You had a great idea for a new song at 5:57 -- "Just Like Kevin". Ha!