Caz
Senior Member
Hi all, just wondering what you think of the practice of transcribing other musicians. I've heard some people say that they don't like it as they'd rather develop their own style, and others who swear by the benefits of it. I 'transcribed' the following quote from Tony Williams, who is probably one of the most innovative drummers that I can think of, just to give some food for thought:
"I practiced everything that they played from the beginning of the song to the end. I tuned my drums like they did, or as close as I could get, and I played exactly what they played. I believe that playing like someone is a great help. I think that it gives a person a vocabulary, it gives you things that you don't have. And playing like people that have come before is the basis so that you can decide for yourself what you want to play and what you don't want to play. If you don't do these things then you never know, you're just floundering around and being insecure." - Tony Williams, Zildjian Drum Day, 1985
I've done a few transcriptions before, they're all quite varied and there are even a few non-drum ones in there (I'll link to some of these below in case anyone's interested). I've personally found the process to be really helpful - it can be frustrating and time consuming, but there's always something that you get that you would never have been able to predict. But I'm curious as to what others think - do you love or hate transcribing?
http://carolinescot8.wix.com/carolinescott#!transcriptions/c347
"I practiced everything that they played from the beginning of the song to the end. I tuned my drums like they did, or as close as I could get, and I played exactly what they played. I believe that playing like someone is a great help. I think that it gives a person a vocabulary, it gives you things that you don't have. And playing like people that have come before is the basis so that you can decide for yourself what you want to play and what you don't want to play. If you don't do these things then you never know, you're just floundering around and being insecure." - Tony Williams, Zildjian Drum Day, 1985
I've done a few transcriptions before, they're all quite varied and there are even a few non-drum ones in there (I'll link to some of these below in case anyone's interested). I've personally found the process to be really helpful - it can be frustrating and time consuming, but there's always something that you get that you would never have been able to predict. But I'm curious as to what others think - do you love or hate transcribing?
http://carolinescot8.wix.com/carolinescott#!transcriptions/c347