Unlocking New Musical Pathways: The Power of Transcribing a Second Time

Second only to transcribing something once, the most value I get from this practice is… wait for it… revisiting a solo I’ve previously transcribed!

The work you do during that initial pass is crucial—that’s how you absorb it, identify it, collect it, and grapple with it.

But something magical happens when you return to it later.

You’ll probably find it comes back to you quicker. You may have a new appreciation for parts that escaped you the first time.

And, like you’ll see me do in this video, you’ll probably find notes or sequences which you thought for sure were X which you now recognize to by Y. This is immensely valuable. It also helps you feel progress!

And for an added bonus, chances are you find that the tricky parts are a little less tricky, and that the whole thing comes to you faster this time around.

As always, I welcome your observations in the comments below.

-The solo I’m revisiting here is Chris Potter on George Shearing’s difficult composition, “Conception” from this Alex Sipiagin album. (They’re performing it in 7/8!)

-The mouthpiece I’m playing here is a slight modification of the GS Slant 9. I’m in the process of hunting for a new mouthpiece because mine died after 25 years.

Timestamps:

1:42 – Finding errors you mis-heard the first time

2:19 – Good reason to use slowdown feature

2:59 – My philosophy on slowing transcriptions down

3:48 – Zoom in, zoom out

4:00 – What is this? What could it be?

4:43 – Varying articulation

5:56 – Importance of playing with soloist

6:42 – Isolating one nugget and going deep

7:33 – Thinking enharmonically

8:21 – Making educated guesses

8:41 – Highways and exit ramps

9:12 – Employing the 3 S’s to iron out weak spots

10:13 – Always be creating your own takeaways

10:40 – Focused, yet flexible

11:11 – Backtracking

14:31 – My goal with this process

15:51 – When it’s too fast and you can’t keep up

Related:

Getting the Most From Transcribing: Details Make the Difference, Metronome Challenges, and the Benefits of Small, Loopable Phrases

Why Transcribing and Technique Practice Are Not Mutually Exclusive (and How to Practice Both at the Same Time)