The Power of Transcribing:
The Essential is Invisible to the Eye
Presented by
Rodrigo Villanueva
ILLINOIS MUSIC EDUCATION CONFERENCE Friday, January 26, 2014 at 2:45 pm
Peoria Civic Center 405/406
Sponsored by:
2 WHY IS IMPORTANT TO TRANSCRIBE?
“Imitate, Assimilate, and then… Innovate.” ~Clark Terry
Transcribing allows us to analyze and understand musical elements at a deeper level. While we listen over and over musical excerpts our mind decodes elements that we did not know were there, at both, conscious and subconscious levels. Playing along with records using our own transcriptions is a powerful tool for improving time awareness, time feel, rhythmic subdivision, dynamics, articulations, internal balance of the kit, sound, touch and many other stylistic elements.
“Work on your sense of time and your feeling for the beat. That is the important thing in drumming and without it all the technique in the world doesn’t mean a thing.”
~“Big Sid” Catlett
In this presentation I will demonstrate different ways to transcribe and use transcriptions to learn various styles and to internalize the rhythmic subdivision needed to develop a good rhythmic feel.
Using Transcriptions
to Improve your
Time Feel, Jazz Conception and Improvisation skills
• IMITATION AND ASSIMILATION Working on your time feel and jazz conception by analyzing great players
o Listen to Significant Jazz Recordings. o Play along with Recordings. Start playing by ear. Let the music get in your system and fall in love with it. Use your EARS. A lot of the information should be imitated and assimilated in the same way you learn a language.
o Transcribe and Imitate: Sound, Rhythmic Articulation, Internal Balance of the kit, Stickings, and Touch. o Find related footage on YouTube as part of the research process o Learn as many styles as possible. Focus on one player or style at a time by LISTENING, TRANSCRIBING and ANALAZING historically significant recordings. o Use records to “play-along.” Including drum-less recordings to apply the concepts acquired through the transcriptions. o Learn how to play in different ways within a style: straight ahead, two feel, broken time, etc. o Experiment placing the groove Centered, Behind and On Top of the beat o Listen to and analyze different “signature” Ride patterns. Such as the signature ride patters played by Billy Higgins, Jimmy Cobb, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, and Tony Williams 3
Jimmy Cobb’s tipping time, may look the same, but it sounds different than Billy Higgins’ time feel.
4 Listen, then imitate
Chick Corea, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, 1968 ~ Solid State Records
• TRANSCRIPTIONS CAN HELP DEVELOPING MANY AREAS OF YOUR PLAYING o Practice makes PERMANENT o Practice Slow -- focus on quality – It is recommended to practice at slower tempos than the original recordings o Balance the dynamics of the kit o Imitating the Sound o Imitate the Motion o Pay attention to what is going on with the music, not only the drumset o Listen and learn what other instruments play o Research the historical context of the recordings o Analyze structure and form within an improvisation and comping patterns o Transcribe other instruments to develop peripheral hearing and to better understand the interactions between the musicians o Find commonplaces in solos and comping ideas
5 Additional pointers
A well-rounded jazz drummer provides the framework for rhythmic subdivisions, dynamics, style, phrasing, balance, interpretation and even the attitude and vibe that creates the spark that makes jazz music come alive. A drummer is in many ways, the musical director of the jazz group… the leader of the band.
• Learn the most common styles within the African Diaspora, always refer to recordings and live performances. Ask and Learn from other musicians
o Dixieland o Chicago Style o Swing, Bebop o Broken time o Early Latin Elements in Jazz o Brazilian Styles o Afro-Cuban Styles o Jazz Rock o Fusion o ECM
• JAZZ DRUMMING HISTORY
Get to know the masters, from the early 1910’s to the present day. Only then you will be able to understand the historical process, the evolution of Jazz and Jazz drumming. It is also important to know how the Jazz Rhythm Section works and how its role has developed. To be able to interact with other musicians we also need to know the jazz repertoire. In other words we need to immerse ourselves in this craft, get acculturated and develop a passion for it. Early jazz recordings could not incorporate the drums as they were played live by early jazz drummers because they affected negatively the overall mix. Therefore, there is not enough evidence of exactly how the drumset was used during the New Orleans- Dixieland years, early drummers had to adapt their playing style to fit the limitations of the incipient recording technology. Pay close attention to detail, take notes, imitate, assimilate and then create your own exercises and patterns to develop your own approach. Always take some time to improvise using the elements you are trying to learn.
“We just kept the rhythm going and hardly ever took a solo.” ~Zutty Singleton
These are very basic samples of significant jazz drummers and their timekeeping style. Of course there are many other important jazz drummers that can be studied in depth. Take your time analyzing significant jazz drummers and enjoy the ride!
6 Warren “Baby” Dodds King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band “I’m Going Away To Wear You Off My Mind”
Anthology of Jazz Drumming Vol. 1 (1904-1928) 1997 ~ Média 7
Other early jazz drummers: Tony Spargo, Zutty Singleton, Sunny Greer & Paul Barbarin
“Papa” Jo Jones Benny Carter & his Orchestra “Cotton Tail”
Benny Carter and his Orchestra, Further Definitions, 1961~MCA Impulse
Other significant drummers from the 1930’s Chick Webb, Dave Tough, Gene Krupa & Cozy Cole 7
Big “Sid” Catlett Charlie Parker “Salt Peanuts”
Charlie Parker, Yardbird Suite: The Ultimate Charlie Parker Collection, 1997~Rhino Records
Additional jazz drummers from the Swing and Bop eras in the 1940’s: Buddy Rich, Shelly Manne, Sonny Payne, Louis Bellson, Mel Lewis, Kenny Clarke & Max Roach
Philly Joe Jones Miles Davis’ Quintet “I Could Write A Book”
Miles Davis, Relaxin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet 1956~Prestige Records
Other jazz drummers from the 1950’s: Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Art Taylor & Jimmy Cobb 8 Rhythm Section Style & Analysis
Interaction
Sicily
Chick Corea, Eddie Gomez and Steve Gadd
Chick Corea, Friends, 1978 ~ Polydor Records
9 Melodic Transcriptions
Presented by
Karli Bunn & Eli Wynn
Joe Lovano, I’m All For You, 2004 ~ Blue Note Records
10
• RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY
o Drummin’ Men: The Swing Years by Burt Korall o Drummin’ Men: The Bebop Years by Burt Korall o Traps, The Drum Wonder by Mel Torme o Rifftide, The Life and Opinions of Papa Jo Jones by Papa Jo Jones & Paul Devlin o Harold Jones: The Singer’s Drummer by Gil Jacobs o Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer by Jim Chapin o Modern Rudimental Swing Solos by Charley Wilcoxon o Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone o Musical Time by Ed Soph o Progressive Steps To Syncopation by Ted Reed o The Art of Bop Drumming by John Riley o The New Breed by Gary Chester o Advanced Concepts by Kim Plainfield o Jazz Drumming by Billy Hart
11 NOTES:
Thank you for attending my Master Class. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at:
e-mail: [email protected]
www.rodrigovillanueva.com
© IMEC 2018 Transcribing Rodrigo Villanueva ~ 2018