I have been so happy that I can figure out songs pretty well by listening and using barre chords. I don't want to play note for note, but to enjoy playing a song I like. I cheat by playing songs that are already in my head because I've loved them for so long. I work out what the chord progression is by barre chords on the E string, then switch some chords to the A string for easier playing. After I get the part of the song down to a point that I'm comfortable, I'll listen to the song and see how right my version seems and check out the other parts of the song that I haven't figured out. At this point, I can determine if playing minor chords, seventh chords or open chords might sound better than what I started with. Finally, I'll check out videos of lessons or covers of the song to see how "correct" I am and to see if someone else approaches the song differently. I keep learning so much this way and enjoy my guitar more and more.
Justin. I want to say thanks. Knew I needed and was ready to try this. 20 hours for one song but man what a difference. I hear the drums the guitar the bass the vocal line, everything. Transcribed it all and play this song very differently now, picking out melody lines and using part chord shapes way up the neck. I will be doing this for all the songs that my voice can't quite manage and I have learnt so much. I'll get quicker with more practice. Thanks.
Just a tip from me, a random guy that's done the work with transcribing and got pretty comfortable with it. Make sure you learn the scales and find out in which key is the song you're trying to learn. This way you kind of already know what notes to try and you're not just randomly picking notes. This is one of the mistakes I did and I thought about sharing, maybe it helps somebody.
1. Molly's Lips by Nirvana 2. Blitzkrieg Bop by Ramones 3. All the Small Things by Blink-182 4. Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz 5. Polly by Nirvana 6. Go With the Flow by Queens of the Stone Age
I never thought that I'd ever be able to do it....still difficult but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Songs that follow a common chord progression and don't borrow chords from other keys. Setting yourself up for success is the key 🤘🏻
Beginning to learn triads has helped me immensely in learning to transcribe. I was playing open chords according to lead sheets, but they didn’t sound right. Playing the chords in different positions made a big difference. I’m beginning to transcribe piano parts to guitar now. I have short fingers and struggle with incorporating bass notes with walk ups/downs. I will try your suggestion to play the bass alone.
I've use Riffstation (old and free) in my transcribing attempts, it's very useful. It shows the main chords which makes it easy to see tunings like standard Eb or D or C#. Also knowing the usual style of the artist/band makes a big difference.
I am learning it for about a year now and done all the stuff on justin guitars transcribe course. It was hard but I am now actually so much better ...even doing big Tabs myself now. Its a slow process and I cant get everything right but it gets better with every day.
This is fantastic! I used to transcribe as a classical musician but have not dive into this much on guitar yet. It’s a skill I’m looking at sharpening. This video is much appreciated.
just learned mollys lips in under 10 minutes, listening time included! Feeling like i’m on cloud 9 and excited to transcribe more! I have always been too scared to try to transcribe my own songs without any extra help but this video made it so easy to start.
I started with Bach 3rd Brandenburg and it’s rough going so far. So I scraped it and began working on Kiss Rock & Roll All Night. A bit more manageable. But what I find myself doing is as I am working it out, my trial and errors are leading me to make my own song. I will try what I believe is happening but when it isn’t right I just keep going on the path I began and came up with something totally different! Still loads of fun. But I keep making myself go back and work on the original transcription
Thanks for all the info. It might be worth considering remixing the audio on a number of these videos as the guitar and voice volumes aren't in synchrony.
Oh dear. There is a ‘special place in hell’ for those who couple the word ‘easy’ with anything to do with any form of aural comprehension. I did once recognise a B7 chord (but only once) and I can sometimes get an Em and F. But I have absolutely no idea of chords played up the fretboard. I can’t tell major from minor (for e.g. whether it’s a C or Am) or one form of 7th from another. And that’s after 10 years of music lessons. I can’t even work out my own music. I’ve come up with stuff, recorded it, forgotten it, and then listened to it - but have absolutely no idea what I’m playing!
Recently i started gravitating towards this topic since i want to start a cover band with my mates , so i have to listen to the songs on and on, and reverse engineer the chorda and Parts. By accident just by having fun i reworked one Chris Cornell song like that, a couple of months ago. Difficult but satisfying.
When you said right at the beginning "Oh, no! It's too difficult!" it sounded just like Aussieman in one of his videos. :-) If you don't know him, go take a look!
Hi Justin - great lesson! This is actually fun I think. I have been doing just this on a few country songs. I had one almost but couldn’t get it! I worked on that song for an hour .. Key of D didn’t work, key of C didn’t work but was soooo close! OMA! I finally had to go to one of the online databases to get the key.. It turns out I had to capo up .. It was in C# not C or D! LOL never thought of that.. I put the capo on the first fret and it seems to work LOL .. I also will listen to a song a number of times then take out my acoustic and just start strumming to see if I can get it to sound something like the song as I remember it. The song may be in a different key than I chose but I try to get the relationship between the cords correct for simple 3 chord songs. I can then use the Nashville system to get the song in the correct key. Takes a while though... I have no idea if it is technically correct but sounds good enough for my purposes if I play along! Now if I can only get the damned thing to sound like music! lol - Thanks for the lesson!
The first thing I transcribed was sweet child o mine intro when I was 10. Had to pause after every single not and it took ages, but I got there in the end,and it felt good!
Hey Justin, please excuse me if this is a dumb question, But how to figure what songs use capo on what fret? I'm guessing there's a theoretical answer to this, if so, what part of theory should I learn
In time, your ears will recognise the particular sound of the 'voicing' of open chord shapes. An open G chord or an open D chord shape for example are quite recognisable (compared to barre chords playing G and D). If you hear that recognisable chord voice but the pitch is higher than open G and D you just start with a capo and move it up until it matches. This is not something you will learn in weeks or months necessarily. The other aspect is to learn to listen for the bass notes and decipher the bass notes of chords as a guide. Cheers 😊 | Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher www.justinguitar.com
Hi Justin, just one question, when you say that we should write down chords and stuff, do you mean in a tab format? Or you had something else in mind? Thanks.
No tab required, he just means on a chord chart for the song. Of course you can also write out the rhythm. Check out Justin’s Rhythm Maestro course on the website if you’re new to that!
Wow!! I got Polly in about 45 or so minutes! I’ve never worked out a full song myself before. I worked out the rhythm first then figured out where the changes are and it all kind of fell into place after that. It really helped that I’ve gone through the Rhythm and Major Scale Maestro courses. Thanks Justin!
2:22 - No truer words have ever been spoken. Thank you for this lesson!
I have been so happy that I can figure out songs pretty well by listening and using barre chords. I don't want to play note for note, but to enjoy playing a song I like. I cheat by playing songs that are already in my head because I've loved them for so long. I work out what the chord progression is by barre chords on the E string, then switch some chords to the A string for easier playing. After I get the part of the song down to a point that I'm comfortable, I'll listen to the song and see how right my version seems and check out the other parts of the song that I haven't figured out. At this point, I can determine if playing minor chords, seventh chords or open chords might sound better than what I started with. Finally, I'll check out videos of lessons or covers of the song to see how "correct" I am and to see if someone else approaches the song differently. I keep learning so much this way and enjoy my guitar more and more.
Justin. I want to say thanks. Knew I needed and was ready to try this. 20 hours for one song but man what a difference. I hear the drums the guitar the bass the vocal line, everything. Transcribed it all and play this song very differently now, picking out melody lines and using part chord shapes way up the neck. I will be doing this for all the songs that my voice can't quite manage and I have learnt so much. I'll get quicker with more practice. Thanks.
Just a tip from me, a random guy that's done the work with transcribing and got pretty comfortable with it.
Make sure you learn the scales and find out in which key is the song you're trying to learn. This way you kind of already know what notes to try and you're not just randomly picking notes.
This is one of the mistakes I did and I thought about sharing, maybe it helps somebody.
Can you use the major scale to transcribe Pretty much everything or is there another scale that's better fit transcribing?
1. Molly's Lips by Nirvana
2. Blitzkrieg Bop by Ramones
3. All the Small Things by Blink-182
4. Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz
5. Polly by Nirvana
6. Go With the Flow by Queens of the Stone Age
I never thought that I'd ever be able to do it....still difficult but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Songs that follow a common chord progression and don't borrow chords from other keys. Setting yourself up for success is the key 🤘🏻
Beginning to learn triads has helped me immensely in learning to transcribe. I was playing open chords according to lead sheets, but they didn’t sound right. Playing the chords in different positions made a big difference. I’m beginning to transcribe piano parts to guitar now. I have short fingers and struggle with incorporating bass notes with walk ups/downs. I will try your suggestion to play the bass alone.
I've use Riffstation (old and free) in my transcribing attempts, it's very useful. It shows the main chords which makes it easy to see tunings like standard Eb or D or C#. Also knowing the usual style of the artist/band makes a big difference.
which level on the justinguitar course is this lesson aimed at,
I am learning it for about a year now and done all the stuff on justin guitars transcribe course. It was hard but I am now actually so much better ...even doing big Tabs myself now. Its a slow process and I cant get everything right but it gets better with every day.
I was talking to someone at work about records. She said " what's a record?" She was born in 2002 so it's understandable.
This is fantastic! I used to transcribe as a classical musician but have not dive into this much on guitar yet. It’s a skill I’m looking at sharpening. This video is much appreciated.
just learned mollys lips in under 10 minutes, listening time included! Feeling like i’m on cloud 9 and excited to transcribe more! I have always been too scared to try to transcribe my own songs without any extra help but this video made it so easy to start.
I started with Bach 3rd Brandenburg and it’s rough going so far. So I scraped it and began working on Kiss Rock & Roll All Night. A bit more manageable. But what I find myself doing is as I am working it out, my trial and errors are leading me to make my own song. I will try what I believe is happening but when it isn’t right I just keep going on the path I began and came up with something totally different! Still loads of fun. But I keep making myself go back and work on the original transcription
Whoa, Molly's Lips really IS easy. Got it almost immediately. It's a real confidence booster to start with.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing it and good luck! :)
I’m missing something here.. How do I get to the 6 songs that we’re transcribing…???
The software “Capo” is now free on Mac (and iOS I believe) and has great tools for repeating, slowing down, and transcribing
I'm still working on transcribing Happy Birthday; however, looking forward to more of a challenge!
Os mesmo que gritam ladrão defendem Bolsonaro, vai entender...
I wish I knew you 50 years ago
I like to transcribe Johnny Cash songs
Thanks for all the info. It might be worth considering remixing the audio on a number of these videos as the guitar and voice volumes aren't in synchrony.
Oh dear. There is a ‘special place in hell’ for those who couple the word ‘easy’ with anything to do with any form of aural comprehension.
I did once recognise a B7 chord (but only once) and I can sometimes get an Em and F. But I have absolutely no idea of chords played up the fretboard. I can’t tell major from minor (for e.g. whether it’s a C or Am) or one form of 7th from another. And that’s after 10 years of music lessons.
I can’t even work out my own music. I’ve come up with stuff, recorded it, forgotten it, and then listened to it - but have absolutely no idea what I’m playing!
Wild things, to be with you, boulevard of broken dreams, hey joe
Hi Justin, enjoyed the lesson. im a bit of a newbie with transcribing. Can you recommend a good app i can use to get started?
Recently i started gravitating towards this topic since i want to start a cover band with my mates , so i have to listen to the songs on and on, and reverse engineer the chorda and Parts. By accident just by having fun i reworked one Chris Cornell song like that, a couple of months ago. Difficult but satisfying.
When you said right at the beginning "Oh, no! It's too difficult!" it sounded just like Aussieman in one of his videos. :-) If you don't know him, go take a look!
Oh darn, wanted to learn master of puppets, guess I gotta listen to it 5 times.. but then my hour session going to like 10 mins
Is that your logo on the headstock? JG as butterfly wings?
Hi Justin - great lesson! This is actually fun I think. I have been doing just this on a few country songs. I had one almost but couldn’t get it! I worked on that song for an hour .. Key of D didn’t work, key of C didn’t work but was soooo close! OMA! I finally had to go to one of the online databases to get the key.. It turns out I had to capo up .. It was in C# not C or D! LOL never thought of that.. I put the capo on the first fret and it seems to work LOL .. I also will listen to a song a number of times then take out my acoustic and just start strumming to see if I can get it to sound something like the song as I remember it. The song may be in a different key than I chose but I try to get the relationship between the cords correct for simple 3 chord songs. I can then use the Nashville system to get the song in the correct key. Takes a while though... I have no idea if it is technically correct but sounds good enough for my purposes if I play along! Now if I can only get the damned thing to sound like music! lol - Thanks for the lesson!
I've been waiting for this, thanks so much for making this!
Excellent lesson there, thank you Justin, you re amazing 💯🙏
Excellent! I have a goal for this year specifically related to figuring out and charting songs on my own. Thank you!!
Any tips on how to play bass? i've been roped in to play bass on a song list in that I hardly know?
The first thing I transcribed was sweet child o mine intro when I was 10. Had to pause after every single not and it took ages, but I got there in the end,and it felt good!
Do you think its easier to transcribe using a keyboard first, to identify the chords and harmonies?
Is it me or you have a torn right bicep? Deadlift?
Thank you so much for posting this , it was very motivational. :)
Musical imagination! Thank you for this, I was not putting into words what you showed today
The table of 5ths helped me a lot. It helped me to learn the relative majors/minors and what chords tend to go together in each key.
I lesson I was waiting for years! Thanks so much!
Hey Justin, please excuse me if this is a dumb question,
But how to figure what songs use capo on what fret?
I'm guessing there's a theoretical answer to this, if so, what part of theory should I learn
In time, your ears will recognise the particular sound of the 'voicing' of open chord shapes. An open G chord or an open D chord shape for example are quite recognisable (compared to barre chords playing G and D). If you hear that recognisable chord voice but the pitch is higher than open G and D you just start with a capo and move it up until it matches. This is not something you will learn in weeks or months necessarily. The other aspect is to learn to listen for the bass notes and decipher the bass notes of chords as a guide. Cheers 😊
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Approved Teacher www.justinguitar.com
I find dragonforce solos by ear really hard lol 😂
Hi Justin,
just one question, when you say that we should write down chords and stuff, do you mean in a tab format?
Or you had something else in mind?
Thanks.
No tab required, he just means on a chord chart for the song. Of course you can also write out the rhythm. Check out Justin’s Rhythm Maestro course on the website if you’re new to that!
Scarborough fair please!!!
Thank you for this video :)
Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo is easy too
I got 2 of the 6 songs fully .. Feels good :)
Thanks!
No problem!
Excellent as usual. Thanks
Thanks for the motivation
Anytune!
Wow!! I got Polly in about 45 or so minutes! I’ve never worked out a full song myself before. I worked out the rhythm first then figured out where the changes are and it all kind of fell into place after that.
It really helped that I’ve gone through the Rhythm and Major Scale Maestro courses. Thanks Justin!