Before you get going on your own you might want to check out this video where I talk about all the basics.

 

Here are some additional Q&A hints that I have answered on the forum that may help:

When should you strat?
Start as soon as possible. You know some chords... start trying to work out songs. Just trying to transcribe helps! Strange but true. Promise. Even if you don't learn to playthe song you are trying to transcribe, you improve your abilty to listen and as your ear improves, transcribing gets easier! As your playing improves, you will be able to use your good ears to work out songs!

How can you tell what string a note is played on?
Sorry dudes, but that takes LOTS of experience. I had been transcribing for 20 years before I felt confident about string choices. But it is not just about sound, it's about the logic of playing that you just get from experience. You know - little string slide noises that might be a clue that the player is mving position... the sound of one note relative to the next... what is physically possible... that kind of thing... it's more complex than that even... It's hard and I am sure that I don't get it right all the time!

My advice for beginners: Just be happy if you get the notes right... let the rest take care of itself with experience!

What software can I use to type up my transcriptions?
I use sibelius, but I would recommend learning to draw up the music and tab by hand until you are good at that and then looking at using software. Just use the blank paper from this site and get busy with a pencil!

How can I hear the guitar when the voice gets in the way?
This is a very common beginner problem, and is just a matter of practice - learning to listen "behind" the vocal. After a while you will find that you can focus on any particular area of a song (any instrument) and work out just that bit. One thing that can help is to try and transcribe a whole band - the drums, bass, backing vocals, the whle thing. That is a great exercise for your ears!

 

 

HELP!!!!

If you need to ask a question about this lesson - there is a topic set up specifically to help you with this lesson. To help you find it easily you can click the following link and it will take you right the topic. You'll be able to see questions that other people had and ask your own questions! Hopefully one of the very helpful members of our community will be there to help you soon, I do go there and answer stuff too - but there are just too many questions for me to answer alone! So click this link to get help with this lesson!