I was asked to do a video explaining the groove from the Dave Matthews Band song "You Never Know" I sat down to listen to the song and realised it wasn't a straight forward groove - I'd have to have a think about it.
Rather than just figuring it out and explaining how to play it I thought it might be more useful to demonstrate the way in which I transcribe grooves that I can't figure out straight away.
The basic method is the same as you'd use to transcribe an episode of Friends. You listen to a small section, repeat what you think you heard in your head and keep repeating it until you can figure out where to write it down, then listen back and see if what you've written agrees with what you hear. If there's something you're not sure of, fill in things around it and come back to it later. This last point is the reason I prefer the grid method to trying to write notation straight away. Also, there's only one way to fill in the grid whereas there are many different ways you could notate the same thing.
Here's a break down of the method applied to transcribing a drum groove.
1. figure out the smallest subdivision being used and decide on a time signature
2. draw and label a grid using that subdivision
3. listen for one thing at a time - eg. listen for the snare
4. count along with the music and listen for a snare on beat 1. If there's a snare hit, draw it in, if there isn't leave it blank
5. Work through the quarter notes first (i.e. next listen for a snare on beat 2 not on the 'e' of 1), then the 1/8th notes, then finally the 1/16th notes (or whatever your subdivisions are)
6. move on to the next instrument (kick, hihat)
And here's the video explanation....(I'd usually do it on paper rather than in photoshop but that would have been harder to video)
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A Note on figuring out the time signature.....
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It was not easy to decide on the time signature for this groove. You could notate it in many different ways. Usually it's not that difficult to figure out a time signature - even odd time signatures are usually easier than this weird 12/8 thing so don't be put off.
Try to find a pulse and count until the groove seems to repeat. Then figure out how that pulse is divided to give you an idea of what note value to use for the pulse - i.e. if the pulse can be subdivided into 4 you don't want to call the pulse an 1/8th note otherwise you're going to be writing lots of 1/32nd notes which aren't easy to read.
Listen for some kind of hint of a back beat - think about where you'd have 2 and 4.
If it makes you feel better, when I first started to write out this groove I was doing it in 3/4 which made it even stranger. Play around and see if you can find different ways of writing it.
The beauty of the 'grid' system is that you can easily translate it into any time signature - just rewrite the numbers above each column. That also makes it really easy to write out beat displaced grooves.
The best way to get good at transcribing is to try it. Don't be put off by the feeling that you have no idea what's going on. That will always be the case - if you do know what's going on there's really no need to transcribe it.
Good luck!
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