Week 1: Let there be Music! 
Welcome to the Main Thread for the first week of "The Transcriptions" practice challenge!
- Make sure you've read the guidelines before replying!
- Watch the kickoff livestream!
Pick a transcription that was originally composed for another instrument, like piano or violin. Don't be afraid to choose a challenging piece or explore works from composers you haven't played before.
Commit to practicing daily and share your progress with the community. Aim to practice every day and post at least two videos per week showcasing your progress. This will help you stay motivated and accountable, and also allow you to share your transcription journey with others. Whether you're tackling a complex piece, refining your skills with a piece you already play, or experimenting with new playing techniques, the community is here to support you and celebrate your achievements.
Share your favorite piece that you would like to see transcribed or your favorite recording of a transcription. This will not only inspire others in the community but also provide a rich resource of ideas for everyone to explore. Plus, it's a great way to celebrate the creativity and artistry involved in adapting music from one instrument to another.
↓ Happy Sharing! ↓
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I am practicing on a Frédéric Chopin piece: Waltz op. 69 no. 2. Here is my own transcription. I plan to post videos of my practice soon.
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Eric Phillips haha thank you. I think it would take you about 5 hours to learn to play this transcription :D
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Khiem Nguyen Not at all. I have tried to play this piece a couple times, and decided to put it into the "pieces for later" pile. I look forward to hearing you play it, though!
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Eric Phillips I see. I have tried to retain as complete information of the harmony as possible in this transcription. I have practiced this piece for about 3 hours in total for the last couple of days. One of the most difficult things in this piece is the fingering choice and maintainance of legato while shifting a lot. I hope to post videos soon, thank you! :)
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Khiem Nguyen This looks great, Khiem. I have played this Valse (Richard Yates trans.). His transcription is more sparse though it was still quite a challenge for me. Yates, by thinning out the harmony, created a more independent baseline, which seemed to alter the waltz character a bit. Your trans. maintains the waltz 'comp'. Roland Dyens has a wonderful transcription of this piece that also maintains the waltz 'comp', however it requires a 2 string scordatura which I tend to avoid.
I am excited to hear your version.
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Jack Stewart I could not agree more!
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Eric Phillips Right!? If God wanted the guitar to be able to access lower notes he would have made it with more strings
Oh, Wait....
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Jack Stewart thank you Jack. Yes, I know the Roland Dyens transcription version - it has been recorded by several recording artists - the piece has 2 string retuned, the 1st strong to F# as I remember, to make it easier to play the original key of Bminor. What I am afraid of pieces with a two drastic retune upward is that it makes the string overstressed and when putting it back to standard tuning for other pieces, the strings can't stay tune. Retuning downward is easier for the string, and so is keeping the standard tuning. That is why I choose to transcribe using the standard tuning when I can; in this case using the key of A(m) - I have lots of advantages for using the open basses. The guitar sounds 1 octave lower than the piano anyway even if the same key is selected, so I am not afraid to transpose it for a different key then the original key. One might also argue that we can use capo at 2nd fret to make a guitar piece in Am sound like in Bm. :)
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Okay, this is kind of embarrassing, but I am going to post this video. I have to take a victory where I can, and, though it barely feels like it, I am making progress on this piece.
This is the first half (4 of 8 pages) of Cadiz.
I won't hate you if you set the playback speed to twice as fast!
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Steve PedersonYour progress is evident, Steve, especially on the first page. (Maybe a little extra practice on that page turn.
). Keep it up! -
Jack Stewart
Good one Jack! -
Steve Pederson Great to hear your progress on this! That's a lot!
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Randy Morris Thank you Randy!
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Steve Pederson you have a very clean playing. The fingering is already in place. It is evidently a great progress you made. Looking forward to hearing your next progress.
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Khiem Nguyen Thanks Khiem!
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Thank you for sharing! Good job (..on a rather difficult piece!). I must ask: what kind of microphone do you use, is this done using a mobile phone? The sound quality is excellent!
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Jenny Thanks Jenny! I'm using a SHURE MV88+ mic plugged directly into my iPhone. It's a stereo mic and I really love it!
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So here is my first recording of practice of my transcription of Chopin Waltz op. 69 no. 2. This is a work in progress since I have spent about 4 hours on the practicing of this piece in total. There are a lot of shifts and maintaning the legato is challenging. Beside that, I am not very fluent with sight reading yet. I will invest more time on the practice of course and reupload soon. Please feel free to give me criticism. I re-attach the score for your easier reference. The video is mirroed but I don't have a quick fix for it yet. Thank you!
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Khiem Nguyen This is sounding really good, Khiem. You have a great start on this challenging waltz. I am looking forward to your progress.
Your transcription is very effective. I think I like it better than the Yate's version that I used.
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Khiem Nguyen Good work, Khiem! That is a very effective transcription., and you are already playing through the whole thing. I like the moments of rubato you add (like in measure 6 going into 7, and its repeats), and I'd like to hear more of that. In the C section (starting in measure 52) you seem to be swinging your eighth-notes - is that intentional? Personally, I think they would sound better as straight eighth-notes. Also, the dotted rhythms in measures 56-63 could be a little crisper, I think. Again, they sound more like swung eighth-notes in your video.
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Khiem Nguyen Way to go Kheim! You have a really solid start to this piece. Nice arrangement as well. I know it's just as much of a challenge to make your own arrangement as it is to perform it.
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Khiem Nguyen Very nice start on the performance! I don't know the piece but it certainly translates well to guitar.
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Jack Stewart thank you very much Jack, it is nice to hear that (the transcription) works! In the transcription, I aim to reach as faithful and full harmony as the original as my first priority goal, and only taking out notes when it is either too difficult or impossible to play. I will post my progress soon.
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Eric Phillips I really appreciate you taking time to read through measure numbers and give me insightful feedback, thank you very much Eric! I do agree with your points. I could try to use more rubato at more places. In the C section starting from bar 52, it was intentional to swing the eight-notes because I vaguely heard some big pianist did so. But I see what you mean and I agree that to play them as straight 8-notes are very nice because it will make better rythmic constrast to what follows (56-63) - I will experiment with both options. And definitely in 56-63 the dotted rythm could have been crispier - I will work on that. Super thanks! :)
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Steve Pederson thank you Steve. It takes a lot of consideration to transcribe from the piano - they have 10 fingers and almost unlimited number of note choices, while withouth strumming, we mostly can play 4 notes as block chord. It takes a lot to consider which notes are essential and which can be left out into the guitar.
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Randy Morris thank you very much Randy :)
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End of the Year Challenge: Finish Strong!
