The Benefit of Transcribing Intimidating Solos

[@waynejrice]

I have been avoiding transcribing solos for years because of the difficulty I have figuring out how to write an rhythm I can easily play. Your statement that actually writing out a transcription is a different skill than just listening and learning to play it by ear has freed me.

[@BrunoGarciaMusic]

Yes, ive been learning some pretty hard improvisations this year and just playijg by year, im starting to read music just now and it didnt stop me cause when i can write it i ill, all in due time my friend, best of luck ❤

[@darklinaendgame]

I could seriously watch hours of you reacting along to solos. I get as hype as you do and it's so fun to share that experience for some reason, like scratching an itch. I don't even play the sax!

[@bobreynolds]

☺️🙏

[@spencermovies]

Agree! It’s nice to know there are other people out there who react to music this way

[@6fretless]

@@spencermovies Right there with you and z, Spencer! Pure, unrestrained joy🤗

[@sat.chid.ananda]

I think seeing a pro like Bob get "intimidated"/excited about a solo is very freeing cus it's relatable

[@billyoppenheimer5559]

"Earning it by repetition." Love that

[@leyharley]

Use Anytune pro +. You mark your songs spots for difficult fast solos and then use it to slow down the marked solos. It slow down music in a very nice audio quality. Also you able to transpose to practice in another keys. It works for iOS devices laptops, cellphones and iPads.

[@AleksPlaysMc]

This video should be used not only to teach what Bob is teaching, but to show beginners that it’s ok to geek out when you notice stuff that you recognize is hard. All the best most passionate players I’ve ever met will make the rankest stank faces known to man and get physically and audibly excited over good music played and made by good musicians. Use this video as a lesson that kids and any beginner should learn to express their excitement. Too many younger bands lack energy, and seeing competitions in the high school even to college level you’ll see way too many players straight faced or even look sad. Teach people to love playing in a way that they feel comfortable getting excited and showing it. I love seeing the knee raise during standing solos where they almost contort themselves because of how intense they feel in that moment playing something that they’re proud of. I’ve never had a solo I played that I enjoyed playing where I was standing completely still. At least for jazz, it should be normalized to be comfortable getting into it however you end up expressing as a result.

[@jamiemeansjamesmusic]

Yeah man. Chris's solo on this is absolutely bonkers. The guys rhythmic intent is next level, and his technique is so perfect that it's just not fair to the rest of us mere mortals.

[@jacquelamontharenberg]

It just shows that no matter how good you are you are always chasing that thing. Bob Reynolds I love and respect you bro.

[@bobreynolds]

🙏

[@paulgibby6932]

I use the Transpose chrome add-on for looping, slowdown and transpose even of KZbin vids. It's great! p.s. Watching and listening to your reactions to the Chris Potter solo is a perfect demonstration of how/what music communicates. Was totally with your reactions. This is why and how we love music.

[@PacmanRocks100]

Been getting into transcribing more and more in recent times as I've been facing the realities of the real, musical world (coming from the classical world, where transcribing in this way and for this reason isn't really shown). I've been finding out that for me the biggest difficulty in transcribing has honestly been to "hold" in my head/memory/"ears" what I've just figured out on my horn from just moments ago. Like, remembering a few measures is fine (it's why I've been liking transcribing licks more than anything) but a whole page (if not more) worth a material is daunting! And some of this stuff isn't exactly of the "singable" variety either lol I'm assuming that non-stop repetition of longer and longer chunk of musical material (ex: lick 1, lick 2; lick 1, lick 2, lick 3; lick 1, lick 2, lick 3, lick 4; etc...) is the only real way to go about it, or am I missing something? And then the constant repetition will help with overall muscle memory? If it's just that, I'm assuming it's going to get easier with time and consistency? Sometimes I do attempt to write stuff down (which, as you referred to, is pretty much it's own bag of worms), but then I feel what's the point of adding an extra step to transcribing if it will never truly exemplify what I'm hearing in terms of rhythm, micro-rhythm, inflection, intonation, timbre, etc? I guess, the underlying questions to all this would be: what are ways and tricks to expand our "musical, short term memory", and is there any way to accelarate that expansion of sorts? Again, assuming the answer is somewhere in the vicinity of: time + consistency = brain go boom, but who knows, maybe I'm missing something here. I'm also going to guess that the old trick of Tristano (and later, Hal Galper, I believe) that making sure that you can sing the whole solo before you even touch your horn, as something to do with this. Ah fun fact: Tristano also would suggest to his students that they could put their turntables at half-speed when learning to sing/transcribe a solo. This to make sure they easily heard everything in terms of notes, sounds and rhythms. Only problem being that everything being transcribed would be thrown down an octave because of the half-speed. I would guess they brought everything back up as soon as they could but sounds like heck of a hassle (thank you Transcribe and The Amazing Slow Downer!) lol

[@PigYiyoStudios]

1:10 as a newbie to the saxophone, this was something that dismotivated me a lot, knowing that it also happens to someone like you make me feel so much better and motivates me to practice

[@konafama]

He’s a drummer AND a piano player. (So clean) and melodic while expressing the harmony. I love that “ motives express the harmony. I’m keeping that one,Bob.’

[@ktrethewey]

Thanks Bob. This is exactly what we want to see in terms of analysing just how good Chris Potter is. And you are pretty good too, HaHa Your enthusiasm is great entertainment and very infectious.

[@LorenzHargassner]

Yeah, Bob, fantastic video again! Thanks a lot. It‘s so astounding how you manage to make an 18 minute jazz saxophone nerd content exciting, entertaining and interesting to watch, just by talking to the camera as if you are really meaning us people on “the other side“. You are so authentic that it feels like you are talking to me as if I were your best friend and that way you generate an atmosphere of privacy (with - how many? - 20.000 viewers?). And your content is really helpful, well organized, put together thoughtfully and edited in a fast, ongoing pace. Amazing how you manage that, really. I‘m impressed. (And I should have known, I have seen every single VLOG you ever made during the last couple of years).

[@bobreynolds]

Wow. Thank you, Lorenz 🙏 I do put a LOT into making each video so I appreciate you

[@LorenzHargassner]

@@bobreynolds Noticed! Quality like this doesn’t just happen by accident. I can imagine how much work that must be. Thanks again and I hope it pays off in a way (it does, actually, as I believe your success for example in European clubs derives - also - from your KZbin followers. A great achievement! Not every american jazz artist sells out “Unterfahrt“ at his first visit! All the best, by the way, for your fall tour.)

[@jameslawtonmusic9483]

Great video, Bob. I remember years ago you recorded a lesson where you also transcribing Potter (I think it was "Everything Happens to Me") as a means of getting motivated to practice. It's still my go-to method when short on practice time. Using the masters as a compass point takes away all hesitancy and doubt.

[@felixol]

Hahahahaha The first minute or so is the definition of my sax journey! I thought I was the only that felt this way.

[@johnmitchell9698]

You are better than u think my dear friend.I admire ur tone and the excitement u bring with u . You inspire me to keep on going dont worry so much .It seems u were born to be great.

[@cbkmusic85]

“Hi little George!” Bob you about melted my heart

[@brianmatthews232]

Brilliant! transcribing and absorbing the playing experience of reconstructing an amazing solo is the closest you can get to a Vulcan mind-meld with the player, which is hugely insightful and enriching 🙂

[@okayfine6342]

Hey Bob--I'm super late but I have to say thanks for posting this video! I'm a recent music college grad and I'm approaching the very lowest end of what you might call a "pro player", and it's super reassuring to hear that someone I respect as much as you for being a dedicated "pro" still geeking out over these things. The journey never stops! I have a huge amount for your playing, and it seems like you have a huge amount of respect for Potter's. Maybe six decades from now I hope someone might say the same about me!

[@lewiswesley66]

this version of conception has been my secret weapon and now all your followers are on it! Pleased to hear we're thinking about the same tunes!

[@koho]

Pure fun. All the false starts into the solo are the funniest thing I've seen in a while. Totally laughing with you, not at you - I get how it feels when you *really* love something like this. (BTW, watching the physical reactions with the sound off is pretty great, too. Gonna show this to my GF and have her guess what's going on ...)

[@gooooood3344]

you and jay metcalf are my favorite sax youtubers. I appreciate your sincerity and raw talent and charisma

[@idafeperez3751]

I had that song playing first as I get in my car for two years, no matter what occasion. Amazing version, freaky solos and don`t forget Alex and Kikoski´s playing. Just aliens. Keep up the good content

[@frankzona5459]

Yes, this is what it's all about! The joy of listening and jumping out of your chair and sometimes your skin when great music comes about, then grabbing, deconstructing and recreating that music yourself. I don't know if that made any sense...it's 3Am after all, but thanks for this great video on joys of transcribing.

[@stewartwforbes]

I love your common sense approach to all things ‘jazz saxophone’.

[@stewartwforbes]

I used to write a solo out, but have decided it’s better to play it - to learn it that way. To get the feel of the solo under the fingers. I use ASD too.

[@BewareTheTortoise]

Yea Bob, this is fantastic! Your energy and love for all of this is inspiring. Also, the roster on this album is just unreal! Thanks so much for what you do.

[@jb4sax333K]

Listening to Chris Potter brings back a memory from my time at Berklee. I went to see Hal Galper’s band (with Mike and Randy Brecker) with my Japanese roommate, Aki. The next morning,my friend Kevin asked Aki, “How did you like the band last night?” Aki looked at him and said, “Michael Brecker - not a human being!” Potter is just like that!

[@stevemccormickguitarworks]

I recently discovered you. I'm a guitarist who played Rock and Pop in the 80s and then Church praise music for the last 30 years. But I'm rediscovering jazz and I really enjoy your videos. Thank you

[@sbaiar]

I absolutely love your facial expressions! I am personally known for my facial expressions and literally cannot help it. I cannot listen to music without bodily reaction it is absolutely impossible for me. I wasn't even mimicking you while I was listening to your video I was actually doing it with you simultaneously! I would love to just hang out with you and nerd out on music, oh my gosh..! Finally, somebody who understands me! Lolol

[@sbaiar]

Peculiar. I received a notification via KZbin that you sent me a "Telegram" response starting with the word "Congratulations", but I can't seem to retrieve it, even though I have now installed Telegram on my phone. Was that you, or some sort of funky auto-generated spam??

[@luvmyrecords]

I had - and still have - a four speed turntable, and used to play the 33 1/3 records at 16 rpm. I can remember, at age 13, when I took "Giant Steps" out of the library for the first time, and heard "Countdown." I was stunned, and thought I'd play it at 16 rpm to hear it better. It sounded like a bari player playing absolutely perfect bebop phrases at a medium tempo, as cleanly and as evenly as anything I'd ever heard. EDIT - I was stunned even further. (This was the summer of 1978.) THAT alone - that the speed of Coltrane's playing wasn't masking any kind of imperfection - was a lesson itself.

[@RHCPfreak98]

Im at the beginning of this video, and i really appreciate your eye to eye approach!

[@jazzbrew68]

BIG Alex Sipiagin fan from my trumpet days. The whole album is killer. Alex is a beast. Great compositions too. He plays with Chris a lot.

[@saxophoneaidan]

Your excitement is infectious, Bob. I'm only sorry you're not playing Dublin, Ireland on this tour. Maybe next time 😎🎷👍

[@beckyn9338]

I appreciate seeing your thought process on all this. And while this particular tune is waaaaaay over my head, I am inspired. The principles apply, of course. I will continue on my personal journey. Thanks for these. (I admit, I’m kind of obsessed with your vlog.)Thanks for going to the trouble to even do it at all. It’s great!

[@stanmcclure229]

I'm a guitarist, but I love you solo on Outlier! Always wanted to be a sax player, but chose guitar as a kid. I'm glad i found this video. I definitely subscribed.

[@brianheight1914]

That is a tune I am not familiar with. Thank you for that great gem. I will be working on that one! All the best! Happy Holidays

[@riccitone]

Of course, sharing this with my students. Infectious and what it's about... 14:03 Wooooo!!❤

[@sarahjacksonandbuhaina5297]

Your energy is just so inspiring - thank you! I don't know this tune but I am sure as hell looking it up now.

[@brianheight521]

BOB!!!! My Man! Always great content. I appreciate you breaking down the different aspects and being REAL. Many of us hide behind our own insecurities and get nervous to share because others are looking to tear others down. I need to get back to your studio. In the mean time... Keep this going. BTW...I love amazing slower downer!

[@dennisonblackett9302]

I love this also as a reaction video. Sometimes I walk away from my chair after sick lines too.

[@6fretless]

Your reactions to the music are priceless! Thanks for years of cool music and insightful, educational, inspiring YT videos! ETA "COME ON NOW, WHAT??!!" 💖😂😂😂

[@pelonete5000]

The best tool is TRANSCRIBE, because you can add a pedal to rewind, stop , fast forward looping etc so you have your hands free.

[@mrglump52]

I’m so glad to know you’re going on tour, with your own group and with my favorite band… wow I wish I could travel I would be there. Best of luck to you and SP

[@ncatura]

Hi Bob, Noel Catura here! I didn’t even know you could take tunes from Spotify! I would stripe a video from KZbin with iTube Studio and then save it. Then use Anytune which is what I use instead of The Amazing Slow Downer. But I don’t think it can take tunes from Spotify or anything like that! Just thought I mention that. Btw I use to use T.A.S.D. Take care, Noel

[@dylananderson2235]

Hey Bob - Not sure if you'll see this comment or not, but I enjoyed listening to this solo and reacting to it. I've been obsessed with CP for almost 20 years and two solos that I always go back to are his solos from the first two movements of the Monterey Suite from the Dave Holland Big Band album "Overtime". Just in case you haven't heard them for a while, I'm sure you would react in the same way that you do to this solo. All the best

[@rodrigovelazquez9293]

Thanks Bob, your blog always keeps me inspired to get better, big hug from México!

[@nora1172]

Oh my god 🙃I could watch and listen for hours to you go through this conception kind of song🔥🙆🏻‍♀️. I agree with the comment before mine, I don’t even play an instrument, nor the sax 🎷 but this is so amazing. Apart from the always given cool book titles. Man, you should make a cinema film 😂. People would see the film at least 3 times. Beautiful energetic music vibes come across. Unbelievable how one feels sent on a happiness moment when watching this, so encouraging 🙏😍thank you.

[@bobreynolds]

🙏

[@jojopt2]

Thanks for making these videos, Bob!! The content is great and your genuine passion for self improvement and music is inspiring!!

[@conorsmith183]

very good video bob! love you! 😶‍🌫

[@bcarniaux]

This is such a major bummer!!!!!!

[@txsphere]

Regarding not wanting to pickup the horn because it is not going to the way you want. I was watching a master class with Joyce DiDonato and she made the point you cannot expect things to happen the way you want, so you have to find the process to get you there. With me it is a warm up including a checklist asking if reed is vibrating and horn is resonating, add some overtones and multiphonics and I am in the groove. When you find the hack of the process to get you where you want to be you save so much time and frustration.

[@JorisPosthumus]

I think you know Potter's solo's better then Potter himself;) Cool vid

[@alexeymorozov816]

Bob, thank you a lot for the inspiration and great content. I found a new great one - Anytune (after seeing the message you demonstrated) and yeah, you can loop any section, slow it down, save and name it... Tbh, it was hard to find a good replacement... It connects to Spotify and allows you to have snippets as well.

[@bobreynolds]

Thanks I'll check it out!

[@CarlMoelhave]

Great stuff as always, wish you came to Denmark! All the best

[@thoughtsforthebuilders]

jeez louise, that 7 is slippery

[@jamessidebotham]

love your tone bob

[@TheJazz625]

Oh! I really enjoyed tgus video 👍 your reaction to points in the solo make be laugh, because I do the same 🤣

[@ricardogomezmarijuan9328]

Hahahaha!!! Bob sos un grande!!!! Un gran fan de potter también! Buenisimo todo!!!!!

[@hayfordfrempong6369]

I Like Bob Reynolds I wanna play saxophone with him , he can teach me to play jazz and practice

[@matthewweyant4778]

Loved watching and listening to this (big fan of Snarky Puppy, Chris Potter...enjoyed watching him jam with you guys on Lingus), and getting a peek into your musical brain! I'm a band teacher and my 11 yr old plays tenor. He enjoys picking things out by ear. Do you have a favorite book or two, or a couple tips for a young player to begin his journey into jazz on tenor? There's the Aebersold stuff and Real Books, listening and playing along with standards, but if you have any personal tips, I'd appreciate it. Thanks! Also, you probably have done a video on this...what mouthpiece do you prefer on tenor? My oldest son plays on a Meyer 5 for his Alto.

[@bobflemming100]

Great video. Raging I’m only hearing about this app now!!

[@gwgwgwgw1854]

Every time I take the guitar out for the first time in the day, I have to make friends with it again.

[@bobreynolds]

Exactly. Well said!

[@voyages716]

Amazing

[@jacobtrejo1596]

So bummed about amazing slow downer, I also use this tool as one of my main tools in transcribing. Such a powerful app in terms of usage and cataloging my work. Since hearing the news I’ve been wondering if there’s anything we could do as consumers to make Spotify rethink their decision. Mass emails?

[@alohahawaiikiki]

You can join a discussion on the forum (ASD provides a link), also you can cancel their premium subscription, specifying the reason (I did)

[@juanpablomartinezluque1944]

Cool video bob

[@rodrigobertoa5916]

Im working on a Bob Berg solo on Friday Night at the Cadillac Club.. hell of a song, a lot of chromatic passing on the chords... Would love to see you try it out.

[@Osnosis]

Which version?

[@rileyc.martin1061]

Hey Bob, big fan. The news of the amazing slow downer not working with Spotify anymore sucks. However I have a solution for you. Screen record excerpts of the solo you want. Then save it as a file in your phone or laptop. Then import that to ASD. I know the extra steps are annoying, I use Apple Music and they did something similar with ASD a couple months ago but recanted it. I utilize this method for tunes not on Spotify and Apple Music and I think it should work for you. ASD is too good a tool to let go IMHO.

[@strumspicks2456]

You're are an amazing communicator, verbally and musically... I'm really inspired by what you put out

[@FlitchMcGlitch]

Nice one Bob. Just one more reason to dislike Spotify! Amazing Slowdowner is the bomb. Transcribe (by Seventh String) is good too. Not sure if it works with Spotify. I've never tried that. Still nothing quite as good as my old 80s boombox that could "scrub" back in microseconds through cassette tapes. iTunes is literally THE WORST for transcribing. Sounding great as always man.

[@oooooo-cs6nj]

Genial song feling 🤠 tecnique Master

[@benwinstanleymusic]

Hi Bob, I'm a huge fan of your stuff. I loved this video, it's very instructional seeing what you're listening out for in solos. As someone that's less informed on Chris Potter's music, would you be able to recommend to me any of your favorite albums of his, or ones that influenced your sound the most? Thanks!

[@noahesills]

Spotify is always a buzz kill! I’ve been transcribing with the amazing slow downer app for years now too (because of your recommendation)

[@dominick8558]

Love the video Bob! I’ve bought and read war of art because of you and man it’s a dense book for sure, I’d love a video on the books you’ve read and recommend for musicians. Also, Alex Sipiagin’s last name is pronounced (sip-ee-ah-gen(gen sounding like the end of again))

[@bobreynolds]

Ahhh! Thank you 🙏

[@gooooood3344]

Bob, would you consider making a top 10 sax players video?

[@johnleeah2222]

Looks like the app Anytune is attempting a similar functionality as the slow downer. The Spotify linkage might not last but works for now!

[@NathanSMadsen]

Bob: "when I take the horn out for the first time in a day...." Me: (nervous laughter) What if it's been WAY longer than just a day. Yeah... I need to practice WAYYYY more often. Great video Bob! Always inspiring.

[@alexambroise111]

Bob, if you haven't yet, check out Eli Degibri and Chris's version of If I should Lose You. One of his best solos ever imo! Cheers

[@bobreynolds]

will do, thanks!

[@kasperkat454]

God i miss being in the studio

[@MrAltissimo]

Also, not sure how comfy you are with any DAWs but I think if you have the audio file you can create the loops and also flex the time to where it’s faster/slower.

[@bobreynolds]

but not on my phone, or iPad, with shared synched playlist connected to streaming. THAT's the magic part. (was)

[@MrAltissimo]

@@bobreynolds fair point. I hope that they reverse the choice and bring the family back together. I used to use a similar app a few years ago that connected to Dropbox but the app did a similar thing.

[@Oscaraha]

Yeah, its allways nice to do some transcribing. Ive been using Anytune myself, and buy the tunes I want to work on in Itunes.

[@BeegPandaber]

Watched that video of yours only about three weeks ago and bought it immediately. Unlucky for me 😭 Good thing I got some use out of it before it ended though

[@CrowleyStarkey]

Rest in peace, Amazing Slow Downer.

[@jamesjefferson8353]

I have an off topic question, What neck strap are using?

[@petertrigiani1088]

Great video. If only Apple Music had the adjusting pitch feature on ASD like Spotify did.. rip.

[@Nupiolos]

Amazing video Bob. I just love to listen saxophone players with you saying what you notice about the solo and your thoughts. I don't know if you know Max Ionata. Its an amazing sax player from Italy. I would love that you'd do a video listening to one of his solos.

[@PatrickKizny]

Bob, perhaps it’s time to switch to Anytune? You can still upload wavs or grab from YT, but the app is the pinnacle for transcribing. Especially when hooked to a midi controller - I got it routed to FCB1010 - an old inexpensive multi foot switch. Hands free operation.

[@bobreynolds]

It's all about access from my phone. Convenience for fast access to snippets from hundreds of songs is the objective

[@lesgoe8908]

Sisiphus the Sax Player: "Yesterday... everything felt great. Today... it's gonna disappoint me."

[@gerickcruz]

try this screen record tune convert mp4 to mp3 online (some random site) download to (files for iphone) import to anytune app (to manipulate track)

[@anniechang7611]

Use soundslice. It’s free and works with KZbin. Can loop, slow down, write notation, etc.

[@WizardOfArc]

I use Transcribe by seventh string

[@kostakutay8036]

Chris potter drops another mind melting solo on another Alex Sipiagin track “Tempest in a Tea Cup”. He is so innovative. I want to be that limitless on the horn, only bound my my own imagination

[@bobreynolds]

Ooo! Thanks I'll check that one out

[@francistaylor5097]

Come to Cardiff, Bob

[@austenholritz7554]

I’m sure many have recommended this already, but I use ASD and was bummed to hear Spotify would no longer be connected to the service, so I’ve been screen recording Spotify and uploading converted .MP3’s of the audio (from those screen recordings) to ASD! Huge pain but a work around nonetheless.

[@SamSlotsky]

A lot of times you can purchase a digital track for a buck or less and open them up with Music Speed Changer. It has similar looping and speed & pitch modulation.

[@tonobluetrane5730]

Sound speed changer!

[@ryanishkanian2048]

Hi. Is there any alternative to Spotify? Does Apple Music work and have enough selection of jazz that we can transcribe the greats?

[@kentcrawley]

KZbin actually does this now. May not be as intuitive as the app but you can easily slow sections down and loop them!

[@karlosfandango108]

Phrase at 9.50 mins in reminds me of Friday night at Cadillac club...

[@robstevens9590]

Wow!

[@terryquinneysaxophone4342]

How do you retain/maintain all the solos you transcribe? Do you revisit/re-learn them over time? Or do you trust that the act of learning them once will improve your playing in some way?

[@bobreynolds]

"Or do you trust that the act of learning them once will improve your playing in some way?" ...how could it not? :) Like the old Ragu spaghetti commercial said: "It's in there!"