TRANSCRIPTION HELP NEEDED… Anyone got a good ear?

[thereallyniceman]

A long time ago Jody sent me a hand written notation/transcription of Grace and Beauty as played by Fred Van Eps.

GRACE AND BEAUTY SCORE

FRED VAN EPS: GRACE AND BEAUTY

I have been working through the music and find that there is a piano "TRIO Interlude" and a “Coda” that are nothing like that shown on the score. Anyone play this piece or is there anyone with a good ear who could give me some suggestions for the best fingering (how to get the notes smoothly)?

This is the "original" score"  and is nothing like how it is played on the recording:

I have “sort of” worked out, by ear, what Fred's pianist  plays in the TRIO but am struggling working out the best fingering for the notes.

This is the TRIO as the pianist plays it:

TRIO

In the Coda I am stuck completely and want chords notes and fingering… even though it is only a few bars.

Here is the "original score", again nothing like the recording:

 

This is the Coda how Fred and pianist play it:

CODA

 I want to be able to play both sections on the banjo, even though they are piano breaks in the recording.

 

Anybody help? …  or do I struggle on regardless… all alone and in the wilderness ;-)

[Richard William Ineson]

I've been down in the cellar, no luck, all of my Grace and Beauty material seems to have dematerialised.

[marc dalmasso]

i hear this _ ( notes almost ok but  the rythm may be something else )

[thereallyniceman]

Thank you Marc. I will investigate your suggestion. I have discovered that the stupid software (or me) have made a mistake and that the Fred Van Eps recording was not at  correct concert pitch!

I have corrected this... SORRY to anyone who has strained their ears at the wrong pitch trying to work out the notes and chords!!!!!!!

My attempt at the Coda is this:

(Starting at fret 13PB down in bar2 to 8PB and to fret 4 strings 2 and 3 for the Eflat and C)

I am having real trouble hearing this and your help is appreciated.. 

Marc... I am really sorry that I may have caused you trouble by somehow posting an incorrect MP3 of Fred's recording.

[thereallyniceman]

I would like to thank Shawn McSweeny who kindly sent me a "noise reduced" version of Fred playing Grace and Beauty. The notes are much more distinct now and I am getting closer with the notes !!

Also, Mrs thereallyniceman is working on a piano accompaniment for the piece so we may be "starring" together when I get it up to somewhere near standard (it may take a while!!!)

Thank you AGAIN Shawn.

[Shawn McSweeny]

Glad to help. Looking forward to your duet video,  .  . . with all the right notes of course. 

In a parallel effort, I'm digitally reducing noise, slowing down and transcribing a couple of early Ossman arrangements for which notation is scarce, or non-existant. Will keep you posted.

[thereallyniceman]

Thanks Shawn. The Ossman project sounds interesting. Transcribing is a nightmare for me., it takes ages and ages to firstly sort out (by ear) what notes are being played and then find the best position to play them.

The trouble is that others always have their own idea of how these transcriptions should be fingered. My solution is : let them play it their way!

 Please do let me have copies of your arrangements of the scores to post in the MUSIC LIBRARY. 

[Shawn McSweeny]

The software I use for transcriptions allows one to slow down the recording, start and stop at any point. A graphic representation of the sound waves, time markings and a cursor provide a visual reference for where you are in the score. I work my way through in two measure blocks.

Coming from a bluegrass background, my transcriptions are tab, not dots and I look for the simplest fingering that gets the notes cleanly, avoiding single string settings by using alternating strings wherever possible, ( a technique used in melodic style bluegrass) while also leaving the left hand well positioned for the next note group. 

I read dots slowly, but well enough to transcribe into tab, and have several Morleys etc, tabbed, mostly in manuscript, some are type set. Where left handed positions and/or fingering are provided in the dot notation, my tabs are set to correspond.

[Mike Redman]

Have you tried a programme called 'Audacity' I have used it in the past to learn some Bluegrass tunes I did not have the score for?  You can slow the tune right down and keep the pitch the same.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[Shawn McSweeny]

Hi Mike :

I haven't used Audacity, but instead use another "Aud" programme, Audition. It also allows one to reduce tempo while preserving pitch.