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David's Tip of the Day: Transcribing - Actually Play What You Wrote

David Barrett Admin's picture

It’s very common for students to come in after transcribing a bit of music to have parts written, that they're supposedly reading from, but they actually play something slightly different. For example... they may write 4 5+, but actually play 5 6+. To fix this, slowly play out of rhythm (one note per tap of the foot will do), what you wrote. This will stop your muscle memory, which is commonly linked to rhythm, from guiding you towards playing by ear, not what you wrote on the page.

Happy New Year to everyone!