# Transcription Course Instructions
This course is designed to help you learn how to transcribe passages of music onto your ear and your
instrument(s). The aim of the exercises is not to notate the music, but to learn how to extract the
musical elements of the passage into your preferred instruments, and ingrain them in your playing.
Students that wish to notate the music are free to do so, but it is not required to make progress in
the course.
The goal of these courses is to present a similar experience to the apprenticeship model on which
traditional African music and jazz was taught. In this model, the master shows the apprentice a
musical passage, and the apprentice must learn how to reproduce it. Unlike a school or academy,
graduation from the apprenticeship model is not based on completing a fixed curriculum, but on
actual mastery of the material.
## How to use the course
The questions in the course refer you to the passage that you must transcribe. Due to copyright
laws, an audio file of the passage is not provided. Instead, you are given the passage as the
information about the track (artist, album, and track number) and the start and end timestamps of
the passage (which could just say to play over the entire song). There is the option to give an
optional external link, containing a link to the YouTube video of the track, for example.
You then get a copy of the track through your own means, load the track into your preferred music
player (see the section on tools for the recommended player), and find the passage in the track. You
then proceed according to the stage indicated by the exercises.
## Lessons
The course is divided in several lessons, each of which will help you become familiar with a
different aspect of the material.
### Singing
First listen to the musical passage until you can audiate it clearly in your head. Then sing over
the passage. At this stage it's not required to be accurate as possible. Rather, learn to sing the
main elements of the passage and experiment with different melodies over it. The goal is to learn to
navigate the context implied by the passage.
### Transcription
With the basic context implied by the passage now internalized in your ear, try to play over
it using your instrument. The goal at this point is not to accurately reproduce the passage,
but rather about learning to navigate that context and use it as a basis for improvisation.
You can focus on different elements or sections each time you practice.
The lesson depends on sufficiently mastering the singing lesson.
### Advanced Singing
At this stage, you should sing the passage with more detail and precision using solfège. The
recommended solfège system is movable do, with a la-based minor. In this system, the note for the
key is always represented by do, and the modes are represented by the different syllables. The minor
mode, for example, starts with the syllable la. This system has the advantage that the same
syllables can be used for all keys. Using the numbers one to seven is also equivalent. You should
also transpose the passage up or down a random number of semitones.
The lesson depends on sufficiently mastering the singing lesson.
### Advanced Transcription
At this stage, you play over the passage, and sing it with more detail and precision. It's at this
point that you can engage in what is traditionally called transcription. You should also transpose
the passage up or down a random number of semitones.
The passage is still used as a basis for improvisation, but the focus is much narrower than in the
basic transcription lesson, and the actual music played in the passage take precedence over the
context implied by it.
The lesson depends on sufficiently mastering the advanced singing lesson and the transcription
lesson.
## Tools
### Transcribe!
The recommended tool for these exercises is
[Transcribe!](https://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html). This is proprietary and paid
software, but is the best option for helping you transcribe the passages in these courses. It can
slow down, loop, and transpose the audio. It also has built-in tools to help you find which notes
and chords are being played.
There exists similar software, although not as feature-rich as Transcribe. At the very least, you
should be able to easily loop, slow down, and transpose the audio.