Contents

Harmonic and melodic analysis of musical building blocks
Translating music theory: from abstract analysis to application and conceptualization
“Warming Up for the Village Vanguard” – Improvisation by Julian Lage

Attempting to unravel the mysteries of music? Fear no evil, you’re not only already hip to the music – you’re it.

With a lil’ bit of help from these rough translations made up of dots and lines, aka transcriptions, one by one, it becomes easier to make a guitar sing / speak. While there are plenty of specifically tailored guitar methods for all kinds of music styles, working with transcriptions offers a non-linear, yet more integrated approach of learning about and creating music – a priceless perspective that improves perceiving, feeling, internalizing and knowing the music you love.

Learning in context helps to be able to apply new and spontaneous ideas in various musical situations. It’s comparable to learning a language; you usually don’t learn all the words first, then move on to the grammar. Both are crucial to express yourself and have to be integrated.