What is the proper word for vocal parts translated to guitar tabs?
February 3, 2010
Wil asked:
My friends and I want to try playing a song but since we don’t have a singer right now we were going to play the vocal part on guitar. Is there a special word for what that is called something?
My friends and I want to try playing a song but since we don’t have a singer right now we were going to play the vocal part on guitar. Is there a special word for what that is called something?
Posted in Tabs
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February 7th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Transcribing. When you take a piece of music written for one instrument (and the voice would be considered an instrument here) and score it out for another one, it’s called transcribing.
That term would also apply to writing out music from an existing recording. Steve Via got is big break in the music biz by transcribing music for Frank Zappa.
Greetings from Austin, TX
Ken
February 9th, 2010 at 11:46 am
both of those answers are right. If you are asking “What are the notes the singer sings referred to as?” then the answer is the Melody. You can play twinkle twinkle little star’s melody on guitar just as easily as you can sing it. However, the ACT of taking the notes from one form, writing them out to be played in another form is called transcribing. Transcribing implies a WRITTEN form in notation or tab (from the suffix SCRIBE). It is, however, not limited to changing instruments. You can transcribe someone else’s work, or your own. If you wanted to write the tab out to your own song, you would be transcribing it.
Figuring out melodies and transcribing them is extremely useful. It’s a good skill to have, and it sharpens your sense of pitch. Keep it up.