Widely acknowledged as one of the most difficult, yet most beneficial parts of our study it is also the one the most misunderstood.
This post is not going to look at all the benefits, but will focus briefly on one area that is sometimes overlooked. Pattern recognition.
One of the easiest ways to understand this is to use the game of chess as an example. High level chess players are often thought to have an immense talent to see far ahead - and that being the reason that they are better than the rest of us. While this is partly true, this is only to a certain extent.
Another very important part of their work is the idea of patterns. The reason they can deal effectively with a particular position or problem, is that they have seen the type of position before and can intuitively solve and apply their understanding to it. They can look at thousands of problems without thinking, because of a past work on a similar theme or idea.
This very same principle applies to music, and where transcription comes into play. Just as in chess, music, is full of patterns that occur over and over again. Learning the ones that you are unfamiliar with can have long lasting benefits.
One will notice first of all that when transcribing a difficult solo or phrase, often the biggest mistakes come from areas that are new in terms of phrasing and rhythm. I notice it alot with my own work. The passages I've found the most difficult are not because they are fast or rhythmically challenging, but really because I've never played or assimilated that kind of phrase before. When I do, and have spent time working on it, it makes it very much easier to recognise in the future. Even the most challenging of lines. In fact, I may not even have to think, because it's a pattern I've already been exposed to and have used.
In short, one of the big advantages of transcription is the learning of new patterns. New language, new phrases, new rhythms and harmonies. If you do the work properly and learn the solo or phrase by ear, next time you will hear the same or similar phrase, it will be much easier to pick up. You will instinctively understand what type of musical idea you are looking at and then apply the tools to learn it. This can have long lasting benefits in both study, rehearsing and performance.
