How to put the music on the paper?

Question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkL14zvrxQg

I want to write sheet music on this song,

and all I have so far is a mess,

can i get some tips,

or maybe some help?

Answer 1

If you play an instrument, and you know the names of the notes, and you know the names of the notes you are trying to write, you should be able to do it.

Answer 2

well, can you read sheet music?

can you put notes played on an instrument to a note on the page?

if so, i don't see what problem you have.

Answer 3

Ok... this is a basic execise in ear training... the more you do this, the easier it will get.  It sounds like you are still kinda young (high school?), so if you start doing rhythmic and melodic dictation now, you are going to be soooo far ahead of the game in college!  Good for you!

So- where to start?  First, start with the rhythm.  You're in 4/4 time.  Unfortunatly, the guy wasn't really consistant with his left hand rhythms... so I used the cover he did of the song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kceclyQ8e...

He wasn't consistant in this one either, but it's hard to do when you cover the strumming of a guitar in rock or pop... I chose the section that he was most consistant with (I think it was the 2nd time through the chorus)...

On your staff paper, put a light line in each measure where each beat is, and a shorter line where the 8th notes would be... try to tune out the melody and just listen to the rhythm of the chords.  As you listen (and you may have to listen a few times to get it- it's ok!), just try to put a dot on a line, or between the lines to show where the rhythmic pattern is.  If it is on a beat, you know that... if it is between lines, it shows a subdivision of 16th notes... there is a lot of them in this song.  Try to look for easy parts first- like quarter notes or 8ths, where you are sure of the rhythm... if you hear a quarter note on beat 3, then concentrate on beat 4...

Here's what I come up with:

beat one:  8th 16th 16th    (1.&a)

beat two:  dotted 8th 16th    (2..a)

beat three:  16th 8th 16th   (3e.a)

beat four: 16th 16th 16th 16th   (4e&a)

This repeats for the duration of the song... you may want to change it up for the next verse or chorus!

So there's your left hand rhythm... what about the right hand?  This is infinitly easier... don't be fooled by the NOTES... it makes it seems like it might be 2 sets of triplets and then 2 8ths, because melodically, it is gouped into 3, 3, and 2.  But listen again... they are all evenly spaced, and all land on the beat or on the up beat... so what is the rhythm?...

All 8th notes... [1.&.2.][&.3.&.][4.&.]  (Does that make sense?)

So now with the notes... this vid makes it easy, because not only can you SEE what he's doing, but he GIVES YOU the "chords"... next to the date, if you click "more info" it brings down the "chords" and lyrics.  He also tells you which "chord" to play for which lyric line (the number before each line corresponds to the "chord" used).

I say "chords" because they aren't chords... they are only 5ths.  Without the 3rd, you don't know if it is a major or a minor... this is very common in rock and pop, as then the sense of key can be more easily manipulated, and it relys more heavily on melody to set the tone. (ATL, John Mayer, U2, Cold Play... they all use this technique)

So- he gives you DAD as the first chord, GDG as the second, AEA as the third, and BF#B as the fourth.

Hmmm... you have DEF#GAB... what key are you in?  This is tricky... USUALLY, in the "A" chord would be a "C" or a "C#"... this would tell us if we had 1# or 2#... Key of G or key of D?  So ask yourself... is the "D" chord a pickup?  Does it fall on beat 4?... or is that the first real measure of the song?  If it is the pick up, it will usually go to the ACTUAL key in the first measure... so we would be in "G"... but in this case, I think it is an actual measure, so we would be in "D"... this gives you 2 sharps.  Write it on your paper.  Now are we in major or minor?  There is a lot of music theory that points to the exact key, but I won't go into that... use your ears.  Is it in major or minor?  There may be minor chords, and there may be times it has that "sad" tone, but again, this is part of theory.  We are in a major key.  (These are things you want to ask yourself next time you do this without help.)

So now, add in the notes over the rhythms... you're done!  

Try to write it on the grand staff, so the left hand is the bass clef, the right hand is on the treble clef, and have a seperate line above for the vocal part.  Make sure to line up your measures (or you WILL be lost).

Now as for the vocal part's rhythm and melody- I'll let you tackle that yourself.  Just remember to start with the rhythm... getting the notes, well... try to figure out what note it starts on, then draw a little graph on if it goes up or down.  Listen again, see if you can find more notes... It's a long and tedious process, but you will get a lot out of it.  Feel free to email me if you need more help... and I hope none of this was too confusing!

Have fun! :)