Flowers – Miley Cyrus – Drum & Bass Breakdown

Jan 18, 2023 | Drums

Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber) Drums Here is another case of drums being constructed with samples in the computer, most likely. Lots of 4 on the floor bass drum, and hi-hat action. I opted to have the hi-hat play some of the shaker starting at...

How to Practice

Jan 13, 2023 | Uncategorized

How to Practice Where to Start? I was thinking recently about the ways in which I learned how to practice. In so doing, I came across an old memory of a time before I knew how to do that. Though it had been sitting on a shelf in my mind for a good while and was...

Escape (The Piña Colada Song) – Bass Breakdown

Jan 13, 2023 | Desconstructions

Let’s grab a couple Piña Coladas and look at Escape (The Piña Colada Song) – Bass Breakdown…The bass guitar part for “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes is relatively simple and consists of a repeating pattern of root notes...

Intervals and Steps

Jan 6, 2023 | Music Theory

Intervals and Steps Intervals What makes intervals and steps so important in music? Well, basically, they are the fundamental building blocks. I like to think of them as letters. When you put them together in the right order they spell out a scale, much like a word....

Working Within Limits

Dec 29, 2022 | General

Working Within Limits It’s true, the hours in a day aren’t enough. Nothing can ever change that fact. Especially as life fills up, either with personal obligations or career obligations, you will reach a breaking point and need to figure out working within...

I Don’t Want to Be – Gavin DeGraw – Song Breakdown

Dec 26, 2022 | Song Breakdowns

Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber) I Don’t Want to Be – Gavin DeGraw   Melody This song is basically in Cm, though the verse chords are primarily C major. The melody hits an Eb a lot, giving it a Bluesy feel. Then things turn to Cm...

Rusty Cage – Johnny Cash – Song Breakdown

Nov 29, 2022 | Song Breakdowns

Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber) Rusty Cage – Johnny Cash   Melody A great arrangement of the Soundgarden song. I first thought Soundgarden covered a Johnny Cash song, which is a great testament to how he made this song his own. The...

Señorita – Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – Song Breakdown

Nov 15, 2022 | Song Breakdowns

Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber) Señorita – Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello   Melody A song that took months to come together, with Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello deciding to do it, not to do it, etc. I wrote out both female and...

Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra – Song Breakdown

Nov 8, 2022 | Song Breakdowns

Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber) Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra This song was particularly challenging (a fun challenge) to arrange for a standard band, with all the orchestration involved (after all, the “O” of ELO does stand for...

Caffeine and Music?

Nov 2, 2022 | Uncategorized

Caffeine and Music Is it so common? There’s a stereotype out there that musicians love their caffeine. I can neither confirm nor deny this. All I’ll say is, “give me my 5 shots of espresso in that drink!” Seriously. Not kidding. But...