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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Oct 31, 2022 | Song Breakdowns
Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber) Cigarette Daydreams – Cage The Elephant All in all a very dense bass heavy production with lots of great keyboard sounds and layered vocals. Melody A nice multi-tracked vocal part, with the range of A2 to B4....
Oct 17, 2022 | Song Breakdowns
Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber) Can’t Stop – Red Hot Chili Peppers Melody A very funky syncopated melody, mostly between D4 and E4, but branching out into the range of F3 to E4. Some of the words are more spoken than sung...
