Writing Shirley, Lori, Danny, Tracey and Chris

February 26, 2016 10:51 AM

5 people need to learn the non-Keith Partridge parts of this song. For me, it's easiest to listen to the song over and over and learn by ear, but others can would rather learn it by sight.

I don't know how to write music, but I did start transcribing it in crude way for my own use which was the words "doo" "doodoo" or "dit" followed by an arrow indicating if the note was higher or lower, but it doesn't seem like this would work for everyone either.

So is there an easy-ish way to transcribe this and make it clear? Or even better a program that will do it for me?

I am really only concerned with the very beginning of the song before the lead vocals start, there is just something non-memorable about that part.

Sorry I don't know how to talk about music construction very well.

posted by Duffington to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

When you say "by sight," do you mean that they want sheet music for it? There ARE programs that will take an audio input and transcribe it to sheet music, but they cost thousands of dollars. Simply saying that the note is higher or lower won't help a lot because they're going to want to know how much higher or lower the note is.

You can find tabs of the song online that will tell you what the chords are at each particular point, which might assist someone in transcribing the backup parts, but I can't find anywhere that has sheet music available that explicitly lines out those backup chorus parts. Do any of the other people in the group have the ability to transcribe music? It's not a huge job for someone who already has those skills and the right notation software; if you have a nearby college or university with a decent music program, you might consider calling them and seeing if there's a student who wants to make some money transcribing them for you.
posted by KathrynT at 11:21 AM on February 26, 2016

Also, I'll have to give it a tighter listen with better headphones, but I think there are only three backup parts, not four.
posted by KathrynT at 11:24 AM on February 26, 2016

Response by poster: Hi. Yes, I think they want something akin to sheet music. But I think the rhythm of the notes is really what I want to transcribe so we can get the phrasing. And we will all sing the same backup part. If there is more than one, I think it's beyond our capabilities and available practice time. Thanks! I will not be spending a thousand dollars on this silly thing!
posted by Duffington at 11:44 AM on February 26, 2016

Have you looked at this eBay listing?
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:16 PM on February 26, 2016

If you just want a transcription of the top line of those first four measures, PM me an email address and I'll send it to you.
posted by KathrynT at 1:09 PM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]