scot tells us to always be transcibing something, to learn the vocabulary and improve our ears. it makes total sense to me, so while i may not be doing it as much as i would like, i'm always working or something. i find it not too difficult to get a single line solo down, but have definite problems when it comes to figuring out a chord cluster. so unless i already know the chord progression ( say from the real book ), i'm lost - what good is learning a cool sounding solo unless i know the chords it goes with? and how do i get from here ( being able to figure out one note lines ) to there ( being able to figure out the underlying chords )?

thanks,

barry
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when doing transcriptions always start with the bass line. that'll give you a good idea of the root motion (usually). for more info on transcribing see:

https://www.jeffreebrent.com/lessons/transcr.html

7
very helpful.

thanks!
i'd suggest focusing more on studying/learning about what voicings are made up of,what specific voicings sound like,and what the "conversion" possibilties are re-using a melodic approach derived from a chord type and vice versa..before trying to figure out a voicing from a recording.....maybe something like www.good-ear.com would be a place to start familiarizing yourself with the sound of various chord types..what scot is correctly emphasizing re-replacing a focus on using written transcriptions w/a study approach based on working on taking off/playing stuff by ear is something that should not be viewed as a method for those new to the music to use instead of the foundation-for-doing-this type of studies i'm referring to..for which a s--t load of info is available here......there have been a lot of posts re-the difference between taking off rh lines and lh/chords,or 2-hand voicings.....there are transcription aids avaiable which slow down the music to where this is made easier but....in many respects this is overcomplicating a fairly basic situation- many players learn by having a more advanced player sit down and show them the voicings they use,in the context of an overall learning approach.....usually before a player at this advanced level will spend time showing the other player this kind of stuff,they are expected to have a basic familiarity with voicing principles..now take what you're dealing with..if the player you're listening  to and trying to get their chord voicing was there in person to show you what they're doing(which often is a personal approach based on using commonly-shared stuff,of the kind that is readily available for study online) in a unique way re-doubling/omitting/adding a note that makes all the difference... would you be able to understand/work with/apply the principles involved in your own playing or would this voicing "sit on a shelf" with respect to the overall level of  knowledge you're at..i.e. your studies have been limited to understanding  voicings for basic chord types...and you're listening to non-tertial structures.......i can well imagine you sitting there all day,sure that what sounds like some kind of a cm must include eb,g and bb..play the tape,play the chord..hmm.that doesn't sound quite right..try it again...meanwhile here's the voicing
being used-d,f,c in a modal context....
so, as my little brain is understanding you, learn the theory, as in, for example, the jazz piano book chapters on voicings.

but there must be a time when you may not know all the advanced jazz voicings in every key when there's something to  be learned/gained from transcribing?

thanks a lot, btw, for both answers to my question!

barry
if you have the book,that would be a way to get to this,but just using what's online will also put you in a place where the sound of a  given voicing won't exist "in a void" but will be related to other sounds you're familiar with..so  that the situation i described above (re-doubling/omitting/adding a note)will be the only variable you might mess around with a voicing for a chord type trying to pin down....

as far as the second sentence,like i said in the first reply,i wouldn't advise making a connection between the process of transcribing and learning about/understanding the principles behind "advanced jazz voicings"....transcribing is useful for many things;for a player for whom the theory involved in playing is already internalized,it's a way of absorbing another players' style "as a whole",but again,i'd send you over to www.good-ear for getting voicings together conceptually...they have a section where you get a chance to work on gradually more complex voicings,and using this in conjunction with any of the written sources of info about this available( a lot of which you'll find right here)should eliminate any "waste of time/time consuming/questionable result" type endeavors in favor of ones which will show you concrete results.

i posted a file called "voicings" over at 360 degrees that might be something you want to take a look at,also the file called,"developing..." deals with factors relating to transcription in detail and offers some ways of getting the most from the process....if you want some info re-specific locations online that will give you all the voicings info you could want,let me know.......
thanks for the advice. what i'm trying to do right now is start with fairly simple voicings from the first few chapters of the jazz piano book and get 'em down in all keys ( i can play and understand more complicated stuff in the easy keys ) and transcribing some blues piano, just to keep working on my ear training, as well as working on a tune or two.

any voicing sites you could point me to would be much appreciated, as was the files in your room.

thanks,

barry
i'll post some in the next few days here...in the meantime-

1.check out www.good-ear,let me know what you think of it....

2.focusing on learning these ml voicings in "all keys" vs.getting  a clear picture of the similarities/differences in,uses of,corresponding melodic options for,and especially theoretical basis of these in a couple of what you call "the easy keys" re-"i can play and understand more complicated stuff in the easy keys.....
you'll have to bear with me for a minute..at this point after a year of doing this for players,i'm not sure sometimes what a series of links is-these which i thought were about voicings in general look like they're for someone who asked about "harmonizing the melody note and block chords concepts".....
some of those are dead by now,too....the mel bay main site is a good one,and the last one has some info relating specifically to voicings...
https://www.melbay.com/creativekeyboard/articles.html
yeah i just checked this,here there's a lot of good info,and i'll post a couple more below;
check out-a systematic approach to jazzpiano voicings over here-https://www.jazzcenter.org
this is a good one too-it'll take me a while to remember where i have them all listed but these are some good ones for now.......
https://hum.lss.wisc.edu/jazz/the.article.3.html
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