The Difference Between Arranging and Transcribing Music
Difference Between Arranging and Transcribing
Frequently, musicians get confused about the difference between arranging and transcribing music. It’s understandable since both involve writing down music that was previously unwritten and, to some extent, creating new versions of existing works. It’s important to note that in the eyes of copyright holders, transcribing is a form of unauthorized infringement. The best way to avoid this is to obtain a license from the appropriate person and to follow the terms of the license, which may or may not be restrictive in nature.
A musical transcription is a written out version of an existing piece of music for a different instrumentation than the one for which it was composed. It can be as simple as changing the piano part for a cello or as elaborate as creating an entirely new orchestral arrangement of a song.
An arrangement, however, can go beyond the simple notation of a piece and can include a variety of other changes such as adding or subtracting instrumentalists, altering tempo or rhythm, changing key signatures and creating new sections within a composition. Arranging is often done for practical reasons such as fitting an already written work into the time constraints of a concert performance. It is also common for musicians to want to take artistic liberties with the original composition in order to create a unique new version of an already existing piece of music.
The Difference Between Arranging and Transcribing Music
There are also times when the original intention of a composer is completely disregarded or altered by the demands of the day to day exigencies of practical musicians. For example, Mozart transcribed many of his operas for small wind ensembles simply because he wanted his music to be played at public concerts and in the theater. Other composers like Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly transcribed folk songs that were being passed down by oral tradition and used them in their own compositions.
The skill of transcribing is an invaluable one for any serious musician to have and it can be a great way to improve your playing and listening skills. To be a good transcriber, you need to have a combination of skills that include hearing and deduction. This is because, as with most things in music, 80% of what makes it sound the way that it does isn’t even detailed when the work is written down.
To become a proficient transcriber, it’s important to practice taking tiny pieces of the music that you are trying to learn and working them out by ear. Try transposing these short excerpts to all of the keys and you’ll soon start to notice that they are “coming out” in your playing without you having to think about them. Then you’ll be able to improvise based on this knowledge and really start to improve your own musical vocabulary! Good luck!