Elizabeth Marten
Research Mentor: Alexander Wand
Mentor Department: Residential College, LSA
Author(s): Alex Wand, Elizabeth Marten
Session: Session 3 (11:00 AM – 11:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Creative Project
Abstract
This research investigates the transcription of original guitar composition recordings from the album, Rufus’ Retreat by Alex Wand into sheet music and tablature. The goal of this project is to have additional educational material for usage in the University of Michigan’s Residential College Music Program as well as for commercial distribution. While there is a variety of guitar music available for students to learn from, much of it prioritizes technical difficulty over variety within the music itself regarding different modalities and the integration of melodic and rhythmic lines. Additionally, many of the pieces in Rufus’ Retreat have more complex rhythms, time signatures, or irregular tuning and even swapping string placement to help expand the students’ skillsets. Although the audio recordings of the pieces are valuable resources, the majority of the benefit will be reaped through the usage of sheet music to visually depict notation the students should learn from. The transcription work was done through the use of music theory and auditory music training with the online music programs Transcribe! and Sibelius to determine the notation for each piece. The main melodic line was analyzed and notated first, and the rhythmic drone line was added in after. Stylistic choices and articulation were later added while working closely with the composer to ensure accurate notation. As a result, the sheet music and guitar tablature was finished with an emphasis on stylistic choices as the composer intended to bring each piece to life. The finished compositions effectively bridge the gap between strengthening technical abilities and expanding musical versatility to foster a well-rounded approach in guitar education.
