Help! Want to transcribe non-ukulele sheet music to ukulele...

[ookooleilei]

Forgive me if this is a really stupid question, but I have an old piece of sheet music that I'd like to be able to play on ukulele (I don't play piano or guitar, which I think complicates this for me, conceptually)...

Any tips on how I might do this? And it's a VERY obscure old tune that I'm not likely to find ukulele-specific tabs for (I've tried...)

Thanks!

 

[KohanMike]

Go to https://www.ultimate-guitar.com and search for the song title. If it comes up, my suggestion is to join the service for free (I have the paid version) and you will be able to choose what instrument you're using. I choose ukulele all the time. You can also change keys if you need.

---

Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
4 tenor thinline cutaway ukes, 2 thinline acoustic bass ukes, 5 solid body bass ukes
•Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
•Member Cali Rose & The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers

 

[ookooleilei]

Hey, Mike - thanks very much for the tip - going to hold this one in my back pocket for future transcriptions... unfortunately, this song doesn't show up there. It's an old song from the 1940s called "Azusa" (guessing you've heard of the town, as you're from Los Angeles), that I'm a big fan of.

If you're not familiar with the song (I'd be shocked if anybody here IS), here's one of my favorite artists, a guy named Skip Heller, based out of Los Angeles, performing it with his (old) band, The Hollywood Blues Destroyers:

Thanks again for your help -- hoping I can find a way to get this transcribed!

 

[UkeOkay]

I do this using Musescore. Presumably the sheet music you have is for piano and you want to have a finger picking score afterwards.

I patiently go note by note and then try to play a few measures at a time, adjusting for sound and playability. You will need to make compromises here and there - dropping notes, changing octaves- since you are limited to 4 notes at a time plus the limited voicing range of the uke. I’m not quick at the task by any means, so it needs to be a tune I really like well.

If you just want chords to stum, then the task is much simpler.

 

[ookooleilei]

I do this using Musescore. Presumably the sheet music you have is for piano and you want to have a finger picking score afterwards.

I patiently go note by note and then try to play a few measures at a time, adjusting for sound and playability. You will need to make compromises here and there - dropping notes, changing octaves- since you are limited to 4 notes at a time plus the limited voicing range of the uke. I’m not quick at the task by any means, so it needs to be a tune I really like well.

If you just want chords to stum, then the task is much simpler.

I'm a soprano playing strummer/singer, so I'm intrigued by "...the task is much simpler" Do tell!

 

[clear]

I'm a soprano playing strummer/singer, so I'm intrigued by "...the task is much simpler" Do tell!

The uke can play all the chords; while a melody may have range that's outside of the uke. So, for melody, you may have to substitute notes (as he mentioned or even drop notes if the music uses more than 4 notes at once or that they are too far apart for the uke). Chords are much easier; in fact, if the sheet music already have chords printed, then you can start playing immediately, then fine tune with different voicings (if needed).

 

[ookooleilei]

Okay, I think I got this -- thanks to all for your help -- greatly appreciated!

 

[UkeOkay]

The uke can play all the chords; while a melody may have range that's outside of the uke. So, for melody, you may have to substitute notes (as he mentioned or even drop notes if the music uses more than 4 notes at once or that they are too far apart for the uke). Chords are much easier; in fact, if the sheet music already have chords printed, then you can start playing immediately, then fine tune with different voicings (if needed).

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[UkeOkay]

Okay, I think I got this -- thanks to all for your help -- greatly appreciated!

Let us know how it goes!

 

[UkeOkay]

Once you have the chords figured out you could then use the Song-a-Matic to create a song sheet. I haven't used it for a while as I now am mostly a finger picker (or wish i was).

 

[VegasGeorge]

Wow! I never heard that little gem before. In my youth, I was constantly wizzing back and forth on the San Bernardino Freeway passing Azusa. Then, I lived in Claremont, and went to school at La Verne. During that time, I was driving thru Azusa on Route 66 (Foothill Blvd,) several times a week. One of my first girlfriends lived in Azusa. My High School played football against Azusa. You’ve really stirred up some old memories for me. Thanks, I think!

 

[VegasGeorge]

To answer your question: assuming you can’t find any actual sheet music for this tune, your only option is to sit at a keyboard while listening to the tune, and jot down the melody in standard notation. Then, go back, and jot down the words. If you can hear the chords, then enter them above the appropriate words in the lyrics. If not, you can run the YouTube video through Chordify, which should give you a good approximation of the chords. Then you will want to transpose (if necessary) to a singable, or Uke friendly key. It’s a lot of grunt work, and it takes some know how. But, I’ve done it, so I know it’s doable.

 

[RafterGirl]

Azusa - Skip Heller is available on Chordify. He is playing in Eb

 

[ripock]

This thread is over-complicating things. The OP has the sheet music. Sheet music is sheet music. There is no ukulele sheet music vs oboe sheet music. Any instrument can play any sheet music regardless of which instrument the sheet music was intended. All the OP needs to do is read the piano or guitar sheet music and if the sheet music says to play an F on the piano, then the OP plays an F on the uke. Or am I missing something?

 

[UkeOkay]

This thread is over-complicating things. The OP has the sheet music. Sheet music is sheet music. There is no ukulele sheet music vs oboe sheet music. Any instrument can play any sheet music regardless of which instrument the sheet music was intended. All the OP needs to do is read the piano or guitar sheet music and if the sheet music says to play an F on the piano, then the OP plays an F on the uke. Or am I missing something?

Sheet music does vary by instrument, not all music is notated relative to concert C. Piano music is, most sheet music is. But there can still easily be melody or counter melody notes that cannot be played on a ukuele.

But you are right, we are over complicating things for the OP. It wasn’t clear from the original post that they just wanted a song sheet - chords to go along with the words. At least that is my understanding.

 

[ripock]

Sheet music does vary by instrument, not all music is notated relative to concert C. Piano music is, most sheet music is. But there can still easily be melody or counter melody notes that cannot be played on a ukuele.

But you are right, we are over complicating things for the OP. It wasn’t clear from the original post that they just wanted a song sheet - chords to go along with the words. At least that is my understanding.

oops. I forgot about clefs. You're right. I once grabbed some Wagner which was in bass clef instead of treble clef. However I just played it as if it were in treble clef and played in a different key.

 

[UkeOkay]

oops. I forgot about clefs. You're right. I once grabbed some Wagner which was in bass clef instead of treble clef. However I just played it as if it were in treble clef and played in a different key.

I used to play the trombone, a non-transposing instrument ( a C is a C). Back in high school, the baritone (Bb? Euphonium) player sitting next to me would be playing the exact same notes, but his music was in an entirely different key. I’m still confused about it to this day.

 

[casualmusic]

Forgive me if this is a really stupid question, but I have an old piece of sheet music that I'd like to be able to play on ukulele (I don't play piano or guitar, which I think complicates this for me, conceptually)...

Any tips on how I might do this? And it's a VERY obscure old tune that I'm not likely to find ukulele-specific tabs for (I've tried...)

Thanks!

Hi

Since you have old sheet music it can be transposed by hand.

Or type it into MuseScore or other music notation software (GarageBand?), and let it do all the figuring and versions.

You could scan the sheet music and post on the forum for advice and help.

Or just pay a musician, music student, or teacher to interpret and make a version(s) in the key(s) you like, (and or the key in the YouTube video if you want to play along) - complete with music notes, tabs, chords, instruments in your band.


For playing solo, look for the melody line, play it, and adjust as needed.

For playing chords, look for chords written above the music staff.

Otherwise look in the melody line for stacked notes and parse the stacked notes into chord names.

It helps to determine the key of the piece by reading the combination of # at the start of lines.

Then look for the I, IV, V/V7 chords, and the ii, iii, vi if used (It’ll become clear if the chord patterns are other than I, IV, V. )

Example: No # (sharps) means the key of C. In key of C the I, IV, V7 chords are C, F, G7.


If the sheet music is for instruments with different notation (ie Bb for brass, bass clef for low voices, alto clef, etc), you’ll need to first decipher the notes.

Then transpose for ukulele etc (key of C a comfortable range) and for band instruments that use a different notation.

Cheers.

 

[ookooleilei]

Thanks to all of you for your advice and help with this, it's greatly appreciated, and another reminder of what a wonderful community of people we have here.... Turns out it IS on Chordify, which is SHOCKING to me, as Azusa is a way-below-the-radar tune, and so is Skip Heller -- they're both tragically under-appreciated, IMO...

Thanks again for all of your input, feel bad that I didn't check Chordify first, and you guys all took time to help me out... Sorry!!!! But I will put this advice to use next time I find another tune like this... thanks!

 

[ookooleilei]

Wow! I never heard that little gem before. In my youth, I was constantly wizzing back and forth on the San Bernardino Freeway passing Azusa. Then, I lived in Claremont, and went to school at La Verne. During that time, I was driving thru Azusa on Route 66 (Foothill Blvd,) several times a week. One of my first girlfriends lived in Azusa. My High School played football against Azusa. You’ve really stirred up some old memories for me. Thanks, I think!

Glad I could bring some of the past into the present, George! I lived in LA for several years, but never made it to Azusa. I only found out about the song because Skip Heller performed it and put it up on YouTube... and luckily, I was able to get the original sheet music on eBay...