Recommended Software
Stuff I Use and Recommend
Strings and Things - D’Addario
I am honoured to have the support of D’Addario. All of my guitars are strung with D’Addario strings, and I can’t live without their clip-on tuners, cables, straps and guitar maintenance kits. They really have everything you need!
Transcribing Songs - Transcribe!
I've tried a couple of different pieces of software when transcribing music for students (and YouTube viewers), but I've found Transcribe! by Seventh String to be the best.
“Transcribe! is a playback tool which is optimised for the purpose of transcription. It does not do the transcribing for you and it is not a substitute for having a good ear. But whether your ear is good or not, Transcribe! can make the process of transcription far easier than the CD or mp3 player or other playback device you would otherwise have used. Transcribe! offers many features to make the work of transcription smoother and easier, including the ability to slow the music down without changing its pitch, and to analyse chords and show you what notes are present.”
As well as standard features like scrolling through the waveform, changing tempo and pitch and looping sections, I particularly like that Transcribe! can work with video formats. I'm often transcribing from videos to be sure of exactly how a song or passage of music is being played.
Creating TABs - Guitar Pro 7.5
I've been using Guitar Pro for over 10 years and I'm currently on their latest version, Guitar Pro 7.5. I use it for all the TAB that I produce for YouTube and Instagram.
“Guitar Pro allows you to edit your music scores and tablature for guitar, bass, and ukulele, as well as create backing tracks for drums or piano. This is a most thorough yet user-friendly tool for musicians who wish to get better, compose, or simply play along.”
This is an essential piece of software for any guitarist, if only for opening up those Guitar Pro files from Ultimate Guitar. I use it to write out all my transcriptions and like that its interface is really intuitive.
It's a great practice tool too. You can loop and change the speed of any number of measures to perfect any part you're having trouble with. There's so much you can do with it. Definitely worth checking out!
Full disclosure here, the links provided are affiliate links so I will get a little commission if you end up buying the software. I use this stuff every day so I would definitely recommend you check them out.
