Q: how would you transcribe the rhythm of the singing at 0:22s in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QOOZk985l0 ? i'm thinking i should use a rubato marking or something because i imagine that's how the singer was thinking of it when she sung it, but still i don't know what the rhythm is that she's trying to deviate from. thanks
A: what i would do, personally, if i wrote this and was trying to document it in order to be able to recall it later, using paper alone, .... And this might sound strange, but i might put quarter rest, then big bracket covering the second and 3rd beats, put a 5:4 tuplet, and inside that, start it with a rest. and put 4 notes, then probably another bracketed 5:4 tuplet in the next bar, and put the other 4 notes at the beginning of that tuplet, filling out the remainder with rests. Then, and this is very important, i would write "lazily, wistfully". This is what i would do if i were trying to message myself about how to deliver this, if i had just written it. However, in modern days, with recording technology so readily available, i would demo everything. The 5:4 tuplet, by the way, is not entirely accurate, and possibly not even the closest thing to exactly 'accurate' in terms of time, and when the notes actually occured, ... but, the reason for using such a strange tuplet is to remind myself when reading that this is a rhythm that doesn't quite align with the time grid, AND, (very imporant) that combined with the descriptive marking 'lazily, wistfully', would hopefully be enough to jog my memory.
but then again, if you write a 5:4 tuplet for a stranger, their head might explode. luckily, most any time a singer learns a song, they rely heavily on audio references. that's just the only way to get it right