tablature sucks

[stevo32]

hey. tablature sucks. it allows people who cant even read notes actually play without knowing what they are playing, and it ruins all of the hard work that we tru players have put in. thank you. DISCO SUCKS!

[Braxat]

um... O-kay....

hu r u?

 

man, dont come here to trash tabs, most people dont learn with classes and theory and this is a good way to perfect songs. im sure many of our members me included started with tabs. personaly, i cant read a score if it dosent have the tab underneath. if you dont know what ur playing u cant play it even if its a tab....

[Bbach1]

Nothing wrong with tabs, used in conjunction with the song and/or sheet music. A lot of sheet music was written for piano and there are multiple places on the guitar for the same note so things don't always translate well. Having some tabs to help you along is just fine. Nothing wrong with that at all.

[AeroG33k]

You know, Paco de Lucia is undoubtedly one of the greatest guitarist in history and he's said to never have learned how to read a single note. There are many other examples I'm sure. Stop being ignorant.

[Heatseeker]

Are you in Sum 41 or a big fan........because the drummer always calls himself Stevo32........and dude tab is great.

[Hardtail]

Wow! I've participated on this board for some months now and this is the first time I've actually read anything from a troll.

 

Oh well. They can show up anywhere; even here.

[Sleaze_Disease]

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with tabs. Tabs are a life-saver to us that are self-taught, like myself. Plus, you're still playing the song and you have to put in the work to learn it.

[Rock Soldier]

I don't believe Jimi Hendrix could read music and he played pretty well just the same.

[mdrs]

I'm totally guitarded. I can't even read tabs!!!

 

But, they are likely MY ONLY HOPE!! Don't trash tabs!

 

Don

[King Kamehameha]

I can read tab NOTES, but rhythm I have to figure out. I can read music VERY SLOWLY but again, rhythm...

[Guitarzan]

tab isn't new. it has been around a long time. i have seen tabs for classical pieces on guitar.

one thing tab can do that regular notation can't is show you the exact fingerings on the neck.

there can be multiple ways of doing the same note or passages, and tab will specify which string and fret.

this i feel is important because of the sound of a open A is different than an fretted E string at the 5th fret.

but to read music and learn by ear is very valuable as well.

i remember more if i figure things out on my own.

[JeffBecksroadie]

Maybe Steve posted this just to cause a ruckus.

Tabs rule! Accurate tabs, that is. i.e. Cherry Lane books and the like, or GFTPM or other guitar

mags. When GFTPM first came out in the early '80s

with tabs, it was a godsend. I've saved most of the issues(since '83 i think). Learning complex

chords is great using accurate tabs. Sometimes

when you see the actual fingerings, their not so "complex" after all. Oh yeah, at the moment I'm

listening to the old Ozzy EP with 'You Said It All', 'Suicide Solution', and 'Mr. Crowley'. This

was way early in the Rhoads/Ozzy discography. Only

bad thing is they faded out Randy's outros way to early. Sorry to go off topic, but god was RR good!

[JeffBecksroadie]

woops, they're.. not their

[mdrs]

Zan,

 

In all seriousness, I totally agree. Tabs are the only reason I can play! I learned the basic 7 chords, and their 7th, and Mn's by tabs. If not for that, I wouldn't be a rock star!

 

Seriously, they are practical, easy to figure out, and allow many many who, for whatever reason can't or don't avail themselves of formal lessions, an avenue to higher ground....Musical Prowess!

 

Don

[Big Red 67]

It predates notes. I have seen copies of old "Tab" when I went to skool for muzik. Oh maybe you ain't been yet!

 

Where's that confounded bridge? Blow it up before more trolls come!

[Gruupi]

I grew up playing when popular(rock) guitar music wasn't available period, no real music or tab to speak of. The best we could hope for was a piano arrangement of some tunes or some first position chordal arrangment with the vocal melody written out. So I did what most guitarists did, I learned songs by ear or swapped ideas with other guitar players trying to figure out what my heroes were playing. There were types of music where reading was a good thing to know, but the reason alot of guitar players couldn't read is because there was no material available.

 

I envy beginning guitarists today in that they can basicly find the music and or tab to any song via the internet. I still learn by ear but if I have the tab I will use it to speed things along. The only detriment to reading is that some people who read never develop their ear. We all know piano players that can sight read anything you put in front of them, but ask them to improvise or play by ear and they can't. To me this isn't much better than being a good typist.

 

Stevo32, this lack of hearing the notes is really much more unmusical than someone who can't read but understands whats going on by ear. I don't think that copying dots off of a page means you can really play, any more than typing 100 words a minute makes you a poet. Again, there is nothing wrong with reading music, but it is just one of several tools guitarists have for learning songs. I prefer to have the music and the tab when learning, but I still have to have a recording to be able to learn a piece.

[Big Red 67]

Yes skool is cool though. I learned so much more then music. Really changed my life.

[Tone Taster]

Mos Def an HC troller Boy

[Big Red 67]

Hey give the guy a break, he might have something good to say, NOT!

[MILLO]

I love standard music notation, but yeah, tab is very convenient as it shows fretboard 'shapes' immediately. Of course, a lot of standard notation for guitar I see anyhow has fingerings in it, and with practice you can learn to sight read fingerings along w/ the notes.

 

I think Tabs are cool, but people who DON'T WANT to read standard notation are actually simply limiting themselves... but the point you mentioned to say "tab sucks" is just downright stupid, to be honest. There are people who don't feel the need to learn how to read standard notation... whatever, doesn't bother me, unless of course I'm participating in a project in which I want to write down parts and they go like "uhh, what is this? I can't read this!" and rely on their memory, which by the next rehearsal you just noticed isn't reliable at all. That has happened before.

[Braxat]

standard notation looks pretty... i cant read it even if i was paid for it though, and trust me, ive tried...

[Big Red 67]

Standard notation can not do one thing that tab can. Position. It can be useful to finding the best position to play in.

[Dr. Ellwood]

Originally posted by MILLO:

I love standard music notation, but yeah, tab is very convenient as it shows fretboard 'shapes' immediately. Of course, a lot of standard notation for guitar I see anyhow has fingerings in it, and with practice you can learn to sight read fingerings along w/ the notes.

 

I think Tabs are cool, but people who DON'T WANT to read standard notation are actually simply limiting themselves... but the point you mentioned to say "tab sucks" is just downright stupid, to be honest. There are people who don't feel the need to learn how to read standard notation... whatever, doesn't bother me, unless of course I'm participating in a project in which I want to write down parts and they go like "uhh, what is this? I can't read this!" and rely on their memory, which by the next rehearsal you just noticed isn't reliable at all. That has happened before.

+1 !

[Justus A. Picker]

Originally posted by Big Red 67:

Standard notation can not do one thing that tab can. Position. It can be useful to finding the best position to play in.

Sure it can. Classical guitar scores indicate position above the score. Often times they'll indicate which string a note, or series of notes, should be played on. Fully fingered scores almost read like tab.

http://orphee.com/solos/bachp-1.gif

[Big Red 67]

Yes, exceptions to every rule!

 

Most sheet isn't as helpfull.

[S. Yeti Bigfoot, Esq.]

It's all in what you get used to and what you get good at. Almost all SN that was actually scored for guitar has position notation, especially where barre chords are indicated. If you see something like "1/2 C VII", that means use a half barre (barre the 1st E, B, and G) at the 7th fret. "2/3 C VII" means barre strings 1 through 4 at the 7th fret and "C VII" means a full barre at the 7th fret. When you see the string number indicated inside a circle, that's a good indicator of position, too.

[Big Red 67]

It is allot to read while you are playing!

 

On the Disco thingy. It also sucks when anti-disco guys blow up your baseball field!

[Durockrolly]

I think it tasts pretty good for a diet soda!!!

[MILLO]

Hey, and there can be not-so-bad disco, too!

[Eric Iverson]

I read standard notation pretty well, largely because I learned how to on trumpet as a kid and just naturally started doing it on guitar, too.

 

That doesn't mean I don't use tab on occasion. Just another tool! Sometimes very useful if you want to use the same fingerings and positions the original guy did - assuming of course that the tab is correct. But transcriptions in standard notation aren't always correct, either. GP does a good job.

 

Leading to another question, if the sheet music is obviously wrong, what are you going to do - play wrong chords because the sheet music says so? And even classical pieces sometimes have variations from edition to the next.

--------------

Back to tab: I have a book of pieces by Chris Proctor, the great fingerstylist, with both standard notation and TAB. Most of the pieces are in alternate tunings, and to try and figure them out just from the standard notation would be a major undertaking, since I never learned to read in any tuning except standard, and really don't have time to at this point!