TAB vs. Notes

hdiaz · #1 09-28-2010, 09:38 AM

Hello,

I am a new at playing but I have a question about TAB vs. reading notes that I couldn't find through the search option.

Which do you suggest, TAB or notes?

I have been trying to learn both but have to admit that reading the TAB is much easier and not to mention quicker.

I am just curious how many bassist know how to read music and how many suggest that TAB is the way to go.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Febs · #2 09-28-2010, 09:43 AM

Tab has some limited value, but is no substitute for reading standard notation.

Here are some prior threads on the topic:
Tabs vs. Notation
Tabs?!?!?!?
Why is reading standard notation important?
is being able to read music a must?
Is using tabs for noobs?

hdiaz · #3 09-28-2010, 10:27 AM

wow. thanks for the links. I couldn't find those in my search. helpful.

Thanks again.

StuartV · #4 09-28-2010, 10:43 AM

^^what he said.

PSPookie · #5 09-28-2010, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Febs

Tab has some limited value, but is no substitute for reading standard notation.

Then again, Dave Brubeck got a music degree without being able to read standard notation and he even went on to have a reasonably successful career

sevenyearsdown · #6 09-28-2010, 10:53 AM

This is just my opinion - but tab does not teach you much if anything about music. I have used it from time to time, but actually prefer chord charts/fake book stuff to tab.

dvh · #7 09-28-2010, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSPookie

Then again, Dave Brubeck got a music degree without being able to read standard notation and he even went on to have a reasonably successful career

Is that true or just apocryphal....?

amosjones · #8 09-28-2010, 10:56 AM

Tabs are useful, so is standard notation. I use both, what ever is available.

MonkeyBass · #9 09-28-2010, 10:57 AM

NOTES!!!!! Always better no matter what anyone else says. The people that will try to convince you tab is just fine are the ones that can't read standard notation. Don't go the lazy way, learn to read music.

Imagine going through life not being able to read words. You couldn't read signs, instructions, books. Now apply that to the language of music. Think of the infinite possibilities.

Good luck, and welcome to the wonderful world of music, and playing the bass. Just don't try to make it your career.

echoSE7EN · #10 09-28-2010, 11:03 AM

Nothing beats your ears. However, reading sheet music is a great skill to have; especially if you walk into a room and are handled the progressions, or if you're wanting to make a lead sheet. Tab has a usefulness too - I used TAB will I was first learning the bass only because it gave me a quick visual reference for common note patterns within different styles of music. The biggest problem I had was going from treble to bass clef. I still get caught up once in a while; scratching my head.

However, it's also important to note that going from zero to sight-reading guru takes time, and can be discouraging to some folks. If you find that you're getting frustrated, then take a break from one, and lean on another for a while. I've found that the biggest source of wasted time comes from getting frustrated with something and "throwing it out".

MonkeyBass · #11 09-28-2010, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by echoSE7EN

However, it's also important to note that going from zero to sight-reading guru takes time, and can be discouraging to some folks. If you find that you're getting frustrated, then take a break from one, and lean on another for a while. I've found that the biggest source of wasted time comes from getting frustrated with something and "throwing it out".

Excellent point. Tab is a good "quick start." It takes years of dedication to learn to read notes. But it's totally worth it.

Super Dwarf · #12 09-28-2010, 11:10 AM

what i got from reading tabs was just a single way to play something. that got boring so i would change hand positions once i figured out where the same notes were on different strings and that lead me to other ideas, but i wish i knew how to read music. not so i can play a more standard mindset but just to learn more from others who wrote down their ideas. chalk me up for another on learning notation but it wont hurt to know tab (not like its hard).

dmusic148 · #13 09-28-2010, 11:12 AM

If you want pro work, you gotta read notation. Life is so much easier if you learn it. Tab is for amateurs.

Bloodhammer · #14 09-28-2010, 11:16 AM

I can't read music and I want to commit to learn some day. Tab is good for remembering what the notes are but you can't tab a rhythm, so I lose about half of my riffs and basslines just because I got interrupted before I could develop finger memory.

ffutterman · #15 09-28-2010, 11:16 AM

Tabs are useful for learning fingering patterns and technical aspects of playing, but sheet music is much better in the long run and also serves a universal language for instruments.

delta7fred · #16 09-28-2010, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdiaz

Hello,
Which do you suggest, TAB or notes?

I am just curious how many bassist know how to read music and how many suggest that TAB is the way to go.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

You have missed a very important alternative to Tab and Reading - Playing by Ear.

I would love to be able to read but have never seen anything that I play written down as a score so I never learned. I play in a pretty stable covers band (since about 1985). If I had to read I would learn pretty damn quick, but it is getting a bit late for me.

Tabs are ok to get a general flavour of the song but most of the Tabs I have seen have been only so so. Allright for the basic stuff but pretty creative when it comes to the difficult bits. Also written for a position that the tabber prefers. Probably not where you, or I, would play it.

Playing 'By Ear' is my preferred method. I have had a fair bit of practice though as I have been doing it since 1967.

Don't get to rely on Tabs, you need to get the music in your head, you can't stand there studying tabs if you are playing a gig.

I asked my daughter, who reads to a pretty good standard and plays more instruments than I can remember, if she read every note as she played it. 'Of course not, I only look at the music to remind me what is coming next'. Well I didn't know, last time I (tried to) read music I was playing a recorder very badly at junior school sometime in the early 60s.

kreider204 · #17 09-28-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSPookie

Then again, Dave Brubeck got a music degree without being able to read standard notation and he even went on to have a reasonably successful career

I hate these kind of arguments. E.g.,

"Don't do drugs."
"But Charlie Parker did drugs and he was great!"

Hmm, ok, I guess I should do drugs then ... *

If this claim about Brubeck is true, then he succeeded IN SPITE of not being able to read, not because of it - it was a handicap that he had to overcome. Why handicap yourself?

(*Of course, the more immediate answer is "Ya, but you ain't no Charlie Parker.")

kreider204 · #18 09-28-2010, 11:41 AM

PS to the OP: Learn to read music.

Ed Fuqua · #19 09-28-2010, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PSPookie

Then again, Dave Brubeck got a music degree without being able to read standard notation and he even went on to have a reasonably successful career

That's a buncha crap, you don't get a music degree in the 40s without reading standard notation, you don't study composition with Darius Milhaud without reading standard notation.

bassbully · #20 09-28-2010, 11:54 AM

Lose the tab. Start following chord charts that is really all you need to know along with ear training. Theory tells you why the notes are where they are. reading is great but in most cases you wont see sheet music unless you are in big band, jazz etc. If you are looking to be a country, blues or rock player learning by ear and knowing the chords,scales.,chords,octives and where they go on the fretboard is the best place to start.

Tab just shows you where to put your fingers with out much help in finding and knowing the notes and fretboard. It's musical paint by numbers.