Why I hate internet tabs.

[EmmSee]

These are both on about 100 sites.
I try to transcribe songs that aren't in books or on the internet correctly already, and I checked out "Funky Crime" and "Special Secret Song Inside" to find out just how horrible these internet tabs are!@#$ I'll be doing a 'Funky Crime' transcription next I think.

Example 1: Funky Crime:
http://www.basstabarchive.com/cgi-bi...nky_crime.btab
(main verse groove is wrong, chorus is wrong)

Example 2: Special Secret Song Inside:
http://www.tabs-lyrics.com/Red-Hot-C...-bass-tab.html
(not even close...)

[PrimusNut]

u just need to find a good site... u ever tried www.bassmasta.net and only go into the ones that are rated 5/5.. some are wrong, just fix the parts that are, but for the most part they sound right.

[Steve]

The vast majority of everything I've ever seen posted as far as tab and chord charts go is an absolute joke.

[EmmSee]

Originally Posted by PrimusNut

u just need to find a good site... u ever tried www.bassmasta.net and only go into the ones that are rated 5/5.. some are wrong, just fix the parts that are, but for the most part they sound right.

The same exact ones are there. The people that rate them have no idea if they're right or wrong, so what's the point anyway. Why would they be on a tab site if they knew how to play it??

[EmmSee]

Originally Posted by bikertrash82

The vast majority of everything I've ever seen posted as far as tab and chord charts go is an absolute joke.

Amen brotha.

[Grueber]

When i was just starting out, I learned many 311 songs from internet tab and they were mostly all correct. If something was wrong i would just listen to the song and correct it.


and now here are some annoying things I would come across in internet tabs:

(when people try to pass this off as a slap line)
---------X---------X------------
--5----X------X-----------------
------X----X---------7hX-------
---X------------X---------------
just listen to the song for the feel of it


(this just means they couldn't figure it out)
---------------------------------
--------------*Improvised*------
--0-2----------------------------
---------------------------------


this one seems to leave a lot of room for improvisation
http://www.bassmasta.net/p/pastorius,_jaco/102341.html

[beyondhairy]

my fav new tab site is 911tabs it searches all of the internet for tabs lol

so you get hundreds of tabs from hundreds of websites in different formats, and for the most part, if a tab is off youll know it, and for the most parts, tabs arent too far off, they are close enough so that you can find out how its supposed to go.

[EmmSee]

Originally Posted by beyondhairy

my fav new tab site is 911tabs it searches all of the internet for tabs lol

so you get hundreds of tabs from hundreds of websites in different formats, and for the most part, if a tab is off youll know it, and for the most parts, tabs arent too far off, they are close enough so that you can find out how its supposed to go.

I can't agree with that. Tabs aren't too far off for the MOST PART at the basic simple parts of songs. They are for the most part horrible when it comes to anything quick or requiring ears to determine. Unless they're pulled directly from a transcription book.

I don't use tabs, but I do look at them on the net a lot to see how far off they are from the real thing, and today was just an example of 2 songs I looked up and both were just bad.

[Grueber]

Originally Posted by beyondhairy

and for the most part, if a tab is off youll know it, and for the most parts, tabs arent too far off, they are close enough so that you can find out how its supposed to go.

+1

[EmmSee]

Originally Posted by Grueber

+1

Why do people use tabs then? I'm confused. If you're saying that people KNOW when the tab is incorrect, what's the point of getting tabs... by your logic people have good enough ears to not need tab.

[Grueber]

Originally Posted by EmmSee

Why do people use tabs then?

*correct fingerings
*not knowing how to read music
*wider selection of tabs on the internet than there is transcriptions
*don't have enough time to sit down and figure it out by ear

If i didn't have the tab to Donna Lee or Chromatic Fantasy underneath the standard notation in the book, I would still be working on which position to play the intros in. I also found tab very helpful when learning Wooten's version of Overjoyed

Originally Posted by EmmSee

I'm confused. If you're saying that people KNOW when the tab is incorrect, what's the point of getting tabs... by your logic people have good enough ears to not need tab.

not everyone does have good enough ears to work out an entire song. Maybe they can't figure out the whole song from scratch, but if they hear something is off they can learn to listen to just that one part and correct it. Correcting little fills in a "Goodbye to Romance" tab is how i started to train my ear.

Like Beyondhairy said

Originally Posted by beyondhairy

and for the most parts, tabs arent too far off, they are close enough so that you can find out how its supposed to go.

[Grueber]

Originally Posted by EmmSee

I don't use tabs, but I do look at them on the net a lot to see how far off they are from the real thing, and today was just an example of 2 songs I looked up and both were just bad.

i could sit here for hours and post tabs that are correct

[::::BASSIST::::]

The odd time you'll find one that is dead-on. Most times I use them as a starting point. Or if I just cant figure out a certain part I'll see what the tabbers say.

Another thing i do is download a midi file of the song and use a converter to change it into Notation. I find those to be somewhat more accurate than tab.

[Grueber]

Originally Posted by VEGANBASS

Another thing i do is download a midi file of the song and use a converter to change it into Notation. I find those to be somewhat more accurate than tab.

yeah, those are great. I used to have some software that did it, but i changed computers and i couldn't find the disk

I still have a bunch of midi files though

[Daniel Baskin]

Uhmm....

This could solve your problem. I has a decent selection of tunes and artists IMHO. You download the program and you can read a file that contains the tab and standard notation of the guitar and bass parts. You can print the music out and also hear what the music sounds like (in synthesized bass) as you follow along the part. It's a pretty nifty program--surprised to be the first one.

[ibz]

Use your ear and you don't bother with tabs...

However, easier said than done and I'll still use tabs from time to time as well.

I do agree with your frustration though.

[seanm]

I tab a lot of songs, but I never post because I never finish the tabs. I get far enough to get the outlines and stop. My tabs are just memory aids for picking up the the song again later, they are rarely complete.

I have found internet tabs on the whole to be useless. However, once in a while they have helped me get over a part I am having trouble with.

I have found internet lyrics with chords to be much more useful. They tend to be more accurate and can help speed up learning a song by giving you the chord structure up front.

[EmmSee]

Originally Posted by ibz

Use your ear and you don't bother with tabs...

However, easier said than done and I'll still use tabs from time to time as well.

I do agree with your frustration though.

Preach on! The more people use their ears, the less they'll be playing incorrect unofficial tabs.

[EmmSee]

Originally Posted by Grueber

*correct fingerings
*not knowing how to read music
*wider selection of tabs on the internet than there is transcriptions
*don't have enough time to sit down and figure it out by ear

If i didn't have the tab to Donna Lee or Chromatic Fantasy underneath the standard notation in the book, I would still be working on which position to play the intros in. I also found tab very helpful when learning Wooten's version of Overjoyed

You know I'm talking about INTERNET TABS (not illegally copied from books) ...
...I'm not talking about tabs from transcription books. That's the title of this thread.

Obviously I know that tabs in published transcription books have notes/fingerings that are 99% correct, that's not what I'm talking about.

[Grueber]

Originally Posted by EmmSee

You know I'm talking about INTERNET TABS (not illegally copied from books) ...
...I'm not talking about tabs from transcription books. That's the title of this thread.

Obviously I know that tabs in published transcription books have notes/fingerings that are 99% correct, that's not what I'm talking about.

i was wondering why you asked that, that's why i quoted you

the other 3 reasons i listed still apply though