ONE good use for Tab

[blipndub]

..besides watching your girly figure.

I'm learning a Bach cello suite transcribed for bass. It's not especially difficult, but somewhat complex and I basically learn about 4 measures every couple days.

Last night I was struggling through a bar due to a difficult reach. I had blotted out the tab below with a piece of paper but ended up peaking and found that the phrase was played in the second position rather than the first and second combined. I was bothered by my lack of instinct to move to the second position but the reminder was well taken and I breezed through the rest of practice.

Lesson learned; maybe we shouldn’t dismiss tab altogether as at times they can be helpful as an augmentation to notation reading skills. In general I still think they are the trash television of music.

[Licketysplit]

I agree with you. Too many guitarists and bassists are trying to get away with just reading tab. I read standard notation and tab. Tabs are more geared towards beginners (in my opinion) or people who aren't too serious about music. Don't get me wrong though I use to rely exclusively on tab when I started, but i soon learned to read standard notation. When used together, tab and notation together are the best way to read music.