I don't play bass professionally and neither do I play in the band. Well I did some 25 years ago. I self taught playing bass when I was 15. What I do is to play bass guitar at home whenever I get time. I wasted so much time reading bass tabs on the net and when I played to the song I found that the tabs often don't even come close to real interpretation of the song. I am currently perfecting Two minutes to midnight. It is apparent that Harris plays every riff,chorus in the same song slightly differently. He changes the notes and the way he plucks the strings during the repeated chorus etc. Sure there are other artists who do the same having their own style. Any thoughts? BTW I set Harris as an example, the main subject is tab accuracy!
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Are most if not all tabs inaccurate?
- Thread starter MrFPB
- Start date
It very difficult to find accurate bass scores either tab or notes. Not sure why but I believe in most cases, it's just plan lazy or they truly believe what they have written out is correct.
Yep, 99% of tabs on the web are wrong. Doesn't mean every note is wrong, but you know what I mean.
However, chord charts on the web tend to be better. They don't give you the bass line, but they do give you the guitar/keys chords, and from there it's easier to work out songs that I have to learn in a hurry.
Steve Harris is never gonna be "tabbed" correctly. Way too much stuff going on. It'd be like tabbing Rocco Prestia, and all his freaking ghost notes, mutes, and string thumps. Makes my head hurt just thinking about it.
Take tab for what it's worth. Tab reflects talents, efforts and care expended by the author. Any help- any tab- is often better than nothing. It's a place to start where someone else left off. I appreciate the efforts and attempt to share.
Back in the age of dinosaurs and cave men, I remember lifting that needle off and placing it back down on the vinyl to hear the solo repeat. There was no internet, no you tube videos, no tabs. Just your own ears. Now, I appreciate any help I can get. I would like to encourage everyone to write tab or transcribe and post their work. You might just save me a little work in the future.
Back in the age of dinosaurs and cave men, I remember lifting that needle off and placing it back down on the vinyl to hear the solo repeat. There was no internet, no you tube videos, no tabs. Just your own ears. Now, I appreciate any help I can get. I would like to encourage everyone to write tab or transcribe and post their work. You might just save me a little work in the future.
If your ear is good enough to notice errors in Tab then that's a good thing. You can use the Tab to get close but the good ear can get you the rest of the way. I gave up on Tab many years ago but I am not saying there aren't some very accurate ones out there. OP>>> are there some specific songs you are having a tough time with??
I'd say it depends on the song you're looking at. The more complex ones, like Two Minutes to Midnight, probably won't be tabbed right unless it was by some diehard fan who's seen Iron Maiden like 30 times from the front row and remembered how Steve played the song EXACTLY. Highly unlikely, but possible. But there's songs like The Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven, for example, that the tabs I've seen have been spot on, I feel. So, if you find a tab that's close, maybe tinker with it until it sounds right to you. I've done that with a few tabs. Good luck and I hope you get Two Minutes to Midnight down cold
I also think this is linked to all the different cover you can find for the same song so who is right ??? One person hear this and the other hear something different ... so in the end I have some doubt in the hearing hability of a lot of people including me.
Instead of trying to learn from a TAB or YouTube, I prefer official music sheet
Instead of trying to learn from a TAB or YouTube, I prefer official music sheet
My starting point is usually Ultimate-Guitar tabs. There are often a few versions of what I' m looking for. So, after a few glances of each version and a reading of the comments, I can piece something nice together. As long as I can get the signature stuff, I' m good.
I would say yes, most are inaccurate. There's no substitute for being able to sight-read standard notation (note recognition by ear also has its uses).
Depends on what you think a tab is. Most of them are perfectly accurate renderings of how the tab-writer plays the part. Are they accurate transcriptions of how the part was played on a particular (original/definitive) recording? Not often.
To my understanding, tab originated as a teacher's tool, to show a student how to play a particular part. It flourishes on the internet because you can post it up in plain text, whereas standard musical notation can't do that. Like all the free information that floods the internet, you get what you pay for.
To my understanding, tab originated as a teacher's tool, to show a student how to play a particular part. It flourishes on the internet because you can post it up in plain text, whereas standard musical notation can't do that. Like all the free information that floods the internet, you get what you pay for.
Smooth_bass88
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- Oct 31, 2006
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All the more reason to never, ever use TAB ever. Either learn to read properly or use your ears. Your ears don't lie!
I don't agree with the "never ever use TAB" philosophy. It's just a way to communicate, and for a musician to share how he plays something. Your ears may not lie, but they're not always that precise. Sometimes a part is buried in the mix and you can't get an isolated track. You can't always find the sheet music. Heck, I HAVE sheet music to some songs and it's as bad as any TAB, or worse. It's important not to take a TAB as the authoritative statement of "the right way to play the part." It's just one musician saying, "This is how I play it." Take it for what it's worth.
I treat online tabs in the same way as I treat Wikipedia: not as a definitive source, but just as a starting point for further "research."
Tabs are a good quick way to get in the ball park. Once there you can apply the details to the level that you would like. I enjoy tabs from the view point of hearing a song on tv or radio and thinking, hey that was a song I forgot all about over the years - find the tab and get the generalized version of it. For me they are helpful at picking up some bass runs and scales that might be going on.
Totally agree with your approach. Usually just trying to get into the ballpark, and I am self-taught anyway. I usually learn songs by ear, but a generic tab can give some clues. The problem for me is determining what actual scale pattern within a Key should be used as a guide to get the line tight. Some tunes I've worked on just have scant to zero internet info. Especially for Bass.
