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converting TAB to standard music notation

M

maryhyphenbeth

Jun 19, 2007
34
0
Toronto
#1
Rather than reading TAB, I thought it's a good idea to convert it to standard notation, but how does one know where on the staff to put each note? Does "major" and "minor" have anything to do with whether you put the notes at the top of the staff or the bottom?
And all these notes can be played anywhere on the bass, right? Logically they should all be in close proximity to each other for ease of play...but, how does one know? Who will tell me? Where can I find out? Are these even important questions? Doesn't ANYONE do this? Maybe I'm crazy...
 
#3
but how does one know where on the staff to put each note?
Click to expand...

each line and each space on the staff represents a different note... so when writing standard notation you have to first work out what the note is, whether it's an A or a C# or an Eb etc, and then place it on the appropriate line or space

the low E of a standard bass guitar is written on the first ledger line below the staff on a bass clef... (technically the note sounds an octave below this, but you don't need to mark this anywhere on your score)

Does "major" and "minor" have anything to do with whether you put the notes at the top of the staff or the bottom?
Click to expand...

no, the only thing that really determines where you put the notes is what pitch the note is... the terms 'major' and 'minor' are used to describe the character of the harmony or key of a piece of music, and are important to know about, but the general rules of notation apply to both major & minor in exactly the same way... the very first thing to learn is: the lower in pitch the note, the lower down on the staff it appears

And all these notes can be played anywhere on the bass, right?
Click to expand...

think of it like this: the notation is a recipe, which tells you the pitch of the notes to play... but it doesn't specify where on the bass you have to play them...

sometimes you have no choice.. a low 'F' on a standard 4 string bass only occurs in one place, so you play it down there on the 1st fret of the E string... many other notes can be played in more than one place, and notation (unlike TAB) usually doesn't specify which string to play them on

Logically they should all be in close proximity to each other for ease of play...but, how does one know?Who will tell me? Where can I find out? Are these even important questions? Doesn't ANYONE do this?
Click to expand...

i'm not exactly sure what you're asking here :) find someone who knows about music notation to sit down with you and give you a couple of hours in the basics... things should click fairly quickly
 
#6
www.musictheory.net

Start with "lessons"

Bass uses bass clef, obviously. The lowest note on the bass clef for a bass player is the E. Under the "staff" when you put a ledger line (explained in the lessons). That's your open 4th string. You can count up the rest from there.

I'm sure you've noticed that some notes sound the same on your bass? That's because they are.
 
#7
I was a little embarrassed to ask this question, being my first post on this site, entirely. Thank you, cowsgomoo, for the explaination. That satisfies me for now. As the others said, your explaination will hold me over until I get a teacher to explain it in person.

I am so new that I would rather put myself straight to learning to read music than start reading tab, get used to it, and then always want to cheat by reading tab.

It's all the same I guess. If I want to read music, then eventually I will. Perhaps all of you are so good at reading both that my question is kind of irrelevant. Anyway, I thank you for your input.

Good reading, writing and clicking to you.
MB
 

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