Question - do you rewrite tabs?

[joenoone]

Hi,
I was wondering if it was just me - I will rewrite tab charts to minimize constant moving up/down the neck. Part of it is I prefer to play fretless and have a 5-string bass, but in general I don't understand why some songs are transcribed the way they are. For instance:

G-----------4-
D------2-5----
A-5-7---------
E--------------

I would change to:

G---------0-4-
D-0-2-2-------
A---------------
E---------------

Anyone else do this?

 

[LBS-bass]

Hi,
I was wondering if it was just me - I will rewrite tab charts to minimize constant moving up/down the neck. Part of it is I prefer to play fretless and have a 5-string bass, but in general I don't understand why some songs are transcribed the way they are. For instance:

G-----------4-
D------2-5----
A-5-7---------
E--------------

I would change to:

G---------0-4-
D-0-2-2-------
A---------------
E---------------

Anyone else do this?

I don't write tab but I might look at it to see if what other people are hearing in a song is similar to how I'm hearing it. But I would most likely take a song that's been written the second way and change it to the first. Many players like to avoid the use of open strings; that's why you'll see so many tabs written that way.

 

[Mushroo]

Specific to your example: I agree it's weird to jump from A string 7th fret to D string 2nd fret, because those are the same note (E).

Generally speaking: I am not a believer in "economy of motion" and do not strive toward that as a goal in my playing. I actually kind of enjoy shifting up and down the neck (even if I could play the same thing in 1st position). And on fretless in particular, I often avoid open strings because they don't have the 'mwah' fretless tone.

 

[JohnPaulSmith]

I often change tabs around to suit myself. In fact, I almost never play them as I find them.

 

[Constantine]

Hi,

This is how I would play it.
G-----------4-
D--------5----
A-5-7-7-------
E--------------

5's played with my second finger
7's played with my fourth finger
4's played with my first finger.
The left hand would not change position

 

[JTE]

It's a reason I don't like tablature. Standard notation tells me the notes and I can work out my own fingerings. Once I figured out the notes in the example are D E G and B, I immediately thought the first choice of fingering is the same as Constantine posted.

 

[joenoone]

It's a reason I don't like tablature. Standard notation tells me the notes and I can work out my own fingerings. Once I figured out the notes in the example are D E G and B, I immediately thought the first choice of fingering is the same as Constantine posted.

Yea, it's better to figure it out on your own, but they're useful when you need to learn a song quickly.

 

[jdmarino]

I do this all the time as I am learning a tune. Usually I try to avoid shifting, but sometimes I just want the tone of the note from another string. FWIW, I use MuseScore to write out my tabs so they have full rhythmic notation.

 

[SidNitzerglobin]

I'll change stuff around if the original tab seems awkward to me. Coming from guitar my first inclination on bass was to try to fret everything in a phrase out of a chord but I've come to appreciate transitioning between single fretted or open notes & shifting the fretting hand more & more w/ bass over the past couple/few years.

The other common case of switching up the fingering for me is when it sounds better to me played a different way than tabbed. There's a bit of a timbre shift between a higher fret of a thicker string vs. a lower fret of thinner one.