Should I Go Ahead And Ditch Tabs???

[El_Charro]

Hi Everybody,

General question that I asked a few months back, but feel like I have a (slightly) better grasp on playing habits overall vs the last time I asked this…

I’ve been playing consistently now for about 15-16 months and usually practice at least 6-7 hours a week (although that is starting to creep up a bit now that I own a P bass bc MAN is that thing hard to put down)…

Anyway…When I started I had NO clue what I was doing so I was using Songsterr for bass tabs…

Don’t really have the money for a teacher, but I felt at the time that I needed some structure and some context on learning the overall fretboard so I used bass tabs to get me going on playing songs…

Eventually moved to playing the tab and then playing the song afterwards without looking at the tab…

I felt like this was a step in the right direction bc it helped me hear a general idea of the song and I’m a visual learner, so using tabs helped me kind of bridge the gap between being a visual learner and trying to become a better listener when playing along without any visuals…

What I’m starting to notice now-I had two designated days of the week where I would just play along for an hour to music and not worry about the tab or being “perfect” with it…More of a play by “feel” and try to have fun with it…As I’ve played more and done this more often I’m finding I like just playing along to a song…

NO clue if I’m doing it “right” or not-I try to find the kick drum in the song and the overall rhythm/beat and stay in time and then go up or down in pitch depending on where the song goes…

Usually I end up thinking “that sounds about right” when I’m playing…If I miss the right notes I can usually tell if I’m really trying to zero in on what I’m suppose to be playing…

Now that I have used tabs on a few songs consistently it helped me understand my instrument better so now when I play without them I feel like I can generally play to the overall “feel” of the song, but I tend to gravitate to the bottom 2 strings most of the time…

Just wondering if cutting the cord completely on tabs will make me digress in learning…If I go ahead and completely ditch tabs will I run the risk of playing too “sloppy”??? (Is it irresponsible to just play along to songs without actually learning it note by note 100%???)…

I get that a lot of bass tabs are wrong or somewhat incorrect, but I’ve used them as general guidance in the past, but they are starting to feel a lot less necessary…

I probably have more fun and feel more “free” when I don’t use them-Should I be concerned about going backwards in terms of playing progress if I ditch them completely or would you still use them a few times a week???…At this point I’m probably only using them 25-30% of the time in s given week-Just wondering if my playing will fall off if I completely ditch them…

Thanks! \m/

 

[SteveCS]

My first guess is that you don't read Standard Notation. My second guess is that, for the time being, you have no intention to learn to read Standard Notation. So, TAB is not only your only way of reading, it is also, currently, your only way of writing. On that basis, I would hesitate to ditch TAB. Rather, why not try writing out what you are playing when jamming along or working stuff out? As you have already noticed, much of what you find online, or even in published books, leaves much to be desired. If you also find yourself playing better lines when left to your own devices then why not use the skills you have to write them down?

 

[callofcthulhu]

Why are you playing along to songs at all?

If it's just for the fun of it, sounds like you're done.

If it's to improve physically, as in the actual finger dexterity involved in producing sounds with the bass, or because you need to learn the song for a gig, I'd say don't even bother with the ear learning, just use tabs.

If you're actually trying to improve your ability to hear music and translate it to your instrument, nothing wrong with "checking the answer in the back of the book" to make sure you got it right. I get the impression that this is maybe where you are? Take your best guess, maybe use a slow-downer or isolator, and see if you can improve it any more. Then check the tab. If you were right, congrats. If you were wrong, play it the right way until you've got that sound<->instrument relationship ingrained into you. But also note what the above poster said, which is that a lot of times it's the tab that's wrong, so be prepared to stick to your first instinct and possibly never *really* know whether you're right or wrong.

If it's cause you're a nerd, learn standard notation.

 

[Mushroo]

I think a versatile player should learn to play by ear and TAB and notation and chord charts.

You currently have 2 out of those 4 skills, so you are off to a great start. There is no rush to learn the others, whenever you feel ready.

I think learning to read and write chord-charts is a good "stepping stone" in between TAB and standard notation. For example knowing what C Amin Dmin7 G7 means. When you feel like you're plateauing with TAB and ear-training, I think chord charts would be a good 3rd skill, to learn next.

Then, eventually, standard notation as the 4th skill (but no hurry).

 

[matti777]

tabs are ok if you want to play a song without transcribing. I agree with getting away from tabs and learning songs if you plan to jam or gig one day. I'll use tab to fast track things especially if I have no intention of memorizing the song. Knowing some basic theory will make transcribing and memorizing the song way easier and faster as you will understand what is happening ie chord progressions. Sometime you may want to learn songs where tab does not exist and training your ear to figure out the key and notes and chord progressions will be imperative. This comes easy to some but just takes a lot of practice for others like me.

 

[BrotherMister]

Yes. Simple as that.

In my career as a musician I have never once been given anything with a tab on it. I don't know anybody who has and I don't even think I've ever heard of anybody who has done. If you need something tabbed then the only numbers the person hiring you is interested in getting together is someone else.

Yeah, getting your reading together and your ears together is an often frustrating process but join the club. Every single musician who has done that still has to work on these things but all of them will tell you the benefits of having it will always win out.

 

[SoCal80s]

You don't need to ditch tabs necessarily, but I think the next logical step for you would be to learn to play along to chord charts. Chord changes are the way you will communicate with most other musicians in pop music, so it is important to learn how. Someone might say to you "play this song with me, the chords are Gm, D, A, C6." A bassist playing with others should be able to play along just with that information. In fact, this would be a good exercise when you're ready: pick 4 chords at random (like I just did), and see what you would do with that. Assume 1 chord per bar, and keep repeating those 4 bars. Think of different basic rhythmic patterns you could play. Think of the different ways you could transition from one chord to the next.

 

[CallMeAl]

Depends on your goals to some degree. If you just wanna be a bedroom player, I say follow the path that brings you the most joy.

If you wanna play in bands, several skills will help you. IME reading chord charts (and responding to verbally given chord progressions), and playing by ear have been the most common/most important ways for me to learn songs and join bands. Playing 80-90% of the line and “owning it” have been more important than note-for-note. (This is casual friendly bands, up to the paid weekend warrior/bar band levels.) Trying songs by ear, but continuing to check back on the TAB if there’s any doubts is a great way to strengthen your ear and confidence.

Some levels/avenues would require more meticulous note-for-note playing and/or standard notation: college level bands, corporate/private/wedding band, tribute bands, musicals/pit orchestra.

Playing originals, some music theory is super helpful, and a combination of chord charts, by-ear and notation is helpful (depending on the songwriter).

I think you’re asking more about the quality of learning you might experience by ditching the tab (or not) but I figure addressing the other ways to access, learn and communicate music is probably important at this point in your development.

 

[Mechanical]

I think a versatile player should learn to play by ear and TAB and notation and chord charts.

You currently have 2 out of those 4 skills, so you are off to a great start. There is no rush to learn the others, whenever you feel ready.

I think learning to read and write chord-charts is a good "stepping stone" in between TAB and standard notation. For example knowing what C Amin Dmin7 G7 means. When you feel like you're plateauing with TAB and ear-training, I think chord charts would be a good 3rd skill, to learn next.

Then, eventually, standard notation as the 4th skill (but no hurry).

That's the exact opposite of how every other musician learns music. Piano, trumpet, cello, etc. They all learn standard notation first. Then chord chards and ear. And of course, they never learn tab.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Better to also be able to learn the parts by listening. Developing your ear is important.

 

[IamGroot]

Lots of good ideas above, except for the guy who thinks that notation is for nerds. I already have a few points on my TB License, so I am not going to reply to that one.

Use what you need.

But remember:

Tab is sometimes appallingly bad fingering or just flat wrong notes. I don't mind having both notation and tab. With tab, you accept somebody elses ideas for fingering.

Notation not only gives you access to a universe of bass music, it gives you access to ALL the universes of music - guitar, flute, sax, trumpet , piano, violin, percussion etc. if you learn to read treble clef. I read a LOT of music that is not bass for ideas and enjoyment.

If you work on-call jobs, reading treble and chord notation (i.e Real Book) is a minimum requirement.

Chord notation is very useful, but it is only half the story.

 

[Spidey2112]

I think a versatile player should learn to play by ear and TAB and notation and chord charts.

Yep... use everything at your disposal, to be better at whatever you do.

 

[Johnny StingRay]

Yes.

 

[Titch]

Do not ditch TAB.
It is a resource that is available and free.
There will be other songs you are uncertain of their bass lines and TAB comes in handy to give you an idea of how things are played.
Sure, it doesn't give you everything you need to master your instrument and the language that is music, but it still holds value in giving you guidance in song structure.

 

[IamGroot]

I usually sight sing sheet music before I play it. I used to read sheet music on long plane rides.

Anybody do that with tab.

 

[crazyBassClown]

Learning things by ear will teach you much more than just playing along to tabs.
What you need to do depends on what you want to do. In quite a few years of local gigging in pop/rock bands no one has ever put a piece of standard notation in front of me, but plenty of chord charts or learn it myself by ear/tabs or whatever. If you want to play as a professional musician it will help with theatre and cruise gigs but I bet even many international touring level pop/rock players just get the recording and told play that.

I still look at tabs if I'm having trouble with something or need to learn a lot quick but they ALL seem to have mistakes in them. Still speeds up the process though.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Lots of good ideas above, except for the guy who thinks that notation is for nerds. I already have a few points on my TB License, so I am not going to reply to that one.

Use what you need.

But remember:

Tab is sometimes appallingly bad fingering or just flat wrong notes. I don't mind having both notation and tab. With tab, you accept somebody elses ideas for fingering.

Notation not only gives you access to a universe of bass music, it gives you access to ALL the universes of music - guitar, flute, sax, trumpet , piano, violin, percussion etc. if you learn to read treble clef. I read a LOT of music that is not bass for ideas and enjoyment.

If you work on-call jobs, reading treble and chord notation (i.e Real Book) is a minimum requirement.

Chord notation is very useful, but it is only half the story.

This. ^

Being honest, I grew up using SN since I was 6. Also, stringed instruments were not my first instrument. I played brass instruments all the way through school in both treble and bass clefs. By the time I started playing bass with the school band and a polka band, it was second nature to apply and prefer SN.

I have made a couple of feeble attempts to play tabs but find it some what frustrating, but I’m sure it’s godsend for those that have only played stringed instruments. Again being honest, I’m not a fan.

As for chord charts, I would imagine you would have to have at a minimum the melody line pretty well memorized (probably by ear and how long does that take) to understand what the rhythm cadence is and where those chord changes are going to happen. So pretty much, you have to learn the song before you can use the chord chart. Doesn’t seem real efficient.

Good post Groot!

 

[mambo4]

Disclaimer : don't listen to me: I never read tab, so of course believe its unnecessary.

I suggest you ditch tabs for notation. You're less than two years in, it is the prefect time.
It takes maybe twice as much work, but pays back 20x what learning tabs will.

 

[Snarf]

Hi Everybody,

General question that I asked a few months back, but feel like I have a (slightly) better grasp on playing habits overall vs the last time I asked this…

I’ve been playing consistently now for about 15-16 months and usually practice at least 6-7 hours a week (although that is starting to creep up a bit now that I own a P bass bc MAN is that thing hard to put down)…

Anyway…When I started I had NO clue what I was doing so I was using Songsterr for bass tabs…

Don’t really have the money for a teacher, but I felt at the time that I needed some structure and some context on learning the overall fretboard so I used bass tabs to get me going on playing songs…

Eventually moved to playing the tab and then playing the song afterwards without looking at the tab…

I felt like this was a step in the right direction bc it helped me hear a general idea of the song and I’m a visual learner, so using tabs helped me kind of bridge the gap between being a visual learner and trying to become a better listener when playing along without any visuals…

What I’m starting to notice now-I had two designated days of the week where I would just play along for an hour to music and not worry about the tab or being “perfect” with it…More of a play by “feel” and try to have fun with it…As I’ve played more and done this more often I’m finding I like just playing along to a song…

NO clue if I’m doing it “right” or not-I try to find the kick drum in the song and the overall rhythm/beat and stay in time and then go up or down in pitch depending on where the song goes…

Usually I end up thinking “that sounds about right” when I’m playing…If I miss the right notes I can usually tell if I’m really trying to zero in on what I’m suppose to be playing…

Now that I have used tabs on a few songs consistently it helped me understand my instrument better so now when I play without them I feel like I can generally play to the overall “feel” of the song, but I tend to gravitate to the bottom 2 strings most of the time…

Just wondering if cutting the cord completely on tabs will make me digress in learning…If I go ahead and completely ditch tabs will I run the risk of playing too “sloppy”??? (Is it irresponsible to just play along to songs without actually learning it note by note 100%???)…

I get that a lot of bass tabs are wrong or somewhat incorrect, but I’ve used them as general guidance in the past, but they are starting to feel a lot less necessary…

I probably have more fun and feel more “free” when I don’t use them-Should I be concerned about going backwards in terms of playing progress if I ditch them completely or would you still use them a few times a week???…At this point I’m probably only using them 25-30% of the time in s given week-Just wondering if my playing will fall off if I completely ditch them…

Thanks! \m/

It's totally fine to not play songs note for note. I know probably a couple thousand songs, and if I had to play the original part note-for-note for all of them, well . . . . I'd know a couple hundred instead of a couple thousand. Some songs require knowing the exact part (metal, but I don't play metal, so problem solved), but most don't. Having an awareness of the chord qualities and appropriate play styles is more useful.

What you're doing is great, trying to play more by ear. I'd use tabs as a reference, or if you're stuck on something. And of course there's no guarantee a tab will help because most of them are awful. But the more you learn by ear, the more patterns you'll start to recognize in how bass lines and songs are constructed. That, along with some basic definitions about harmony, will take you pretty far.

 

[Jack Butler]

I’d say you’re doing it right, although that might depend a little on your style of music. I still use tab on occasion if it’s a hard song to get down some tough parts quicker. Mostly I play by ear though, or for church gigs they usually give out chord charts which I like/find easy. Standard notation no doubt has many benefits and needed for certain situations. For me personally though, I’ve played a lot of blues, rockabilly, rock, church, and singer songwriter folkish stuff and I’ve never had anyone put standard notation in front of me to play a song. Not saying it’s not a good skill to have, it’s just never came up for me.