I'd like to add some song's Bass parts shouldn't be messed with and you shouldn't even try. Like ALL of Andy Fraser notes and runs and improv. of Free's 'All Right Now'. They fit so perfect! Also, Boz Burell of Bad Company came up with lines that fit the song so perfect!
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Tabs=Bad. & No, This 'Isn't' in the Wrong Category
- Thread starter Fendbassfan
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You routinely learn 30+ songs, with no practice or rehearsal, in about an hour by ear? Not an hour EACH - an hour TOTAL.
Sorry, takes me significantly longer to learn songs by ear.
Tab is fine when it is written below music notation, I think tab on the internet is good for beginners gets your fingers rolling and its more fun than scales. Who cares if its not perfect , and when you play a tune for your friends its will still sound cool, cooler than a scale. Don't get me wrong though scales are very important to learn. If you just do scales when you first learn bass most people bet borred. Learn songs first then learn scales, chords and more theroy. But what do I know right, I'm just a rookie.
Well, I personally have had one hour to go through 15 songs... Thankfully the band leader had completely written bass lines for them all.. so there I sat for an hour reading along to the songs... just to make sure I wasn't misreading the occasional rhythm quirk some people write into charts ...
an hour? where the hell did that come from? you said i had until next weekend. it takes longer than an hour just to listen to 30+ songs!
but have in been in the position of having an hour's notice to get to a gig and do it? you bet! it's times like that i'm glad i know notation and have a great ear because you're flying by the seat of your pants. that way, when the leader calls a tune and says it's in C#, i can do it. funny, but i've never been on a gig where the leader called out a tune and said it's in the key of 3rd string 4th fret.
and that's why i think tab is not so much stupid as it is a very limited format. nobody except guitarists and bassist use it, so you are limited to communicating to only guitarists and bassists without going through great pains. have i known some dudes who have used tab effectively and taught themselves how to play with it? yes. one guy i know who did this is a great hard rock guitarist who plays with brian howe from bad company mach 2. and as good as he is, he can't do my gig because we use sheet music extensively (unless of course he finally learned how to read and i don;t know it). just today i did a show where 2 of the 3 acts required reading. i don't see the logic of limiting yourself to not doing gigs like that, especially when learning to read takes only a little more effort in comparison.
I agree completely with this. Anyone who learns to play with the complete exclusion of even knowing the notes on the fingerboard is severely limiting themselves.
I'm constantly making cross references between TAB and standard notation. I want my students to be bi-lingual. When I point to 3rd string 4th fret, I instinctively say "C#" and I expect my students to speak in formal music terminology as well, even if we're using the ocassional TAB.
I also expect students to spell scales, even if they happen to be reading TAB or playing a universal pattern. Any player would be doing themselves a huge favor by at least getting a rudimentary knowledge of standard notation under their belt.
Since I've used [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], tabs have become almost useless. I can learn most songs in almost the same time using BP as I would using tabs. Additionally, the accuracy is much better (or at least to my satisfaction), over and above the obvious advantages of learning by ear. Some would probably call it's added features 'cheating', but IMO, it's not as bad for you as tabs.
I still practice reading for classical stuff that I like but tabs have pretty much ceased to exist in my world.
I still practice reading for classical stuff that I like but tabs have pretty much ceased to exist in my world.
I've got no problem at all with tab. There are a lot of people who just aren't smart enough for anything else.
Why should they have to struggle to learn everything by ear?
Why should they have to struggle to learn everything by ear?
For bass, I feel that tabs are mostly useless and do every little, if anything to help you as a musician. Most of what we play are individual notes and are usually easy enough to figure out if you pay attention.
I would have less of a problem with them if people stopped begging for them. It's kinda sad to see comments like that on a youtube video.
I would have less of a problem with them if people stopped begging for them. It's kinda sad to see comments like that on a youtube video.
I have been taught to read music but mostly learn to play by ear, listening to mp3 on my iPod. I find tab a great way of getting " an opinion" of how to play bits that I can't quite make out from the mp3.
I have the luxury of playing in a rock cover band so the accuracy of the bass line is not necessarily as critical as, say, at of a bass player for a musical.
My kids are encouraged to read music, but I see that tab has a place in the world... Yes, some of it is inaccurate, yes some of it is not as rich as standard notation.... But hey.... You can pick up the gist of a song to play around a camp fire pretty quickly with it
I have the luxury of playing in a rock cover band so the accuracy of the bass line is not necessarily as critical as, say, at of a bass player for a musical.
My kids are encouraged to read music, but I see that tab has a place in the world... Yes, some of it is inaccurate, yes some of it is not as rich as standard notation.... But hey.... You can pick up the gist of a song to play around a camp fire pretty quickly with it
Well - when you live my life, until next weekend means "about 1 hour of practice time with a bass".
That's kinda the point - I'm going to use whatever is easiest, most efficient, and cheapest to the job done.
You give me standard notation? WONDERFUL!
You want me to find and buy standard notation? We'll have to talk about what I'm getting paid for the gig.
You want to hand me chord charts, or Nashville numbers? Great.
...but if I've got to come up with it, and the gig isn't paying a lot... I'm grabbing tab, chord charts, whatever I can find for free on the intertubes...
Then it's a quick run through the with the recording and jot some stuff down on a notepad.
Sometimes the tab is useless.
Sometimes it means I don't have to spend more than 15 seconds learning a riff that would have taken 10 minutes to pick out by ear.
Absolutely. As are Nashville numbers and standard chord charts. They're incomplete limited representations. Still can be useful though.
I've never advocated for learning only tab. I'm an advocate for being able to use ANY method that is presented to you.
I don't see why using tab somehow implies one will be unable to use anything else.
because most people i know who use tab never move past it. maybe i've got the wrong impression and there are a lot of people who do both, but the vast majority of people i know who use tab don't bother with learning notation.
...and the vast majority of people I know who play by ear never learn to read tab or standard notation - but I don't consider that a fault of learning tunes by ear.
Misuse of tools isn't the fault of the tool, it's the fault of the tool operating the tool.
I don't understand why everyone is so fast to just trash something because what they use is considered superior.
I have found some tabs (esp) on bassmasta.net to be particularly helpful when needing to learn a lot of songs for a gig real quick. The simple fact is, if you don't have the time to listen to some songs that have a more complicated bass-line, the notation is harder to find. I have been reading notation since I was a small kid, and I prefer it, but tabs have helped me out many times, since they were what was available. I have seen very accurate tabs and very poor tabs, I generally would search on Bassmasta, find the highest rated one, look at it quickly for a starting point on the songs and to make sure to get in some of the runs that the crowd may be listening for (some songs have highly recognizable bass lines, and though I would rather improvise with everything, sometimes to placate the crowd it is neccessary to incorporate bits of the "well-known" riffs), then I generally listen to the song a few times (because emphasis, and timing many tabs get quite wrong), sort out my own improvisational touches, then there we go. If I had an online resource to point me to a plethora of accurately transcribed peer reviewed notation for covers, then I would go there, but I am unaware of such a resource at current.
If I have the time, I'd rather figure out a song myself without tabs or anything of the like, it gives me a better understanding and appreciation of the song itself.
I have found some tabs (esp) on bassmasta.net to be particularly helpful when needing to learn a lot of songs for a gig real quick. The simple fact is, if you don't have the time to listen to some songs that have a more complicated bass-line, the notation is harder to find. I have been reading notation since I was a small kid, and I prefer it, but tabs have helped me out many times, since they were what was available. I have seen very accurate tabs and very poor tabs, I generally would search on Bassmasta, find the highest rated one, look at it quickly for a starting point on the songs and to make sure to get in some of the runs that the crowd may be listening for (some songs have highly recognizable bass lines, and though I would rather improvise with everything, sometimes to placate the crowd it is neccessary to incorporate bits of the "well-known" riffs), then I generally listen to the song a few times (because emphasis, and timing many tabs get quite wrong), sort out my own improvisational touches, then there we go. If I had an online resource to point me to a plethora of accurately transcribed peer reviewed notation for covers, then I would go there, but I am unaware of such a resource at current.
If I have the time, I'd rather figure out a song myself without tabs or anything of the like, it gives me a better understanding and appreciation of the song itself.
i'm guessing there are a lot of you who don't remember the days before the internet when there were no tabs to download. try getting a night's worth of tunes together in an hour without it 
anyway, let me ask you all something...if you could get notated charts instead of tabs as downloads, would you use them or would you have any more incentive to learn notation if you don't already?
anyway, let me ask you all something...if you could get notated charts instead of tabs as downloads, would you use them or would you have any more incentive to learn notation if you don't already?
i'm guessing there are a lot of you who don't remember the days before the internet when there were no tabs to download. try getting a night's worth of tunes together in an hour without it
I remember...
It was basically impossible.
If I could get standard notation combined with chord charts - for the same $0 I pay for tabs - I'd choose the standard notation 11 times out of 10.
Problem is, it ain't an option.
Funny you should mention that Jimmy. I know you remember the alt.guitar.bass days before talkbass even existed. This topic was beaten to death back then then and anyone who hasn't figured things out by now is waaaaaay off the back.
At this point I have no problem being ungentle with my opinion of tabwits:
A) They don't know any better.
B) They're too lazy or untalented to learn notation or figure it out by ear.
C) They don't care about accuracy.
OK, so now they're gonna be all incensed and blahblahblah (again) all the reasons tab is the greatest. Folks, I've heard it all before ad nauseum and none of the arguments hold any water. Tab as found on the interweb today is for lazy, half-assed amateurs. Sorry if that sounds harsh but this has been going on way too long and you people need a dose of the straight truth.
i'm guessing there are a lot of you who don't remember the days before the internet when there were no tabs to download. try getting a night's worth of tunes together in an hour without it
anyway, let me ask you all something...if you could get notated charts instead of tabs as downloads, would you use them or would you have any more incentive to learn notation if you don't already?
I remember that very well, and also remember trying to pick out a hard song by using the little speed wheel on my record player to slow it down, but it didn't slow it by much. The best way was to get the 45 and play it on 33 1/3, but then the low notes were so low it was like listening to Bill Medley. Now days after spending so many nights standing next to the drummer w/o ear plugs many times it's very hard to distinguish the lowest notes. I could listen to some
notes swear it was the correct note, then listen again and swear it's a different note. Especially F# and G.
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