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Tabs. Don't Get 'em.

Scott Zoltok said:
Think about the number of useless posts that this forum gets everyday, most of which are along the lines of 'tabs suck'. While I see it was never your intent to start a tab bashing thread, this thread could take no other course. People just love the opportunity to reprimand tab users.

Thank you, and I agree with you.
 
tabs make it easier to share music on the internet since not everyone has software that does standard notation.


as far as not showing the values of notes, most people that are looking for tabs already have a general idea of how the song is goes. A good tab has the notes spaced out according to their values anyway. I've also seen instances where they put letters under each note to specify what king of note it is(w=whole, h=half, q=quarter...)
 
PaulMacCnj said:
Beware that there are a lot of bad TABs posted all over the Internet. Heck, there are bad published music notations, too. I sometimes wonder about the people doing these transcriptions.

a) Are they tone deaf?
b) Have they listened to song more than once?
c) Have they verified that the written music matches the piece?
d) Do they care if it's right or wrong?

Paul Mac
the only tabbing I'll really support is either writing your material or covering a REALLY hard song, but also using some actual written notation in correlation. I hate to rip on bandmates, since they're my best guys, but seriously, logic (ok, maybe i'll take that back for the drummer, SURE as HELL not for the vocalist) and ear training fail for these guys HARD. My drummer used to be (because now they want him playing just drums in all projects) a guitarist, and he could write some ok stuff. then when it'd come time for me to sit down and go "ok ***, here's my stuff" I get the recieving, almost choking sounds of "ugh...buff...ok, this fret goes...yea, show me that again..." for somewhere over 10 minutes WITHOUT the aid of tablature, which turns 10+ minutes into 3-5 and I can walk away hearing, "yea, that sounds about right."
 
Woodchuck said:
found it to be much easier and quicker to stick a cd in and learn the song that way. Been that way since day one


That's awesome man, I'm proud to say the same for myself...
ive never really needed to look at tabs, I guess. i started figuring out simple tunes by ear pretty quick, and it just developed from there.
and maybe listening to really complex prog s**t helped too
(DT, Rush, Yes etc..)

I dont like tabs myself, they may be cool jamming in your bedroom, but I've learned from just being in a bunch of bands that in the real world, you really gotta have a good ear.
and standard notation still eludes me...:confused: that would be sweet to know too!!
 
I would love not to use tab, but I simply don't have the ear. Sure I can tell when I'm not playing the right thing and when something is off key, but I can't listen to a bass line in song and go ....A.....D. ect...

I at least need to know where to start.

If you can that's awesome, maybe I'll develop that skill in couple of years.

to be honest my ear usually goes straight to the singer, when I'm just listening, guess I have to retrain the way I listen, since I was a singer first and bass player way later.

Most of the time though I'ts actually hard for me to hear all the bass in most mixes.

P.S. know any good ear training courses the work?
 
morf said:
Funny people consider their bedroom as a place not in the real world. Using tabs doesnt mean you dont have a good ear.


well it isnt quite the same as jamming with other musicians... that becomes really tough if you need tabs to learn songs.

IMO, tabs are a good tool to train your ear, and it's probably one of the best tools for that... but relying on them can become a crutch!
 
i use tabs cause
1. im not completely used to music yet
2. i cant pick out exact notes from a song and play them, i can get close sometimes but not always. this is where alot of people think i'm tone deaf, and theyre completely ********. i just cant ear it very well
3. tabs are just easier until you have a good ear and you know your notes well
 
Apple and oranges. Everyones a different musician and should do what they want. I believe learning by ear is definetly better than using tab, however if someone prefers tab then let them use it. Worry about yourself!

And we are in America, laziness is present :p
 
I sight read pretty well and I buy a lot of sheet music. I would like to use tabs because they're available on line and free, but I can't find a place on the net where they're even a little correct. Many are done very badly; I can't imagine that some of the posters have even heard the songs before. Is there a place on the net that has a high degree of accuracy? Bassmasta definitely isn't the place.
 
ryco said:
Is it poss to sight read tablature?
Absolutely! If you have heard the song before you can do it quite easily and then some tabs will have timing in them which really helps!

Also check out Power Tabs with this software you can write out tabs and see the transcription to musical notation as well as use midi to hear them with a large variety of instruments.

I can read tab much faster then musical notation, I am like a first grader with musical notation, counting the lines to see what note it is, I really don't have use for it though, the only time i did was playing orchestral for my highschool musical, and by the end i was much better at reading, but with like 2 years of not using it, I lost my skill. Alot of stuff I can tab by ear but its easier jsut to look at a powertab and watch the notes play infront of me
 
I learned most of my first songs by ear just listening to the cd over and over, so discovering tabs was a huge help at that point in time. Now that I've spent a lot more time playing, it's much easier to pick notes out by ear, and I don't find myself looking for a tab unless I absolutely cannot figure it out myself or need a little something to start with. Even though they aren't usually 100 percent correct when found online, it's nice to be able to figuratively pick others' brains and see if they can at least provide a starting point. Amazing Slow Downer is also my best friend.