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whats wrong with tabs?

#42
Originally posted by the-lizard-king

They must, because whenever anybody posts a question about tab, they are inundated with people telling them about how using a tab is evil and is going to ruin their life :rolleyes:

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THE_REPTILIAN_MONARCH,

Hmmm. I can't recall anyone from my particular clan ever seriously saying that tabs are EVIL , and that using them will cause you to RUIN YOUR LIFE. I can, however, recall many instances where my fellow standard notation promoting brethren have made a great show of treating this issue as if it's life and death AS A JOKE, so that the issue can be debated with a humorous undertone rather than as a flame war.

I don't believe that I can state my OWN beliefs on this matter much better than I already have in this thread, but I would like to state for the record - AGAIN - that I couldn't care less if somebody that I haven't met uses TAB. It makes ZERO difference to my life. But if somebody posts the question, "what's wrong with TABZ?", that's the same as inviting remarks from the peanut gallery. CLAN TABEVIL is part of the peanut gallery. 'Nuff said.

Regards,

DURRL "IfIfindoutyou'vebeenusingtabsI'llhuntyoudownlikeadogandburnyourhousetotheground...:rolleyes: NOT!!!! TABEVIL
 
#43
THE_REPTILIAN_MONARCH,
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:D I like that! But I prefer just Jim.

I agree with you, I dont care how people play, as long as they play. But when I did use tab, I found it condescending when I would ask about what something in a tab meant and people would start replying with reasons I shouldnt be using it. Joke or not. Geez, all I wanted to do was play a song I heard on the radio, without having to order sheet music!
Jim
 
#44
Originally posted by the-lizard-king
But when I did use tab, I found it condescending when I would ask about what something in a tab meant and people would start replying with reasons I shouldnt be using it. Joke or not. Geez, all I wanted to do was play a song I heard on the radio, without having to order sheet music!
Jim
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I could certainly understand that, as could most of Clan Tabevil, I'm sure.

IMO we all of us need to keep in mind, though, that sometimes the best advice you get may be something that you don't particularly want to hear. (I'm speaking generically now, not of you in particular.) This, IMO, is one of those times.

When someone here responds to a tab request with suggestions to get hip to standard notation instead, it's usually not in the spirit of putting the requester down. It's more like, say, if you saw somebody trying to cut a lawn with nail clippers. Wouldn't you be tempted to say, hey, that will go a lot easier if you use a lawnmower? :D
 
#46
Chris,
No worries :)

Richard,
Advice is cool, everyone is open to suggestions to help them play better. Hey, thats what this place is for right?

btw, I was just speaking generally, its been a while since I have used tab.
But how do you guys get your hands on bass sheet music? I dont know what is like over there, but its almost impossible to find anything you want. Every music store has like RHCP and the Beatles bass, but thats about it. I usually find myself reading guitar or piano music and playing bass from that.

Jim
 
#47
Originally posted by the-lizard-king
Richard,
Advice is cool, everyone is open to suggestions to help them play better. Hey, thats what this place is for right?

btw, I was just speaking generally, its been a while since I have used tab.
But how do you guys get your hands on bass sheet music? I dont know what is like over there, but its almost impossible to find anything you want. Every music store has like RHCP and the Beatles bass, but thats about it. I usually find myself reading guitar or piano music and playing bass from that.

Jim
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Cool. You're right about the comparative rarity of bass sheet music. However, I often actually *prefer* to read off piano music, because you can often see more of what else is going on.
 
#48
Originally posted by the-lizard-king

But how do you guys get your hands on bass sheet music? I dont know what is like over there, but its almost impossible to find anything you want. Every music store has like RHCP and the Beatles bass, but thats about it. I usually find myself reading guitar or piano music and playing bass from that.

Jim
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Depends on what it is...for Jazz, I usually use various forms of fake books, or if it's original stuff, often handwritten scores prepared by whoever wrote it. In addition, when I REALLY want to play something specific, I often end up transcribing it. It's a lot of work, but the payoff - both immediate and long term - is always worth the effort.
 
#51
Originally posted by T Jay
If you're going to play a tune you know in Ab and the sax player knows in F, are you going to hand him your Ab tab sheet?

If it is decided to play the tune in F and you only know the tune from your Ab tab sheet, what will you do,...... go wait in the car till it's over?
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I thought Bass's and Sax's have different cleffs??? it's Bass = E
Sax = G
if i'm not mistaken.
 
#52
Originally posted by godsmack


I thought Bass's and Sax's have different cleffs??? it's Bass = E
Sax = G
if i'm not mistaken.
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You're not mistaken that bass and sax read different clefs. The bass reads bass clef and sax reads treble. Saxes are in different keys, as well, but your transposition is off. Assuming you meant alto saxophone it would be Bass - E and Sax C#. Tenor would be bass - E and Sax F#.

The point TJay was trying to make was that tabs are not part of the "musical language" we all speak. They will not help you get a gig, nor will they help you communicate with your fellow musicians.
 
#55
I think the greatest modern myth is that we're all as busy as we like to say we are
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Maybe. I agree with you everyone is always saying how busy they are, but there does seem to be an awful lot of TV being watched, music being listened to, going out etc. But at the same time I never find myself doing nothing. Im always doing something, theres always something occupying my little mind.
Jim
 
#57
Originally posted by the-lizard-king
Chris,
No worries :)

Richard,
Advice is cool, everyone is open to suggestions to help them play better. Hey, thats what this place is for right?

btw, I was just speaking generally, its been a while since I have used tab.
But how do you guys get your hands on bass sheet music? I dont know what is like over there, but its almost impossible to find anything you want. Every music store has like RHCP and the Beatles bass, but thats about it. I usually find myself reading guitar or piano music and playing bass from that.

Jim
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I think this is missing one of the big points about why people advise against tab. You always get these requests saying "I needtab for this now" - there's one in OT as I speak! ;)

You seem to be saying that the only alternative is to get hold of the sheet music - but I would always say you don't need either and I would always advise trying transcribing it yourself. The more you do this the easier it gets and it helps you become a better musician in many ways. Whereas just using tab does nothing for your development in this respect.

I've always done this and will just put on MTV or the radio at random and play along with whatever is on - usually in a few bars I can work out what the bass is doing.

People throw up the argument that a lot of great musicians like Hendrix or whoever didn't read sheet music - yeah, but they sure as hell didn't use tabs either! They developed great ears for transcribing what they heard - like Hendrix was supposed to have been able to play all of Sergeant Pepper after hearing it once.

You get this type of skill by doing it a lot and my view is that every time someone turns to tab, they are stopping or holding back their development in this area.
 
#58
Originally posted by jazzbo
I think we have become terrible at prioritizing and good time management. Budgeting time, filtering out things that waste your time, and creating a "schedule" at least once, (to see where your time goes), not only helps you prioritize things, but it also is a wonderful tool to alleviate stress.
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this from a moderator of OT.

:D
 
#60
i'm an occasional tab user.

my last heavy use of tab was in rehearsals for the last (crappy bar) band i was in... some of the tabs came out of guitar mags, others i transcribed myself onto standard notation paper (the best thing to use, esp w/5-string :) )

the last thing i tabbed was a minutemen song for a tab page back in '97. not much else since although if i get the bug, i'll be getting out the notation paper and some pencils! :D

btw, i know my theory... anyone that didn't understand "play a blues change in a" or play "g-b-flat-a-c" isn't someone i'd want to work with.

cj
 

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