The keyboard player in one of my bands goes even further - he has dots on the pentatonic notes
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What does standard notation simplify or omit that tab does not? What fret to put your finger on? That can be included in standard notation where it is necessary, but it generally is not. I can't think of anything else that text-based tab conveys that standard notation does not. I've seen engraved tab with more sophisticated features than text-based tab, but for the most part, those features are borrowed from standard notation.
On a stringed instrument, the timbre and attack of the note changes on which string and which position you play the note on. Or whether or not you play it as a stopped/fretted note or an open string. If you don't care about those nuances and specifics, standard notation will do. And although that information could be included in staff notation, it seldom if ever (bordering on never) is - unless you mean the occasional ottava bassa notation.
As far as origins, and which system borrowed what from whom, I'll leave that analysis to you. I frankly don't care where something got something from. Or what was borrowed or adapted from where - such as how standard notation "borrowed" clefs, basic note shapes and staff lines from Gregorian notation. This isn't a competition for the most originality. It's about real world function. So all I really care about is what our notation systems are now - and how well they serve the purposes for which they've been created.
If you don't like tabulature notation (for whatever reason), or simply can't see a use for it - then don't use it. I think it serves a very real purpose and brings some unique features to the party. As does standard notation. And since I understand and can read both, I'm perfectly comfortable using either one (or both) as the situation warrants.
YMMV.
Fair enough. It is a fingering notation of a sort, albeit a very specialized one if my memory serves. Because isn't sul tasto and sul ponticello a notation for where you're bowing the note rather than where you're stopping it? I've seen that used for cello and violin scores. But the only forms I'm familiar with direct the player to bow the strings over the fingerboard - or over the bridge.
And I was always told that the diamond shaped note meant to play a harmonic at the node specified as opposed to the natural harmonic where you put a tiny circle over the note to indicate it's a harmonic.
But that's not really the same thing as saying (for example) to play a 'normal' A note on:
- the 17th fret on the E-string
- the 12th fret on the A-string
- the 7th fret on the D-string
- or the 2nd fret on G-string
But anyway…are there additional definitions for the 'sul' notation and that diamond shaped note on a score I'm clueless about? There's a huge number of symbols and abbreviations used in modern music notation. And I don't pretend to know all of them.
Life doesn't work that way. Too many people always want to take the easy way out.
Tab isn't necessarily bad, but when people try to say it's better than standard notation, they just sound foolish.
The notation "sul G" means play on the G string, "sul A" means play on the A string, and so forth. In this particular example, it's indicating to play a harmonic, but that notation can be used for stopped notes as well if the arranger or orchestrator wants a note or phrase to be played on a certain string in order to create a specific timbre. So if you wrote an A, and noted "sul D," then yes, that would be exactly the same as saying "play a 'normal' A note on the 7th fret on the D-string." This is common notation in string music.
There are other ways you can indicate where on the neck a particular phrase is to be played. It's not uncommon in guitar music to see positions indicated by Roman numerals, for example. And I've even seen this:
The fretboard diagram was not necessary, because there is only one place on the neck where that Am9 chord can reasonably be played, but it was a nice courtesy by the orchestrator to make it immediately obvious what he intended.
These indicators of string/position are relatively uncommon, not because standard notation is incapable of conveying that information, but because it's generally not necessary. For example, the fretboard diagram in the above example is the only time in the 104-page guitar book for In the Heights that the orchestrator felt it necessary to provide that information. In many instances, the notation itself clearly suggests where it should be played without any further guides. In other instances, the orchestrator may recognize that there are multiple positions on the neck where a figure can be played but leave that choice up to the discretion of the player.
@Febs - thank you for the above information. Learn something new every day it seems.
On the above example…what is that from? I haven't run into that minute a level of detail on a guitar score before. (Chorus off? I love it!
) Is that from a movie score or some modern orchestral piece? I could see something that specific in that sort of environment. Especially a movie soundtrack. You mentioned that it's fairly common in your music world. Which world is that?
On the above example…what is that from? I haven't run into that minute a level of detail on a guitar score before. (Chorus off? I love it!
) Is that from a movie score or some modern orchestral piece? I could see something that specific in that sort of environment. Especially a movie soundtrack. You mentioned that it's fairly common in your music world. Which world is that?
It's the guitar book for In the Heights. The first example I posted was from the bass book for the London revival of Les Miserables, which is the version that is currently being licensed to professional theaters.@Febs - thank you for the above information. Learn something new every day it seems.
On the above example…what is that from? I haven't run into that minute a level of detail on a guitar score before. (Chorus off? I love it!
Theater scores often have that kind of detail. "Jesus Christ Superstar" is another one that has a lot of specific instructions for guitar and bass.
Ah! Suspected it was something along those lines. Thanks!
You've established that examples exist where standard notation does in fact score an actual performance down to a very fine level of detail. (And again thank you for that. I'm going to have to take a look at some scores for musicals. Good stuff!)
But now to go back to the OP's original question, why should tabulature be considered bad?
Your opinion?
I prefer not to call it "bad." Rather, I describe it as a tool that is useful in some relatively-limited applications and generally unnecessary outside of those applications. The OP itself highlights one of the limitations of tab (i.e., that it does not convey information regarding rhythm unless paired with or adapting standard notation concepts).
When I score for tabulature I always include the rhythmic and other notations. So I fully agree that they're necessary. I also said in an earlier post that I consider tab to be more a learning aid than simply yet another scoring system. So I suspect we're more on the same page than not when it comes to tab.
Thanks again for your earlier posts. It's been awhile since I've seriously looked at what's going on with notation. And the last time I played in a theatre pit was for a small company production of Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum back in '76 or thereabouts - so I'm more than a little out of touch with musical theater.
Cheers!
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Yeah, life being not so easy - It drives me nuts seeing posts here on TB from folks (let's be honest - usually kids) who think that everything should be cheap, easy and readily available. Ah, were it all so easy... Simply put, being a good musician is HARD and is not for everyone; Good gear costs real money - no matter WHAT anyone tells you and good gigs? Jeez - don't get me started!
When you have good equipment that makes it easy to get a good tone, good technique that lets you play what you hear in your head, and a good knowledge of theory that is second nature, then there is nothing between you and your music. This idealized, romantic notion that playing on cheap equipment, with terrible technique, and being completely ignorant about music will somehow allow you to express your inner self is just a load of crap.
Now get off my lawn!
And texting. You just want to slap them.Well said. I blame cell phones for all of this. Kids and their cell phones!
You joke, but there was a thread here a couple weeks ago by a kid who was auditioning for a band. The guys in the band wanted to talk to him ON THE PHONE, and he was not understanding why that would even be a request. He had no way to handle it, and the thread ran many pages, mostly kids agreeing with him.And texting. You just want to slap them.
I use standard notation (Treble & bass clefs), I use tab, I use chord charts, I write down ideas--I use multiple methods--they are all tools and all have their uses.
I'm not a virtuoso, so I can't afford to limit myself on purpose.
(I've taken piano, guitar & bass lessons--and read music for all of them. I also taught guitar & bass a few years back--I taught using standard notation, but also used other methods in certain contexts)
I'm not a virtuoso, so I can't afford to limit myself on purpose.
(I've taken piano, guitar & bass lessons--and read music for all of them. I also taught guitar & bass a few years back--I taught using standard notation, but also used other methods in certain contexts)
I'd sure like to find something more "standard" than my own bastardized version of ABC Notation that can get an entire song note-for-note sans lyrics on one iPad landscape screen in 28 point type 
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BTW all the Android tablets I've seen have an aspect ratio that is wider/shorter than the iPad and can't get as many lines on the screen
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.BTW all the Android tablets I've seen have an aspect ratio that is wider/shorter than the iPad and can't get as many lines on the screen
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