Why Is Tablature Bad?

[BassChuck]

Am I playing that on B13, E8 or A3 (standard tuning)?

Play it anywhere that works for you tonally, or in preparation for the next note. You're the bass player. Everyone in the world that reads music knows what that note is and how to deal with in with their instrument, whatever that might be.

There's far, far more to music that quickly learning your part for the next song. Why learn a system that has one application, when, with equal amount of work, you can unlock the door to centuries of musical information and be prepared to deal with musicians on many levels?

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I'm going to hold my ignorance up as a trophy here.
I've taken music theory classes and trained a little on sight reading. I understand the mechanics of proper notation, and if I spend enough time with something I can figure it out.
OK, great. Now what?
If I actually learned to read music perfectly, what does it get me? I will never play piano or do anything with a guitar beyond noodling, so the idea behind it helping me with other instruments is useless.
Professionally, I only play original work. I've NEVER been in a rock band where the music is written in standard notation. 99% of the time the writer just has it in his head and I write tabs out while he is showing me.
If I want to learn a cover for whatever reason I don't have to spend a nickle. I just fire up Google and Spotify or Windows Media Player and follow along with the tab a few times before I start playing. Only the very smallest amount of music is available in printed notation (especially for bass), so I can't learn much of anything from sheet music.
"Learn it by ear."
That ain't happening. With the density of modern recordings and complexity of modern rock, picking the bass out and getting it all right is a tall order. Again, why bother wasting the time guessing when someone else has done most of the guess work for me. There isn't an award for that or anything.

So, is tablature bad? Nope. I got places to go, people to see, $#!+ to do, and tabs get me where I need to be. Its a tool. That's it.

If you can figure out the chords theory will, for the most part, dictate the rest including the fills.

I teach my adult students TAB unless they desire to learn/use staff. I understand that it is a major consumer of time and most adults just want to play with their friends. I insist kids learn staff though as it is better for them.

There are tons of pros for staff but the biggest thing comes into advanced education. You will not find advanced books with TAB. It is expected those pursuing a higher level of education learned the basics.

By E8 you just mean C, right? I would cringe if I had to play with somebody who called out notes as "E8" and non-guitar player would just be confused. Learning notes and not numbers makes you a better musician, plain and simple.

 

[RustyAxe]

That's why I validate against the original and correct where needed - and agreed, many [as written] are horrendously wrong!
I get the above from working with the original.

Right ... so you need to know the song before you can play it according to the tab. As I say, it isn't bad, just incomplete.

 

[RustyAxe]

Am I playing that on B13, E8 or A3 (standard tuning)?

Depends on where you where you came from and where you're going, doesn't it? This argument comes up every month or so. Use tabs if that's what does it for you. Use notation if that works. Use your ear, training, and experience always.

 

[s0c9]

Right ... so you need to know the song before you can play it according to the tab. As I say, it isn't bad, just incomplete.

Not really.. I use the tab (which as I mentioned earlier are usually not great) as a learning tool.
Very little stuff is fully noted/tabbed for bass anyway, so I [generally] take the chord charts (or best tabs I can find) as a starter then edit them to correctly reflect the song structure, lyrics and bass notes (note+str eg: E3) to play - and save in chordpro format.. so not really "tabs" in the true sense.
More like this:

 B            G             F#3
Hangin' round downtown by myself
           B                        G           F#3
and I had so much time to sit and think about myself

rather than this

Hangin' round downtown by myself
G-------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------
A-------------------------------8---
E---------7-------3-----------------
B-------------------------------------

F#3 is F# on the 3rd string - I play 5 or 6 string basses (don't own a 4).
The 4-str equivalent would be F#2.
I can also do the Nashville #'d scheme in a pinch... if handed a chart of one!

 

[tedious1]

G------------------
D------------------
A------------3--5--
E---3--5--3--------

I see the following:

G, A, G on E string
C, D on A string

LOL, don't let lfmn16 see this post, he'll tell you that's not what you see and add you to his ignore list...

Honestly, I was the same way, I 'read' the notes from the tablature lines, not the fret numbers. And because all of the really neat stuff, like key signatures, and all the arrangement and performance notes aren't extended into the tab, I learned to equate notes with their positions on the staff and essentially dispense with the tab. It's also a skill that I don't frequently leverage, so it has greatly degraded over time, but I could get back into the swing quick enough.

The general warning against tabs though, I believe is for places like ultimateguitartabs.com (that domain name might be wrong...) where the tabs are all generally contributed by users, whose ears prove not worth trusting. Cherry Lane was the publisher I was buying 'tabs' (Sheet music) for and the accuracy of those was generally pretty good.

But quite frankly, the staff doesn't work for everyone. We all know about dyslexia, right? We probably all know someone who isn't good at math too. So it stand to reason there are people out there who are/would be perfectly acceptable musicians who just can't make standard notation work for them. Just like some math challenged kids can get past that limit with alternate systems like Chisanbop, then some musicians will get past their limits with tab.

End of the day, are you in tune, and in time? Then it's all good, regardless of how you learned it.

And none of the above should be taken as license not to learn standard notation if you can.

 

[carl h.]

Not really.. I use the tab (which as I mentioned earlier are usually not great) as a learning tool.
Very little stuff is fully noted/tabbed for bass anyway, <snip>

Funny, when I sit in on Bass I'm generally handed sheet music. I think the guys who can't read are known and generally excluded from anything involving reading. So saying you never have to read is pretty meaningless. I can read and understand what tabs are about and am capable of using them, as well as the Nashville numbering system and several other shorthand methods. I'll take real sheet music every time if there is an option. If not, I just deal with it and let my eyes and ear guide me. Arguing against learning how to be a more employable bassist is rather odd - as is flaunting ignorance proudly. I just don't get it. I can fake it as well as anyone and I know theory from being formally musically educated, but I don't understand the prejudice against learning your craft, particularly on a site devoted to talking bass.

 

[okcrum]

Everyone who plays music has to prioritize what and how they want to learn, and fit that into where they want to go. If you never plan to walk into a rehearsal where someone hands you a chart the band is adding, then that's a skill you don't need. Not learning that skill (or technique) until you actually need it is a losing situation either way, unless you like the sound of "Thanks, we'll be in touch. Next!". There is no time for reasons or excuses at that point.

Lots of players do pretty well using Nashville notation, but even that can carry them only so far.

 

[Remyd]

A piano is too complicated to write tabs for. I bet.

Uh, that's what standard notation is when it comes right down to it.

 

[bass12]

TAB is for notating fingering; standard notation is for notating music.

 

[carl h.]

My response is "tablabure is like old fashioned short hand." Neither standard notation or tabs are the end result. If you write something out long form or shorthand for a speech, and can read either fluently, the resulting oratory is the same.

I'll give you my shorthand notes on a subject you have never heard of. Do you expect you will be able to speak convincingly to a crowd of people who know the subject you will be orating about?

 

[RoadRanger]

here's what I used to tell students: "Tab is oversimplified / lazy. It's like changing how we spell to make it easier: Fite v Fight, wethur v Wheather, etc.

Dunno if you are old enough to remember shorthand - it was the "Standard" for transcribing speech in real-time. Among other things it used simplified spelling LOL.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

Dunno if you are old enough to remember shorthand - it was the "Standard" for transcribing speech in real-time. Among other things it used simplified spelling LOL.

Sure - it's a *tool*... but too often I've read arguments from folks who *insist* that tab is better than notation. And that's just silly.

 

[mellowinman]

I stopped using it years ago. I have decided to rely solely on my ears for notes, and this has worked well for me. Is it good for everyone? I don't think so. I used to sight read for piano, but not much for rock and roll guitar/bass. I find a lot of tabs and pop/rock sheet music to be quite WRONG, anyway. Sight reading Beethoven? Works for me. Rock and roll? I just figure it out. That doesn't mean this works for you.

 

[Remyd]

TAB is for notating fingering.

No, it's not. TAB is for the fret position and string.

That's actually one of the (more than a few) reasons I steer clear. I want to choose which fingering to use based on the tone required and the location of my left hand. Many people do tabs by ear. How would they even know the correct fretting anyhow?

I'm mostly a DB guy and I still use Simandl fingerings, so I will often pick different positioning than OFPF. That makes tabs clunky because I shift position at different points. For example, a 1A-5D jump requires a shift from 1/2 position to 2nd position which is much more wrist movement than a 1A-0G. On a DB I'd choose the former much/most, but on slab it depends on the direction of travel of my left hand - if I'm headed up the fretboard, then I'd use the 5, if I'm solidly in 1st posn or headed down, it might be the 0. Tabs send people to the 5th fret, or the 12th, or whatever, even though the choice of fingerings isn't nearly as important as the noise that comes out of the instrument (which is what standard notation provides).

Also, so many of them are either stupid or wrong that it makes it a iffy proposition in the best of circumstances.

 

[DreadyDiggs]

To each his own. Tabs helped me to train my ear. Now I can learn most parts without tabs. And nowadays a lot of music I have to learn isn't tabbed anyways so I'm thankful for where I began and for where I am now.

Tabs aren't always accurate, and that shouldn't be a problem either. If you know it's wrong correct it for yourself and your fellow bass brothers. No need to get vexed.

 

[phillipkregg]

There's going to come a time when you want to be able to just jam with a band. The simplest way to do that is to pick a key and go.

If you know every note on your fingerboard and what notes are available on every key, you'll be able to fit right in. Tab won't help you if you don't know that.

Also, once you know this, you'll be able to listen to a song and quickly figure out the key. Once you know the key, you'll know every note that is available for you on your fingerboard. Learning the basslines, the melody, and the chord structure will be far easier for you. And you never even had to look at a sheet of tab (or music notation).

Those are 2 practical examples of common musicianship where tab won't help you.

Plus, once you know the notes and the keys, it will make it much easier to play regular notation, solo over chord changes, and create your own music.

 

[socialleper]

Yes, that was a mediocre movie.

 

[stringtapper]

Yes, that was a mediocre movie.

How did you have time to see it?

Movies, notation, and ear training just slow people down, right?

 

[LowDownHawkeye]

Am I playing that on B13, E8 or A3 (standard tuning)?

Whatever works best, depending on what you're playing around it (I.e., hand position) and to a lesser degree, the tone you want.

Some people will look down on tab no matter what. I don't think you will be able to convince them of your viewpoint. Likewise, the people who advocate standard notation only will probably not convince you.

What I find most useful is the type of thing I find on much of the (admittedly beginner) classical guitar music I have-standard notation with some fingering hints. Not every fingering is given, but because of what I said above about the fingering often being driven by where your hand already is or where it needs to go, it isn't necessary to give all fingerings.