Tabs?

[caponi14]

How come i have such difficulties reading tabs unless it's just simple chord changes?

I want to learn new songs. I have learned some songs by just listening, but i can't get them all by ear yet (1 year of playing)

How do i get better at reading tabs? Because, they really confuse me and i quickly loose consentration! I know all the signs of the tabs, but i can't quite get it together....

Damn annoying!

[CSchlegel]

How come i have such difficulties reading tabs unless it's just simple chord changes?
Same reason anyone has problems doing anything with ease and confidence: lack of practice.

I want to learn new songs.
I suggest you start to learn by using real music notation (in the form of sheet music - paper or digital). It has all the necessary info. Whereas with "tabs" (especially free ones from the web) you don't always get all the info and the info that is there is usually wrong or at best inaccurate.

[guitarplayer196]

Same reason anyone has problems doing anything with ease and confidence: lack of practice.

I suggest you start to learn by using real music notation (in the form of sheet music - paper or digital). It has all the necessary info. Whereas with "tabs" (especially free ones from the web) you don't always get all the info and the info that is there is usually wrong or at best inaccurate.

Another great tool is using Guitar Pro 5 which is becoming the standard for tabs now. What it does is not only shows you the tab, but also includes the music notation(So you can see the relationship), and plays the song while showing you the movement of the score so you can actually see how the tab sounds at a specific part in the song. you then have all sorts of tools to loop, change tempo etc.

There is a free trial for a short period, but it is worth buying the registered copy. You can then find tabs in Guitar Pro format all over the net. The only thing is Guitar Pro needs to have a somewhat powerful computer to work correctly(Since it is recreating the sound of the tab). I wasn't a believer at first but finally realized Guitar Pro is here to stay.

[GuitardedGeezer]

I suggest you start to learn by using real music notation (in the form of sheet music - paper or digital). It has all the necessary info. Whereas with "tabs" (especially free ones from the web) you don't always get all the info and the info that is there is usually wrong or at best inaccurate.

I've been running into that. Lots of inaccurate and hard to read tabs are easily available on the net. The best I''ve found is some good books that have 100 songs and I'm interested in only 3 or 4. Can anyone recommend a good site/publisher/location to get professional style sheet music and tabs (without killing my wallet)?

GG

[CSchlegel]

Another great tool is using Guitar Pro 5 which is becoming the standard for tabs now.
I agree with this! Virtually any MIDI engine will help you do this. But Guitar Pro 5 and Power Tabs are the most guitar user friendly. In fact GT scores are created by using GP5. :) It is a wonderful program.

However, again I offer a word of warning. Those Guitar Pro format tabs you can find all over the net aren't always accurate either.
Can anyone recommend a good site/publisher/location to get professional style sheet music and tabs (without killing my wallet)?
I've been using any and all the following with success now for a few years.

http://www.musicnotes.com/
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/
http://www.music44.com/
http://www.freehandmusic.com/

You can typically find most anything you want on at least one of them. You can download it directly from the site and print or view on your screen. Many of them offer a MIDI file to go along with the notation. And it is a good deal to buy only the song you want for a few dollars.

Best of success with it!

[GuitardedGeezer]

Thanks for those sites! They look good so far and I will give them a try.

GG

[Ed Jalowiecki]

IMHO, tabs can be best used in a few different ways. At first, they can be used as a general guideline of how to play a song, which will jump start the learning process, especially if you're pressed for time (preparing for a gig, rehearsal, etc.)

If you're more focused on ear training (which is an essential skill), tabs can be used to check yourself along the way as you're figuring something out by ear. Ideally, you'd want to figure out as much as you can on your own, and only use the tab for the parts that completely baffle you.

In the end, no tabs are 100% accurate, because it all depends on the interpretation of the transcriber. Besides, why waste time trying to track down tabs to your favorite songs, when you can spend that time (and save money) learning it yourself?

[caponi14]

Yeah, but it's just that im not very good when the rythme parts in songs get a little advanced. And it's not getting better with not being able to read the tabs properly, and know how to play the rythme part because the guitar line in some songs are faded in the other imstruments playing :/

But i quess it's just a matter of practice..... Even though i spend nearly all my day on guitar since im not going to school right now...

Thanks for the advises though

[Razbo]

In theory, you can use your EQ to boost the guitar parts and reduce the level of the others. I have Guitar & Drum trainer, which sounds similar to Song Surgeon recently offered in the sign up deal here. It's a bit cheaper if you wanted to try it. (I think around $50.)

It has a 62 band EQ, so you could almost certainly isolate the guitar tracks you want.

http://renegademinds.com/

[CSchlegel]

Yeah, but it's just that im not very good when the rythme parts in songs get a little advanced. And it's not getting better with not being able to read the tabs properly,
The vast majority of tabs do not have the rhythm info you need to know in order to play the parts! That is why music notation is vastly superior (in the form of sheet music or MIDI files - Guitar Pro or PowerTab).

An example to illustrate; how do you play this line of music:

E |-------------------------|
B |----5-4-----4-4-2--------|
G |---------4---------4-2-1-|
D |-2-----------------------|
A |-------------------------|
E |-------------------------|

What's missing from that tab? The info that tells you when to play each note. How long does each note last? How quickly do you move on to the next note?

The tab does not contain that info. Music notation would contain that info in the form of rhythmic symbols. Learning how to properly read music will vastly improve your ability to understand and play any music you come up against.

[hunter1801]

I'd also like to reiterate how great Guitar Pro is. It's all I use now. I can sit in front of the computer and play whatever song I want, loop it, slow it down, turn on a metronome, ect. You won't regret buying it.

[caponi14]

I think i will buy it :) short on money at the moment though.....

Thanks folks!

[Ed Jalowiecki]

Yeah, but it's just that im not very good when the rythme parts in songs get a little advanced. And it's not getting better with not being able to read the tabs properly, and know how to play the rythme part because the guitar line in some songs are faded in the other imstruments playing :/

Sounds like you may need to study some basic rhythmic notation & get used to counting beats and measures along with songs. So much of this can be done just listening and clapping your hands or tapping along with the music. If you can find the basic pulse of the music and tap along with difficult passages, you're halfway to figuring out the rhythm of a phrase.

[caponi14]

I don't have a problem following the rythme as soon as i acually know which notes to play? It's hard to explain, but the tabs just confuses me if they variate alot, quess it's just a matter of experience and practice, even though i practice all day long...

Im gonna try guitar pro 5 out, alot of good talk about it.

[1Life1Chance]

Well, you've only been playing a year so no matter which route you go you're only going to get better. For tablature to get the rhythm down you just have to listen to the music and follow along. That's usually your only option with online tabs. if you are confused by the tab itself it's probably only because you can't recognize a "g chord" or "g arpeggio" right off the bat and that just comes with practice. There is a little bit of a learning curve but nowhere near that of standard notation. Also, many of the free tabs online are inaccurate and just a good guideline at best. Most books have the standard notation and tablature together which is nice because then you can see the rhythm. Of course they are much more expensive and are not error free either although they are much better. My advice is that it really depends on what your end goal is. Standard notation is the complete route and the nice thing is that it translates to all other instruments. If you want to compose your own music or work with other musicians it's definitely the better bet. I think as a guitarist (other than the classical genres) you are going to want to learn tablature too though just because of the availability alone of free tablature. If you just plan on playing in a band with other guitar players, bass and drums maybe another instrument here or there you can get away with just tablature. Definitely standard notation if you are looking to make a career in music.

I've been using Guitar Pro for years now (i think version 1) and it is the greatest song learning tool i've ever seen. it gives you the best of both worlds (standard notation and tablature). You can "play" the tablature and play along, adjust speed but not pitch etc etc. Well worth the money and if you couldn't afford it and are a true enthusiast it just might be out there on some torrent sites ;) Plus both the standard notation and tablature print out really nice!!!!

[Mike51]

A lot of good thoughts here.

Most TAB lacks time signature and time value of each note. So if you don't know what the song sounds like you have no idea how much time to allocate to each note. The programs mentioned here are good because they overcome this problem.

Some of the problems that I have had in early on with reading TAB is that I saw TAB as just a string of notes. Until I realized that the notes were either chords or partial chords. Of course the full chord is easy to recognize.. sometimes partial chords are not as easy. I will sit down with the TAB and figure out what chords are being represented and pencil them in over the TAB. This way instead of just a string of notes, that I have to remember it becomes chords and chord shapes which I find much easier.

[weezthejuice789]

Same reason anyone has problems doing anything with ease and confidence: lack of practice.

I suggest you start to learn by using real music notation (in the form of sheet music - paper or digital). It has all the necessary info. Whereas with "tabs" (especially free ones from the web) you don't always get all the info and the info that is there is usually wrong or at best inaccurate.

but what if you are not in the possition to go around and by sheet music?

[CSchlegel]

but what if you are not in the possition to go around and by sheet music?
I don't know what "in the position to go around" means.

If you can't physically get around, or you live in a rural area, then buy them on the web.

If you can't afford them, then ask people that can afford them (parents? friends?) to buy them for you as gifts or charity.

[weezthejuice789]

I don't know what "in the position to go around" means.

If you can't physically get around, or you live in a rural area, then buy them on the web.

If you can't afford them, then ask people that can afford them (parents? friends?) to buy them for you as gifts or charity.

dude chill out i meant getting arond like trying to by them and were to by them for that matter.
and maybe were i live people dont give a **** about music and getting involved in it. so whats easy for you maybe tough for the rest of us. we all cant just start charging the credit cards to by tabs online!

[Razbo]

we all cant just start charging the credit cards to by tabs online!

In the old days, I would work it out listening to it and learning it. Maybe I had the album, or maybe just caught it on tape from the radio. Either way, it was free and good ear practice. I also could not afford to throw the charge card at everything, so most songs I ever learned, I learned that way.

I didn't have a charge card. Didn't have any money. Didn't have the internet for that matter. And yet somehow I think life was better back then. :)

[weezthejuice789]

In the old days, I would work it out listening to it and learning it. Maybe I had the album, or maybe just caught it on tape from the radio. Either way, it was free and good ear practice. I also could not afford to throw the charge card at everything, so most songs I ever learned, I learned that way.

I didn't have a charge card. Didn't have any money. Didn't have the internet for that matter. And yet somehow I think life was better back then. :)

how do you just lisnten to a song in learn it? i dont get how some people do that. i am a big visual person. can you help me out?

[Razbo]

how do you just lisnten to a song in learn it? i dont get how some people do that. i am a big visual person. can you help me out?

Let me say that there are others on this board that could probably give you better instructions. This is what I know, I taught myself, and for picking a song off an album, I still know no other way.

It's definitely something you will get better at with time, so don't expect to get it right off the bat.

Start with something simple, like "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac. Try and find the chords on the A & E strings. It your totally lost at it, just hit all the dotted frets going up the string. If it's not there, try the alternate frets. You should eventually hit one that sounds right. It's not always the one you want, but now you know one chord from the song by the note you just played. Yay!

Let's say it's E. Now, keep going and every time that E comes around, hit it and try for the next note. Just go for the single notes to keep it simple. Once you have them all (or at least a verse or chorus) substitute the chords for the notes and voila!

From there, subtleties in how your chord sounds vs. the song will direct you to it actually not being a major chord, but maybe a minor or a 7th. Sometimes you can fluff with majors or minors if you can't quite get the chord at the time. Depending on your personality, that will do until you get the rest of the song, or you might be the type to loop that chord until you get it exact. I'm the former type, but I'll generally throw in some variation each time until I get it. I really suck at distinctly picking out 7'ths and 9ths unless it's already a common chord that I use. :)

As you get used to it, you'll be able to recognize the chords right off instead of searching the strings for the notes.

If you know your scales, and you have the first note/chord of the song, you can probably pick the rest of them out of that scale and it won't take long at all to have the whole song.

It always helped me to write the words and the notes over the words as you find them.

Even if you don't know your scales yet, a lot of chords are generally followed by certain other chords and you will see that better the more songs you learn. If you play open chords (like acoustic) it can be handy to be good at barre chords. Many songs I've wanted to play were all flat chords or were down tuned, so I'd learn them in Barre, then transpose them to what I wanted to play in.

It all is a matter of ear, though. If you are tone deaf, you'll soon know it. The bass player in my first band was tone deaf someone always had to tune his bass. Didn't stop him though. He memorized positions even if he couldn't hear the harmony, but he'd never have been able to pick up off an album.

Maybe some other posters have some strategies to share. I find this is a lost art. When I started this site and learning songs again, it never occurred to me to search for tabs or music, but that is all I hear anyone using anymore for learning.

On a last note, there are lots of free tabs in the web, but you might have to search for them. Also, YouTube. There are lots of people getting their 15 minutes by posting song demos.

[weezthejuice789]

thank thats a lot of help razbo