Why Is Tablature Bad?

#81
hintz said:
All the "cons" of tablature listed by others I'm with 100%!! However, one good use I've found is for tricky passages and using tab to help remember one ideal fingering for said passage like this whole tone lick(example1)View attachment 834890

I have many options on how to get where I'm going, but I also will memorize and be able to transpose it easier with one ideal fingering use slides and pull off 's....so tab *can* be a good time saver, but I always discouraged my students from relying on it!!
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I discourage students from relying on any one single thing when it comes to music. Including standard staff notation since I've met many otherwise very good classical musicians who are completely lost without a written score in front of them.

I consider that an even greater handicap than not being able to read standard notation.
 
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#82
Both are just languages, you learn and use the ones you need. I've played the piano since I was five, and being able to read sheet music is a really useful skill on that instrument because literally all music comes in that format (there are keyboard tabs, but let's not talk about those). On Bass, not so much in my case, any time reading has been required it has been just chords, never sheet music. If I didn't play the piano, the skill would be literally useless to me. Also, good luck finding sheet music if you like recent rock/metal music.
 
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#84
I read the first and last page of this thread. Apologies if I missed something that impacts my comments.

I play rock - from pop to heavy metal and many points in between.

I've played in a wide variety of settings (clubs to arenas, no stadiums) with some major folks (people in the rockhall). Never as a member of a touring band, always doing a benefit or shows while their band was off the road, whatever. I've done work-for-hire to lay down tracks on tunes you have likely heard as the producer or band leader wanted something different/better/whatever. I also did some years playing 5 shows a week doing pop and standards throughout a 3 state range.

While I can read music to a limited degree, I've never been asked to read music in any of these situations. Never been given tabs either. Just chord sheets - sometimes a tab was presented for a key riff, but mostly someone just ran it through w me.

I am making no judgement whatsoever. I consider myself to be a guy from NY who plays bass. Not a bass player and certainly not a musician.

If I had to do things over again, I would change nothing. I've had a great time with music, played w some of the best players on the planet, made a few sheckles, and can now relax, do some studio work, and have fun doing some indie work w my son.

Just a FWIW perspective. This worked for me. Might not apply to anyone else.
 
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#85
I sometimes use tabs and I correct tabs I also find it funny that some of the folks who hate the use of tabs are some of the same folks who say they never play a song the correct way note for note they improvise ?
 
#86
I see absolutely nothing wrong with learning with tabs. I learned to play every song I know using tabs. I can read music, but it's easier for me to use tabs. I saw a lot of posts throughout this thread that had people asking "how hard is it to read blah blah blah? If you can read music, don't use tabs. Blah blah blah." It's personal preference. If you read sheet music, fine. Cool. I applaud you. If you use tabs, awesome. Nothing wrong with that.

There were also several comments about how different tabs look(in terms of sheet music, having the note above the tabs, etc), and the tabs I download for GP5 look like the picture I've provided. Some have the notes above it, some don't.
 

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#89
As a specific example of where notation is better is when you're writing down your own original ideas. If you jot down the notation in your notebook, you've got it exactly, even ten years from now when you've long forgotten it and there is no reference recording. Tab is missing the durations. Sure, you could fake them with spacing, maybe add other rehearsal marks and that might be good enough for simple pieces. You can also jot a fret number under a note in notation and you've got the fingering (where it is helpful), so I don't see that tab has a reference advantage.

My second motivation would be, if you can't read, there's a percentage of learning resources you'll never be able to use because tab versions are not available.

I think people get intimidated because they think they have to read new music like flash cards. Very few people can sight read on the fly and very few times would that be necessary. Even solo competitions give you a few minutes to look at a piece and silently "rehearse" before testing.
 
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#90
hrodbert696 said:
What's not good is becoming a "tab monkey," a person who just learns TABs off the internet and thinks they "know the song" when in fact they have no idea what key it's in, what the chord progression is or even what notes they're playing.
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This has been my experience. Really frustrating when the lead guitarist starts wailing away with his rehearsed fingerings in the wrong key because he doesn't know his fretboard. When the tone deaf don't know they're tone deaf....
 
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#91
5544 said:
In another thread, people are telling the OP to stop working with tablature learn how to read music.

When I read tablature:

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

I see the following:

G, A, G on E string
C, D on A string
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Yes, but where are the rests? Can you tell me if those are quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.? Can you tell which key the song is in? Music notation contains a wealth of information that can quickly be gathered once it's learned. Tablature is great. It does a great job of quickly getting your fingers in a place, but it doesn't offer the musician much more than that. IMHO, I wouldn't see it as an either/or proposition. And I would definitely try to learn how to read. It's just another tool to use, that way.
 
#93
I play in my church's praise band and I am a super newb (only paying for 4 months, not even kidding) but I have been studying theory for awhile since I have started and stopped learning numerous times. I just needed a reason to get serious, but I digress. Anyway, I need to learn this song that is coming up in a few weeks, I was handed sheet music for a guitar, it has the chords written on top of the staff. Off to Youtube I go to see if anybody has a cover of this thing so I can get the rhythm and the hooks for it. Sure enough, there is a dude with a cover and tabs for it. One problem, he is playing in a different key. I recognized this right off the bat. So I transposed what he was playing in my head and making notes on my sheet music anything I liked. There is no way I could have done this without having some understanding of music theory. I say all that to say that I use everything I can to learn a song be it sheet music, tabs, knowledge and of course my ears. Use every tool available, no one way is proper or the best.
 
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#94
5544 said:
In another thread, people are telling the OP to stop working with tablature learn how to read music.

When I read tablature:

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

I see the following:

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

I also look at the note lengths in the sheet music above the tablature.

Now can someone explain to me why that is worse than standard sheet music?
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there is nothing wrong with tab, to each their own. i learned to read music back when i started taking lessons, but also use tab. i think you should go with is comfortable for you.
 
#97
okcrum said:
Something like this, if I were learning it as opposed to reading it, I might mark the fingers used over the notes, and any open strings (helpful for otherwise "impossible" position changes). It's a good habit to scan for the highest and lowest notes since you've got to get to those anyway. Both of these sound like they'd help transitioning from tab, since you'd be used to using finger numbers. They also come in handy the first few times reading a chart, since there's usually time to mark the opens and the fingerings at the extremes - just not every note!
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For this lick I just found it easier to tab it out to remember slides/pull off's
WP_20160331_14_27_12_Pro.jpg


But then again I've never really dug into the whole tone scale and I found most of fingerings awkward, so assigning numbers for fingers wouldn't be enough for this(for me anyways)
 
#99
I read both tabs and notated music, and I grew up using both to learn songs. I show up to gigs, never having heard or seen the music before, and can play it near perfect the first time through (while on stage in front of an audience) by sight reading notated music. I can't do that sight reading tablature the first time through. I'm curious if anyone can... I get paid simply because I can sight read notated music well. Connecting the dots of reading the notes and trying to make music out of them is like playing a video game for me. It's fun!

Tabs aren't bad, neither are notes. They are both a means of communicating music. One is just more efficient than the other, I think.
 
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#100
Tablature isn't bad, per se, just less than desirable. There is a lot that can be shown through sheet music that tablature fails to do so. Plus, sheet music is standardized, so that any other musician can look at your music (provided they can understand bass clef, but that's another argument) and know what is going on.
 
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