Why are song TABs upside down?

[AV8R_GA]

Why are the lines in a TAB upside down from the orientation of the strings? All I can guess is that there is some historical reason, but it defeats me.

Thanks.

[rstaight]

Tabs are orientated with the high notes on top and the low notes on the bottom. The same as standard notation.

[niko]

Because the tab system was invented by a lefty who played like E.Cotten (with the strings upside down :-)

Or more likely, I believe it comes from the musical notation, where the low notes are on the lower lines, and the high notes on the higher lines.

[balata9999]

They are a simple shortcut for someone looking down at a piece of paper and looking down at their guitar. They line up the same way when looking down at the two in front of you. They aren't intended to be musical notation. Imagine a peg-head on the left end and a bridge on the right and the tabs are the six strings. That is all that is intended.

[619TF]

Originally Posted by AV8R_GA

Why are the lines in a TAB upside down from the orientation of the strings? All I can guess is that there is some historical reason, but it defeats me.

Thanks.

I don't see any upside down tabs. I see them as if I put the guitar upright in my lap in front of me. Matches the tab exactly.

[Pdubs76]

Originally Posted by 619TF

I don't see any upside down tabs. I see them as if I put the guitar upright in my lap in front of me. Matches the tab exactly.

^^^
THIS.

[Italuke]

Originally Posted by AV8R_GA

Why are the lines in a TAB upside down from the orientation of the strings? All I can guess is that there is some historical reason, but it defeats me.

Thanks.

Yes, historical. Lute tablature starting probably in the 15th century did it that way. Maybe even earlier, when early citterns, guitterns, etc. had only four courses.

[AV8R_GA]

Originally Posted by 619TF

I don't see any upside down tabs. I see them as if I put the guitar upright in my lap in front of me. Matches the tab exactly.

My point is that unless you play a lap steel guitar, that doesn't match a guitarist's visual orientation.

Yes, as another poster points out, putting the line for the low E string on the bottom of the tab does try to match tab orientation to musical score orientation - except that unless we are going for the extreme ends of a guitar's acoustic range, we can find most notes all over the fretboard.

My other guess to date is that an early guitarist's pregnant mother was frightened by a carnival fun-house mirror, causing irretrievable damage to the unborn child's psyche and sense of vertical orientation. Going with that today.

[phydaux]

Originally Posted by AV8R_GA

Why are the lines in a TAB upside down from the orientation of the strings? All I can guess is that there is some historical reason, but it defeats me.

Thanks.

For the same reason that the high E is the "top" string, and as you move toward the bridge you are going "up" the neck.

[cliff_the_stiff]

Originally Posted by AV8R_GA

My point is that unless you play a lap steel guitar, that doesn't match a guitarist's visual orientation.

Yes, as another poster points out, putting the line for the low E string on the bottom of the tab does try to match tab orientation to musical score orientation - except that unless we are going for the extreme ends of a guitar's acoustic range, we can find most notes all over the fretboard.

My other guess to date is that an early guitarist's pregnant mother was frightened by a carnival fun-house mirror, causing irretrievable damage to the unborn child's psyche and sense of vertical orientation. Going with that today.

Well if it were reversed, the tab would align with the guitar face down. I don’t know anyone other than EVH or SRV who play their guitars that way.

[PeterM]

Simple

Because whomever invented them, did it this way beacuse they could.

[tbeltrans]

The whole world seems upside down lately, why not TABs?

Seriously, I agree with those who say that the TABs are done reflects how we hold the guitar. Seems OK to me.

Tony

[fpuhan]

When I first learned to play (self-taught), TAB hadn't been standardized (I have a Robin Trower songbook from the early 1970s with some of the oddest TAB you can imagine). What I learned first were chord DIAGRAMS, which are also based on the fretboard layout of a right-handed guitar. In a way, TAB simply takes the DIAGRAM and lays it on its side. But rather than just provide chording, I usually see it accompanying the actual music score (which I read, but can't easily translate to the guitar).

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by AV8R_GA

My point is that unless you play a lap steel guitar, that doesn't match a guitarist's visual orientation.

True, if you're visualising the fretboard through the back of the neck. ;-)

You're not the only one who thinks tab is upside down, but you are definitely in a minority. The majority of guitar players feel it's correct as it is, matching the guitar fretboard as you look down on it. Imagine taking a piece of tab and laying it on the fretboard.

How do you feel about chord diagrams or scale patterns? Do you think they're upside down (or back to front) too? Because they follow the same principle as tab, as a map of the fretboard looking down on it.

[rllink]

They do not seem upside down to me. I guess it just depends on how your brain works.

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