To Tab, or not to Tab- That is the question

Originally Posted by Pitar

Tab has been the crutch people lean on (blah..) when they have zero ear. IOW, they rely on their eyes to both select guitars and play music

I totally disagree with that comment... TAB is the perfect compliment to audio/visual media. and to propose that TAB users only use their eyes to select a guitar??? come on! for goodness sake!

[JeffreyAK]

Pompous generalizations aside, I think tab has value but I use in (when I use it, which isn't that often anymore) in conjunction with my ears, to help me sort out what's being played when ears alone won't do it. I wouldn't use tab to sight-read a classical piece, but that's not what it's for, it's to help you sort out where your fingers go on the fretboard. I find that reading tab is very tedious, but sometimes it's really valuable and leads to "Aha!" moments I wouldn't get to without it.

[PHJim]

I use tab or standard notation, two ways of recording music on paper, for either communicating with other musicians or as a memory aid. If I come up with something that I want to remember, I'll grab a sheet of manuscript paper and jot it down. Whether I use standard notation or tab will depend on my mood or what instrument I'm using. (If it's a 5 string banjo lick, I'll use tab.)

I rarely use other people's tabs, but I do like to flip through fiddle tune books to practice my sight reading and often I'll find a tune that's worth learning.

[PHJim]

Originally Posted by Big Band Guitar

Tab, auto-tune, capo, training wheels.

None are in themselves all that bad and have some usefulness until we become dependent on them.

You should also add standard notation to that list.