having hard time with memorizing tabs

[nuchdig]

Originally Posted by Tannin

It's as Glenwillow says: you are navigating through the tune by sightreading it, and that means that your brain is busy reading the marks on the paper and translating them into notes, and getting your fingers to follow. It has little attention to spare for memorising the tune.

It is exactly the same as navigating on foot or in a car: if you get from A to B by following sat-nav directions, you end up with only a hazy idea of how you got there. But if you studied a map beforehand and then paid attention to the lie of the land, by the time that you arrive you have pretty much understood and memorised the whole route. You could do it again without much effort.

The human brain has evolved amazing ability to detect, process, memorise, and manipulate sound. Few other creatures share it, and no other mammals I can think of. This is how we are able to make and appreciate music. It is also why we create and appreciate music - it is baked into our genes. All known human cultures have musical traditions, be they written or unwritten, simply because all humans are born with these abilities. It is part of us. My point here is that when you learn a tune by ear you are using the ability you were born with, one that comes naturally to you, just as it does to all other human beings. (Some of us more than others, but we all have it.) But when you learn a tune by reading dots on paper, you aren't tapping directly in to that special human ability with sound. Yes, you can still do it (because humans are adaptible) but it's a task you are less naturally talented at.

I'm going with this theory, as opposed to my getting older! I recall the good ol days of sitting down with a record player, going over and over (and over) a song. We would slow some songs down to figure them out. A great way to commit a song to memory. I still know those tunes by heart. Now, we print a tab and find the song on youtube and I am stuck with a binder full of songs I cannot remember!
Which brings me to Bob Weir. How does that guy remember the words to Desolation Row, but flub Truckin'?!

[zeeway]

I see tabs as a last resort...almost a necessary evil. I do appreciate the effort it takes to create a tab, but I would much rather watch a video that shows the players fingers making the chords.

In terms of memorization, I can remember some songs I played in my twenties much better than songs I learned recently (50 years later).

[mr. beaumont]

Tabs are tougher to memorize than sheet music, because you can't see the music "rise and fall" as clearly.

Take it in small chunks, and keep in mind the principle of letting things stew...do a part every day for 4-5 days, let it start to get pushed toward long term memory. You might be surprised if you practice something every day for a week straight, then take 2 days off, and see what happens.

[rmp]

I usually take a new songs in sections. Repeat listening is key for me through out.

I will learn a section, so I don't need the tab to preform it.

Then I go to the next section, etc... then stitch them together

It takes a lot of repetition but Muscle Memory WILL take over.

I have learned a # of alt. tuning pieces.. some of them I wont play for some time.

I'll need to listen and use the tab/score as reference, but once I get it refreshed, my hands eventually lean on muscle memory, and I can refresh a complex piece I've not played in a year or more, in a matter of a few hours.

[Wrighty]

I tend to use tabs to learn a new piece and find that I gradually remember more and look less at the tabs as time progresses. I often have to make a conscious effort at the end to wean myself off the tab completely for a few reasons. Firstly I play much better when I know the piece and don’t need to focus on music or tabs, but instead on phrasing and tone. Secondly I like to practice in different locations and it’s far easier without dragging music and a stand around. If I don’t keep a piece current with daily play, I forget it until I refresh using the tab again. I have certainly learnt pieces up to 5 mins long using this method.

[reeve21]

Eyesore--I have the same problem. I can't figure out finger style by ear, and I don't do well with video, so I'm tab dependent. The only way I've found to cure it is to stop looking at the tab ASAP, as soon as I have a feel for how it goes and can play it at a slow tempo.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by eyesore

hi i sent away for some nice guitar tabs with the CD. i sit by this computer and listen to certain tunes and then try playing them wiith the tab. for some reason ;i just can't get a grip on a few of the tunes[memorizing]... but some of the songs i get right away.. why is that ? they aren't any harder to play, my brain just won't let me play them correctly.. i do improvise though.

Listen to the CD more - look at the TABs less.

I think that pretty much sums up what a lot of folks have already said in this thread.

[eyesore]

yes these are all really good ideas.. but for some reason i'm having trouble with a few tunes that i want to learn .other tunes just come natural.why? who knows.. i know ;take the tab away asap! and listen more makes the most sense.

[lar]

For those who learn by listening, how do you recall the song years later?

1) tab it out and refer to the tabs if you forget all or part of it?

2) video a close-up of you playing it and refer to the video in the future?

3) figuring it out by again, by listening?

4) play it regularly (once every few days/week/month) so you don't ever forget it?

5) None of the above / Other?

[Andyrondack]

Originally Posted by lar

For those who learn by listening, how do you recall the song years later?

1) tab it out and refer to the tabs if you forget all or part of it?

2) video a close-up of you playing it and refer to the video in the future?

3) figuring it out by again, by listening?

4) play it regularly (once every few days/week/month) so you don't ever forget it?

5) None of the above / Other?

I learn some stuff by ear, some stuff by tab or notation, and sometimes combination of both. I have not learned anything by ear and then not played it for years, usually a few weeks or months at most. Music I learn by ear is very melodic, that's what attracted it to me and strong melodies I like are not usually a problem to recall, my exact arrangement may not come back straight away but as long as the melody sounds right I don't care. I often play tunes I like in my head, can't keep em out really.
Stuff learned by tab is completely different and unless I go over it many times for a period of a few weeks it's easily forgotten, but then the tab stuff I learn tends not to be particullarly melodic, Stefan Grossmans ragtime arrangements and I have forgotten how many times I have had to re learn Davy Graham's Anjie, this kind of music tends not to have a strong melody line but is more depedent on chords and intervals and bass lines, the arrangement is the music but that is not so for singable tunes .
If I do forget a tune I play along with a recording of it and it comes back pretty soon.

[Andy Howell]

There is a certain tyranny with tabs. I have lost count of the number of people I have seen who struggle so hard to follow a tab that the music has no real soul or attraction.

A tab is a start and a way of understanding some of the techniques that the player is using. Don't worry too much about complexity. So long as it sounds really nice it doesn't matter how closely you have followed the tab.

[TBman]

This is the only notation/tab that I use. If something I want to play just has tab, I'll punch it into GuitarPro so I have notation and tab. The tab merely has the fret position and doesn't attempt to imply duration, etc.

[Sean0913]

Originally Posted by wguitar

IMHO, TABS are useful for reference -- while learning that will last comes from repetition and practice. Also, memorizing in general has it's limits as a learning tool in that it teaches WHAT something is, vs. a deeper UNDERSTANDING of the how's and why's of something (say a measure of music, a particular musical note or chord, how a sequence of musical parts in a song fit together, and the like). This is not to say that we need to bury ourselves in music theory, but the more understanding of music and playing techniques we acquire, the easier it will be to learn subsequent songs.

All the best!

Cheers!

I agree with this wholeheartedly. You can use these to get an idea where to play it, but don't feel that you have to be strict with it. If something different suits you, definitely try it.

Music theory can bridge some gaps that explain what is going on, contextually, but in itself it isn't everything. In the simple case of a TAB, you might spot how a certain part comes from a certain scale, or even subdivision, like a 3 notes per string concept, and if you know that scale, then it becomes easier to "see" what is going on.

I think having some context, makes things less abstract, and your brain files/stores the information differently.

[nightchef]

Originally Posted by lar

For those who learn by listening, how do you recall the song years later?

1) tab it out and refer to the tabs if you forget all or part of it?

2) video a close-up of you playing it and refer to the video in the future?

3) figuring it out by again, by listening?

4) play it regularly (once every few days/week/month) so you don't ever forget it?

5) None of the above / Other?

I may be just lucky in this, but music tends to stick in my brain once I’ve spent significant time/attention on it. I may lose a few of the details over time, but I can usually restore the missing pieces with just a couple of listens. (If it’s technically difficult, I may have to spend considerable time re-woodshedding it, but that’s a different issue.)

What I would say to the OP is: don’t memorize songs, learn them. The difference matters. Learning a piece of music means really grokking its internal logic and “story arc”, so that the details are stored in your mind not as separate bits of information occurring in succession, but as parts of an organic, fully understood whole. If this is difficult, practice—i.e., spend a lot of time learning things by ear. This is a cognitive muscle, and it can be strengthened.

The lack of resources like tab sites was arguably a good thing for developing musicians back in the 70s and 80s. We learned by listening because we had no choice — and it was great for our musical brains. (Of course it also meant we got a lot of lyrics wrong!)

[Skip Ellis]

Originally Posted by nightchef

I may be just lucky in this, but music tends to stick in my brain once I’ve spent significant time/attention on it. I may lose a few of the details over time, but I can usually restore the missing pieces with just a couple of listens. (If it’s technically difficult, I may have to spend considerable time re-woodshedding it, but that’s a different issue.)

What I would say to the OP is: don’t memorize songs, learn them. The difference matters. Learning a piece of music means really grokking its internal logic and “story arc”, so that the details are stored in your mind not as separate bits of information occurring in succession, but as parts of an organic, fully understood whole. If this is difficult, practice—i.e., spend a lot of time learning things by ear. This is a cognitive muscle, and it can be strengthened.

The lack of resources like tab sites was arguably a good thing for developing musicians back in the 70s and 80s. We learned by listening because we had no choice — and it was great for our musical brains. (Of course it also meant we got a lot of lyrics wrong!)

Very well put - we didn't have YT or much of anything else back in the 60s when I learned to play. Occasionally, I'd get a piece of sheet music that had chord diagrams but not often. Learning stuff like "Anji" was from records only or from somebody who already played it. I learned Dave Van Ronk's version of "St Louis Tickle" from a guy in the army and "Cannonball Rag" from a local bar musician. People today don't know how lucky they are. I still try not to use TAB because I don't want to play a tune like somebody else. To me, copying someone else note for note is not being a musician - being a musician means there's a certain amount of creativity involved, not being a TE clone. Learn the song in it's basic form (melody and harmony) then play it the way you want to hear it. I play lots of tunes that Chet Atkins and Merle Travis played but I don't play them like they did - I play them in that style but don't copy. About any tune that I can hear in my mind, I can play in that style.