Tabs..yay or nay?

[aviatornation]

I only started to learn guitar back in april.The first portion of the book I got showed me how to read tabs.Im also in the process of actually learning to read music.Do you think tabs are overated?Or do they serve a purpose?Which is better,tabs or actually learning to read music?Your thoughts?

[Davis Webb]

I hate them and have never used them.

[rick-slo]

Tabs are great, sounds recordings are great, videos are great, standard notation is great, help from friends is great, whatever you can find is great.

[Fruitloop]

I don't get all the hate for tabs. They are incredibly useful, especially for beginners. Makes learning songs much easier which in turn motivates to play. Just don't rely on them for everything . Study some basic theory, learn the notes on the fretboard and improvise along with songs.

Oh and use a program for the tabs (like tuxguitar or guitarpro). Practice reading the rhytm from the standard notation above the tab. Sneakily you'll develop some sight reading skills in the process, later if you want to learn standard notation it will be much easier.

[JonPR]

Tabs are like training wheels on a bike. Very useful for beginners, but limiting once you develop beyond a certain point.

Learning notation opens up the whole world of printed music, which is extremely valuable for self-tuition, and makes you a literate musician, on level with other literate musicians. It means you can play from anything, it doesn't have to be specially prepared for you as a guitarist. You can play a piece from notation that you have never heard before. You can't do that from tab - because tab doesn't show duration, and only rarely shows timing.

So I'm with rick-slo here. Any and every learning aid is great. It's possible to learn guitar without tab (every guitarist did, once upon a time). It's also possible without notation. It's possible without either!
But why deny yourself an aid? The point is to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each one, and neither reject nor expect too much of any single one.

[Kerbie]

I find tabs helpful, but of limited use. I generally prefer to read the actual music.

Since any particular note can be played in multiple places on a guitar, I think tabs can help identify exactly where the guitarist is playing on the fretboard.

[HHP]

As far a fretted instruments are concerned, its a push. Anything you can get from standard notation can be had in tablature. The problem is tab is non-standard so you see wildly varying quality in terms of including all the information that might be available.Tabs actually predate notation by a few hundred years. Both are simply a means to an end, neither is infallible, whichever gets you to the music most efficiently is best for you.

[dneal]

Originally Posted by HHP

As far a fretted instruments are concerned, its a push. Anything you can get from standard notation can be had in tablature. The problem is tab is non-standard so you see wildly varying quality in terms of including all the information that might be available.Tabs actually predate notation by a few hundred years. Both are simply a means to an end, neither is infallible, whichever gets you to the music most efficiently is best for you.

+1

tenobligatorycharacters

[Dru Edwards]

I like tab and use it when I'm struggling with a passage. You have to watch out though, there are a lot of inaccurate tabs out there but you tend to realize that quickly.

[gitardude]

Both together, complementary, very useful.

[stanron]

Tab used with notation is useful. Notation is best for rhythm and is good for accessing music for other instruments. Tab gives one solution to the question of which of two or more options for any note do you choose to play. Use notation and tab together.

[steveh]

Try reading something fluently in CGCDGA, CGCGCD, CGDGCD etc in standard notation...see what I mean?

Standard works brilliantly in EADGBE and dropped D. Shaky in DADGAD, and the rest; well.

Depends how much you play in non-standard tunings. I also find standard notation difficult unless there is a lot of additional notation re which string a particular note is to be played on - self-evident with TAB.

cheers,
Steve

[MICHAEL MYERS]

I think tab is great. With rhythmic notation it's like the full picture, without it, it encourages the use of the ears to "get" the rhythm.

Notation isn't superior but it enables better communication with other non tab readers.
An over reliance on notation can sometimes lead to lazy ears syndrome however.

I can use either but my ears are the most valuable learning tool.

If I was deaf, I'd likely become notation dependent.

[JoeCharter]

As previous posters have demonstrated, both standard notation and tablature have their pros and cons.

Tablature and standard notation complement each other rather well.

Being classical trained myself, I can understand why some musicians frown upon the use of tablature.

But being a pop/rock musician as well, I can attest that they're wrong. Tablature has been instrumental in my learning/playing/composing on the guitar. Doesn't mean I couldn't read a saxophone part if I had to.

In the end, if it helps you to learn a piece better/faster, that's all that matters. Written music exists so that it can be played, not the other way around.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by kerbie

I find tabs helpful, but of limited use. I generally prefer to read the actual music.

Me too. (Seeing as that was how I learned in the first place.)

Originally Posted by kerbie

Since any particular note can be played in multiple places on a guitar, I think tabs can help identify exactly where the guitarist is playing on the fretboard.

In principle yes, but you only have the tabber's opinion on that.
And the downside is it can make you think that's the "correct" way - or even the only way - to play something, when it may only be the "preferred" way (preferred either by the original player or by the tabber).

I use both notation and tab with my students, but I sometimes offer alternative tab positions when two or more ways are equally good.