Tabs and sheet music versus ear and feel
- Thread starter Orvillain
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fretworn
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That’s how I grew up in the 1970s and playing in the 80s… There was no Internet… Only cassette tapes (off the FM radio play) that you could rewind. Tune to the tape.
Sheet music was expensive.
the-trooper
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For tabs hard to say, maybe he can't be bothered to learn it exactly or simply knows he can't play it properly, so "feel".
For notation, guitarists can't read it, it's a known fact.
In any case, I think "feel" is the wrong word for this comparison. It would be like saying you won't read lyrics, you'll sing it by feel. Nothing wrong with reading lyrics or with reading tabs / sheet music. It's just a way to save time which someone else already spent.
Also nothing wrong with learning it by ear, if one has good enough ear and doesn't mind spending time on it.
There are also occasions when tabs / sheet music simply don't exist so you have to do it by ear. Done it more times than I can count.
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To me, it doesn't make an impression either way. The proof's in the pudding - how well you play the part, however you get there. Of course, if a player can pick something up by ear quickly/ immediately, that's impressive in its own right. And anyone with legitimate (notation) reading chops... well, I'm always in awe (and envious) of that. But pouring over tablature vs. pouring over a recording... different strokes.
I learn by ear as far as I can, because my ears, at this point, are better than my reading skills. But it depends on the material, too.
jay mitchell
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That's very limited information. I learn songs by ear and/or by reading standard notation and have never used tab for anything, but that's just me....
metropolis_4
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Hmm.. I don’t think it gives me any impression 
I’ve had situations where I have to learn by ear because there is no chart, and I’ve had times where I have to learn by chart because there is no recording.
I think it’s useful to be able to do both
I’ve had situations where I have to learn by ear because there is no chart, and I’ve had times where I have to learn by chart because there is no recording.
I think it’s useful to be able to do both
TSJMajesty
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That they have a better ear than me.
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Basically I'm a fan of flexibility. I can use my ears, and that is my first preference. But if someone offers me a tab or sheet music, I don't turn my nose up at it or pretend that I somehow work differently internally to the rest of the world and that having music written down could never possibly help me; and I don't invent excuses for why I don't need it.
You know when you spend a decade with another musician and you become intimately familiar with all of their weak points and fuck ups?? THAT.
You know when you spend a decade with another musician and you become intimately familiar with all of their weak points and fuck ups?? THAT.
jay mitchell
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There's a huge difference between tab and standard notation; the two are not interchangeable. By itself, tab includes only string and fret information. If you're unfamiliar with a song, you won't be able to learn it from tab alone. You can, OTOH, learn a song you've never heard before from standard notation, even down to guitar-specific information. Even a simple lead sheet contains more information about a song than tab.
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Are you familiar with guitar pro?
TSJMajesty
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Wrong. They also contain rhythm, tempo, articulation, just to name a few.
Also wrong.
And 3 strikes and you're out.
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Tabs have come a very long way. In 2022 you can tab a song and get the sheet music and notation information at the same time. All it takes is a good ear.
But really my original point was about inflexibility - some musicians I know assert they can only learn songs by ear, and I find that to be the height of whackness.
jay mitchell
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Translation: "You can add elements of SN to tab." Why bother? There's already a well-developed set of protocols for that, one that has been widely used by folks who play all sorts of instruments - not just electric guitar - for hundreds of years. Sort of like written language.
Nope. Tablature doesn't have rhythmic notation or note duration, both of which are essential to learning a song you haven't heard. Adding a second staff with standard notation - as is shown in Orvillain's screenshot above - renders the tablature completely redundant.
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jay mitchell
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You mean like I've been able to do with free downloads (e.g., Finale Notepad, which is no longer free) since at least ca. 2005? Irrelevant. In order to convey rhythmic values and note duration, you have to add SN features - or, as in your case, a second staff written in SN - to tab. SN already has those features and always has. FYI, there are well-established conventions in SN for guitar for indicating position, the string on which to play a note, and which finger(s) to fret the note(s) with. Ditto string bends and sweeps.
I know a number of musicians - mostly guitar players, but some who play other instruments - for whom that is a perfectly accurate statement. They can't read music.
IME, it's an expression of musical illiteracy.
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GuitarDave
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That they have a great ear.
andergtr
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i have pretty much always played by ear, though i had formal violin training when i was a kid for about eight years.
Bruce
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Guitar players are a funny bunch. Find me a tuba player or a French horn player that cant read standard notation. It does not exist. Guitarists look at illiteracy like some kind of badge of honor. It isnt. What it is is limiting. There are certain gigs you will not be able to take. If you’re ok with that, enjoy your life!
As far as preference, I like to have the notation if I need it or not. Sure I can learn by ear but time being as valuable as it is, I prefer to see either notation or tab. Im basically hitting the tab sites if I need something in a pinch. When someone hands me notation it makes my heart happy. I feel like Im playing with musicians again. Just please hand it to me ahead of time because my reading sure isnt what it once was. There’s something to use it or lose it. It does seem to come back fast, though.
As far as preference, I like to have the notation if I need it or not. Sure I can learn by ear but time being as valuable as it is, I prefer to see either notation or tab. Im basically hitting the tab sites if I need something in a pinch. When someone hands me notation it makes my heart happy. I feel like Im playing with musicians again. Just please hand it to me ahead of time because my reading sure isnt what it once was. There’s something to use it or lose it. It does seem to come back fast, though.
Bruce
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As for the argument between tab and SN which is better, SN is certainly more complete as to HOW those magical meat mittens are supposed to be playing a note and at what volume. You sounding like you doesn’t matter in an ensemble. “Thats how I play” is a great way to not be asked back. The conductor wants the song to be played as written. Tab doesn’t give you much of that. Some tab will not give you key or tempo information which may be critical to a part. Tab also doesn’t allow for flexibility over where on the neck to play a given part and Ive sure seen some head scratchers. A lethal site reader should be able to sit in front of a guitar part and be able to play the song performance ready the first time through with a band (or solo if that’s what it is). I have not personally met many who can do this. A few, but most readers like myself take some time to work the music out. I dont think you can really do that with tab. There just isnt enough information.
TSJMajesty
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There are so many things humans have invented to save time, and tabs are one of them. They're simply a way of notating how music is played, but only for guitar. I see nothing wrong with not being able to read standard notation, as long as tabs exist.
It's like, in my field, the old argument of whether a carpenter should know how to read a framing square in order to cut rafters. The goal is getting the roof framed in as short a time as possible, and if that means using a calculator to provide the necessary info to get the job done, I'm fine with that. Plus, it moves a tradesman through the ranks faster. Granted, if your calculator breaks, you can't do the job, but that argument applies to so many things these days, of which there's always a temporary work-around, so it really isn't a good one.
At the end of the day, it's just a communication tool, of which, imo, we have better ones for guitar. EVH couldn't read music, and we all see how that turned out.
TSJMajesty
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That's because tab is generally used to learn songs for which the original recording is readily available for the listener to learn those other nuances. I guarantee you if SN suddenly didn't exist, it would be quite easy for tab-creators to add in all the "missing" info, like dynamics. Just put f, p, ritard, and the like beneath the staff.
Tab is just specifically for guitar, whereas SN is like a language that can be used by any instrumentalist. Tab cuts the learning curve however, even though it may leave the player with a few less tools in his arsenal. But a real good argument could be made as to just how much not having those extra tools will distract from what the player can attain. I say it's very little these days.
Oh, and why would you need key information if you're just going to be playing the notated music?
