Reading Tab :
--------------
2.0 TAB notation - The Basics
2.1 Other symbols used in TAB
2.2 Hammer ons and pull offs
2.3 Bends
2.4 Slides
2.5 Note length information
Writing Tab :
-------------
3.0 Getting Started
3.1 To Tab or not to tab
3.2 Things to do when writing TAB
3.3 Things to avoid
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*****************************
*** 1.0 WHAT IS TAB ***
*****************************
TAB or tablature is a method of writing down music played on guitar or bass.
Instead of using symbols like in standard musical notation, it uses ordinary
ASCII characters and numbers, making it ideal for places like the internet
where anybody with any computer can link up, copy a TAB file, and read it.
****************************************
*** 1.1 WHAT TAB WILL TELL YOU ***
****************************************
TAB will tell you what notes to play - it will tell you which string to hit
and which fret to fret it at.
TAB will tell you where hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, slides, harmonics and
vibrato are used.
TAB will tell you what tuning the piece is in. If this isn't given
explicitly, assume normal tuning. TAB should also give you information
on use of capos etc.
TAB will give you an indication of the ryhthm of the piece - i.e it will tell
you which are the long notes and which are the short notes.
However it will not tell you exactly how long or how short they are.
This leads me on to ...
******************************************
*** 1.2 WHAT TAB WILL NOT TELL YOU ***
******************************************
TAB will (usually) not tell you the note lengths of the notes - so in most
cases you will *have* to listen to the song yourself, with the TAB in front
of you to work out the ryhthm of the notes.
TAB will not tell you which fingers you use to fret which note.
TAB will (usually) not tell you anything about picking and strumming -
you will have to decide for yourself where to use upstrokes/downstrokes
and so on.
*******************************************
*** 2.0 TAB NOTATION - THE BASICS ***
*******************************************
TAB is simple to read, and should be simple to write if you want to submit
a song you have worked out yourself. The idea is this :
You start out with 6 lines (or four for bass). These correspond to the strings
of the instrument. The top line is the highest pitch string, and the bottom
line is the lowest pitch string. Below is a blank bit of TAB with the string
names at the left.
E----------------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------
Numbers are written on the lines to show you where to fret the string
with the left hand. If a zero appears , this means play the open string.
Like standard musical notation, you read from left to right to find
out what order to play the notes. The following piece of TAB would mean
play the sequence of notes (E F F# G G# A) on the bottom E string by
moving up a fret at a time, starting with the open string.
E----------------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------------
E---0--1--2--3--4--5---------------------------------------------
OK so far ?
Here we have notes being played one at a time. If two or more notes
are to be played together, they are written on top of one another,
again just like standard notation.
In the next example we have a G bar chord.
E----3------------------------------------------------------------
B----3------------------------------------------------------------
G----4------------------------------------------------------------
D----5------------------------------------------------------------
A----5------------------------------------------------------------
E----3------------------------------------------------------------
So this means play all these notes together as a chord.
You might see the same chord written like this :
E--------3--------------------------------------------------------
B-------3---------------------------------------------------------
G------4----------------------------------------------------------
D-----5-----------------------------------------------------------
A----5------------------------------------------------------------
E---3-------------------------------------------------------------
Which would mean strum the same shape starting at the bottom string, so
that each string is hit slightly later than the last string, but all notes
will ring together. Below is am example of the same shape again, but now
the gaps between the notes are bigger - so you would probably pick the
strings separately instead of slowly strumming the shape.
