Hotel California -- Lead

[smhoffman2013]

Hi -- We have been looking at the Hotel California Lead tab, and we don't understand a lot of the symbols/markings. There are curved lines, and squiggly lines, and curved lines with 1 and a half written near them, and semi-dottedl lines, and so on. And I don't recall seeing a clear explanation of the markings at the bottom of the tab staffs -- which I believe refer to eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc. Is there somewhere on the site where this type of complex tab is explained? Our subscription is running out soon, so I hope there's a quick set of explanations on the way. I have attached the document. Thanks very much in advance.

[AndyT]

Here are some basics;

http://www.wikihow.com/Read-Guitar-Tabs

Curved lines that have a number next to them like 1/4 are bends and the number tells you how much of a step to bend. 1 is a whole step, 1/2 step....

Curved lines that just go from one note to another are either ties or slurs. If it goes from one note to the same note (C to another C), it's a tie. Add the duration of both notes and play the first one for that amount of time.

If the line goes from one note to a different note (E to a G) then it's a slur and is normally treated as a hammer on or pull off or even a slide (glissando) on guitar.

Squiggles are vibrato

Much of this comes from standard notation. If you look up notation you should find most of what you're looking for.

If you like, PM me your email and I'll send you a short bit I wrote on this.

[smhoffman2013]

Thanks very much. Have you looked at the document? I wonder if you've covered all of the unusual bits. I tried to PM you but was unable to make it work for some reason. Would like to see what you wrote. Thanks again.