Guitar tab or by ear

mark
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:10 am

The other thread about Guitar Pro set me thinking.

Broadly there seems to be two types of guitar players.

Those who use guitar tab to learn everything and often can't learn any thing unless they have the tab.
And those who play everything by ear and often can't read tab.

It seems that if a player is firmly entrenched in one method they almost certainly want to get the skills of the other.

Which camp are you in, or can you do both?
If you are in one camp do you wish you could do the other?

I'm firmly in the tab group. My musical ear is not good and but for tab and guitar tuners I would probaly have given up years ago. I put praticaly everything I know into tab (in GuitarPro). I also have to do this to remind me what I should be playing. If I didn't write it down I would have forgotten it by the next day.
I have looked at so much guitar tab over the years that I can pretty much sight read it for simple things.

I very much want to get the skills to play by ear.


Lavallee
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:39 am

Mark, I am firmly entrenched in the Tabs and Guitar Pro approach because I have no musical ear what so ever. Even though I play some fairly complicated songs, I have a hard time tuning my guitar without a tuner. Without the ear training, you can only progress so much. I saw that you are making some good efforts with your ear training on your video True Colors.

I would really like to see ear training lessons fom TG. I need to have some structure to learn this. Learning a song with tabs is easier because you have a clear goal ahead of you. Ear training is different: how do you know the steps to aim to measure your improvements.

Marc


MarkM
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:54 am

Mark,

Good question. TAB, TAB, TAB and some more TAB. It's the only way I have been learning songs for a long time now. I wish that I had the talent to do it by ear. I know a few folks who can do that and it is amazing. What I can say now though is that if someone just tells me the chord progression and the strum pattern I can pick it up fairly quickly. However if the song is of the fingerpicking variety, I can't even imagine doing it without TAB. I find that my biggest issues are with strum patterns and timing/phrasing. That is something that I need to work on throughout this year.



MarkM


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Music Junkie
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 10:36 am

Mark:

Good question. When I first started learning a couple of years ago, I was thrown into the world of sheet music and reading notes and time. It was very challenging, but fun. I then discovered TAB and thought it was pretty neat. Although it made finding the correct position for notes much easier, it did not help with timing (course listening to the song could get that for you). Since I have been working on transcription, it has helped in both areas. I am currently trying to do my next transcription in Guitar Pro (finding it harder than it should be because I lack the knowledge of the program itself). It is forcing me to be much more aware of time signatures and note lengths. I think we would all be better players if we had a firm grasp on both types....

MJ


reiver
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:07 am

Hmmm. This is tricky. I seem to fall somewhere between he 2 camps.
I can sight read simple tab (just about), that is I can play the right notes. But if I'm not too familiar with the song then I can find it difficult to get the phrasing/timing correct. I then have to listen back to the original song to get me on the right track.
I don't have a great natural ear for music. If I try to pick something up without the tab, I struggle unless I can watch it being played. For example, I've being looking, on and off, at the play through of Rhiannon where Neil adds some melody at the 8th and 1st frets plus a little link which aren't covered in the lesson and I've worked out what he's playing, but that's as much from watching as listening. But I do know when I get it right. (that's not to say I can always play it!)
Like you Mark, I'm firmly in the camp of tuner users, but that probably hasn't helped in developing my musical ear over the years.
I know that to improve my tab reading will just take more practice. I don't know if I can improve my ear.

r


Catman
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:22 pm

I can read both TAB and standard notation, and also pick up tunes by ear--but none particularly well. So I guess I have a toe in each camp.


BigBear
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:31 pm

I hate to throw a monkey wrench into this discussion but I will just for fun! I think guitarists should also know how to read standard musical notation.

TAB provides no timing or rythym information so practically speaking it is impossible for a guitarist to pick up a piece of TAB and learn a new song if you haven't heard it before. But if can "read music", as it is often called, you can get pretty close.

How can you have a meaningful discussion about 1/4 or 1/8th notes, or timing when all a guitarist knows is TAB or by ear? I think we cheat ourselves because TAB is so simple and intuitive and standard notation isn't.

I would lobby for a brief TARGET theory lesson on reading standard notation for guitarists. We could all probably use a refresher course!

Cheers! :cheer:


Lavallee
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:52 pm

BigBear wrote:
I hate to throw a monkey wrench into this discussion but I will just for fun! I think guitarists should also know how to read standard musical notation.

TAB provides no timing or rythym information so practically speaking it is impossible for a guitarist to pick up a piece of TAB and learn a new song if you haven't heard it before. But if can "read music", as it is often called, you can get pretty close.

How can you have a meaningful discussion about 1/4 or 1/8th notes, or timing when all a guitarist knows is TAB or by ear? I think we cheat ourselves because TAB is so simple and intuitive and standard notation isn't.

I would lobby for a brief TARGET theory lesson on reading standard notation for guitarists. We could all probably use a refresher course!

Cheers! :cheer:
Bear I agree 100% with you. I already made the request a couple times in the forum to have rhythm lessons based on the standard notation. I bought a book on this and I am working on it every day that I practice.

We also need the ear training however (for me anyway)

Marc


jayswett
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 1:21 pm

Sadly, I'm in neither camp. I can't read tab, and I have no ear for music. I rely on videos for nearly everything I know. When Reiver posted The Rose, I tried learning it on my own, but failed, and had to go back to his video multiple times.

That will be my main goal, I think, for 2010. Learning to read tab efficiently.


mark
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Sun Dec 20, 2009 2:02 pm

BigBear wrote:
TAB provides no timing or rythym information so practically speaking it is impossible for a guitarist to pick up a piece of TAB and learn a new song if you haven't heard it before. But if can "read music", as it is often called, you can get pretty close.

How can you have a meaningful discussion about 1/4 or 1/8th notes, or timing when all a guitarist knows is TAB or by ear? I think we cheat ourselves because TAB is so simple and intuitive and standard notation isn't.
Hi BigBear
GuitarPro actually uses tab which shows the timing. The notation for the timing is very similar to standard notation.


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