Now About These "TAB" Things...

[Your Pal]

Hi, and thanks for reading. I've been a bassist for some 10+ years now, and I
need some help. I keep seeiing requests for "TAB" files. I am not really
sure what they are. I assume that they are some type of system for
transposing notes to numbers. Here are my questions:

What is the concept?
Is this similar to the Nashville Numbering System?
Where is this used? (Where in the music industry)
Is this something I can expect to see on a gig? (In place of a lead sheet,etc)

In short, should I learn this for reasons other than general exposure to
something musical? Or is this a tool with limited practical applications?

Your thoughtful responses are truly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Jim

[Praveen Reddy]

Your Pal (jaz...@jazzman.seanet.com) wrote:
:
: Hi, and thanks for reading. I've been a bassist for some 10+ years now, and I

: need some help. I keep seeiing requests for "TAB" files. I am not really
: sure what they are. I assume that they are some type of system for
: transposing notes to numbers. Here are my questions:

It is TABLATURE! You is the same as going through a guitar magazine, and
looking at the sheet music where they use #'s instead of notes to
indicate frets to hit.

yours,

pkr

[Florian -FDj- Dejako]

In article <4p75ea$4...@kaleka.seanet.com>, jaz...@jazzman.seanet.com
(Your Pal) wrote:

>Hi, and thanks for reading. I've been a bassist for some 10+ years now, and I
>need some help. I keep seeiing requests for "TAB" files. I am not really
>sure what they are. I assume that they are some type of system for
>transposing notes to numbers. Here are my questions:

I guess this can best be described by posting a sample tab here:

From: Guitar For The Practicing Musician - October 1986
Original Transcription by: Andy Aledort
Converted by: Mario D'Alessio
The blacksmith...
w w w w h h h E E h+e 2 w 5 E e e s E e e s
+-----+---+---+---+-----+---+---+-------------+-----+---------------------+
|4:-R-|-R-|---|---|2:---|---|---|*4:---------*|*-R-*|-7---7---5-(5)H7-5-5-|
|4:---|---|---|---|4:---|-5-|---|*4:---------*|*---*|---7---7-------------|
+-----+---+-5-+-5-+---3-+---+-1-+----5-5-5----+-----+---------------------+

e s e s E e s e s s e s e s E E e e s s s s s s E e s e e
+---------------------+---------------------+--------------------------+
|-----4-5-------7-----|---------------5-4-5-|-7-5-4---R-4--------------|
|-5-7-----0-0-0---5-6-|-7-7-(7)/9-7-5-------|-------7-----5-5---5-12\X-|
+---------------------+---------------------+-----------------5--------+

e s s s s H w w
+-------------+-7-+-7-+ This one is from my most favorite song,
|---7---R-----|---|---| Rush's Closer To The Heart. I learned
|-5-----------|-5-|-5-| to play it using this bass tab.
+-----5---5-3-+---+---+

The idea of a btab (a btab is a tab for bass) is to note the fingering of
music rather than "only" the notes. Since fingering can also be noted in
old-style sheet music, tabs allow nothing that sheet music wouldn't except
for one advantage: tabs can easily be transmitted via ASCII text, as in
newsgroups, emails, or downloadable text files from ftp servers throughout
the Net. In addition to that it can also easily be explained to people who
never learned to read sheet music.

The concept: there are 4 horizontal lines, representing the 4 strings of
your bass (in a tab, the lowest sounding string is the one to the bottom.
The number of horizontal lines is different on guitar tabs or tabs for
5-stringed basses).
The song starts in a 4/4th, the bassist playing two "w"hole "R"ests at the
beginning, then playing two "w"hole (see the "w" at the top of the tab)
A's on the E-string. The A is notated as the 5th fret on the lower-most
horizontal line which is the E-string. Continue in a 2/4th, play a "h"alf
note G (3rd fret E-string), D (5th fret on A-string), and an F (1st fret
on E-string).
The following is 4/4th again, the next measure being repeated twice.

There are some more symbols to mention here which are usually explained at
the bottom of a tab:

>==========================================================================
>
> __ Created using the Bass Tab Creator
> +|oo|+ by Mario D'Alessio (motcid!marble!dalessio)
> +|oo|+
> || NOTES:
> ||
> || Capital durations are dotted notes
> || (equal to 1.5 times the duration value)
> ||
> || x
> || +----+ +----+
> _ || _ |*--*+ = MEASURE |4:--| = TIME
> \\_||_// |*--*+ REPEATS |4:--| SIGNATURES
> | [] | +----+ x=# of Repeats +----+
> | || |
> / [] \ + = TIE ^ = TRIPLET > = BEND
> \______/ H = HAMMER ON \ = SLIDE TO FRET R = Rest
> P = PULL OFF \X = SLIDE TO NOWHERE ~ = Trill
>
>==========================================================================
>
>For corrections or questions on the tabs, contact the author. If no e-mail
>address is included, contact Frank for guitar tabs or Mario for bass tabs,
>addresses below.
>
>For remarks, suggestions or additions on the tab 'archive', contact:
>
>Frank (guitar) or Mario (bass)
>(scha...@serc.nl) (motcid!marble!dale...@uunet.uu.net)
>
>HAPPY PLAYING!!

I bet there's a tab FAQ somewhere, as a start you might look at

"THE BASS TAB PAGE!!"
http://sfbox.vt.edu:10021/D/dladieu/tab/

for more info and more sample tabs.

I've never seen a song in the Nashville numbering system, so I can't tell
how much a tab has in common with that system.

Tabs have become pretty popular in the Internet, and it can also be seen
in books or magazine workshops. So far, printed media usually also include

sheet music, but you might expect this to change some day.

I prefer sheet music too since it can be read much faster, given enough
practicing, and is more accurate. So I guess everybody should at least
have
seen a (bass) tab in his life and if only to see that sheet music is so much
more useful.

Happy Playing!

Florian

--
Florian Dejako, IRC: FDj on #macdev
private: f...@muc.de, work: f...@miles.de