The archive contains posts about and containing guitar tab.
Do you get confused by guitar tab? Or do you find tab easier to read? Simply put, tablature, or tab, shows a picture of the instrument. Woodwind and brass fingering charts, 19th century keyboard tablature, and chord frames can all be thought of as tab. However, it remains most closely linked with the guitar.
The guitar-like lute used tablature back in the renaissance, except that it sometimes used letters rather than numbers to represent the frets.
Standard notation and tablature have some features in common. Standard notation has five lines and four spaces while tab has six lines and five spaces.
Nevertheless, at the core they remain different notation systems. Standard notation acts like a graph that records the pitch height of the notes as they change over time. The lines and spaces act like a ladder that the pitch ascends to climb to higher pitches and descends to reach lower pitches. Notes move forward in time from left to right.
Alternately, tab’s lines represent the six strings of the guitar (or four on the bass guitar). The spaces mean nothing. Numbers written on the lines represent the frets. Like with standard notation, the notes move forward in time from left to right.
However, unlike standard notation, tablature cannot represent the rhythm by itself. Therefore, it often gets paired with standard notation. Tablature gives a graphical representation of the guitar neck, while standard notation provides rhythm and note information.
The following posts show how to color code tablature to make it easier for LD, ADD, and special needs students to learn tab. It also gets used in the posts that discuss special alternate tunings for guitar.
© 2021 Geoffrey Keith
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Do you want to know how Alex Lifeson tunes his guitar in the sci-fi rock opera 2112? How does experience with playing the violin or viola impact how guitarists tunes? This space opera may be the only example of a guitarist’s tuning being included as part of the finished product. At the beginning of the section entitled Discovery the hero finds a guitar, then tunes and plays it. Read more to learn about 2112’s guitar tuning.
Estimated reading time 7 minutes.
Have you just bought a parlor guitar and thought it’d be cool to learn parlor guitar style? The guitar’s tuning impacts how it sounds and what styles will sound good on it. Read more to learn how to play and tune parlor guitar style. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Are you tired of your band sounding out of tune? Can’t get the classic rock sound when jamming with your group? Read more to learn how to jam like a rock star with open E tuning. You will also learn the song “Gimme Shelter.” Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Do you want to capture the sound of 70s rock guitar? Amp settings, effects, pickups, and strings all play a role in crafting your guitar sound. Nevertheless, the tuning you choose remains an important factor in your guitar sound that you might have overlooked. You will also learn the song “Brown Sugar.” Read more to learn how to sound like a rock star with open G tuning. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Have you had a hard time getting the sound of your favorite rock guitarist? Have you ever felt frustrated that the guitar sounds out of tune? In the post, “Tune Like a Rock Star,” we talked about how Keith Richards tunes his guitar without holding down any frets. Today, you will play an 80s rock guitar style that works well with this special open tuning. Read more to learn how to play like a rock star with open G tuning. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Tablature creates a picture of the guitar neck. However, many LD students become confused by tab despite its visual appearance.
In other words, they become dazzled by the shimmer created by the contrast of the black and white lines of the notation. Color-coding the strings helps reduce the confusion that students experience, assisting them in effectively reading the score. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Frustrated that the guitar’s chords don’t sound in tune? Learn to tune the blues rock open D tuning using harmonics so you can play chords in tune. You will also learn the song “Jumping Jack Flash.” Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Frustrated that the guitar sounds out of tune? Learn to tune the classic rock open G tuning using harmonics to be able to play chords in tune. You will also learn the song “Honky Tonk Women.” Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
How you tune affects how you sound. We look at how Keith Richards tunes his special open G tuning. The post includes video interviews with Keith Richards. Learn how to tune like a rock star! Estimated reading time 3 minutes.