Tabliture
or Notation
The
internet provides us with a wealth of educational resources, for the
musician these resources present themselves in the form of midi files,
chord/lyric sheets and tabliture. In this second lesson I will be discussing
the various pros and cons concerned with the modern day guitarists and
bassists personal musical language and written medium: tabliture.
Why tabtiture?
Many
of my guitar and bass students present me with transcriptions in tabliture
form which they have downloaded from one of the thousands of internet
sites boasting a wide variety of popular music styles which my pupils
wish to learn. Tabliture is a simple concept to understand and providing
that you have a recorded copy of the tune you want to learn, the results
are often quick, effective and fruitful.
If
the tabliture chart has been well transcribed, then the player can interpret
the musical passages using the correct fingerboard positions or the
best combinations of frets and strings. In fact London's Trinity College
of Music have published tabliture charts to support their Rock School
graded exam pieces as well their scale compendiums and sight reading
tests. Their system of using tabliture in conjunction with standard
notatation, almost dispenses with the need of a personal tutor. Certainly
with intermediate bassists which have a solid foundation in basic left
and right hand technique, can learn Rock School pieces even if they
can't read the notation plus the correct fingerboard positions have
been explained to save them questioning position variables.
My
experience with the Trinity Rock School exams has been on the whole
a positive one. However one of the only aspects that has caused problems
in the past has been the Tabs. I will give you an example and you can
make up your own mind as to how the use of tabliture can possibly stunt
the development of the string player.
One
of my students was preparing himself for the Rock School Grade 1 exam,
the syllabus requires exam candidates to answer a series of general
knowledge questions related to scales, keys, note names etc. A week
prior to the exam I asked the student to play various first position
notes on his bass, well, he was struggling to name the open strings!
Although his interpretation and rendition of the pieces was excellent.
The student still passed with merit. What you have to consider is whether
or not this is a music educational injustice - A London Royal Associated
Board Of Music strings candidate wouldn't have achieved as higher a
grade. But more importantly the out come of the exam would have promoted
the student to identify with scale notes and keys etc.Therefore they
would have gained a stronger grasp of musical language and communication
skills.
Tabs Good Or Bad?
Tabliture
acts as a great supplement for learning fingerboard/string combinations
and positions so long as you have supporting material e.g. recorded
or notated versions. This is because of the lack of rhythmic and dynamic
instructions. What is the rate of note change? How is tme divided? Where
are the bar lines? What feel is the track? Which section follows this
one? Of course most downloadable tabs come with a description of how
to perform the songs using the given tab frames. Be warned though, some
Tabs come with nothing but the frames themselves and they can be grossly
misleading, read on…………
A Bad Example
Two examples of searchable Tabs
G----------------------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------------------
E-5--5--5-5-5- -8-10---5--5--5-5-5--3-4 ------------
Limp
Bizkit - Mission Impossible
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-7-7-7-7-0-0-0-0
Blink
182 - Aliens Exist!
Both
the above examples are good if your bass has just an E string! Joking
aside, this transcriber has demonstrated that he has a very basic and
eliminatory knowledge of the instrument he is written for. Probably
a beginner with a healthy enthusiasm for the music he is communicating.
But with the confident ability to post their tripe in cyber space. I
know that may sound a little harsh, but no one wants a world wide web
full of inaccurate transcripts least of all the artists which created
the music.
The
examples above prove that if you only read tabliture you may have few
choices available to you. A beginner bassist may be able to understand
how to play the above songs but with a clear disregard of the fundamental
playing technique of the bass.
The following examples illustrate the above songs with correct fingerboard
and string combinations with a simple device to communicate rhythm.
If you can program your favourite tune to make a ring tone for your
mobile phone then understanding the following should be easy.
G------------------|----------------|----------------------------
D------------------ |----------------|---------------------------
A-------------3-5--|----------------|-------------------------------
E-5-5-5-5-------|5-5-5-5--3-4 -|----------------------
Limp
Bizkit - Mission Impossible
The
vertical lines (albeit, a bit crooked) divide the notes in to bars,
so at least the player can grasp the concept of time division.
G-----------------------|--------------------|---------------------|-----------------
D-----------------------|--------------------|---------------------|-----------------
A-----------------------|--------------------|-------------------- |2-2-2-2----------
E-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 |-----------0-0-0-0
Blink 182 - Aliens Exist!
To play correct rhythm, count 1&2& 3&4& throughout.
Improvements
The example below is taken from a Rock School piece, The first illustrates
tabliture supported with standard notation. The player would have to
refer to the rhythmic values on the notation stave whilst following
the tabliture.
The second example is simply a copy of the first example without the
supporting notation. However changes have been made, I simply inserted
the various rest values from the notation stave and added stems to the
Tab numbers.
Stem
off tab number = Crotchet or ¼ note
Stem with one tale = Quaver or 1/8 note
Other
note values could be illustrated …….
Stem
with more than one tale = 2 - semiquaver or 1/16 note etc.
Stem off circled tab number = Minim or ½ note
Circled tab number = Semibreve or Whole note
Any
of the above with dots (placed on the right) = dotted notes ( ½
of original value added)
Get
the idea?
Music
Software and Tabliture
There
are several music notation programs which accommodate tabliture. I have
only really had experience with Sibelius. With Sibelius you have the
facility of importing standard Midi Files an editing the parts within
the full score. There you can copy bass lines and paste them as tabliture
staves. The results are automatic and pretty accurate and the rhythm
is even readable. But you have to bear in mind that Sibelius isn't a
bass guitar specialist! Be aware that the given fingerboard positions
might not always be the most appropriate for the respective song.
Do It Yourself
Go
to the new midi files page where you can download various songs. Make
tabliture charts in Sibelius and play along with the midifile backing.
Take, with no give?
Is that you? You hear me cry! Ease your guilt and put together a collection
of midi files and create your own file sharing site and email me a link.
Better still email me your individual Tabs/ Midi files and I'll be happy
to add them to my page. The internet can only grow when more people
get involved........Till next time!
