johnson430
Well-known member
Notation vs. Tabs
I saw a post recently where someone was talking about remembering the tabs for songs and it got me to thinking...
I started out playing ukulele by looking at tabs and not paying attention to the musical notation. After a year of playing, I have started covering up the tabs with tape on a song so that I concern myself with only the true musical notes themselves and not be tempted to look at tabs for help.
For me, using tabs is like reading the the abridged and simplified language version of a Shakespearean play. Sure, you might get the general idea of the major themes and symbolism in the story but you miss the way the man wanted you to experience the story...
all the wonderful word play and rhythmical flow of the dialogue, etc
.
The same can be said of tabs, they "get you through the song" but understanding the notes, their lengths, rests and how these all work together in each measure and how the measures connect to each other give the music it's emotion, power and rhythmical nature.
Furthermore, tabs never helped me to be good at keeping a beat because the numbers on the lines never tell you how long to play them or when a rest comes or anything else about the color of the note and how it flows to the next note; all you get are numbers on lines.
I personally wish I would have taken the time to read music notation first, it is a task in itself; but in the end, I believe the benefits far outweigh the time spent learning to play a song "the right way" using music notation.
Thoughts?
How I am improving my reading of music notation:
A free iPad app called Music Tutor. And lots of practice on my uke. Also, I put Mel Bay's Modern Ukulele Method Grade 1 into my practice book rotation. There are no tabs in the book; although he shows you were the notes are on the fret board at the beginning.
I saw a post recently where someone was talking about remembering the tabs for songs and it got me to thinking...
I started out playing ukulele by looking at tabs and not paying attention to the musical notation. After a year of playing, I have started covering up the tabs with tape on a song so that I concern myself with only the true musical notes themselves and not be tempted to look at tabs for help.
For me, using tabs is like reading the the abridged and simplified language version of a Shakespearean play. Sure, you might get the general idea of the major themes and symbolism in the story but you miss the way the man wanted you to experience the story...
all the wonderful word play and rhythmical flow of the dialogue, etc
.
The same can be said of tabs, they "get you through the song" but understanding the notes, their lengths, rests and how these all work together in each measure and how the measures connect to each other give the music it's emotion, power and rhythmical nature.
Furthermore, tabs never helped me to be good at keeping a beat because the numbers on the lines never tell you how long to play them or when a rest comes or anything else about the color of the note and how it flows to the next note; all you get are numbers on lines.
I personally wish I would have taken the time to read music notation first, it is a task in itself; but in the end, I believe the benefits far outweigh the time spent learning to play a song "the right way" using music notation.
Thoughts?
How I am improving my reading of music notation:
A free iPad app called Music Tutor. And lots of practice on my uke. Also, I put Mel Bay's Modern Ukulele Method Grade 1 into my practice book rotation. There are no tabs in the book; although he shows you were the notes are on the fret board at the beginning.
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