Sheet music & TAB: why is this 3 beats, not 4?

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wqking

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Please see the attached image, it's a snippet of a piece (Adelita) from renaissance-ukukele.

I have two questions,
1, The piece is 3/4 beats, so a measure should contain only 3 beats. But in the sheet notation, the 1st bar contains 4 beats, because the 3rd note which has an accent symbol is a half note. It's not a print error. I checked the classical guitar score for the same music, it has the similar form.
When I play the source TablEdit file in TefView, it plays correctly as 3 beats, and the 3rd note only lasts quarter note time.
Why that happens? Is it because the 4th note is an accompaniment?
2, On the TAB, there are some numbers in circle. For example, the 1st and 3rd notes in both first and second bar, and the 1st note in the third bar. What does it mean? I don't think it means "softer note", otherwise the 4th notes on the first bar should be in circle too.

Thanks

2021-06-16 18_47_15.jpg
 
1) There are only three beats in the bar. You are right that the third note is a half note. The remaining note is not played after the half note, but at the same time. There are two voices, voice 1 is the eighth notes followed by the half note; voice two starts with a half note and then the quarter note (if I recall the image you added correctly).

2) I think the notes in circles are all half notes. Check the rest of the score and tabs to see if they correspond.
 
The numbers with circles around them in the tab are half notes.
This is 3/4 time. There are two lines playing together. The treble line, with the stems facing upward and the bass line with the stems facing down. You will see that each line has 3 beats.

Edited to add: I see that Sabine (Ms. Bean) has said essentially the same thing as I have, a couple of minutes earlier, making my post redundant.

Yours wasn't there when I started to compose mine Sabine. Honest.
 
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Ms Bean said:
1) There are only three beats in the bar. You are right that the third note is a half note. The remaining note is not played after the half note, but at the same time. There are two voices, voice 1 is the eighth notes followed by the half note; voice two starts with a half note and then the quarter note (if I recall the image you added correctly).

2) I think the notes in circles are all half notes. Check the rest of the score and tabs to see if they correspond.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the fast and helpful response.

1) Then how to know the 4th note is played at the same time of the 3rd note? Is it because the 4th note is an accompaniment (the stem is downward)? EDIT: I think I've understood it. Now I have deeper understanding on how harmonic works. :)

2) You are so correct. Yes, all notes in circles are half notes. I checked the whole piece, that's true. I think it's because there is no way to express the half note in the TAB without the circle.
 
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Jim Yates said:
Edited to add: I see that Sabine (Ms. Bean) has said essentially the same thing as I have, a couple of minutes earlier, making my post redundant.

Yours wasn't there when I started to compose mine Sabine. Honest.
Click to expand...

That's not a matter. I started writing my reply to Ms Bean before your post, and my reply appeared after your post. That happens every now and then. ;)
 
Glad to know you found our replies helpful. Jim and I seem to have been working on our posts at the same time. :)
 
wqking said:
Thank you so much for the fast and helpful response.

1) Then how to know the 4th note is played at the same time of the 3rd note? Is it because the 4th note is an accompaniment (the stem is downward)? EDIT: I think I've understood it. Now I have deeper understanding on how harmonic works. :)

2) You are so correct. Yes, all notes in circles are half notes. I checked the whole piece, that's true. I think it's because there is no way to express the half note in the TAB without the circle.
Click to expand...

The 4th note is not played at the same time as the 3rd note. The 3rd note is played on beat #2, the 4th is on beat #3. The stem direction does not mean accompaniment; also, the 4th note is not usually called accompaniment.

I think you may be confusing the number of notes vs the beat. Your music is 3/4 time, that means there are 3 beats per measue (3), each beat is a quarter note weight (4).

Not just half notes. Tab doesn't have any standard way of indicating the note value, so in your case, the author uses lines for quarter notes, line/flag for eighth, and circles for half.
 
clear said:
Not just half notes. Tab doesn't have any standard way of indicating the note value, so in your case, the author uses lines for quarter notes, line/flag for eighth, and circles for half.
Click to expand...

Granted, there isn't a standard way of writing tablature, but if we want to indicate timing, the best way is to borrow from standard notation. An eighth not uses a stem with a flag, a quarter note uses a stem, a half note uses a stem and a cicle and a wholenote uses just a circle. Dotted notes and rests also work the same way as standard notation. That appears to be the way this tab is written.
 
Bill1 said:
Does the piece have two voices? So you are playing two voices at once, and each voice part has 3 beats?
Click to expand...

When I briefly looked at it the impression that I gained was of two voices, that’s not unusual but not comfortably within my lowly skill level - credit to those that try such stuff. If I were to tackle it then I’d be seeking to split, hear and master the voices individually before combining them.
 
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Bill1 said:
Does the piece have two voices? So you are playing two voices at once, and each voice part has 3 beats?
Click to expand...

Yes there are two voices.

Graham Greenbag said:
When I briefly looked at it the impression that I gained was of two voices, that’s not unusual but not comfortably within my lowly skill level - credit to those that try such stuff. If I were to tackle it then I’d be seeking to split, hear and master the voices individually before combining them.
Click to expand...

It's far beyond my current skill level as well, I'm beginner. But it's nice to prepare to learn some difficult stuff ahead to know which skills to master in the future. :)
 
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merlin666 said:
Thanks I have downloaded this though the many high notes will probably not sound clean with my clumsy fingers.
Click to expand...

That is transcribed from Classical Guitar directly, so it's not easy piece. Not only it has a lot of high notes, but also there are some grace notes and slur notes.

R.J.Putter (a member on this forum) has a simplified arrangement of Adelita in his "50 Classical Themes for low G Ukulele". Its most notes are on low 4 frets, and it's pretty good. Though it lacks the grace notes and slur notes. (Putter may fix me if I'm wrong). Any way, it's a good start to enjoy the beautiful Tarrega Adelita on Ukulele.
You can download here
 
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