Country Blues > Country Blues Licks and Lessons

Tabs (In TablEdit Format)

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SteveMcBill:
There doesn't seem to be anywhere else to post/share tabs on this site so I hope I am doing the correct thing by posting here.  Certainly I don't want to be breaking any group etiquette.  Hope you enjoy the tabs attached.

They include versions of: Blake's Rag, Blakes Fancy (a composition by Mike Martin), Hooleys (a boogie composition), Police Dog Blues (an alternative tune by Mike Martin), Richland Women Blues, Sugar Babe, That'll Never Happen No More and Truckin' Little Baby.

The tunes are in TablEdit - a free viewer/player can be downloaded from http://www.tabledit.com

Anyone else with tabs they would like to share??  Any reason there isn't a Tab subject area Slack ?

Steve

waxwing:
Anyone interested in finding a lot of tab should definitely check out Steve's excellent tab site by clicking on the link at the bottom of his posts, if you haven't already done so. Perhaps, Steve, as space is at a premium here, a link would suffice.
As you were wondering why we don't have a specific area for trading tab, I'll point out that the focus for a lot of us here is to develop our ear and to move away from being dependent on others transcribing songs for us. You'll notice that John M.'s online lessons do not include tab so that one learns the songs entirely auditorally. You can easily loop short sections of the lessons and play along with John until you are ready to move to the next section. Not only does this excercise your ear but also your memory. It really works, too, and John explains the playing very carefully. Many are intimidated by this at first, but I encourage everyone to give it a try. Many of the songs are not difficult and it is a very liberating experience. John is also creating a series of lessons to train our ears to hear the guitar positions being used in a piece. The first lesson (C & E) is out and another is on the way.
This is not to say that tab is not a valuable tool for those starting out who may not be able to get instruction otherwise, and your site is a great resource. There is much more focus on this kind of learning at the Woodshed and somewhat at the IGS forum, which I've noticed you have also discovered lately. Perhaps you could set up a way for others to post tab on your site and create an informative logo/link in your signature panel here to lead folks there, not to mention in the links section. I think that would be a great, efficient interface, and a better use of the resources here.
BTW, many of us post on these various sites and after a while you will become more aware of the different focus of each site and may gravitate more to one or another. Differences are good and I would hate to see all of these sites become homogenous. I particularly like the focus here on getting one's ears deeper into the music, especially the music of the more obscure, but still great, players.
All for now.
John C.

SteveMcBill:
Many thanks for the pointers John- much appreciated.

Development of one's 'ear' is a very important aspect of our style of playing (basically any move away from pure classical which relies so heavily on exact replicas of set pieces delivered via music notation). However, to me (and this is a very personal opinion), it seems a shame that if you put in a lot of effort and time into developing an arrangement then the next person who wants to play it has to put in the same effort all over again - duplication of effort.  To me, the production of a tab which acts as a road-map to playing the tune,, enables one to share the arrangement far more easily, particularly in this digital age.

Please do not get me wrong, the tab is not the be all and end all - even using a system as good as TablEdit - the road-map provides the basics of which notes to play in what sequence BUT the aspects of speed, timing, rubato, feeling, the development of the piece over time (additional notes, notes removed, sections of other tunes incorporated), the dynamics, the emotion, and the delivery are all personal items which make the piece your own and which cannot be shown on tab. The tab is merely a short-hand starting point to cut down the time involved - not the reduction of the learning process.  Playing to others and with others are all very important parts of the process but why make everyone start from scratch for every tune.

Another reason I produce tabs is because as I get older so my memory for how to play certain tunes seems to deteriorate.  A decent tab allows me to 're-learn' a tune I used to play but have now forgotten much more quickly than sitting there for hours with my guitar trying to get my memory to work again.

Anyway, each to their own. I post my own stuff and that of friends etc. to try to help but I do realise there are many other different, and no less valid, ways of achieving the results we all desire.  I must admit that my own 'ear', despite the time I have been playing, arranging, transcribing teaching and playing, is very slow.

Regarding the postings of the tabs - yes fine, I am quite happy for the link to my site to represent the available arrangements. I posted just the blues related ones in case members might not be aware they are available. Am quite happy for Slack to delete when/if we run up against space problems. I can see I still have quite a bit to learn about the dynamics of the group and about the arrangements for its running, space quotas etc. Please do help me to learn. I hope to be here for the duration - my main interest, and certainly my main listening interest, is in CB.

Cheers for now, thanks, and have a good 2005.

Steve.

GhostRider:
Steve:

I for one agree with you're point of view. I see no reason why everyone who wants to learn an old blues shouldn't have a shortcut to find the notes, without having to repeat some one elses effort every last time.

I would never have learned to play country blues in the beginning if it were not for S. Grossman TAB. And the records.

Our time on earth is too short to needlessly repeat the work of others. And you know that it's impossible to learn a song from TAB alone, no matter how good the notation is.

Climbin' down,
Alex

uncle bud:

--- Quote from: waxwing on January 01, 2005, 02:31:17 PM ---
As you were wondering why we don't have a specific area for trading tab, I'll point out that the focus for a lot of us here is to develop our ear and to move away from being dependent on others transcribing songs for us. You'll notice that John M.'s online lessons do not include tab so that one learns the songs entirely auditorally. You can easily loop short sections of the lessons and play along with John until you are ready to move to the next section. Not only does this excercise your ear but also your memory. It really works, too, and John explains the playing very carefully. Many are intimidated by this at first, but I encourage everyone to give it a try.

--- End quote ---

This says a lot, IMO. I have learned with tab and still do on occasion but I have a love-hate relationship with it that leans more towards the negative these days. I find I get tired of hearing 10 different guitar players playing Stefan Grossman tabs. Far more important is developing the vocabulary of country blues guitar, developing your ear anf figuring out your fave tunes, IMO. Yes, tab provides a useful roadmap, and I could see why people might not want to reinvent the wheel, but if I'd figured out some tunes on my own instead is learning from Grossman tabs (and I learned a lot) I might be playing the stuff better today.

edited to add: I should also say that there are lots of places on the net to get tab and we can add links to those sites whenever people recommend them, but that in general we're not looking to become a tab warehouse.

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