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I always start my Guitar Lessons by explaining how to use Blues Guitar
Tablatures as it is a great method of
notating guitar music. Some musicians
criticise tab for being primitive because it doesn’t contain
full information on how to play a song.
That criticism is not void of justified reasons because
Blues Guitar Tablatures do not always inform the player
about all the necassary guitar techniques. Obviously
it doesn’t
matter too much for the person who wants to play their favorite
hit which they know by heart anyway, but the truth is that not all
Guitar Tablatures set the pace of playing and the rhythm.
That means that you have to listen to the song before you are
able to play it from the Guitar Tablature otherwise you won’t
know the song at all.
From my experience this is not such a big obstacle, for instance an Eric Clapton Guitar Tab is written for a well
known song of his and people already
know and like it. It's true to assume not everyone has
a perfect feel for rhythm and even when knowing the song,
it may easily be reproduced wrong.
Guitar Tablature gives an indication of the rhythm
by marking which note is long and which is short but this does
not fully replace the information on the exact length of the
note and it is not hard to make rhythmical mistakes when you
play from Guitar Tablature. Mistakes happen anyway not
only with Guitar Tablature but also with the traditional
notation which can be misinterpreted as well.
I understand critisism directed towards
Guitar Tabs but it’s impossible
to underestimate the input of publicising the
music. I strongly believe that it’s
essential to balance pros and cons before you condemn this
simple tool that is spreading and enhancing music communication
all over the world. It is part of the Music Revolution that has been spread by Guitar Heroes for over half a Century!
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