Guitar ‘Tabs’

[MattA777]

Anyone here have good musical knowledge and familiarity with tabs...?
I have a young nephew who has been and continues to attend paid lessons.
My issue with that is that despite spending over a years worth of tuition, the boy knows nothing of ‘note names’ on the guitar fretboard.
What do you think....?

[mibn2cweus]

Like so many aspects of human experience we have a capacity to enjoy the effects of music without any comprehension of or appreciation for the cause. Neither does knowing the names of notes and their correlation to positions on a keyboard or fretboard necessarily correspond to an understanding of what music is.

[emmie]

that some like sparkly kid might be able to answer that but he doesn't post or look in early, its only 6.20 am, perhaps when he is awake....

[MattA777]

2cweus
This really doesn’t deal with musical appreciation, more with the method and means of creating it.
I came from the ‘old school’ and remember one of the very first guitar tutorial methods I ever bought; on opening the book, I was confronted with a fretboard diagram showing ALL the notes and I thought about having to learn/memorise all of that before anything else! This amounted to 72 notes! And only four fingers. Not as difficult as it first seemed, but knowing these names opens up a wealth of guitar repertoire which is immense and can really expand your knowledge and music appreciation even in genres perhaps once abhorrent to your soul. TABS to me are just a quick ‘short cut’ with limitations.

[Old_Geezer]

If playing can be treated as a separate subject then I don't see that's a big issue. One can learn musical theory separately. Why not check out sites such as YouTube for such guidance in addition to existing lessons.

[tamborine]

By tabs do you mean chords? I dont think many guitarists know every note as its not like a piano. I can give you some easy chords to accompany songs.

[Dagman]

Try the app "Guitar 3d - basic chords" free from Google Play. It's very good!

[Atheist]

Matt; can he actually play anything nice to hear? If he does, then perhaps leave him be?

[pixie374]

I think it's up to him and his parents if they are happy with that. Personally, I would find him a music teacher to show him how to read music, if he is interested enough.
But, you can only suggest it and see what they think. It would help him.

[Buenchico]

I'm definitely outside my comfort zone here but reading through this page and, in particular, viewing the YouTube video seems to show that it's a good way to learn to play guitar:
https://www.guitarlessons.com/guitar-lessons/guitar-theory-ear-training-and-reading/how-to-read-guitar-tabs

[MattA777]

Thanks all for your suggestions ABrs!
tamborine; Knowing the notes can have a great advantage eg.,
you may be playing a G maj and the next chord may be a D aug which if you know your note names allows you to change the chord ‘shape’ but remain on the same fret. Alternatively, on guitar you can actually remain on the 3rd fret and use the same chord ‘shape’ Anyone who wants to play properly needs to learn chord structures and root notes. I’m not sure what a ‘tab’ player does when confronted with a ‘different’ chord. I appreciate there are brilliant players who can’t read a note- but they know their way around the guitar by ear- but can ‘name’ the notes. That’s all I would like for this young lad.

[SparklyKid]

Hi folks. I learnt guitar without any knowledge of musical notation, I just watched and listened.
Ralph McTell and Tommy Emmanuel don't read music either.

Youtube Tommy Emmanuel for inspirationj.

[pixie374]

It would certainly help him learn better and also be transferable to other instruments. It's the equivalent of "painting by numbers" rather than learning the actual skill.

[SparklyKid]

I recorded the intro to Streets of London hundreds of times till I sussed what Ralph was doing. Song books are mostly no good, they put theoretic chord shapes which are completely wrong. They take no account of the use of a Capo. A great way to learn is to watch people like Paul Simon.

[THECORBYLOON]

Is that the clamp some folk use to change the notes?

[EdmundD]

Guitar tabs don't in themselves teach you much about the theory side of things. The merely indicate finger positions on the fretboard. So you could use a tab to finger a C chord without understanding the structure of that chord.

Personally I found it useful to understand how chords are structured and built. I never learned to sight read though (neither did Paul MacCartney).

[barry1010]

Is he learning music notation? Guitar tabs are a cheat way to learn guitar

[pixie374]

If you can read music, you can sight read. He seems young enough for it to be worthwhile.

[tamborine]

My 12y grandson just got my Hofner classic guitar with chord chart, chorded xmas carols so he can jam & busk. Its up to him how far he expands.

Its a capo that changes key for ease.

[barry1010]

Yes, a capo is a clamp

[tamborine]

First important lesson is guitar tuning & I made a chart for gson.