Re: Educate Me - What Key is This?

aborgman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

No... and I don't think anyone disagrees. The problem is that I've barely
met anyone dumb enough that needed to "dedicate valuable time" to learning or using tab. Tab isn't something you dedicate time to learning, tab is something you don't need to dedicate time to learning.

LOL! Ok, I can't argue that. I'd rather spend MY valuable time doing something more challenging than using tab though. I walk up escalators and would usually rather take the stairs too....

If you're going to be a working pro (of the sort that has to read music
regularly) then obviously learning traditional notation is a better use of time... but is wasting 20-30 seconds learning tab really cutting into the time one has for other things? It's like complaining about having to brush your teeth cutting into your time to write your novel.

Don't like the analogy; I think a better one is taking the 2-3 seconds learning how to turn on the TV...and then actually watching it cutting into time you could be spending pushing your present limitations. TV can without a doubt be informative, useful and fun. The knowledge gotten from TV has just never seemed as deep as knowledge I've had to make a bunch of mistake and really sweat to acquire...climbing the mountain so to speak rather than watching the documentary. Easy is OK but easy only takes you so far. I guess it's a cornerstone of my beliefs that it's not so much what you learn as how you do.

...and what percentage of musicians, getting payed to play, are regularly
reading standard notation? .1%? Less? 999/1000 bands that get payed to play are cover bands that make $100 a man and NEVER read.

Less than .1% of pro players read regularly? You're kidding right? We're talking about full time professional musicians in the western world here? That's what I'm talking about....them and any student who aspires to being one. A "pro" in my mind isn't just someone who gets paid once in a while to do a bar gig it's someone who is *capable* of making a full time living playing music. Just off the top of my head pros would include the symphony/opera players, freelance do-it-all studio cat types, bands and solo artists. It's a given the symphony and freelancers read regularly. Then there are full time bands and artists...and even the part timers who can be full time when they chose. I wouldn't want to attempt to guess percentages of this later and widely varied group but I know some of them read...and a lot of people I've worked with who read use the tool regularly even if you don't see music on stands at the gig. I used to write out chord charts when learning new material for bar bands and while I never wrote out complete bass lines I commonly notated specific passages and shots. Even taking into account differing situations in different cities a conservative estimate of the percentage of pro players who read regularly HAS to be in the double digits.

Y'know what? I'm not really trying to convince you I'm right though. None of what I'm saying is original to me and if in passing it on just one person reads what I've said and becomes a better player for it that's enough.
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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Educate Me - What Key is This?
    ... Tab isn't something you dedicate time to learning, ... we're talking about ALL professional musicians in the western world. ... of pro players who read regularly HAS to be in the double digits. ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: Real TABS
    ... Learning it incorrectly by ear is not. ... ear with tab is a good way to check both your own ears and the tab. ... If I'm in a hurry to learn a song for whatever reason, ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: Ultimate guitar learning kit
    ... It holds people back from learning what they need to learn -- and that applies both to learning to read real written music _and_ learning by ear. ... Tab should be discouraged at all times, ... Not every musical job is with a bar band doing three-chord rock and roll -- and that's not a personal insult aimed at you, Kraig, that's just a fact. ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: Real TABS
    ... beyond learning to transcribe properly. ... through some trouble spots. ... the difficulty of ear transcription varies with the music. ... don't use the tab as an excuse ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: Beginners
    ... lead,slide, formed a few bands, now have a 4hr sets with a good band ... --- its a blast (went back and got my bass chops back, ... pedals while playing guitar, some key skill) -- doing a haloween ... costume party saturday -- always learning new stuff .. ...
    (alt.guitar.beginner)