Lesson with blueygh2

Hi, sorry it's taken me so long to get this lesson started, have had some things going on but I finally have the time to do it :(

Ok, well to write for tab is basically like a guitar only version of sheet music.

For tab you have six lines that represent the six strings of the guitar, the first and lowest line represents the first and lowest string on the guitar. This string is commonly called Low E.

The same goes for all the six strings, the second line is the second string on the guitar, this is commonly tuned to A. The rest of the strings are commonly tuned to D G B E. So the most common tuning for the entire guitar is E A D G B E (from lowest to highest)

Writing tab for an entire piece can get rather tedious, seeing as tab has no real indication of timing or rhythm. Therefore I would highly recommend writing sheet music along with the tab, many guitar collection books of popular pieces have the music written this way.

There is a program I'd like you to download for this lesson, it will probably be the best way for you to get an idea of tab writing. You can download it here

Power Tab .net - Download Center

Enclosed is an example of all the open strings on a guitar written in tab as well as in sheet music

oops, forgot the attachement :(

Tab example.MUS

Okay but my question was how to convert tab writing to sheet writing. So there are representations of the strings of the guitar. But how are the various notes apart from open strings written in tab?

Okay but my question was how to convert tab writing to sheet writing. So there are representations of the strings of the guitar. But how are the various notes apart from open strings written in tab?

Each note in sheet music for guitar corresponds to either an open string or a fret on the string. For instance, middle C on the guitar is written in sheet music as plain middle C. In tab, middle C would appear like this

E-------------------------------

A---3---------------------------

D-------------------------------

G-------------------------------

B-------------------------------

E-------------------------------

The 3rd fret on the A string is middle C

So to convert Tab to sheet music one would need to know all the notes on the guitar fretboard.

does that help?

Okay I played around a little with the program.

The TAB represents the strings of the guitar.

In music, sometimes there are things like F5 written above. They correspond to chords, but is one supposed to know all these chords?

I found some things like xx0223, but when I input these into the program, should I start from the bottom tab line? From the top line those didn't sound right...

Okay I played around a little with the program.

The TAB represents the strings of the guitar.

Yes that's correct

In music, sometimes there are things like F5 written above. They correspond to chords, but is one supposed to know all these chords?

You don't have to "know" all of them by memory, but it would be good to do some research on the subject, I can help with that if you'd like as well

I found some things like xx0223, but when I input these into the program, should I start from the bottom tab line? From the top line those didn't sound right...

Yes, you should start from the bottom, tab is always written like that from the lowest string to the highest

Okay. If now I have written sheet music for the guitar, is any guitar player able to read it or am I supposed to write tabs to it? If so, how do I convert the notes to tabs?

If I'm right, there are more than one possibilities for one note. Is there some kind of restraint when tabbing it?

Okay. If now I have written sheet music for the guitar, is any guitar player able to read it or am I supposed to write tabs to it?

A good guitar player IMO should be able to read both sheet music and tab, but you'll find that most plebs don't read sheet music. So to be safe it would be better to write a piece in both

If so, how do I convert the notes to tabs?

Well that's kind of what we've gone over before, but each note corresponds to either an open string or a fret on a string. And tab is basically telling you exactly what open string or fret to put your finger on. Sheet music is basically universal, and it does basically the same thing that tab does, only in different form.

If I'm right, there are more than one possibilities for one note. Is there some kind of restraint when tabbing it?

Sort of, there's really no limit to what you're writing, but there are different ways to voice certain notes. For instance the high open E can also be played on the 5th fret of the B string

For instance the high open E can also be played on the 5th fret of the B string

That's what I mean. If I convert a chord to tab, as I really know nothing of guitar playing, is it possible that I could write an "impossible chord", with impossible fingerings, or is every fingering playable on the guitar?

(I know that not every chord is playable on the violin, so I guess this is the same for the guitar..?)

That's what I mean. If I convert a chord to tab, as I really know nothing of guitar playing, is it possible that I could write an "impossible chord", with impossible fingerings, or is every fingering playable on the guitar?

(I know that not every chord is playable on the violin, so I guess this is the same for the guitar..?)

Every chord is possible, not every fingering, for instance, here's an impossible chord

E----9-------

B----4-------

G----5-------

D----9-------

A----3-------

E----5-------

now that is quite blatantly impossible, but sometimes it can be more subtle, most of the time your fingers should stretch on two neighboring strings more than 4 frets apart from each other. It is alright to put a few hard fingerings in a piece, but don't let them be rampant throughout

however there are different fingerings for every chord, but most of the time there is one standard fingering for each chord

Is there maybe some reference on the net where it states what chord should be written in what manner, in order to avoid frustrated guitarists and sprained fingers?

Is there maybe some reference on the net where it states what chord should be written in what manner, in order to avoid frustrated guitarists and sprained fingers?

This should prove useful

Google Image Result for http://www.guitar-players-toolbox.com/images/basicchordchart.png

a chord finder is usually a good way to go :happy:

Ah this already helps alot as it indicates the chord name and the fingering in numbers.