Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Trying to understand Tab

#1

Hi from Harv…
I’ve been a Gold member for many years…
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to learn a thing … and it’s not your fault…
I’m self taught… 50 years playing guitar… Medium level fingerpicker… Play by ear…
That being said… I have ADD and Dyslexia…
I would love to be able to learn… Tab would be a great place to begin… However, I have to visualize… in live time … the orientation the tab graph has to my instrument fretboard… Not only that… But which direction the tab music is scrolling past …
If this sounds complicated… Understood that I’m frozen in this challenge…
When I begin a tab line … it takes me 10 minutes to visualize that orientation… But I can’t keep that picture in my head and play at the same time…

Others may find a similar challenge…

I believe one thing could help immensely…

An outline of the instrument with tab in heavier ink on top of it… A copy of that outline could be repeated from beginning to end of the tab.
Thank you for your consideration…
All the best…

       Harv
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#2

Hi Harv

The goal of most students is not to use TAB but to play by ear your already a step beyond what many students aim for.

The key to learning most tunes is through listening. Once you have the melody in your head you then try to find it on your instrument of choice.

Unfortunately I have no knowledge or experience of Dyslexia that could assist you. Maybe @BanjoBen or @Michael_Mark might be better placed to assist you.

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#3

Howdy Harv!
I too sometimes look at tab backwards, especially if I haven’t used tab in a while. For me, once I get the orientation right in my mind, I am typically ok for a bit. I wonder if it would help to make a little reminder post it or two and stick them on the edge of your monitor to help with the orientation so that the 10 minutes it takes to settle in could be minimized each session.

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#4

Thank you for the help!!! I’ll see if I can make any progress…
All the best!!!

1 Like
#5

Something that worked for me, I orient tab to instrument just like I would orient a map and compass to read so that both point North. Lay your instrument down, and lay the tab sheet right on top of the strings, lining up each line of tab with the string on the instrument. Hope that helps a little.

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#6

Perhaps it would help if you visualize holding the guitar as you would to play it (right-handed), and then rotate the instrument 90 degrees, so the face of the guitar is pointed upward. Now the strings are in the position as they appear in the tabs, as suggested by Brent. Holding the guitar, rather than l;aying it down, may make the connection easier. Have fun.

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#7

Thanks for the help, y’all!