Is using tab cheating?

[Ian Price]

I'm listening to quite a bit of ZZ Top of late and want to get on with learning some of it (when I say learn I mean all of Fandango and Tres Hombres). Many websites carry 'tabs' of songs from these albums but they are generally not very good at all. I've been able to figure out the basic structure of a few songs on each and don't really want to shell out £15+ on a book. What approach to learning new songs does everyone on here take? Do you sit down and listen and figure it out or just buy a book/DVD?

I'd love to learn by ear but don't think I have enough patience to do it!

[Philly Q]

Is using tab cheating?

No.

[Ian Price]

Is using tab cheating?

No.

 :D

Should have re-worded the question! Cheating? NO. Lazy? YES.

[blue]

i think any method of learning is equally valid.  some people are very sniffy about tab, but it's a useful tool, and suits the guitar better than notation, i think.  and i think learning like that can help develop your ear, as it gives you a bit of a head start.  obviously though, relying on tab entirely may have the opposite effect.

anyway, no, it's not cheating.  how many classical musicians learn their material by ear?

[JDC]

It's not lazy, your just saving extra energy for when you have to fight a tiger, not that caveman played guitars.

I'd say try and do a bit of both tab and by ear, although last few times I learnt some riffs I ended up listening the same bits over and over again trying to decide if I was hearing things or not

[Roobubba]

As you've pointed out, the biggest issue with tab is that it's often not accurate! I find it very helpful to get to grips with a new riff when combined with listening and playing along very carefully. Sometimes I find myself disagreeing with the way something is tabbed, working out a way my fingers find easier or that (I think) sounds better, only to find out it was right in the first place. But hey ho, we're all made differently!

Which reminds me, I was going to have a go at Bleed some time...

[phlip]

I try to use a combination of.
1. Slow down the track (I use Guitar Rig Tape player for this) and try and work out the basics from there.
2. If possible Find a Good video on youtube and watch for position and the like to help when I get stuck at step 1
3. Find a Tab when 1 and 2 fail
4. Go back to 1 when I find out the tab is truly a mile out.


Is Tab Cheating not at all as mentioned above how many classical musicians play by ear, (I'm sure many can but most don't) In fact Tab can be hard due to the lack of timing and phrasing info which is all there in sheet music.

[Philly Q]

I have to be honest and say I learned more in the first 3 years of playing than I have in the last 27.  :(

But I agree with Blue, it's just a form of notation specific to the guitar, there's nothing wrong with that.  You still have to use your ear to get things right - I doubt anyone could play a piece of music they'd never heard just from a piece of tab.

I don't have any natural ability to just pick something up by ear - I suppose I can pick out a melody easily enough, but I can't necessarily get it in the right register or even the right key, and I haven't a hope of identifying the chords.  I'm always amazed by these guys who can apparently learn songs in no time.

I must say, though, if I do figure something out by ear, I can play it better, I suppose because I've worked out a fingering that's natural to me.  When I try to use tab the fingerings often feel very awkward (and I give up pretty damn quick).

[Twinfan]

I use a mixture of using tab and working it out by ear.....

[tomjackson]

No it's not Lazy or cheating.  It's just a means to an end, whatever works.

I've used the internet tab songs to learn about 50 songs lately for a few gigs, some are good and some are pretty poor.  The fact they are not accurate actually means you've got to use your ear anyway - I find having the incorrect version there really helps me to find the correct version on my own.

Case-in-point I recently had to learn Blame It on The Boogie; every version I looked at had the chorus completely wrong, with about 10 wrong versions to help me I suddenly knew what it was and even heard it before I played it.

That said, I hate playing things exactly as the original so only aim for about 80% of the parts and add my own thing for the other 20% so I'm not particularily bothered about having spot on transcriptions.

[shobet]

I use it as an aid to trying to figure something out. To my ears at least the tabs are often incorrect, but it's all down to interpretation anyway. It's a tool, use it as you chose and stop worrying about it.

[Antag]

It's a bit like asking whether using a knife & fork to eat is cheating... :)

Much as I'd love to be able to work out every riff/lick/chord/song I wanted to play by ear, sometimes I can't & a tab is the best way.  It's just a learning tool.

[Lew]

How dare you call yourself a musician if your using notation. You fraud!!

[dave_mc]

i normally hit up UG. :lol:

EDIT: it better not be cheating or i've been cheating the entire time I've been playing guitar.

[38thBeatle]

I think tab has its place. I used to have to work stuff out by ear years back and these days I use sometimes use tab as I have a lot less time these days. As Roo says, the only trouble with tab sometimes is that it can be inaccurate. Horses for courses, whatever works is my view.