Suck at guitar tab, any hope?

Question:I've been playing guitar for about 9 months now. I don't have much of an ear yet, but I'm a pretty decent soloist in the blues scales and I'm decent as a chord strummer. However, I suck badly at reading tabs and playing them. How can get better at this? the last tab i actually learned was the iron man intro.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I've been playing guitar for about 9 months now. I don't have much of an ear yet, but I'm a pretty decent soloist in the blues scales and I'm decent as a chord strummer. However, I suck badly at reading tabs and playing them. How can get better at this? the last tab i actually learned was the iron man intro.

Learn to read music, I hate tab, it's never very complete....every time that I try to play a song with tab it sounds horrible.....they don't put in all the notes...(.that is the tab that's on the free sites.)...that's why I also hate free music....it's better to buy a book with tab, at least it's complete....I've noticed that a lot of the books today have music notation, tabs, chords, and lead.....You'd be better off getting the books then the free tabs on the Internet !!!!!!! Why don't you try one, there's one called, "The Very Best Of Finger style Guitar," put out by Hal Leonard, and it contains songs like Yesterday by the Beatles and Clapton's " Tears In Heaven ". A lot of my students have gotten this book and can play Yesterday, finger style like it sounds on youtube played by Peo Kindgren, listen to this and see what you think, the tabs in this book will allow you to play it exactly like it sounds when Peo plays it, and I'll bet that you'll like it a lot better then the free music !!!!!!!! It's probably not your playing, I'll bet it's the tab that your reading....it probably sounds like your playing one note, so give this book a try and I bet you'll be surprised at how good you will sound, when you check out Peo I know you'll like the way he plays it, and believe me after nine months of playing you'll be able to play this easily, good luck to you !!!!!!!!!

get lessons. learn the very basics first. but yeah lessons help and practice duhh

take your time with the tabs, theres really nothing to reading tabs.

dont expect to play tabs like reading a piece of sheet music, becuase its not going to happen.

Just finger the notes on the tabs one measure at a time and eventually you ll learn the song, after you kind of have a feel of the notes on the tabs. Listen and/or play along with the music, and at this point you know somewhat know the fingerings so you can work on your timing of the notes,

you can reffer back to the tabs if you need to.

good luck

You need to review tablature basics.......

Often, tablature is placed under a traditional guitar music staff.

The basics of tablature is this........

6 strings represent the guitar. Each line is one of those strings in the guitar (E, A, D, G, B, E). So you have 6 lines and 5 spaces.

Music notes in tablature are defined by note stems, and the fret numbers replace the noteheads in tablature.

There are no clef signs in tablature, so this is when this type of notation can be tricky.

Fingering in tablature is above the "tab" staff.

For all of those guitar effects, effects are written down as "symbols" on the tablature like swoops, glissandos, and tremolos....and you may remember some of those effect symbols.

If a slur occurs between one note with a fret number indication and the other note with a fret number indication, this means you either do a legato or do a slide.

Like guitar fretboards, an open string in tablature fingering is indicated as an "o".

And like regular guitar musical staves, tablature is read from left and right like reading a piano staff.

That is all I can help you with.

George, I've played, taught and gigged on the side for 20+ years, so here's my two cents-

First, are you taking lessons? If not, find some group lessons at a local nonprofit community music school or community college You're much better off there than the half-hour at the superstore from the metalhead who's in between bands. The instructors at the music schools usually have degrees in the field, and the lessons are usually less than what you'd pay at guitar center.
The real advantage of group lessons is that since you are in with a group of students at about your ability, you can set up jam sessions outside of class. Having one or more partners can mean the difference between abandoning it after three months or taking your playing as far as you can. Remember - music is a social activity- if you're sitting alone in your room, you probably won't go very far.
figure out one or more long-term goals( For Example, to be able to play some good acoustic blues at the school talent show next
year) and some short-term goals to get you there-(know the 'blues shuffle' in the keys of E and A').

It sounds to me like you need a consistent practice routine- start by turning off the radio, TV, and internet Try to practice at the same time in the same place every session.
I have my students get the following: 1) A 1 hour mechanical kitchen timer.
2) A metronome.
3) A journal or notebook.
4) Some way to record your playing

Start by tuning up your guitar, then set the timer. Start with short, 15-20 minute practices. They can get longer as you get better. Use the metronome- it helps develop your sense of rhythm. Start each practice with a scale or two, and some chord changes to the metronome(always practice to the metronome!) slowly, say 60 bpm, then 80. If you have an assignment for the next lesson, try to practice it within 24 hours of when you received the assignment. Go over the assignment a few times, then spend the last few minutes of the session going over an old song or two to keep it fresh. Once the buzzer rings, finish the piece you're playing, write up your session in your journal. Write down what you played, how fast, how well you thought you did,and what you could do to improve just a little for your next practice. It sounds like a lot of work, but once you get started, you'll probably be amazed at how fast you progress.
I'd also strongly recommend finding a practice partner- someone at your ability level you can meet up with once a week or twice a month to jam and go over assignments- that's why I recommend small group lessons- two, maybe three students at the most-after the lesson, or on the weekend, meet up for a jam session- I did something similar when I was taking lessons-Good Luck!

its just a matter of putting your fingers on the frets ot tell you to