What's your instrument of choice? Electric guitar? Mandolin? Ukelele? Banjo? What all of these various instruments have in common is that they are played by fingering taut strings. They also share a common type of musical writing that is far easier to pick up than classical music notation for piano and symphonic instruments: guitar tablature.
Some artists might like to believe tablature to be a new invention to aid in learning acoustic or rock guitar, but it is actually quite old. It was given its start by those rock stars of the fifteenth century: the English lute players.
Guitar tablature is clever in its simplicity. It consists of six lines, each showing a string on the instrument. The top line is for the smallest string (the 1st string); the bottom line is for the deepest sounding string (the 6th string). Looking at it, it is easy to visualize the strings of a guitar. Instead of having to memorize all the basics involved in classical music notation, you can just look at tablature, look at your guitar, and know at once what to do. Small numbers between the lines on the tablature indicate what fret to play. It really is as efficient as it sounds.
Knowing how to read guitar tablature opens up a whole world of possibilities. You can easily pick up your favorite songs if you have the tabs. Writing down any music that pops into your head could not be simpler, either. Finding and sharing tabs online is great for any musician, especially on sites that include videos and lessons and explain in detail how difficult slides and fingerings are performed. Almost any group you can imagine has guitar tabs on the internet for the playing.
Those English lute players could not have dreamed the future applications their musical notation would have. They were just looking for a quick way to share tunes. Whether you're a huge lute fan or not, you owe them a debt of gratitude for simplifying music!
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If you are looking to rock hard with the most accurate collection of guitar tablature, make sure you find a reputable guitar tab site.
