Example of numeric
vihuela tablature from the book "Orphenica Lyra" by Miguel de Fuenllana
(1554). Red numerals (original) mark the vocal part.
Tablature (or Tabulature) is a form of musical notation, which tells
players where to place their fingers on a particular instrument rather than which pitches to play.
Tablature is mostly (but not exclusively) seen for fretted stringed instruments, in which
context it is usually called tab for short (except for lute tablature). It is
frequently used for the guitar, bass, lute, archlute, theorbo, angélique, mandora, gallichon,
and vihuela, but in principle it can be used for any fretted instrument, including
ukulele, mandolin, banjo, and
viola da gamba, as well as many free reed
aerophones such as the harmonica. While today tablature is
commonly used in notating rock and pop music, it is often seen in folk music, and was in fact
common during Renaissance and Baroque eras. (In the context of guitar tab, standard
musical notation is usually called 'staff notation' — even though tab is also written on a staff — or just 'notation').
Three types of organ tablature were also used in Europe: German, Spanish and Italian. There are several
types of ocarina tabulature.[1] Harp tablature was used in Spain and Wales.
An alternate (some would say incorrect) usage of the word "tab" is common on the internet, where it refers to conventional
chord symbols (for harmony), or note names (for
melody).
Origin and etymology
Etymology
The word tablature originates from the Latin word tabulatura. Tabula is a table or slate, in Latin. To
tabulate something means to put it into a table or chart.
Spelling
There are 2 different common spellings, with (tabulature) and without "u" (tablature). While the
"tabulature" is closer to original Latin word, and thus more correct etymologically, the adapted version "tablature" seems to be
more wide-spread in modern English. As of 2006, Google searches
indicate that word "tablature" (~5 610
000 hits) is used 27 times more frequently than "tabulature" (~209 000 hits). "Tabulature" is considered a "classical" spelling and is commonly used in
academic music circles, particularly in relation to lute tabulature, while "tablature" is often used by pop and rock
musicians.
Moreover, both of these words are relatively long and are frequently changed to brief "tab" in casual speech. To be less
ambiguous, it is preceded by instrument name (i.e. "guitar tab", "bass tab", "organ tab") when required.
Origin
The first known existence in Europe is around 1300. In Asia there exist much older tablature notations.
Lute tablatures were of three main varieties, French, Italian (also widely used in Spain,
Bavaria and southern France), and German, detailed below. A special variety of Italian tablature called "Neapolitan" was in use
in southern Italy, and a Polish variety of French tablature appears in one manuscript. French tablature gradually came to be the
most widely used. Tablatures for other instruments were also used from early times on. Keyboard tablatures flourished in Germany
c. 1450 - 1750 and in Spain c. 1550 - 1680. Much of the music for the lute and other historical plucked instruments during the
Renaissance and Baroque eras was originally written in
tablature, and many modern players of those instruments still prefer this kind of notation, often using facsimiles of the original prints or manuscripts, handwritten copies, modern editions in tablature, or
printouts made with computer programs.
Concepts
While standard musical notation represents the rhythm and duration of each
note and its pitch relative to the scale based on a twelve tone division of the
octave, tablature is instead operationally based, indicating where and when a finger should be depressed to generate a
note, so pitch is denoted implicitly rather than explicitly. The rhythmic symbols of tablature tell when to start a note, but
often there is no indication of when to stop sounding it, so duration is at the discretion of the performer to a greater extent
than is the case in conventional musical notation. Tablature for plucked strings is based upon a diagrammatic representation of
the strings and frets of the instrument, keyboard tablature represents the keys of the instrument,
and recorder tablature shows whether each of the fingerholes is to be closed or left open.
Harmonica tab
The harmonica tab was basically a 1-to-1 mapping of the notes to the corresponding hole,
and thus, is a type of numbered musical notation. For each note, it will
indicate the number of the hole to play, direction of breathing (in or out), and even either bending (usually for diatonic) or
"slide-in" (usually for chromatic)
One methodology for indicating direction of breath is by showing the direction of arrow; another is by using either a "+" or
"-" sign, or "i" (for inhale) and "e" (for exhale). Bending was shown with a bent arrow with the direction of breath, or by a
circle that circle the note, or even a simple line next to the breath indicator. Additional lines and/or circle may be used to
indicate how much to bend.
For example, on a key "C" diatonic:
Unbent Bent lv1 Bent lv2 Bent lv3
3i (B) 3i| (Bb) 3i|| (A) 3i||| (G#)
To indicate button press on Chromatic, a similar indication to first level bending may be used.
The breath indicator may be placed right next to the hole number, or below the number. Same for bending/button press
indicators.
To indicate the beat, on arrow system they may use the length of the arrow. However, the more popular method would be to use a
slightly simplified notations, such as "o" for whole note, // for half notes, "/" for quarter notes, "." for eighth notes, and
place them above the characters, while spacing them accordingly.
For chord, they will simply show the numbers to play, so for example:
a C major (CEG) chord (on a C diatonic): 456e
However, they may simplify it, especially when playing blues. For chords, it was common to just play three or two holes
instead (sometimes even just one), especially when the instrument is not of the same key. For example, in blues progression in G
(G G G G7 C C G G D7 D7 G G) it's common to use C diatonic, and use the following:
G chord (G-B-D): 34i (BD)
G7 chord (G-BD-F): 45i (DF).
D7 chord (D-F#-A-C): 4i (D) or 4e (C)
Guitar tab
Guitar tab consists of a series of horizontal lines forming a staff (or stave) similar
to standard notation. Each line represents one of the instrument's strings therefore standard guitar tab has a six-line staff and
bass guitar tab has four lines. The top line of the tablature represents the highest pitched string of the guitar. By writing
tablature with the lowest pitched notes on the bottom line and the highest pitched notes on the top line of the tablature follows
the same basic structure and layout of Western Standard Notation.
The following examples are labelled with letters on the left denoting the string names, with a lower-case "e" for the high E
string. Tab lines may be numbered 1-6 instead, representing standard string numbering, where "1" is the high E string, "2" is the
B string etc.
The numbers that are written on the lines represent the fret used to obtain the desired pitch. For example, the number 3
written on the top line of the staff indicates that the player should press down at the third fret on the high E (first string).
Number 0 denotes the nut - that is, an open string.
For chords, a letter above or below the tab staff denotes the root note of the chord.
Examples of guitar tab notation:
The chords E, F, and G:
e|---0---1---3---
B|---0---1---0---
G|---1---2---0---
D|---2---3---0---
A|---2---3---2---
E|---0---1---3---
E F G
Various lines, arrows and other symbols are used to denote bends, hammer-ons, trills, Pull-offs,
slides, and so on.
Guitar tab is not standardised and different sheet music publishers adopt different conventions. Songbooks and guitar
magazines usually include a legend setting out the convention in use.
The most common form of lute tablature uses the same concept but differs in the details (e.g. it uses letters rather than
numbers for frets) - see below.
Guitar tablature vs. standard staff notation
Generally speaking, guitar tablature is commonly used by informally trained musicians in folk, popular and rock music. By the
end of the eighteenth century, in order to meet a demand for higher informational content, commercially published guitar music
largely abandoned the use of tablature in favour of Standard Notation. It remained in
informal use amongst amateurs, aficionados and within folk idioms such as flamenco, before a
resurgence of published tablature took place in the latter decades of the twentieth century. Due to the popularity of the
electric guitar, rock music and tablature's ease of fingering position
determination (see below), tablature is now used by many guitarists in fields other than classical. Since tablature lacks rhythmic and other information (see below), most modern
tablature software displays both staff notation and tablature.
Differences between systems
- Direct visual representation
-
- When compared to standard notation, tablature is a closer visual representation of the instrument's fretboard. It does not
require any training for players to be able to read tablature therefore some find it easier and quicker to interpret.
- Fingering position determination
-
- Tablature removes the requirement for the player to determine the fretboard position within which the notated music is to be
executed. Notes on the guitar can be played in different left hand positions and upon several different strings; for example the
note C5 could be played on the third string at the fifth fret or on the fourth string at the tenth fret. In the case of
fretted instruments such complexity makes the relationship between staff notation and playing technique less direct than in the
case of the piano and many other instruments. Whilst standard staff notation can remove the string/fret ambiguity by further
indicating the playing position (usually with Roman numerals), tablature does not contain
this ambiguity at all.
- Simple typewriter-font representation
-
- Tablature can easily be represented as ASCII tab - a plain-text computer file, using
numbers, letters and symbols to construct a crude representation of tablature. This characteristic makes it easy to distribute
tablature electronically, a practice that has become immensely widespread; it is now possible to find free tablatures for
virtually any popular music on the Internet, although a considerable amount of those
tablatures may be illegal. (See Tablature (Legal Issue) below.)
-
- Tablature is instrument-specific, while staff notation is generic. Tablature does not provide any skills transferable to
other instrumental or general musical study. Tablature can only be read easily by a guitarist whilst music written in staff
notation can be played on any suitable instrument. Reading solely from tablature compromises communication with other musicians
such as flаutists or violinists who are commonly trained in the use of standard notation. Reliance solely upon tablature can
prevent the guitarist from reading pieces that are composed for other instruments and/or are written in standard staff notation.
In contrast, a guitarist who reads staff notation can understand such pieces, make necessary adjustments and play the music on a
guitar.
- Inherent harmonic or analytical information
-
- The science of harmony and musical analysis is codified by recourse to standard musical notation. Standard musical scores
enable educated musicians to utilise advanced tools for such analysis. These tools cannot be easily applied to, or from,
tablature. Therefore the study of musical theory is hindered by reliance upon tablature.
-
- Tablature notation does not include accurate information on rhythm and timing. In this respect alone tablature is too limited
for use by classical guitarists.
-
- Tablature users rely heavily on external assistance to provide rhythmic information, using for example, audio recordings or
redundantly printed standard notation above the tab. Software such as Guitar Pro,
Power Tab Editor and TablEdit Tablature
Editor allow users to record/playback timing digitally.
-
- Tablature writers sometimes attempt to provide rhythmic information by adding note stems, flags and beams above the numbers
but this practice is not standardised.
- Distinction between musical parts
-
- Multiple parts cannot be rhythmically distinguished within tablature notation. This is serious limitation when conveying
information required for the proper rendition of multiple-part music on any polyphonic instrument.
-
- Tablature notation instructs only upon where to play notes. It does not provide a visual indication of pitch and dynamic,
unlike standard notation. It can be very difficult to get a general outline of the music by simply studying the tablature page
without recourse to playing it through. In contrast staff notation allows musicians to sing from sight.
Lute tablature
French Renaissance style lute tablature, with corresponding notation for guitar: a simple Renaissance dance, printed by
Pierre Attaingnant.
Lute tablature is conceptually similar to guitar tablature, but comes in at least three
different varieties. The most common variety used today is based on the French Renaissance system (see example at right). In this
style the strings are represented by the lines on the staff (occasionally the spaces above the lines on the staff), and the stops
are indicated by lowercase letters of the alphabet (rather than numbers), with the letter 'a' indicating an open string and the
'j' skipped (as it was not originally a separate letter from 'i'). A six-line staff is used, just as for modern guitar tab.
However, lutes were not limited to 6 strings or courses (they could have as many as 19), and stops for any courses beyond the
sixth were shown below the bottom line, with short diagonal strokes (see below).
The letters soon developed somewhat stylized forms for ease of recognition. In particular, the letter 'c' often resembled 'r'.
This was common in many styles of Renaissance handwriting, but also helped to differentiate
'c' from 'e'. Also, sometimes 'y' was used for 'i'.
Lute tablature provides flags above the staff to show the rhythms, often only providing a flag when the length of the beat
changes, as shown in the example. (Notice that this piece begins with a half measure.)
Other variants of lute tablature use numbers rather than letters, write the stops on the lines rather than in the spaces, or
even invert the entire staff so that the lowest notest are on top and the highest are at the bottom.
As with guitar, various different lute tunings may be used, all written using the same tablature method. A tenor
viola da gamba can usually be played directly off lute tablature as it typically uses the same
tuning. A guitar can often be played off lute tablature by tuning the g string down to an f# and putting a
capo at the third fret to preserve the original pitch.
In standard Baroque lute tabulature, each staff has six lines, representing the FIRST six courses. The course of the highest
pitch appears at the top, and that of the lowest appears at the bottom. Please note that Italian Archlute of the same period uses
an opposite system.
F____________________
D____________________
A____________________
F____________________
D____________________
A____________________
Lower case letters or "glyphs"are placed on each of these lines to represent notes. If you are required to play an open D
course, for instance, a small "a" will be placed on the appropriate line. For a note with the finger on the first fret a "b", a
note on the second fret a "c", etc. However, as mentioned above, "j" was not used since it was not considered a separate letter
from "i", and "c" often looked more like "r". Thus:
F_____c___
D_____a___
A_____b___
F_____c___
D_____a___
A_____b___
G - a
would represent a G-minor chord,
All open strings would represent a D-minor chord:
F______a________
D______a________
A______a________
F______a________
D______a________
A______a________
D- ///a
The strings below the 6th course are notated with additional short "ledger" lines: glyphs are placed below the staff. These
courses are tuned in accordance with the key of each piece played:
G- a
F- /a
E- //a
D- ///a
C- 4
B- 5
A- 6
The rhythm is notated in a fairly straightforward manner: It is represented by headless note-stems with tails [stylized
similarly but some regional variations (in spite of some variety the confusion is rare)], with the exception of whole and half
notes (semibreves and minims), whereas it would be essential to use heads.
The ornaments would require a special discussion, as many composers used rather personalized sets thereof.
German lute tablature
The origins of German lute tablature can be traced back well into the 15th century. Blind organist Conrad Paumann is said to have invented it. It was used in German speaking countries until the end of
16th century. When German lute tablature was invented, the lute had only five courses, which are
numbered 1-5, with 1 being the lowest sounding course and 5 the highest. Each place where a course can be stopped at a fret is
assigned with a letter of the alphabet, i. e. first course first fret is letter a, second
course first fret is letter b, third course first fret is c, fourth course first fret is d, fifth course first fret is e, first
course second fret is f, second course second fret is g and so on. Letters j, u, w, are not used. Therefore, two substitutional
signs are used, i. e. et (resembling the numeral 7) for fourth course fifth fret, and con (resembling the numeral
9) for fifth course fifth fret. From the sixth position upwards, the alphabetical order is resumed anew with added apostrophes
(a', b', ...), strokes above the letters, or the letters doubled (aa, bb, ...). When a 6th course was added to the lute around
1500 CE, different authors would use different symbols for it. Chords are written
in vertical order. Melodical moves are notated in the highest possible line, notwithstanding their actual register.
Rhythmical signs, which are written in a line above the letters, are single shafts
(semibreves), shafts with one flag (minims), shafts with two flags
(crotchets), shafts with three flags (quavers), shafts
with four flags (semiquavers). Shafts with two or more flags can be connected
("leiterlein", small ladders) into groups of two or four.
Examples:
French Italian German
-r- --- k
-d- --- o
-d- = -0- = n
-a- -3- 2
--- -3-
--- -2-
Musette tablature
Musette tablature from Borjon de Scellery
Borjon de Scellery's Traité de la musette includes pieces for musette de cour
in both standard notation and tablature, plus a partial explanation of his system.
The numbers refer to the keys on the instrument, and are shown on a five-line stave so that they also correspond with standard
notation. Standard symbols for note-lengths are written above each tablature-staff.
No explanation is given for the slur-like symbol; the comma , is explained as indicating a tremblement, starting
on the note above.
The standard notation shown in the illustration is also taken from de Scellery; once again, no explanation is given for the
unusual beaming or the significance (if any) of where note-length symbols are repeated.
Computer programs for writing tablatures
Various computer programs are available for writing tablature - see Scorewriter,
Fronimo by Francesco Tribioli, Django by Alain Veylit. Some are
solely for tablature, while others also write lyrics, guitar chord diagrams, chord symbols and/or staff notation
(Power Tab, Guitar Pro or TablEdit). ASCII tab files can be written (somewhat
laboriously) with any ordinary word processor or text editor.
Legal issues
There has been a lot of controversy over the legal position of Internet free tablature. It is because many Internet tablature
websites provide tablature free of charge while they do not legally have the
right to publish musical works and do not pay the original composers any royalties.
Moreover, revenue generated from advertising of those websites is typically kept by the website owners as profit or as website's
maintenance cost.
Free Internet tablature sites often attempt to defend themselves by claiming as to be educational providers or non-profit
organisations, even though they are not formally registered as such. Hence, they have considerable difficulty to justify
their service legal under the fair use doctrine of copyright law (see Fair Use As A Defense). The legality of free Internet tablature served by tablature websites is still in
dispute largely because websites have thus far only been warned with legal action; the issue has yet to be taken to court.
As of Monday December 12, 2005, distributing free tablature
of copyrighted music using the Internet is considered illegal by the music industry. The Music Publishers' Association (MPA) had been pushing to shut down websites that offer free
tablature. MPA president Lauren Keiser says that their goal would be for owners of free tablature services to face fines and even
imprisonment[2].
Several websites that offer free tablature have already taken their tablature offline until a solution or compromise is found.
One of the purposed solutions is Alternative compensation system, which
allow the widespread reproduction of digital copyrighted works while still paying the composers and copyright owners of those
works.
The tablature debate was featured on NPR's Morning
Edition in a segment entitled "Music Industry Goes After Guitar Tablature Websites" on August
7, 2006.[3]
Mxtab.net
Mxtabs.net had been closed down due to the complains from copyright holders. However, as of February 23, 2006, the owners of Mxtabs put the website back online with a
letter explaining their position. In short, they believe that the purpose of Mxtabs is to "aid musicians in learning their
instruments." They say that Mxtabs has accounted for as much as $3000 a month in sheet music sales, and offers many tabs that do
not have equivalent sheet music published, so Mxtabs and similar sites are the only place that musicians can find a way to play
these songs. The letter concludes by pointing out that tabs have never been proven to be illegal, then requesting that sheet
music companies contact Mxtabs in order to create a system of tab licensing.
Guitar Tab Universe
On July 17, 2006, Guitar Tab Universe (GTU) posted a letter on
its homepage that its ISP had been jointly warned with legal action by the
National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and the MPA "on the
basis that sharing tablature constitutes copyright infringement" [4].
In response, GTU's site owner(s) immediately created a website named Music Student and Teacher
Organization (MuSATO) to attempt to re-position themselves from a copyrighted materials provider to an education provider.
MuSATO’s main objective is to use fair use as their rationale, to publish tablature
free of charge. By claiming as an education provider, they will not have to
obtaining any Publication right before publishing and do not need to pay any royalties
to original composers. MuSATO claims educational relationship by classifying tab downloaders as ‘music student’ and tablature
transcribers as ‘music teacher’. Despite what the name may suggest, as of 2007, MuSATO is not registered as an education
provider.
Furthermore, MuSATO also argues that Internet guitar tablature does not infringe upon publishers' copyrights because the
tablatures it provides does not contain rhythmic information and therefore is not an entirely accurate representation of the
song. However, it failed to mention that the lyrics provided are actually copyrighted.
GuitarTabs.com has been contacted by the NMPA and MPA with similar copyright infringement allegations. The NMPA and MPA have
also warned Guitar Tab Universe with similar legal action. A copy of the certified letter received by the site owner, along with
a brief note similar to the one posted on Mxtabs, has been posted on the website.[5]
See also
External links
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