Title: Acoustic Guitar Tablature - Is It Real Sheet Music?

Word Count: 515 Summary: Beginner guitarists often get caught up in the question of whether to learn to r ead sheet music or simply learn from tablature. This article states the case for both forms of musical notation and brings to light the fact that the guitarist must find whether tab or sheet music fits the path he sees for himself as a musi cian. Keywords: acoustic guitar tablature, guitar tablature Article Body: As a beginner acoustic guitarist you're probably wondering whether learning your songs from guitar tablature is as good as getting them from "real" sheet music. Learning to play acoustic guitar is a great adventure which is sometimes spoilt a bit by the prospect of having to learn to read music. But for most acoustic g uitar players, learning all the symbols and theory connected with musical notati on is not really necessary. Tablature for acoustic guitar has certain points giving it an edge over standard music notation. Actually historians tell us that tablature was used to record m usical compositions long before conventional notation. They don't seem to have m uch idea how musicians attributed note values to compositions they has never hea rd played. Maybe it wasn't an issue in the sixteenth century. So what do you learn from tabs? Tablature shows diagrammatically where finger po sitions are indicated using numbers representing the guitar's frets along horizo ntal lines representing the strings. The note G played on the first (thinnest) s tring is shown by the number 3 written on the top line of the tablature. Sometim es the person writing the tablature will group the notes together to show that t hey are all the same value but this is not a hard and fast rule. Hammer-ons, string bends, pull-offs and other techniques are shown by symbols. E ach tablature writer has his own idea of the best way to show how to play the mu sic, and he usually includes a legend showing his symbols on each tab. With the aid of guitar tabs, you can learn new music quickly without going to the additio nal trouble of learning conventional music notation. Despite the fact that tempo and time signatures are not included, sometimes it's easier for the guitarist to pick up music from tablature. The ease with which y ou can learn to read tablature means that your progress on the guitar is not slo wed by the need to cope with such things as the use of alternate tunings. Another bonus is in the ease in sharing acoustic guitar music on the internet. G uitar tab is easily written on a computer by way of ASCII code, which makes it e asier to email or post on the web. Maybe when you get some guitar playing experi ence under your belt you could try writing some music down for yourself. A great chance to see the difficulties facing composers for the guitar. Unfortunately d ebate over copyright issues has made posting guitar tab a little bit contentious , but you can still share tab privately by email. A lot of guitar teachers proclaim the virtues of learning to read sheet music. S ome even think you are not a "real" musician unless you can read "real" music. I

f you have a burning desire to follow a career in music then the versatility giv en you by the ability to read music will be a definite advantage. But if you loo k at playing music as a way of each individual expressing themselves in their ow n unique way, then how you write your music down is not one of the biggest issue s in your life!