guitar tabs

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, banjo, 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, pop, ragtime and blues 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 usage of the word "tab" is common on the internet, where it refers to conventional chord symbols (for harmony), or note names (for melody). Contents [hide] 1 Tablature 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Spelling 1.3 Origin 2 Concepts 2.1 Tablature vs. standard staff notation 2.1.1 Differences between systems 3 Lute tablature 4 German lute tablature 5 Computer programs for writing tablatures 6 Guitar Tablature 7 Musette tablature 8 Harmonica tab 9 Legal issues 9.1 Mxtabs.net 9.2 Guitar Tab Universe 9.3 OLGA.net 9.4 Ultimate Guitar.com 10 See also 11 Notes 12 External links //

Tablature

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. [2]. "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,