No More Tab Online? It's happening!!

[electrikemily]

Hey Guys,

Holy cow, I go online today to get a tab for the Steve Miller Band from MXtabs. I am shocked to find out that they are being sued! Sued! For what you ask? Because apparetly, people who tab out guitar songs for others to learn them are somehow infringing on publisher rights. More info here:

http://www.guitarzone.com/musato/
http://www.guitarzone.com/forum/index.p ... pic=163367

Basically, the tabbers are too good I guess, and tab out songs just as good as the publishers of sheet music. So not only are MX tabs getting sued, but other guitar tab sites from which I get music to learn from! MX tabs has shut down indefinatly, but other sites are fighting this under "fair use".

It's just a bunch of crap I think. I mean if someone xeroxed sheet music and put it up, but this is tab. Tabs are done by people who listen to the music and then put it down in a form we can all understand. Are there a few who copy it right from books and say it's their own? Sure, but that's not most.

Anywho, just wanted to let you guys know. Look around for it online. I joined the site above to help the cause.

Rock on,
Emily

Ps. Oh no! I just tabbed out a song! Shit, now I'm gonna get sued because I have a good ear. Man this is just crazy.



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Then & Now: Real Rock!
http://www.thenandnowband.com

[bassist_25]

Even though it's a month old, I just saw this thread. I think that it's pretty asinine to sue someone over a tab. Honestly, I don't know how you could sue over a tab, because more often times than not, a tab doesn't contain any rhythmic information like standard notation does. Also, it just simply gives fret positions rather than actual note names. A "5" on the E string means something different than a "5" on the E string if it's detuned a whole step. If a tab doesn't indicate an alternate tuning, is it still infringing on a copyright? Technically, it's giving the wrong information?

I see it as a mixed blessing though. It sucks that greedy rich guys are trying to make life suck. It also sucks because tabs can be a good thing. They also can be a bad thing, because they oftentimes impede a beginner's progress. I'd be lying if I said that I never learned a song from a tab, but [self-righteous rant engaged] I played for 5 years before I even looked at one. I knew the difference between a C and an E, and I knew why a mixoloydian scale sounds good over a V7 chord. Many players go straight to tabs and never really understand their instruments. If I walked into a situation, asked for the key of the song, and was told something along the lines of "I don't know man. I play 1, 7, and 9 here," I would write that person off as an ametuer and probably would choose not to play with them. Being a Berkley grad isn't a requirement to being a good musican; understanding basic concepts like what key you're playing in and note names is. You need basic musical communciation skills to play with a variety of people. "1, 7, and 9" doesn't mean shit to a horn player or a keys player. So, a limitation of tabs may force beginners to actually put in some work and understand music a little bit more rather than take the easy way out. I also think that people need to develop their ears more. I'm not against tabs, because I'll often consult them; I just think that they shouldn't be used as a crutch like they often are. [self-righteous rant disengage]

[The Shadow]

I could not agree more Bassist 25. I've heard people playing some
horrible shit and when you ask them WTF??!!?? they argue with you
that "its just like the tab!" For all anyone knows that tab could have been transcribed by a third grader as a class project.
(Not to say a third grader cant shred)

[Banned]

Back in the day, wasn't the same thing said about the alleged "Fake Book?" I remember that raising quite a stir.

[PanzerFaust]

What day? What book? What's being stirred?
Where the hell am I?
haha....

[Banned]

The Fake Book was a book of written out arrangements of music from all kinds of groups. A lot of high school band directors used it or had access to one and that's how a lot of your high school jazz bands, jazz rock ensembles, etc... would learn these tunes or how they would be taught to you.

This was back in the 80s. Funny thing, though, was you had to be able to read music to use the book. There were no fingering notations. Call it the dinosaur or pre-cursor of tab.

Regardless, the same kind of thing happened with that situation.

As far as tab goes, it was only a matter of time before this happened.

[tonefight]

I agree tab can be a crutch but there are times when I'm just too lazy to listen to something 30 times to get the notes to a 100mph guitar solo, the internet tabs are usually wrong but they can get you started and save some time, I usually use them as a starting point and then figure out what I actually want to play.

I think they have been battling this out since they started putting them on the internet, I remember OLGA was one of the first and largest sources they had legal issues then another version of OLGA came up and I've heard of other sites being threatened on a regular basis.

Like downloading tunes, they will never be able to control it 100% but some of the larger sites may get shut down from time to time.

[Banned]

Yeah. You'll still be able to find it if you know where to look. I've used tab on occasions to get a reference point also. But unless the tab is actually transcribed by the musician himself, there are a lot of different ways to play the same thing, at least for bass.

But like I said, you'll still be able to find it if you know where to look so I agree with you, Tony.

[bassist_25]

Wasn't there some kind of loophole for the fake book because it only contained a melody but didn't include any harmonic information? I think I remember something like that, though I could be wrong.

But unless the tab is actually transcribed by the musician himself, there are a lot of different ways to play the same thing, at least for bass.

I always try to play things in the most economic way possible. Less position shifts = faster playing, cleaner technique, and allows you to concentrate more on other things such as singing, sight reading or stage presence (presents if you're no surrender). I've come across some internet tabs and have said, "WTF was this guy thinking when he transcribed this?" A lot of them have insane and unnecessary shifts all over the place. Sometimes, there's a reason for such shifts, but oftentimes unnecessary shifts are a sign of an inexperienced player. Then I sometimes see fingerings that would require excessive amounts of muting just to make sound clean. Yeah, I usually come up with my own fingerings when I see tabs like these.

[Banned]

Mike Dirnt plays a lot of fretted notes. When I cover a Green Day song, most of the time I'll use open notes. Why? Because the tone sounds more like what I'm hearing.

I think if it comes out clean and sounds close in tone, then who cares how you play it. It's a cover song anyway. That's my point.

Tab, in my opinion, is useful as a reference point only. If you have to rely on tab to learn an entire song because you can't figure it out by ear, or whatever, then I think something's wrong. I know too many people who are "tab junkies" and that's what they swear by. I'll take me ear over tab any day. I will also continue to manually write cover lyrics down instead of downloading them.

That's just me.

But, like the thread says, it's getting harder to find tab online. For those of you that use it for whatever reason, I'm sure it will still be able to be found.

[RLeahey14]

i noticed that tabs have been taken down periodically over the past few years, i use guitar pro now because you can actually listen and compare it to the real thing to make sure the tabs are right and you can adjust accordingly, plus you have the option of slowing the song down which comes in handy when trying to learn solos and stuff before a show