h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Tablatures - A2604124
Author: Shagrath (Join the Metal Appreciators' Society at A2556489!) (A2446102) - U595733

Okay...I'm full aware that there is already an edited entry on guitar tabs. But frankly (and I don't mean to be offensive) but it really isn't very good, or thorough. It only covers the basics of guitar tabs, whereas mine covers special symbols and drum tabs.

The EG entry is A442883, for those wishing to compare.

isn't it 'tabUlature'?

No it's not. The correct spelling is "tablature".

Super entry!

My only suggestion is, would putting guitar & drum in the title help for searches?

"No it's not. The correct spelling is "tablature"."

Just did a quick search on Google: both seem to be in use. Oh well, best to stick to what you know.

Thanks for all the comments guys!

I keep feeling like there's something I forgot to put in the entry, but can't figure out what it would be.

Also I know there may be some guitar tab symbols I've forgotten...

Well, it is very good and informative and such.

On a rating from one to five, I give it a... 4/5.

(five is good, one is bad)

GOOD

Good entry, I like it!

On occasions you talk about using the left hand to do something (e.g. damping), which is true for a right-handed guitarist, but not for a left-handed one. I know left-handed guitars are reasonably rare, but maybe you should mention it somehow?

Also regarding damping - you say

"This means to play a note then dampen the string with the left hand to generate a trippy, muffled, percussive tone"

Maybe I do this wrong when I play the guitar, but I always thought you played the note(s) *after* damping the string(s) with your hand?

Anyway, those points are pretty minor really - feel free to disagree!

Ah, you may be right; I'm not sure. I'll change it for now and look it up when I feel like not being lazy.

Sorry, this is kind of random, but I just happened to notice that that's just about the worst drawing of a bass guitar I've ever seen. It's WAY too small.

About pulling-off: "It means to play a note and then let go of the string with one finger without plucking so the open string generates a different tone"

This is a little unclear. For one thing you should use "note" not "tone" as h2g2 has to be in British English. (Here "tone" generally means tone quality, not pitch as in German and American usage.) For another thing, "let go" is not enough. In effect you pluck the second note with the left hand.

How about: "It means to play a note and then sound a second (lower) note on the same string, by plucking gently with the fretting finger as it leaves the first note"?

Also for completeness you should mention lute tablature which was used right through the sixteenth seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and which did indeed show the rhythm and ornamentation very fully and accurately. It used letters (French and German tablature) or numbers (Italian and Spanish) for the frets, and symbols like the tails of staff notation, above the tab, to show the time.

Tablature is in no way inferior to staff notation. It gives more information, in less symbols.

Good to see this more comprehensive and less apologetic entry than the earlier one.

Good entry!

Since this entry is intended to completely replace the existing Edited Entry, and since it is completely your own work, not containing any of the original, this is considered to be a "Rewrite".

The procedure for rewrites is as follows:

- put [Rewrite] in the title
- put a line at the start of the entry in bold or highlighted in some way saying that this is intended to replace the Edited Entry A.
- if the original author is still around on h2g2, you should ask permission (doesn't apply in this case)
- if you use any of the original entry, you should acknowledge the original author, by including him or her in the researcher list (doesn't apply)
- when the entry gets picked and sub-edited, it won't go to the normal slot on the front page. Instead, it will just replace the original, and its name will appear in the Recently updated list on the front page.

Recumbentman, the "pull-off" technique you are describing is a different technique to the one described in the entry. Plucking or not plucking with the fret finger makes them two different sounds. I suspect your one is more suited to classical guitar than electric.

Gnomon~
The entry only mentions pulling off to an open string, though it can be done to any lower note within a handful; and certainly on classical guitar you would generally do it more forcefully than on electric; but I still think it stands as I describe it. After all, there can be any amount of variation in how gently you re-pluck with your left hand, from very hard right down to hardly at all.

I'd agree with Recumbentman on this one - the pull-off (or legado, if you're a classical guitarist) can be anything from gently lifting the finger from the string (as implied by the article) to forcefully dragging the finger across the string. It's just that, on a classical guitar, the former is unlikely to make any noise, whereas simply breathing on an electric guitar can deafen the audience if the volume is turned up high enough (this is why my classical technique went down the drain when I got my first electric guitar )

Hello Shagrath:

Great entry, and great use of graphics!

My only suggestion is a semantic one. This method is tablature, but there is only one. If there were more than one tablature method, each would have to be used only by its proponents; and each would require an entry.

So it's 'Tablature is a method ...'
Otherwise it would have to be Tablatures ARE methodS.

Fords is right. It should be "tablature", not "tablatures".

You should remove all the references to yourself, such as "my personal favourite".

You don't need the footnote disclaimer about the Led Zeppelin riff. What you have there is a reasonable accurate version of that intro, so don't apologise for it.

"wether" should be "whether".

Good Entry!

Thanks for all the improvements!

I thought I could spell "whether". I found I couldn't and fixed one. Didn't see the other.

Thanks for all the improvements!

I thought I could spell "whether". I found I couldn't and fixed one. Didn't see the other.

Although it makes me sad that this'll never reach the Front Page...

That's the price we pay for improving on the work of others. I was very disappointed when the entry that Number Six and I wrote on Venice slipped quietly into the Edited Guide without a mention on the Front Page.