by Tabs vs. sheet music/notation – Nearly everyone has an opinion on which one you should learn. But, after years of experience I don’t think one size fits all.
For some bassists, reading sheet music is nothing but a distraction that won’t actually help them. For these players, learning and reading tabs makes total sense.
On the other side of the coin, some bass players would get almost nothing out of learning songs from tabs. Learning to read music from the start would make far more sense than trying to decipher tabs.
There’s a kind of debate that’s been going on for years about whether you should learn tabs or notation. And, while I understand both sides, I just don’t think the same method works for everyone.
That’s why I put together this week’s video, to break things down and tell you whether or not you should be learning sheet music or tabs.
You’ll find out if tabs or notation ‘wins’ in the categories of ease, quality, price, fun, time/speed, and universality, but I’ll also share the ‘hidden’ drawbacks of using both tabs and notation.
Check out the lesson here:
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I’ve personally experienced both sides of this debate. When I started out playing bass, I was 100% into tabs – it’s what I used to learn just about every song I wanted.
Later on though, when my situation changed, I needed to learn how to read notation properly. I was playing with more experienced musicians and found myself playing gigs where the ability to read was essential, so I had to adapt.
Now when I have students ask about notation vs. tabs, I never give the same answer twice. In fact, when this question is asked, I always ask what they want to learn and the kinds of things they want to do with their bass.
Everyone’s situation is different, so I figure out what theirs is and tell them which one will be more helpful in their situation.
Like I said, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to this question. Hopefully, if you’re wondering about this yourself, this video will help clarify things for you.
Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!
Cheers,
Hi Luke, wasn’t able to find a way to contact you directly and this video is kinda related…
I play bass for my church and use the sheet music (with chords) to play, but hymns tend to have a lot of chord changes that make it hard to implement what I’ve learned from your videos. What can I try to do to make the bass more unique?
Hey Eric – good question. It sounds like you want to create bass lines that include more than just the roots of the chords. Does that sound about right?
If that’s the case, then my question to you would be – Do you hear bass lines that don’t just include the root? Actually having a concept of what you want to play is going to make things a lot easier when you go to actually play it. In other words, try to hear bass line ideas that include more than just the root before trying to execute them on your bass. I talk about this idea in this video:
https://becomeabassist.com/how-to-play-more-melodically/
It’s specifically about soloing, but the same thing applies to creating more melodic and unique bass lines. Check it out, and if you have any questions, just leave a comment – I’m happy to help.
Luke, I have been hunting YT videos to learn the bass and though I have learnt from some, I have at last found yours that I can stick to from start to end. Your explanation is simple and easy to understand. Thanks for this.
Trying to get bass tabs for the Beatle songs. Your link gives me the sound track minus the bass, but no tabs. How do I get them?
The tabs are on that same page the tracks are on Tom – it’s the very first blue link that says ‘Download The Tabs And Notation Here’