It would mean learning bass cleft and the notes on the bass, tab isn’t an option,
Chris, I feel a need to elaborate on this a bit. Especially since you've stated, "Tab isn't an option".
I think it may be possible that you could potentially have a wrong idea about TAB. One reason I'm thinking this is because I used to have a very wrong idea about tab myself. I used to think that tab was nothing more than a 'cheat'. A way for lazy people or morons to learn how to play an instrument without having to take the time to read music.
That is the wrong way to think of tab! Tab is your BEST FRIEND, when it comes to learning an instrument like a bass guitar. Don't view it as something that is undesirable or a 'cheat'. It's neither. It's a very valuable learning tool. And while you may not be able to use TAB when actually playing in the band, that's beside the point. In fact, you don't want to become
dependent on having to have tab always available. The only way that would happen is if you refused to also learn the standard musical notion right along with it.
But the idea is to learn
both.
To begin with tab is extremely easy to learn and use. This is why it's often thought of as a 'cheat' for people who don't want to learn to read music. At glance you can see where all the notes are on the fingerboard. And that's the
key value of tab. You can see the
patterns on the fingerboard instantly for notes that are in the score that
should be also provided directly above the tab in most learning books that are intended as teaching guides.
So what you do is look at the tab and get an
instantaneous view of the
pattern that the note melody forms on the finger board. But then you should look back up at the actual score and see what that
pattern looks like in standard musical notation.
Before long you're
seeing the fingerboard patterns in the standard score, and you no longer need the tab! In this way you free yourself from the tab and do not become dependent upon always having it available.
So don't view tab as a 'crutch', but instead view it as a tool, more like 'training wheels' that you'll eventually no longer need.
It's a great tool to help you instantly become aware of how various
note melodies form specific
patterns on the fingerboard.
So don't shy away from tab thinking that it's an unnecessary crutch that won't be useful to you. On the contrary it's your
best friend! It will get you there really quick. You'll start to recognize how various melodies form specific patterns on the fingerboard and eventually you won't need the tab anymore because you'll start to just see those patterns in the score itself.
So don't reject tab as being your nemesis or something that can't help you. That's just not true.
It is true, that if you focus solely on the tab and refuse to ever look at the score or read music,
then you most certainly will become dependent on tab only because you're mentally blocked out the score. But you don't want to do that. That's the wrong way to use tab. (or maybe that's the "cheaters" way of using tab).
But you don't need to mentally block out the score or reject it. Embrace the score! Look at the tab to see the fingerboard pattern, then look up at the score and soak in what notes you are actually playing and how they appear in the score. Take note of the key your playing in and what position you're at on the neck etc. And before long you won't need the tab anymore because you'll start to just see it in the score alone.
But don't toss the tab out as being something that can't help you. Because that would be a shame. It most certainly can and will help you to get where you want to be real quick.
Just use it as a
tool to help visualize that score on the fingerboard. Don't ignore the score! Embrace it, study it, and know what notes you are actually playing, the key, and the position. If you do that you won't become dependent on the tab at all. It will have just been a tool that you used to more quickly be able to read standard score at a glance.
Do you see what I'm saying?
Tab can be a nemesis for those who refuse to also learn the standard music notation. But you don't need to go there. Embrace
both simultaneously, and it won't be long before you can toss the tab aside altogether. For you it will have merely been a learning tool, whilst for those who refused to look at the score at all, it has become their permanent crutch.
But don't reject tab altogether just because some people use it as an eternal crutch. There's no reason you need to do that.
Use is as a learning
tool not as a permanent crutch and you'll be just fine.
))
