{"id":921,"date":"2020-05-22T05:07:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T10:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/?p=921"},"modified":"2020-05-22T05:07:52","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T10:07:52","slug":"should-i-learn-chords-or-tabs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/should-i-learn-chords-or-tabs\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Learn Chords Or Tabs? Is the Answer Neither?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I love this question because it’s a such a good one. If you’re just getting started with guitar one of the first questions you may ask yourself: What is the best way to learn this instrument? <\/strong>And part of that is figuring out if you should focus on chords or tabs<\/strong>. Which is better to learn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When starting to learn the guitar, it is easier and less frustrating to focus on learning songs via chords rather than through tabs. Guitar tabs are generally more difficult and time-consuming and difficult to learn but are necessary if you want to learn the exact notes of a riff or solo.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer to this question is that whatever you want to focus on is ultimately up to you–but there are definitely some reasons why focusing on learning songs through their chords is an easier and more enjoyable path for a beginner. <\/strong>But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t touch guitar tabs–if you want to know where to start and why, read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Learning Songs Through Chords Is Better At First<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’ve totally been there–you have this beautiful guitar (or an old dusty one… doesn’t matter) in your hands and you want to learn one of your favorite songs. You pull it up on Ultimate Guitar and see that there are two types of results: chords, or tabs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is this talking about? Well, there are two main types of guitar tabs. A guitar tab that focuses on the chords<\/strong>, or a guitar tab that focuses on the individual notes being played<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two types of guitar tabs have two different purposes<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guitar Chord Tabs Are For Singing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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An example of a guitar chord tab <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you are gathered around the campfire with your buddies and you try to sing a song, you don’t pull up a guitar tab, you pull up guitar chords because chords are much easier to sing along to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the melody might go through several notes for a few beats but they all fit within a C chord. So in the guitar chord tab you see the chord C <\/strong>above the lyrics, which means the guitarist plays the C chord while those lyrics are sung. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s worth mentioning that chords by themselves aren’t very interesting, it’s the lyrics and the melody that goes along with the chord that makes the song what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guitar Tabs Are For Riffs and Hooks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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An example of a guitar tab<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Riffs and hooks? What’s a Riff?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well you can think of a riff <\/strong>as a bunch of notes strung together in a recognizable fashion. Some riffs are called hooks <\/strong>because they are what draw you into the music and make you want to listen to the rest of the song. Riffs are powerful parts of the song that make the song what it is.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve ever heard Stairway to Heaven by Led Zepplin, then that opening riff<\/strong> that starts the song is the hook <\/strong>for the song. It’s an unforgettable pattern of notes that will survive forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guitar “tabs” are for just that, they show you the individual notes to be played so you can play these riffs or even guitar solos that are featured in a recording. Guitar tabs even describe guitar techniques that are essential in playing the riff<\/strong>, such as hammer-ons, pull offs, glissandos, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So out of these two what’s better to learn?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easier To Learn Chords Than Tabs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Playing guitar isn’t easy (at least for most honest people)–whether you learn through chord charts or tabs be prepared for a bumpy road! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the two, learning to play a song with chords is much easier than learning guitar tabs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is important! Because guitar is a difficult instrument already, it can be very disheartening to try and learn a tricky guitar tab and spend hours and hours memorizing the patterns for just one song–which in comparison to a guitar chord tab where (if you’ve had some practice), you can pick up and play without ever having practiced it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason why this is important is that it’s crucial to minimize barriers for your playing. If you aren’t to the point where you can practice an hour every day, you need to focus on small wins and keep the guitar as fun as possible. Eventually, you’ll get to tabs and be able to more fully enjoy the instrument, but there is no reason to climb the mountain first when you can climb the hill first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does this mean that guitar chords are wimpier than guitar tabs? Well, the answer is not so simple as that. Just because guitar tabs are more difficult doesn’t mean they are better to learn. <\/strong> And it also doesn’t mean that guitar chords are like elementary school and guitar tabs are like college. Let’s find out why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chords Are More Important than Tabs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Chords, <\/strong>even if they aren’t super interesting by themselves, are the energy of the song. The melodies of the song dance around the chords–going up and down and around the fundamental notes of that chord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you start to get a better feel for chords<\/strong>, you’ll find that guitar tabs often are just derivatives of the chords themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I mean by that is that if you were to put a guitar tab in a blender, and then set it to puree for a couple minutes, you’d see that the leftover notes that the riffs are built around are fundamental chords<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning the fundamental energy of the song is the most important part. After that, you can add the sugar and the ranch dressing that are guitar tabs. But focusing on learning the sugar and ranch dressing first (guitar tabs) first or even solely is probably not a good use of your time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Learning Guitar Tabs is a Waste Of Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Guitar tabs help you to learn specific riffs and guitar patterns that make up a song. You may think, initially, that this makes sense, because if the goal is to play the song as accurately as the recording as possible<\/strong>, then a guitar tab is perfect for the job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But does accuracy have to be the goal? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem with learning guitar tabs is that you are simply memorizing patterns of notes.<\/strong> You aren’t learning the fundamental chords of the song, and you are perhaps too far zoomed in to the music to understand how the composer of the song got to that riff in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So am I saying that you should abandon guitar tabs and just learn chords? Not at all.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn Scales Instead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A better use of your time is to learn the scales and a little bit of theory instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if, instead of learning a specific pattern of notes that worked for one song, and instead learned how that pattern of notes came to be? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a bit like looking behind the curtain in the famous movie the Wizard of Oz. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the movie, the great wizard seems like this semi-deity, but once you looked behind the curtain you found a conniving man trying to keep up the appearance of imperiousness with technology and tricks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you learn scales, you may find yourself feeling like you’re looking behind the curtain and understanding how some of these songs are built and put together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s overwhelming to start learning scales, I understand, but a great place to start is learning the pentatonic scales. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll show you an amazing video that shows the power of the pentatonic scale:<\/p>\n\n\n

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How to use the CAGED system to play a SOLO<\/div><\/div>
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