Tablature is a form of musical notation, which tells players where to place their fingers on a particular instrument rather than which pitches to play. Power Tabs takes it a step further to add audio tracks and scrolling music to the tab. This is why Power Tabs is by far the easiest tablature to use.
Tablature is mostly (but not exclusively) seen for fretted stringed instruments, in which context it is usually called tab for short. It is frequently used for the guitar, bass, lute, archlute, theorbo, angélique, mandora, gallichon, and vihuela, but in principle it can be used for any fretted instrument, including ukulele, mandolin, banjo, and viola da gamba, as well as many free reed aerophones such as the harmonica. While today tablature is commonly used in notating rock and pop music, it is often seen in folk music, and was in fact common during Renaissance and Baroque eras. (In the context of guitar tab, standard musical notation is usually called 'staff notation' — even though tab is also written on a staff — or just 'notation'). An alternate (some would say incorrect) usage of the word "tab" or "tabs" is common on the internet, where they refer to conventional chord symbols (for harmony), or note names (for melody).
Now that we've established exactly what a "tab" is, what can it do for you, the normal, everyday guitar or bass player?
If you need to learn a song, a power tab will shorten the time required to learn the chords, lead, bass lines, etc.. You can also play along with the tabs that we provide as they not only have the musical notation, but audio also playing the songs in the original keys.
I keep up my chops on a weekly basis using guitar tabs. I also use another piece of software that is fantastic for learning music as it will speed up/slow down the music without changing the pitch or you can change the pitch without changing the speed of the music. Very useful!
Beginners and advanced guitarists both use tablature as the means to an end. We all want to be the best that we can be, and using these tabs and the software will make you a better player immediately, no matter what your skill level is.
Buying a tab book is expensive, as is a play along book at about $29.95 for a few songs, and that is cost prohibitive if you are wanting to learn many different songs from different artists. You could spend hundred (and eventually thousands) to learn songs.
Granted, you can still download a few tabs online, but this takes ALOT of time and effort, and then it's just tabs. There is no audio, scrolling scores, etc.. There are other alternatives available to you though.
More information at www.softwareplanet.us/powertabs/index.html
