"Crib Sheets For Guitar Heroes"
Musical 'Tab' Sharing
Migrates to Web Sites
That Pay for Rights
By ETHAN SMITH -- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
December 21, 2007
[EXCERPT]
Brad Tolinski, Guitar World editor in chief, sees the tab sites as more than just a future source of revenue for the music industry. Tablature has been used for decades by musicians with no formal training and rose to prominence during the folk revival of the 1950s and '60s.
The system "tells players where to put their fingers on the instrument, rather than pitches to play," making it simpler and more mechanical than sheet music, Mr. Tolinski notes. Almost no banjo music is available in notation other than tablature, he adds.
On Guitar World's Web site, which is currently operating in "beta" mode, users can search professional and amateur tabs by recording artist and by song title, as well as browse "most viewed" and "highest rated" tabs.
Among the pro transcriptions on the Guitar World site are the guitar gymnastics from Judas Priest's metal classic "Hell Bent for Leather" and the Allman Brothers Band's Southern rock anthem "Melissa." User-submitted tabs include David Bowie's "Life on Mars," classics from Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash and a number of R&B songs that the Beatles covered early in their career.
