Many guitarists involved in tuition at school become experienced over the years in reading both traditional musical notation and TAB. Occasionally you can sense a drift in focus, during which errors and omissions begin to occur.

The best fix for this, whether in notation or TAB, is to ask pupils to recite the note names or fret numbers aloud while playing – although this is clearly not an option for those blowing into their instrument. Nobody likes doing this and many pupils will claim that it puts them off. Some will say this immediately following a much improved rendition.

As the improvement seem undeniable whether reciting (alpha) note names or (numeric) fret numbers, I can only imagine that it is more to with enforcing a decision than actually raising attainment in either field in such a short time. Why this should be I’ve no idea – especially when considering that speed and quality for most people reduces when reading aloud as opposed to silently. Reflecting on this leaves me with the feeling that we (or, at any rate, I) in the music game are quite vague about the fundamentals of literacy.

Could there be any useful exchange between specialists in numeracy, literacy and music which might shed some light on this? Does anyone know of any interesting, accessible research on the subject?

If you would like to compare the appearance of notation and TAB of the same part, there are several samples on the Guitar Group Support (additional parts) Page.

Categories: Languages, Music