Encoding

The encoding stage is the actual transfer of information from short term to long term memory, typically via the hippocampus. Short term memory is understood as being around 30 seconds, however the process of encoding information into long term memory can take much longer than that – perhaps over a few months depending on the nature and complexity of the information being stored. The hippocampus is believed to hold the information whilst it is being encoded into long term memory. It is also understood that the transfer of information from the hippocampus into longterm memory can happen subconsciously, “in the background”, and even during sleep. This explains why its important to take breaks during practice and why it is often easier to come back to a difficult task after a night’s sleep. Obviously any errors in encoding will hinder recall later on, so a key component of any good memorisation strategy is being thorough and accurate at the encoding stage.

Storage

This stage is where the information is kept in long term memory. However, provided that the information was encoded thoroughly, that reliable strategies for recall are in place, and that the brain remains healthy, there is very little that we can do to influence the storage component of memory; although periodically accessing the stored memory does seem to make future recall easier by helping to mitigate ‘trace decay‘. This is just another way of saying that regularly using the information will help to keep it fresh and easier to recall. Of course, it is also useful to continue to improve how deeply the information is encoded by regularly studying and reviewing previously learned information. Essentially, this amounts to use it or lose it.

Recall

Once we’ve successfully encoded and stored a memory, the final step in the memory process is recall – when we actually retrieve the stored information for use. The types of recall we are covering today are serial recall and cued recall.

Serial Recall

Serial recall refers to the ability to recall information in the order in which it was learned. For students who are overly dependent on only serial forms recall, it can be quite difficult to pick up a piece in the middle of a phrase, line or bar/measure. This can be particularly disastrous when a player loses their place during a performance, often having to ‘back-track’ to find a part that they are more familiar with first and then play from there. A good memorisation strategy then, should address the limitations of serial recall to help mitigate any occasional lapses in memory and to ensure that the performance goes on relatively uninterrupted. In practice, this means developing other recall processes so that one is not entirely dependent on only serial recall.

Cued Recall

A cue can be considered to be anything that may act as a reminder and prompt the recall of information. Any good approach to memorisation will have multiple, carefully planned and organised cues. The more cues that we have available to us, the less likely that the failure if any single cue will effect the performance.

Context-Dependent Cued Recall

Context-dependent cues are cues which depend on the environment or situation. For instance a particular smell may ‘trigger’ (that is, ‘cue’) a person’s early childhood memory of their mothers home cooking – this may even be a long “forgotten” memory, or may trigger the memory of information that the person was not even aware they knew.

An excellent example of this from my own life occurred when I was driving with my parents on an old, scenic country road. Due to the local vegetation and crops, this particular area had a subtle but distinctive smell, which triggered a memory of being there before. When I asked my mother when I’d been there, she replied that I was two years old at the time and travelling in a booster seat!

The physical environment can also act as a powerful cue even if we aren’t aware of it. As an example, many students tell me that they play better at home than they do in their lessons, which can point to a change in environmental cues effecting their recall. In the case of my previous story, there may also have been an element of environmental cues that prompted my spontaneous recall – I happened to be sitting in the centre back seat, which is the place that the booster seat used to go. Adults rarely sit in the centre back seat so it is likely that the majority of the memories associated with the centre seat were formed as a young child during my years in the booster chair.

The other side of the coin is how a lack of environmental cues can cause forgetting. I knew an extremely accomplished saxophonist and clarinettist who played in our local community concert band, and, depending on the availability of players, the scoring of the music, etc he would happily swap between instruments as necessary. On this occasion he was playing clarinet, but when the sax section asked him a question regarding fingering he completely blanked and couldn’t recall the correct saxophone fingering. However, once he had put down the clarinet and picked up a sax he immediately demonstrated the fingering. The presence of a clarinet in his hands cued memories of clarinet fingerings, whilst the sax was an environmental cue that was needed before his brain could ‘change gears’.

Accordingly its very important that our method of memorisation makes good use of contextual cues and accounts for any cues that may be unavailable during a performance context.

State-Dependent Cued Recall

Although the current understanding of state-dependent learning is still widely theoretical, it is generally understood that the emotional state or mental state of the person during encoding can be an important cue to recall. Information learned whilst happy for instance, can be more easily recalled during periods of happiness, or information whilst intoxicated can be better recalled when intoxicated than when sober.

Unfortunately for us, our emotional state is usually very different when performing than when practicing, which means that we will be lacking important state-dependent cues which can result in a memory lapse. For instance some people experience performance anxiety, nerves, excitement, stress, euphoria, or any of a number of other performance related changes in emotional state. In contrast we usually learn in safe, emotionally calm conditions, and in a relaxed non-demanding environment. During performance, many of the state-dependent cues that we are accustomed to during practice are no longer present, and can lead to poor recall. In developing approaches to memorisation we should therefore account for the emotional state during performance and attempt to mitigate any negative effects on recall. Where possible, we should also use learning environments that approximate performance conditions so that the emotional state during performance and practice might be more alike.

Other than state-dependent and context-dependent cues, other common memory aids can also be considered to be a cue. Unlike state- and context- dependent cues, we are often more aware of these cues and may even employ them deliberately as memory aids. Mnemonics, ‘cheat sheets’, dot points, cue cards and so on are all cue systems as they prompt or aid recall. There are many such devices which can, and should be employed in the memorisation of music. For instance, I always study the underlying harmony (i.e. the chord progressions) which I find makes it much easier to remember difficult passages. Rather than focusing on recalling complex fingerings, I simply need to memorise the progression which is often be sufficient to cue the correct fingering. Similarly, learning the structure of the piece makes it much easier to recall changes of key, mood, dynamics and phrasing etc.

Occasionally some students may find that they still need the music in front of them, but nonetheless play the music 95% from memory – only looking to the music at a few key points or for certain phrases. In this instance the music is acting as a set of ‘dot points’, where only a few bars are required to cue whole sections of music. In my experience this scenario can often be easily remedied by playing as much of the piece from memory as possible, and then noting any parts where the fluency falters. This helps to identify exactly what key phrases and important bars are acting as ‘dot points’. Once the student has found these key areas a little deliberate rote learning of those sections is usually enough to bring the entire piece together from memory. Using small sections of music to cue larger sections of music is a technique that I refer to as ‘sign posting’.

Another similar strategy which can help is what I call using a ‘trigger’. In complicated passages, or sections where my fingering can easily become muddled up causing a lapse in recall, I use trigger fingers to ensure that I adhere to the correct fingering. A ‘trigger’ may be something as simple as remembering to play a particular note with a particular finger or using an up stroke on a particular chord. Triggers are usually one or two notes, which, if played incorrectly, can quickly unravel the whole section. Playing these triggers correctly ‘sets me up’ in the correct hand position for the coming bars making recalling difficult sections easier.

Procedural Memory and Implicit Memory

Procedural memory is what many musicians term ‘muscle memory’ or ‘motor memory’ and refers to the brain’s ability to memorise processes. For musicians, procedural memory is typically the first way we learn to memorise music. By rehearsing music many times over, our brain gradually memorises the actions required to play the piece. Procedural memory is a form of implicit memory, meaning previous experiences aid in the performance of a task without conscious awareness of those experiences, or being consciously aware of the steps in the task being performed. Skills such as driving, tying shoe laces, and playing an instrument are typically remembered with procedural memory – we perform these skills automatically and without conscious thought. However, once again, an over reliance on a single mode of memory can make a person more prone to memory lapses. Engaging the declarative memory system an make recall significantly more reliable.

Declarative Memory and Explicit Memory

Where procedural memory is used for skills, declarative memory is the area concerned with memorising information, facts or events. Simply put, procedural memory is concerned with the how whereas declarative memory is concerned with the what.

Declarative memory is usually sub-categorised as episodic memory (memory of ones own life events, and of little use for memorising music), and semantic memory which concerns factual information – such as studying the harmony, structure, compositional devices etc. Declarative memory also differs from procedural memory in that it is an explicit form of memory – that is, it involves conscious recollection of information (i.e. its not automatic like procedural memory).

In the context of learning music, engaging declarative memory involves analysing the music to have a more thorough understanding of the compositional devices including harmonic, rhythmic and melodic structures. Understanding the composition at a deeper level gives the information more meaning and significance. Meaning and significance are powerful cues to recall. For instance, recalling a random number is much harder than recalling a persons phone number; while a phone number is easier to recall if it belongs to a close friend rather than a random acquaintance. Similarly, a phone number that has sequential or repeated digits is usually more memorable because the phone number is no longer a collection of seemingly random numbers. Sequenced or repeated numbers are more meaningful and significant to us, and are therefore more memorable.

Till Next Time….

Now that we’ve covered the basics of exactly what memory is, the next post will cover how we can put this understanding to work and develop memorisation strategies. In developing these strategies the key points to remember are:

• Engaging the procedural memory process through rehearsal and practice
• Engaging the declarative memory process through compositional analysis
• Making strong use of contextual- and state- dependent cues to aid recall
• Accounting for any missing contextual- or state- dependent cues that may not be available during performance
• Developing other cues such as ‘trigger fingers’ or ‘signposts’
• Encoding the information accurately and thoroughly so as to allow dependable recall
• Encoding the cues accurately and thoroughly so as to develop dependable recall

Attaching the Bass Strings to the Bridge

The following method of attaching the strings should only be used to attach the bass (wound) strings to the bridge. Since the bass strings have a rough surface, there is enough friction for this method to be effective. On the other hand the treble strings are very smooth and so will not hold well using this method. The correct method for attaching the trebles strings is described below.

1) Pass the string over the saddle and through the hole on the bridge.

2) Loop the string end back under itself.

3) Run the string back down toward the hole and pass the string back under itself.

4) Ensure that the string locks itself against the bridge as in the figure above. The figure below shows a common mistake where the string end is not locked in place. This will cause tuning problems.

Attaching the Treble Strings to the Bridge

The method for attaching treble strings is the same as the method for bass strings, but uses and extra twist. Since the treble strings are smooth, and ‘frictionless’, they will tend to slip if you don’t put in the extra twist.

First we start out the same as before…

… and again loop the string underneath

Now run the string back under itself again…

…and then back over the top

Finish off like before – run the string down against the hole locking the string under itself.

Pull tight.

Attaching the Strings to the String Posts

Before you begin, turn the peg so that one end of the hole in the string post is facing toward the nut.

Now pass the string through and pull it up, and back over the string post.

Just like how we attached the string to the bridge, you should now pass the back around and under itself…

…and then under itself again.

Pull tight…

…and start winding.

When you’re winding the string on you might like to put an extra wrap over the string tail. This is especially useful on the thin E string as this is the string that is generally most likely to slip.

And thats it!

P.S.Don’t forget to rub pencil ‘lead’ into the nut slots for lubrication.

The Good and the Bad

Unfortunately what makes great tone so elusive is that usually any one change can have good or bad effects, depending on the situation. For instance, in the last post I mentioned how ‘scooping’ (cutting) the mids could create a smoother tone, but might also rob the tone of its ‘balls’; or how boosting the highs could create a brighter, more articulate sound, but might also cause your tone to become ear-bleedingly shrill and ‘ice-picky’.

Complexity vs. Focus / Interest vs. Simplicity

Unfortunately almost every decision you will make for your tone involves some kind of trade-off like this. To make tone decisions easier it’s helpful to think in terms of trading complexity for focus, and trading interest for simplicity.

The more complex your tone becomes, the harder it is for the listener to be able to comprehend what they are hearing. For instance, a twelve string guitar, with fuzz and distortion through two delay units and a hall reverb, would be incredibly complex in theory, but in reality it would simply sound unintelligible. Conversely, the simpler your tone is, the less interesting it becomes. Such as a cheap guitar, with characterless overtones, played in a dead room, and a boom-box instead of an amp.

It’s like language: very simple language is off-putting because it is too simplistic to communicate anything of value; on the other hand, overly flowery and difficult language is equally off-putting since it masks the meaning.

Balancing Complexity, Focus, Interest and Simplicity

Heavy style players usually use very clean pickups – such as EMGs, Dimarzios or similar – because they have a more focused, simpler sound which will respond well to plenty of complex distortion. Blues players on the other hand, will choose a more complex sounding pickup – with plenty of harmonic content and a characterful EQ curve – but have their amps at much lower gain settings, which allows the tone to retain some focus.

Few people choose to use pickups like EMGs for 100% clean tones since the simplistic tone is uninteresting and often described as sounding ‘sterile’. Similarly, few people match a complex sounding pickup like a P-90, with high gain amplifiers, since this usually just results in ‘mush’.

Of course, so far the concepts of complexity, focus, interest and simplicity, are over simplified (ha ha) – but read on through the coming series and you’ll get a better idea of what I mean.

Frequency Response

The guitar is a mid-range instrument, which is the most sensitive part of human hearing – so it is little wonder that we guitarists are so fussy with our tone. The guitar itself (i.e. the wood) resonates strongest in the mid frequencies, also the pickups have an electrical resonance that emphasises the mid frequencies even more. Generally speaking, humbuckers will have a stronger mid-emphasis than single coils.

In contrast, guitar amplifiers are very lacking in the mids – guitar amplifiers are ‘scooped’. This is one of the reasons why electric-acoustic guitars sound so unnatural when amplified through conventional guitar amps (electric-acoustic guitars require specific ‘acoustic’ amps). Turning the ‘high’ and ‘bass’ knobs all the way down, and the ‘mid’ knob all the way up, will give you a fairly ‘flat’ response and a rough impression of the actual guitar sound without the mid scoop of the amp.

The last aspect of a basic lead setup is the speaker cone(s). These typically have very limited upper frequency response. Amp cabinets with ‘full-range’ speaker systems would sound incredibly harsh and/or fizzy, so guitar speakers are deliberately made to be ‘lo-fi’ (low-fidelity).

These various cuts and boosts at different frequency areas can all affect the final guitar tone in good and bad ways. Swapping in a wider-bandwidth speaker, for instance, may increase clarity and ‘bite’ but could also increase harshness and fizz. Dropping the mids on the tone-stack might ‘smooth’ out the sound, but could also cause your tone to lose its impact, power or ‘balls’.

Distortion

The three parts of the signal chain described above (guitar/pickups, amplifier, speakers) also introduce harmonic distortion. Usually just called distortion, or overdrive, harmonic distortion is a non-linear compression of an audio signal. This means distortion introduces overtones/harmonics into the signal that were not already there. In short, pickups, amplifiers and speakers add upper frequency content to the signal.

It is important to understand that this is not the same as simply boosting the higher frequencies, such as turning up the ‘high’ knob on the tone controls. This is not boosting audio that was already present in the signal, but is actually changing (i.e. distorting) the signal so that the audio coming out is harmonically different from the audio that went in.

Although everybody is familiar with the distortion available with the ‘gain’ knob on the amp, many people don’t realise that pickups and speakers distort as well. Wide-bandwidth pickups (such as active pickups) sound very clean (some people even describe them as ‘sterile’). By contrast, a P-90 will have a much more complex tone, partly as a result of extra harmonic content. Also, a P-90 has a far more ‘middy’ and ‘peaky’ response while an active pickup has a much flatter response, so this also contributes to the sonic differences between the two.

Also, it is common for people to talk about pickups as being ‘dynamic’ or ‘compressed’. It is usually the case that the more ‘compressed’ the pickup is, the more distortion it introduces. Similarly, a more ‘open’ or dynamic pickup will usually impart less distortion.

Speakers also distort, especially when driven hard. Usually this means very high volumes, though guitar speaker manufacturers may deliberately make speakers which will distort at lower volumes.

Basic guitar tone is a result of controlling distortion and controlling the overall frequency response of the signal along the chain.

But What If I Don’t Use Distortion?

Even guitarists who play with a ‘clean’ sound usually have some distortion – it’s just very subtle, and often imperceptible. It is usually a subtle, controlled use of distortion that makes a clean sparkly tone, rich and complex rather than dull, lifeless and sterile. Remember, harmonic distortion is simply harmonic content that was not originally present in the signal. That does not mean that distortion needs to be ‘in-your-face-high-gain’ type distortion. You can use subtle distortion to ‘warm up’ and thicken’ clean sounds too.

In ‘Lead Guitar Tone Part 2′ I’ll mostly be discussing the non-subtle type of distorted lead sounds, but in ‘Lead Guitar Tone Part 3′ I’ll talk about the subtler kinds of distortion that clean players can make use of too.

Attack Characteristics and Compression

Along with distortion and frequency response, the attack characteristic (aka ADSR envelope) is another key factor in how we perceive a guitar’s tone. Depending on the listener/player, the attack characteristic can be a subtle after-thought, or an integral key to the person’s tone.

For guitarists, the attack characteristic is probably best described by how well a sound ‘jumps’ out of the speakers. The key to achieving a highly dynamic sound is to use very dynamic (open) pickups. Looking around online forums etc, I’ve found that most guitarists seem to prefer a highly-dynamic pickup. Open pickups will respond well to playing dynamics – stronger pick attack can drive an amp into a smooth overdrive, whilst a lighter touch can clean up well for rhythm sections. The downside to highly dynamic pickups is that, with a medium overdrive setting, the attack will likely be significantly more distorted than the sustained part of the note. Also, distortion compresses most of the dynamics out of a tone, so dynamic pickups will be of little advantage to a high-gain player. Generally speaking then, you are going to get the most benefit from pickups with a wide dynamic range, if you are using clean(er) tones.

Closely related to attack characteristics is the issue of compression. Compression is anything which serves to reduce the dynamic range of the final signal. This can include heavier strings, higher-output pickups, amplifier overdrive, distortion from pedals, heavy speaker materials, and of course dedicated compressor pedals.

The benefit of signal compression is that it raises the average level of the signal, and can also increase the perceived level of the signal as well. This means that compression makes your tone seem louder! Unfortunately, because compression is effectively reducing the dynamic range of the signal, it has the significant drawback of reducing the expressivity and musicality that can be achieved with sensitive and dynamic playing.

Controlling/manipulating the compression and attack characteristics of your final tone is something that you should do as a final touch on an already stellar tone. In a recording environment, this would mean doing it ‘in the mix’ after you’ve recorded the uncompressed guitar tone. Essentially altering the attack, or adding compression, has the potential to increase the immediacy and impact of the tone, but could also have the opposite effect of robbing the tone of its expressive potential. I’ll talk more about compression and attack in another post in this series, with some specific tips, tricks, dos and don’ts.

Summary

Controlling basic tone comes down to knowing:

1. How much distortion – high gain or low gain
2. What kind of distortion – symmetric or asymmetric
3. Where in the signal chain the distortion occurs – at the pickups, the amp, the speaker or a combination of all three
4. Which frequencies are distorted the most – distortion voicing
5. Which frequencies are dominant
6. Which frequencies are subdued
7. Attack characteristics
8. Dynamic range

P.S. Intermodulation Distortion

Before we finish up, I need to make a quick note about ‘intermodulation distortion’. This is the main distortion that we don’t want. Intermodulation distortion is the effect where signals at different frequencies combine to create signals at other, musically unrelated, frequencies.

Harmonic distortion (the good distortion) creates frequencies which we perceive as being musically related, and are pleasing to the ear (the frequencies conform to the harmonic series). However, the extra frequencies that occur in intermodulation distortion are not based on the harmonic series, and the human ear perceives it as sounding out-of-key.

The greater number of frequencies that occur simultaneously, the greater chance of noticeable intermodulation distortion. Meaning that harmonically complex signals produce stronger intermodulation distortion. Overdrive, fuzz, and ‘distortion’ pedals create their effect by increasing the harmonic content of the signal, so these pedals all increase the likelihood of objectionable intermodulation distortion. Amplifier distortion, compression, speaker distortion and virtually any kind of signal processing (such as reverb or delay) can also lead to an increase in apparent intermodulation distortion.

So, for now, the rule of thumb is to keep your distortion levels down as much as you can get away with (actually that’s good advice for other reasons too which we will soon discover). Later on, though, we’ll look at other ways of combating intermodulation distortion.

So I ask them if they practiced the passage slowly and invariably they say that they didn’t. When I ask why, they reply that slow practice is boring, or that they just didn’t have the patience. But when done correctly, slow practice is neither boring nor will it make you feel impatient. If you feel bored, impatient or distracted, it’s because your mind isn’t fully engaged in the process of learning, and this makes for very ineffective practice.

So I ask my students to show me how they practiced the passage. They play the song at tempo, and fluff a few notes. I’ll single out a particular note, and go over that part a few times until it’s been corrected. Then I have them play the whole part again. At this point, without me asking, they will always play just a little slower than before – to make sure they play the newly corrected part properly.

Then I point out another part of the passage which needs work. I show them the correct technique, and the right mental approach, and work with them until they are able to play it without a mistake. Again, subconsciously their tempo always slows down just a little bit more. Every time I correct part of the passage, the student subconsciously slows down, without me even asking them too. This is because the passage is just too complicated, detailed and intricate for them to play any quicker.

Then I talk with them about phrasing, hammer-ons, pull-offs, quality of tone, relaxed motion, controlled picking, dynamics, articulation… Depending on how precise you want to be, the list can be virtually endless.

Once I’ve gone through every detail, and explained the approach to every aspect of the passage, I then ask them to play through it one last time. I tell them that I want them to concentrate on all of what we just discussed, and ask them to play it to me as accurately as they can, and at whatever tempo they choose.

Invariably they will play the passage at a much slower tempo, 50bpm or even slower. Usually they won’t make a mistake, but if they do I give them another chance and they usually manage the passage the second time around.

Then I say, ‘that is what I mean by practicing slowly’. To practice slowly and effectively you need to practice at a tempo where your mind has just enough time to process absolutely every detail necessary. Deliberate on every note and think carefully as you play. This will send a very clear message to your fingers, you will make fewer mistakes and learn the song quicker. Even easy songs often have intricate details which, if you’re aware of them, can make the whole song sound better and more polished.

Now I guarantee you that slow practice will be neither boring, nor require patience. In fact, usually three or four slow attempts at a two line passage will be so mentally exhausting that you’ll need a break!

TAB and standard notation are actually very different to each other, and comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. TAB is only used in rock guitar circles and generally only prevalent in magazines and on the internet. Standard notation, on the other hand, is used for all musicians – not just guitarists. It’s a unified language, which helps with communicating ideas with non-guitarists, musical directors and producers.

TAB only tells you where to put your fingers, but standard notation can include fingering, pitch and rhythm, and because it gives you the actual pitches, experienced guitarists are able to interpret the chord structure, the phrasing and the key, and identify motifs, sequences, and other compositional ideas in the music.

Most importantly, standard notation allows the development of theory knowledge, and has a hugely positive influence on your ear training. Players who can read standard notation and have developed their ear, can read through a piece of music (without the guitar in hand) and imagine accurately how the piece should sound – even if they have never heard the piece before.

In a word, standard notation helps develop your musicianship, and is much more than just a set of instructions on where to put your fingers. TAB is very limited, and although it is good for learning songs it does nothing for your overall musical development.

So I Have to Learn Standard Notation?

No! You can still develop good musicianship without studying standard notation. The most direct way is to work on your ear training. Ear training is the single most important aspect of all musical education. Whether you bother to learn standard notation or not, making sure that you focus on your ear training will ensure that you make good progress.

Also, making sure you cover your theory thoroughly will complement your ear development and make you a better musician. Of course, learning standard notation ensures that you develop your ear and your theory, since they pretty much go hand in hand. However, if you choose not to learn to read standard notation, you can still make excellent progress provided you spend enough time on these key areas.

Ear Training and Theory

Whilst this is really a topic for a whole other post, I would quickly like to draw your attention to transcribing. Many of my readers will decide that standard notation is not for them – and that’s fine – but I still do not recommend TAB as a substitute. Like I said, the benefits of standard notation are ear training and theory understanding, however TAB does not develop either of these aspects.

If you choose not to learn standard notation, rather than just continuing with TAB I suggest that you begin to figure out your own transcriptions, rather than just reading them in magazines or downloading them from the net. This will ensure that you understand what you are playing, and are not mindlessly putting your fingers on the frets. In fact, even if you do learn standard notation, you should still make the effort to figure out transcriptions regularly.

The Greats Never Learned Standard Notation

Most great guitarists never learned to read standard notation, but I can guarantee you that none of these players relied on TAB either – after all there was no such thing as the internet, and there were few (if any) instructional books and magazines. These players developed their musicianship through listening to music, and then imitating it – this is the process of transcribing. Also, there are few great guitarists even today who rely on TAB. Accomplished guitarists usually play entirely by ear and ‘feel’ (i.e. musicianship), or use a combination of standard notation and playing by ear. But they never rely on TAB.

So is TAB out of the Question?

Not necessarily. I understand that for most people, most of the time, TAB is perfect. It communicates guitar ideas quickly and succinctly and it’s easy to learn. For those who just want to learn a few songs and play a few riffs TAB is ideal, but if you are serious about your guitar development, you are doing yourself a disservice by relying on TAB. You would be best to either learn standard notation, or start using your own ear to figure out your own transcriptions.

Many great musicians developed their own ear their own way and never learned to read music. Whether or not you choose to learn standard notation is really up to you. If you feel you can do it like the greats did, doing your own transcriptions and learning straight off the record, then great! On the other hand, if you’re like me with zero natural talent, learning to read notation may just be the ticket.

If you just want to have fun, TAB is okay. If you want to understand what you are playing, you need to transcribe for yourself, or learn standard notation. Better yet, do both.