Hello everyone,

I just became a member of this great site and entered in a Request for a tab in the appropriate section. I notice that some (most) posts in that section have the word "new" in red at the end of the post but mine doesn't - is this because I omitted something or...

Thanks

GIII

It shows "NEW" on my computer. Welcome to the club!

OK..

Thank you!!

The new means it is a post you have not read, since you wrote the post you already read it

Oh, I see...thanks dj

Now, that's a problem I have:
I post my stuff before I read it, then have to go back and edit it!

Welcome aboard, George!

LOL...Thanks Gene

Welcome to the site, George! Always good to see new people around here!

Kocot Wrote:
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> Welcome to the site, George! Always good to see
> new people around here!

Thanks Kocot,

Been a long time "lurker" thought I'd "take the plunge". I wish I could contribute something in the way of a tab or two, but my "music theory" and my ear for "keys" are still in the "developing" stage...

GIII

Hah, don't worry, I understand completely! I think the main reason I ever joined in the first place was so that I could have a favourites list... But then I started tabbing. Honestly, if you look up the first page of sheet music for a song, or even guitar tabs, online, they'll give you a place to start in terms of keys. It's the best way I've found of tabbing music which I do not own!

Thanks Kocot,
I've found several websites that are real helpful with music theory ect., so with their help I'm gradually figuring out which hole on my harmonica is represented by which note or tab, hopefully one day it'll all fall into place!

Check out tab rulers under resources on the left side of the homepage and welcome.

Thank you Walt, I'll do that...and can I say how much I've enjoyed and used your great tabs before I became a member, I'm sure there are many of us who really appreciate the time and effort that you expend on our behalf

That's very kind of you.

Welcome Mike/George! Glad to have you as a new member.

Like Kocot, the main reason why I became a member was to have a "Favorites" list.
Then tried my first tab. It was really rough, and took me MONTHS to do, but it turned out acceptable. Then it just grew from there. The more I did, the easier it became, and the better it felt. Now it's kinda like "Zen Tabbing".

So, enjoy building your Favorites list! And I look forward to your input on the boards.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2014 08:18PM by EarthDogHarpin.

Thanks EarthDogHarpin,

I'm building my Favourites list - it's gonna be a big one! - and I'm struggling to teach myself "music theory" from absolute zero knowledge...!! So the thought of me actually tabbing something seems a long way away...but it is something I really wanna do...

The hardest part about tabbing nowdays is finding a song that isn't on this list!
When I joined there were only about 2000 tabs. Now there is somewhere around 23 gazillion songs listed!

If you attend church, the hymnals are a good place to start, since the sheet music comes with the song. Then write the words, put the blow and draw holes above the words that you would play on a harp that is the key of the song. You don't need a harp in every key for that either. Once you get the numbers written down, you can play those numbers on any diatonic keyed harmonica. That's how I did several of the hymns that I have tabbed here. Most of my other songs I just learned to play by ear, then wrote the tabs down for them. Some songs are very simple to learn by ear, but I've still got a few I want to play and never have figured them out.

Fake books are another good source. And then, if you want to spend the money, you can get sheet music for about any song from the internet.

Another tip: sometimes a song can be played in different keys on the same harp. These are examples of positions. Example: "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" was already tabbed here by DJLactose. He has it in C on the high end, starting on 9 and ending of 7. I tabbed it in the key of F, starting on 7 blow and ending on 5 draw. It can also be tabbed on the low end of C, but you have to be able to bend 3 draw to play it. So look at your favorite songs, you may be able to tab it in a different position. "Amazing Grace" can be played on a C harp in the keys of C, F, and G.

Another thing



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2014 10:46AM by Pulp.

You can look up sheet music on the internet and find the first page of it as a sample. This is usually good enough to get you through the rest of the song.

Also, you can download a midi and put it in various programs that will translate it into sheet music. (I use Harmony Assistant.)

There certainly are a huge number of tabs here, such a great resource, and just learning my favourite ones is in itself a great learning exercise. I've found several learning "tools" online that I'm using to teach myself the basics of music theory, especially about "keys", I read somewhere that knowing the key that a piece is written in, is crucial to being able to tab it..?..I just marvel at anyone who can listen to a song/piece of music and tell right away in which key it is being sung/played.
Since I very rarely play anything other than a 16 holer (chromatic), I will probably be tabbing for that; I've started (and abandoned!) a couple of projects but I'm itching to give it another go!
I really appreciate the encouragement...

GeorgeIII

Honestly, you'd be shocked at how little you have to know about "music theory" to tab a song for the harp.

You have to have sheet music (assuming you can't tab by ear, and I doubt many can), you have to be able to identify what note it is by its placement on the ledger (starting bottom up, for the lines: Every Good Boy Does Fine, for the spaces it spells FACE), and you have to know which hole on the harp that note corresponds to (which can easily be found online, just google 16 hole chromatic layout). Oh, and you have to know from the sheet music what key it's in, but it tells you right on the sheet. one # next to the clef means G, 2 #s means D, etc. You can google that too and use that source until you have it committed to memory.

After that you need to know what accidentals are, and you're pretty much ready to tab. Along the way you'll discover more advanced things, like enharmonic equivalents (for example, C# and Db is the same thing. You can again use good ol' google to find out what can be swapped for what if need be) and different positions (which may not really be relevant if you're tabbing for chromatic. You guys tend not to have a bunch of different key harps, right?).

But you might want to just get started and let yourself discover those things along the way. That's how I did it. And yes, there's still a song or two I tabbed a few years ago when I barely knew what I was doing that I still need to go back and fix >.> But it's part of the learning process. If you get stuck at some point, toss your question up here and Gene will give you more information than is humanly possible. Seriously, the man isn't human. That's an actual photograph.

But that's really all you need to start: know what key it's in by looking at the sheet music, know what hole on the harp each note corresponds to (both things you can look up online no problem), know what accidentals are, and you're good to begin. I've tabbed over 300 songs and I'm not even positive I know what the words "music theory" mean. I mean, even individually.