How Could Bass Tab be Made Better?

[DoubleOhStephan]

Would colour coding help as a start? If you assign a colour to each finger (e.g. Index=Red; Middle=Black; Ring=Green; Pinkie=Blue) and apply that to your tab charts, could that help to overcome the  fingering issue? Open strings would need a different colour obvo... 

Disclaimer, the colour's used in the example were chosen cos thats all I could find in the drawer.

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, StevieE said:

Would colour coding help as a start? If you assign a colour to each finger (e.g. Index=Red; Middle=Black; Ring=Green; Pinkie=Blue) and apply that to your tab charts, could that help to overcome the  fingering issue? Open strings would need a different colour obvo... 

Disclaimer, the colour's used in the example were chosen cos thats all I could find in the drawer.

An interesting idea. The bugbear is that not everyone uses the same fingerings.

[DoubleOhStephan]

Ahh I didn't realise you were looking for a global solution, I'm out! 😁

Tbh I'd just read your OP and when you said "The biggest issue I have is poor fingering choices" the colour coding was the first thing that sprung to mind. I agree that it wouldn't be a universal solution. I don't think I've got enough inventiveness to problem solve at that level 😬

[Stub Mandrel]

34 minutes ago, StevieE said:

Ahh I didn't realise you were looking for a global solution, I'm out! 😁

Tbh I'd just read your OP and when you said "The biggest issue I have is poor fingering choices" the colour coding was the first thing that sprung to mind. I agree that it wouldn't be a universal solution. I don't think I've got enough inventiveness to problem solve at that level 😬

Hoist by my own petard!

My problem is that tab is often not laid out with sensible fingerings in the sense that unfeasible stretches or pointless changes of position are given:

Quote

G|----0---0---0-0-0-----------0---|--------------------------------|

D|--------------------2---0-------|5---5---------------------------|

A|--------------------------------|----------------2---3---4---5---|

E|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|

                                                                     

G|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|

D|----0---0-------0---0---0-------|--------------------------------|

A|--------------------------------|5---5---5-------5---5---4---3---|

E|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|

I have seen an example of a program that can automatically move fingerings to different locations. That could perhaps be used/adapted to automatically detect and eliminate silliness like in the example.

 

 

 

[DoubleOhStephan]

14 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Hoist by my own petard!

My problem is that tab is often not laid out with sensible fingerings in the sense that unfeasible stretches or pointless changes of position are given:

I have seen an example of a program that can automatically move fingerings to different locations. That could perhaps be used/adapted to automatically detect and eliminate silliness like in the example.

 

 

 

Ahh I see what you're saying. 

It definitely feels like a tech solution would be needed, can't think quite how at the moment, I'll mull it over 🤔

[Woodinblack]

That certainly wouldn't be tricky and depending on the speed you are playing maybe that is a better way of playing it. 

The whole point of tab over notation is that it has the fingering. If you don't like the fingering, what is the point of it?

I find it very rare that tab is either right or the fingering I would use. GuitarPro lets you move it around flexibly, but it has the advantage of using both tab and notation at the same time (you can export ascii tab though).

I have quite a lot of tab around, but it is normally stuff I have done for myself or modified.

[Stub Mandrel]

I've installed guitar pro but it's a bit tricky and I don't have the time to get to know it at the moment.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

and depending on the speed you are playing maybe that is a better way of playing it.

I really doubt it...

[Woodinblack]

6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I've installed guitar pro but it's a bit tricky and I don't have the time to get to know it at the moment.

Like anything, its familiarity. If you go to a download site and download a guitar pro tab (normally scroll to the bottom for that), then when you see the notes you can just select them and move them up or down a string and it goes up/down by 5. I had to do quite a bit when I was looking at son of a preacher man, as the tab sites have crazy fingering for it.