I have found adjusting to tablature very simple and if anything it helps my sight reading. I am actually to the point where I can figure out the tune of a simple piece just by looking at it. There is one disadvantage which I am not sure if I should blame on the notation system however.
I find it much more difficult to memorize a lute piece than a classical guitar piece. Yes, I'm older now and the lute is new, but I get lost trying to remember even the simplest pieces by heart. I have also noticed that in every lute concert I have attended the performer plays off of a score (except when O'Dette strolls in from the back of the hall!) but most guitarists play all but the most recently composed pieces from memory. Is there something about seeing the notes and chord structure that promotes understanding and memorization? > >--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >> Dear Howard and Vance, >> >> I was very interested to read your comments regarding the relative >virtues of >> >> staff notation and tablature. Being a beginner, I find tablature means >I have >> >> little or no idea which notes I am playing, whether I am supposed to >play a >> fifth, an octave or indeed what interval is intended. Even the key is >often a >> >> mystery (I do not have absolute pitch) What looks like a 'third' in >staff >> notation can turn out to be anything between a second and a seventh. >The >> letter 'd' >> in the first chord or two of Greensleeves, I discovered, represents >about >> three entirely different notes. Switch to German tablature and you won't have that problem!!!
