Playing bass (or any guitar, for that matter) is more than pressing strings and fancy strumming. Theres a lot of technicality involved, technicality thats religiously safeguarded by bass guitar tabs. After all, the only way the instrument can be played right is when theres a guideline, right? Its no Egyptian papyrus, but its close enough.
Tabs or tablature?
When glossing guitar songbooks you see the phrase guitar tabs a lot. Have you ever wondered if this is a close relation to tablature in music? Well, its not rocket science to tell that tablature and tabs are exactly the same, tabs being merely a nickname of sorts.
In guitar, tabs are musical notations that guide players where to place their fingers along the strings and in which fret. Tabs are frequently used for guitars and other stringed and fretted instruments. This is the more popular reference for learning guitar for pop and rock music. This also has several advantages over the tedious musical notations. In contrast, classical music is steeped in staff notation for accuracy in rhythm and timing.
Reading your bass guitar tabs
A bass guitar will have four strings. The first uppermost...