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Thread: Drum Tabs Or By Ear?

  1. #1

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    Default Drum Tabs Or By Ear?

    Hey Guys!

    I've been playing the drums for about three years now, and since my first week of playing I played to my MP3 player or CD's. I started off with some easy songs like Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day, and moved on to some harder ones. Throwing on some music and jamming along with it always felt like an awesome way to practice for me.

    I've been noticing that a lot of drummers use TABS. This seems SO weird to me, since I always just threw on my headphones and just... ya know.. played the song.
    So I guess my question is: Do you guys think TABS are necessary or helpful at all?
    How many of you actually use drum TABS?
    How many of you play by ear?
    Thanks!
    I have an insane admiration and respect for the craft that is drumming and I have a never-ending desire to be the best i can possibly be. I dont play drums or practice because I have to, I play because I can't help it. ~ Cobus Potgieter ~

  2. #2

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    You have to differentiate between actually learning how to play a song, and just playing along with it.

    If you're just talking about throwing on some headphones and jamming along with songs, then no need to use tabs. However, if I actually have to learn a song with the intent of performing it, like if my band is doing a cover of it, then I might use tabs. Even in those cases, I almost always learn the song by ear, but sometimes I use tabs for a particular if it's especially busy/complex or hard to discern by ear (i.e. a lot of Tool songs).

    The longer you've been playing though, the easier it will get to figure out drum parts by ear. But like you said, if you are just jamming to the songs by yourself and don't have to actually learn them for a band, then there's no need to get the part exactly right and no need for tabs.
    Matt

  3. #3

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    By ear..I don't trust tabs:anybody can post them and sometimes there are multiple versions of songs. Actual sheet music's better but cost money! So, since I'm not a pro I learn by listening.
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  4. #4

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    never ,ever, tabs .
    Tamaholic

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by atomcorr2 View Post
    never ,ever, tabs .
    Ditto. I've been playing for 400 years now (or something like that) and I've never read a tab in my entire life. When students would come to me with a drum tab, I'd throw it in the trash and teach them real notation.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by slinglander View Post
    Actual sheet music's better but cost money!
    The key is to learn to read basic notation and just chart it out yourself. I've made hundreds of them through the years. It's easy!

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by drummer View Post
    I've been playing for 400 years now.
    How were the drum kits back in the 1600's?
    Matt

  8. #8

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    What's a tab?
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  9. #9

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    I usually figure out songs by ear, but when I have a particularly hard time working out a section of a song, I'll use the Guitar Pro Viewer extension in Chrome. It's written out in actual notation rather than tab, though.
    - Zack

  10. #10

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    i never have used em, still dont use em, and dont plan on using em. I just learn by ear even new songs that arent on albums that i have to learn for myself.
    DW Remo Vic Firth Zidljian

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by drummer View Post
    Ditto. I've been playing for 400 years now (or something like that) and I've never read a tab in my entire life. When students would come to me with a drum tab, I'd throw it in the trash and teach them real notation.
    +1000. Tabs as in those 'noughts & crosses' all over the place? Nuh uh, not in my books. Notation, no two ways about it, when it comes to learning your fundamentals....the rudiments, time signatures, dynamics and so forth. And of course, if you want to be able to cover a particular song or even just get that hard drum fill down, notation is the way to go. Having said all that though, there is also no harm picking stuff up by ear, and having both those abilities is what helps me and others to transcribe stuff. But if you get your reading skills down, it will really help you get to the point where you can not only hear a drum part, but you can actually 'see' it in your mind's eye, and in turn help improve your musical memory.

    Just my two cents.
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  12. #12

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    I play by ear, never used tabs. Never even looked at them. And my band's covers come out perfectly fine when we decide to throw a few into a set. It's all personal preference I guess. When I want to learn each induvidiual hit specifically to make sure the song is a PERFECT demonstration, I listen to it A LOT and watch some drum covers. However, if its just a cover, I usually have it almost the same, just a few twists. Because it is a COVER, ment to be your own little version, but in the same sound family.
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  13. #13

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    Tab, is a soft drink. Tabs, are multiple soft drinks of the same chemical composition....

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by slinglander View Post
    By ear..I don't trust tabs:anybody can post them and sometimes there are multiple versions of songs.
    +1 Tabs found online are the work of "someone," and the accuracy often comes up short.
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  15. #15

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    English Meaning:
    The name Tab is an English baby name. In English the meaning of the name Tab is: Drummer. Abbreviation of Tabor. The biblical Mt. Tabor is a landmark mountain near Nazareth.

  16. #16

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    By ear.

  17. #17

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    I've been playing for 40 years and never learned or used tabs. I learned the rudiments in marching band, but that's about it. I have learned all songs by ear. Much like you are doing. Just listen them and try to pick the parts and breaks, then apply them to the songs. I wish I could read music though. I would recomend learning to read music as a tool. Good luck.

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by tamashane View Post
    I wish I could read music...
    You can. Just do it! Take some lessons or just get a book and teach yourself. It's all simple math.

  19. #19

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    By ear, no tabs.

  20. #20

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    Without going too far into the weeds, let me first start by saying that for me drums are a second instrument, trumpet being my first. As a trumpet player I'm classically trained - I read sheet music and I do almost all of my playing with a page in front of me when I'm playing trumpet.

    As a drummer, I play by ear and by feel. I suppose that if there was a complicated song I really wanted to learn in a specific way I might try to find a tab, but otherwise I just do what I do without it, and that seems to be enough.

    I bumped into Dennis Chambers in Guitar Center one night, and as I walked up the topic of conversation was centered around a conflict he'd had on a session with a producer who got all bent out of shape because he'd didn't read music. Right - but he's Dennis Chambers. Does he really need to read music or even tabs for that matter?
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  21. #21

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    I used to drink Tab, but I've always learned songs by listening to them then playing them. I'm lucky that way, I've always been able to hear something then play it.

  22. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by drummer View Post
    You can. Just do it! Take some lessons or just get a book and teach yourself. It's all simple math.
    Thanks for the vote of confidence Drummer, but I have looked at some music and my mind goes crazy. I'll just keep learning by ear. I don't see me playing in a band where I have to read music anyway.

  23. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by drummer View Post
    You can. Just do it! Take some lessons or just get a book and teach yourself. It's all simple math.
    I agree....it's not hard at all!

    I think TABS are more confusing than regular notation.

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  24. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by funkyruss View Post
    Tab, is a soft drink. Tabs, are multiple soft drinks of the same chemical composition....
    Hehe! I was gonna say that at first. Or is that thirst?

    But it's like Drummer said, it's "math". I would say if you have a drum teacher that gives you a good grounding with reading rudiments and simple rudimental pieces on the single snare line (on the music staff) to begin with, before you get into the nitty-gritty of reading multiple lines for the drumset, with an emphasis on at first, say, simple rock patterns, then you can take it bit by bit from there. But of course, it comes with time and practice on your behalf, and patience and a methodical way of teaching from a drum teacher. What I do in lessons is to get people to warm up with about 10 minutes going over exercises and simple rudiments from books such as 'Stick Control', various pages from 'Modern Drummer' or the William F. Ludwig or Charley Wilcoxon snare solo books before we settle in reading drumset rhythms from Ted Reed's 'Syncopation' or other drumkit method books or working through drum charts. But I always get students through simple charts first.....some might struggle for a while, but under my guidance they can definitely 'get it'. And depending on a student's ability and knowledge of notation, then I'll start to present material of a medium to harder ability. It can be quite rewarding 'double drumming' with them where we're both reading off the same bit of paper, together with the music, and we just nail it note for note and in sync.
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  25. #25

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    By ear. Worked for 50+ years, no need to change now.

    ( I can read some music, but not enough to do me any damage)

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