[vee]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Vee and I have been playing guitar for several years. I tend to play mostly fingerstyle guitar and pattern picking. Recently, I began learning how to use a plectrum.

This site was highly recommended and after visiting it several times, I understand why. My playing has improved dramatically just after a few lessons. Thank you, Kirk.

I do have a question, it refers to the timing on the guitar tabs of the various songs. Can someone refer me to the source that explains which beat equates with which stem attached to a specific note?

Thank you,

Vee

[Kirk Lorange]

Hi vee, welcome!

The time values of the tabs is a subject that has yet to be raised, so thanks for posting it.

It used to be that tablature was restricted to just the fret number and string, with no time values for anything. You were, I guess, expected to figure that side of things out by ear. The program I use, GuitarPro, actually does asign time values, just like conventional notation, so it has come a long way since the old days of text based tab.

Below is an image which should help. It's all of an A note; The first bar is a whole note, the second is two half notes, then four quarter notes, then eight eighth notes and 16 sixteenths.

It follows the same convention as notation, as far as I can tell. I hope that answers your question. A dot after any of them increases the time value by half.

[vee]

Kirk,

This helps alot. I understand the timing given this system, at least for the basics. I was just looking at the tab for Summertime, which is in the 4/4 timing. However, measure 9 has a sequence of 11 beats, each with one stem. I understand that one stem equates with a quarter note. How do I read this particular measure?

Thank you,

Vee