I've had a couple people, very few really, in the past who've mentioned the same thing. So, by way of explanation, I post my reply to him below, and I invite comments from the Forum.
"Dear ____
Thanks for your compliments on my arrangements. Please allow me to respond to your comments and critique.
Once the player recognizes the symbols on each string, the tab format is really simple and easy to understand, since the symbols are really only what the pedals do to the strings in question. For example, pedal "A" raises strings 5 and 10 two half-steps, so the symbol is "##" instead of "A." I realize that "A" is what you're used to, but that's only because you're a creature of habit, like we all are in different areas of life.
After a couple of minutes of concentration, once you see a # sign on string 3, is there any doubt that you should push pedal 2, pedal B, or whatever you want to call it? Likewise the other pedal/string combinations.
Why I went to the symbols I use, basically designed by Jimmie Crawford and Winnie Winston in their "Mu-Sym-Tab" tab system, is that in my own teaching I found that new students that came to me didn't know what the pedals were doing when they pushed them, so they really didn't understand the musical principles behind them. They were only pushing the pedals as they were told to do, like robots.
When I'd ask "okay, what does that pedal do to the string you just picked?," they'd answer "I dunno, I'm just supposed to push that pedal, right?"
When I'd then ask, "well, what note was it before you pushed the pedal, and what note is it now?" The response was "I dunno. Does it matter?"
As Charlie Brown in "Peanuts" would say, "Good grief!!
"IMHO this is not the way to teach someone to learn and understand the instrument, only to mimic what physical movements the "demonstrator" is showing. I use the term "demonstrator" because without the understanding of what notes get changed and why, real teaching and therefore real learning does not take place. This is not to say that what the pedals do can't be taught with the old system {A, B, etc.), but the reinforcement of seeing #'s and b's gives the repetition necessary for instant understanding and recognition. Repetition is necessary not only for physical movements, but also for intellectual understanding of the music.
There was recently a thread on this very topic on the Forum in the Tablature section.
I've had only a very few criticisms of my tab in the past, mostly having to do with timing and phrasing, not with recognition of the symbols. Those that have had doubts about my system but gave it some time to get used to it, after hearing my reasoning behind it and that it was developed by noted educators Winston and Crawford, have told me their understanding of the guitar and musical theory was greatly improved. So I think that my going to Winnie and Jimmie's system ultimately was a good thing for the instrument."
If you can keep them civil and serious
, y'all's thoughts, please?------------------
Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Herb Steiner on 29 November 2005 at 08:55 AM.]</p></FONT>
I'm exploring different ways to communicate timing issues, other than "listen to the way I played it on the CD!"
