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Posted by: shatterd Mar 14 2010, 05:17 PM

Some instructors put up tabs for their lessons to compliment the video. I've also seen an instructor use an animated fretboard(Zsolt Galambos) that show on the bottom of the video which I think works pretty well...but I hate it when I find a lesson I'm really excited about only to open it and realize the instructor didn't bother putting up any tabs or the animated fretboard idea. We are just lift to watch the video and try to figure out which strings he is pressing down on. Sometimes these guys move fast and it's frustrating. Please help us out guys. Not all of us are super advanced players who can quickly pick this stuff up by ear. There are some things I can compliment this site for....number one is that the backing tracks are always awesome and included with every lesson. Why can't some sort of tab also be included?

Posted by: Wabba Mar 14 2010, 05:42 PM

In which lessons there are no tabs nor animated fretboard? I've seen none so far

Posted by: Sollesnes Mar 14 2010, 05:48 PM

There are a few lessons where tabs are not included, as it is not obligatory. Instructors are just paid extra to include them. Not every instructor operates software like Guitar Pro, and it can be quite bothersome to tab down in pure text, so I can easily understand why not everyone has them included in every lesson. Every part of the lesson is well explained, and usually done slowly as well, with a good view on their fretboard. Perhaps you could consider the ear training a part of the lesson.

Posted by: shatterd Mar 14 2010, 05:57 PM

The new Dream Theater lesson just put up a few days ago.

Posted by: Sollesnes Mar 14 2010, 06:01 PM

Noone is allowed to post or share tabs of songs you do not have the copyright of.
Again, if you pay attention to the videos where he goes through the song, you should be able to learn it with some extra work.

Posted by: Crazy_Diamond Mar 14 2010, 06:08 PM

+1

Since GMC doesn't own the right of some famous song the instructor re not allowed to post the tab.... The instructor do there best to show you how to play the song and I think thy do a great job ...

Posted by: shatterd Mar 14 2010, 06:14 PM

Thank you! Yes I realize I'm being a little nit picky. The Dream Theater lesson is awesome and I'm very excited to learn it. If he couldn't post the tab due to copyright issues then maybe he could have used the animated fretboard like Zsolt Galambos does in his lessons. But again, I think the lesson is great and I should be able to work through it without the tabs. This is a great site so I'm well satisfied overall.

Posted by: Crazy_Diamond Mar 14 2010, 06:47 PM

I would like also to point the fact that not all the instructor are at the same level of video editing.... Since the instructor are first guitar player they try to use the video the best way they can.

Good luck with your lesson...

Posted by: shatterd Mar 14 2010, 07:12 PM

Yes I'd rather have great guitar players on the site than great video editors...LOL!

Posted by: Emir Hot Mar 14 2010, 11:26 PM

This is not true. Every lesson must have tab in text or it won't be approved. Guitar Pro file is not necessary but there is extra comission if it's included. This is not valid for cover songs where we are not allowed to have tabs.

Posted by: Sollesnes Mar 15 2010, 12:29 AM

I know there are old lessons that does not contain it, so I thought he was mainly referring to those. If it is changed now, and you need to have tab in text, then I'm sorry, I didn't know it had changed.

Actually, maybye the lessons I were thinking of did contain tab in text, I'm sorry.

Posted by: Emir Hot Mar 15 2010, 12:37 AM

That's ok No need to be sorry I am just clarifying the rules that we (instructors) must do in order for the lesson to be approved.

4 speed backing + 1 jam track
Main video and slow videos
ASCII tab
Scales
Textual explanation

This is the minimum.

The extra features are optional like: video angles, spoken videos, GP files etc, graphichs on screen...

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Mar 20 2010, 07:03 PM

The moving dot video add-ons are not allowed anymore for famous/cover songs.

The best we can do is explain the parts verbally. It would be a good idea to make suggestions on how we instrcutors can go about it. We've discussed it on the instructors corner and the best idea is to really go slow and explain every note being played.

But there's always going to be need for you to use your ears to guide you along the way, it's a very good exercise in the end.

Posted by: Emir Hot Mar 20 2010, 07:14 PM

That's actually much easier than the moving dots. You talk and play

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Mar 21 2010, 01:13 PM

I absolutely agree, I am much better in talking than in programming moving dots

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Mar 22 2010, 08:39 PM

nice one


As instructors already stated, all lessons should have tabs. the lessons you are referring to are famous song lessons that are copyrighted. for these it was first possible to put out animated fretboard, but later it turned out that this feature could cause legal issues too. this is why it is removed. to cut the long story short, only famous song lesson cannot have tabs.

Posted by: shatterd Mar 22 2010, 10:26 PM

I appreciate this and I really like the Dream Theater lesson you put up. In absence of tabs or animated fretboard, wouldn't it have been nice to have more than one camera angle? I did another lesson on here recently and the lesson featured tabs and multiple camera angles...as well as a camera shot of the picking hand. Like I said Daniel, the DT lesson is awesome and I'm very excited about it, but I'm afraid I'm going to get frustrated trying to figure out what you are doing. In absence of tabs and animated fretboard, I think additional camera angle would have been nice. I don't think I'm asking alot since other instructors are doing it already. I hope I'm not being too picky here. If I didn't care very much to do this lesson then I wouldn't bother complaining. But I'm really excited about tackling this lesson. Go back and look at Daniel Robinson's lesson 'In The Style of George Lynch' and see how he did his camera angles. It made the lesson flow so easily for me. Having said that, I realize that your lesson is a lot more sections than the one I mentioned. Again, thanks for the lesson and I hope you can do more Dream Theater and progressive style lessons soon. Keep em coming! Love your 7 string Ibanez!

Posted by: Zsolt Galambos Apr 1 2010, 08:07 PM

Animated fretboard is also out of question because of the copyright. We can only post spoken vids, but we can post chords and scales in alphabetical order to help you guys a bit.

I loved the animated fretboard and I worked really hard on them, but the spoken vids are easier to be done

Posted by: shatterd Apr 1 2010, 09:32 PM

Thanks Zsolt!!!...but at least give us more than one camera angle. Realize that what may be easiest for the instructor may not always be the best for the student/subscriber/customer.

P.S...I like the animated fretboard thingy also.

Posted by: fkalich Apr 1 2010, 10:34 PM

I noticed that the Slash Country lesson from a few weeks ago did not have a tab. I just used the GP file to print it. I assumed that was a programming error. Maybe that is the case on some lessons, and the site support should be alerted?

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Apr 2 2010, 12:37 PM

You should alert the support for that lesson since it should contain tab. All lessons should have tabs only famous ones don't.

Posted by: Freddie Fourfingers Apr 2 2010, 01:38 PM

Hello, my name is Freddie and I'm a tabaholic...I need a 12 step program to stay off tabs

This site has helped me in so many ways, many of which I didnn't even expect when I started.
For cpyrighted material I sometimes buy the tabs in a separate book or find that I already have them in something like the Guitar Tab White Pages or an issue of a magazine. Then I'll tab it out myself in Guitar Pro...this has made me better at working in Guitar Pro so I can write my own stuff as soon as my own stuff doesn't make people wish they were deaf

Lately I've taken to heart other musicians' insistence on the importance of ear training, so I don't even look at the tabs at first. I just watch the slow videos and maybe peek at the key signature, chords, and scales. I only look at the tabs as a last resort. This takes a lot longer (seriously...a LOT longer) for me, but I'm hoping it will pay off over time before I die.

Just my 2 cents...may not be for everyone.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Apr 2 2010, 05:37 PM

Yeah you are complitely right! Its always better to use ears and looking at the videos then using tabs as it will develop your ear and transcribing skill greatly. But in my statment I was referring to GMC standard and that paticular lesson that has tab missing...

p.s. I think famous lessons do have a clear instruction on how to play certain parts, you just have to look/listen closer

Posted by: Marek Rojewski Apr 2 2010, 05:43 PM

Just make a tab on a sheet of paper while listening to the verbal explanation of the notes. It will take some time, but You will have a tab. Anyway that's what I would to when learning any of those famous songs lessons.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Apr 2 2010, 05:47 PM

That or he can play along. There is an option of repeating certain parts of a video in a loop- that's what those two white triangle over the video progress bar are for Pretty hand for this kind of lessons...