Beginner Guitar Tabs “No, No, I Said I Want Great Abs!”
“Stop, I said I want great abs, not beginner guitar tabs!” Oh great, voice activated internet searches were not so great at all. In fact, they seemed ridiculous at this point. I was walking away on my treadmill (not so affectionately referred to as the dreadmill) and that is what I got. Instead of abs it read tabs. I didn’t even know what a guitar tab was in the least. And most of all, I didn’t care in the least. Naturally, my signal went down and my note pad froze on the tabs page. So, in the spirit of being able to finish my workout, I started to read about guitar tabs. Then, one hour later, long after my workout was done, I was still reading about them. It was pretty fascinating. I’d always been curious about guitar playing, but discredited my ability to read so much as a single note. Especially since I was tone deaf – something my sixth grade teacher was so kind to point out in front of the entire class. Still, this information got me thinking.
Interesting stuff, but was it enough?
I knew that I lacked a little bit of confidence in my ability to read music. Yet, everything that I read indicated that I could do it – anybody could do it. The thought seemed so daunting and when you looked at the layout of chords and notes on paper the tablatures looked crazy impossible. Yet, they insisted that anybody could do it if they tried. I checked it out and there are over 300,000 documented tabs – that is only documented. Ugh. That is a lot to learn. I decided to try. I figured the worst case scenario would be me writing a nasty letter condemning them for being utterly wrong and probably ruining the dreams of countless people who craved to play tabs.
I really was hiding my ability.
My ability was hidden in the form of an old, beautiful acoustic guitar given to me by my grandfather (he also made it). I had it up in the attic and there were a lot of blankets piled over it so it didn’t get dusty. I claimed to hide it so nobody would scratch it up because there was no way I was going to look at a reminder of the gift I didn’t get passed down the line. Turns out, the only gift I didn’t have was the gift of confidence for trying it out. I found great information on tabs and started to learn quickly. Before I knew it I was a regular folk music kind of gal. I had to give it my own twist though. You see, I love Joan Jett and Pink. They are who I work out to – power women with a power mission. They whale on those guitar strings the way I whale on the treadmill.
I’ve got a brand new passion!
I will never be able to explain it logically because it’s more of a feeling. Once I gained some confidence in learning the guitar – it only took two days – I started to see the potential behind it. I assessed the situation and invested in some more online courses on how to read tabs and play guitar great. I also purchased an electric guitar because I still didn’t want to scratch up my grandpa’s guitar he entrusted me with. Electric guitar was more my thing for the songs I wanted to play. Now things have changed. I used to be a Joan Jett want to be, and now my friends want to be a rocker like me. I never would have thought it possible, but I’ve proved it true.
Once upon a time my day started out with a request to discover the secret to great abs. That very day something magical happened. I found that I could have great abs and learn beginner guitar tabs all at the same time.
