Tablature

タブラチュア / 15th century– / Style / Notation Systems

Notation from the player's point of view: not what pitch, but where the fingers go. From lute letter-tablature to guitar TAB, the lineage of practical writing that encodes bodily action directly.

Tablature — Lute tablature by Attaingnant — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · © The original uploader was Bobby D. Bryant at English Wikipedia . — Lute tablature by Attaingnant — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © The original uploader was Bobby D. Bryant at English Wikipedia .

Tablature — Kapsberger tablature, facsimile — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Kapsberger tablature, facsimile — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Tablature — Drexel 4175 の写本 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Kosboot — Drexel 4175 の写本 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Kosboot

At a glance

Visual cues

The string-and-fret grid
Letters and numbers for finger positions
Instrument-specific formats
Action encoded directly

Best used for

Handing fingering straight to a learner who cannot read notation
Recording altered tunings and personal techniques apart from pitch

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Dictionary entry

Type: Numbers sit on the lines, one line for each string
Composition: Rhythm on its own row, line breaks taken at phrase ends
Material: Tuning and capo stated at the head, the instrument named
Caution: Fingering written without rhythm leaves duration unrecoverable in an unfamiliar tune, so the tab only serves someone who already knows it.
Further study: Renaissance lute tablature / organ tablature / the modern revival of guitar TAB

Related entries

Staff Notation (五線譜)Same Notation Systems lineage.Compare Tablature and Staff Notation
Mola (モラ)Shared effects: Play / Intimacy.Compare Tablature and Mola

Often confused with

Staff Notation (五線譜)compare

Cite this entry

The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.

Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/tablature
Markdown: [Tablature — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/tablature)
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