Is using Guitar Tabs Cheating?

Using Guitar Tabs is not cheating, but they should be used just as a tool for learning.

It doesn't mean you should skip Ear Training, Theory, or the creative nuances of music.

As an easy way to read music, guitar tabs offer a shortcut for guitarists to learn songs without needing to learn by ear or sheet music, both of which require a lot of training.

The fact that they are more accessible and do not require prior knowledge to read does not mean it is cheating.

But you must understand the Pros and Cons to make the most of it!

What are Guitar Tabs?

Guitar tabs are a version of music notation for guitarists. They feature six lines with numbers placed on them that stand for strings and which fret to use.

Advantages of Guitar Tabs

Easy to Read

The main advantage of guitar tabs is that it offers an easy way for guitarists to learn songs.

You don’t need any prior knowledge to be able to read guitar tabs and learn the solos, riffs, and melodies you want.

You don’t even need to know or learn the notes you are playing to read tabs, though it would be much better if you do for you as a musician.

Help You With Classical Music Notation

Although the form of notation is different, and the tabs are much less complicated than the standard music sheet notation, working with tabs can give you practice for reading and playing simultaneously. 

Also, guitar tabs with classical music sheet notation are great for getting used to the standard sheet notation. These tabs can be great gateways for guitarists wanting to learn sheet notation.

Popularity

Another great side of guitar tabs is that they are widespread on the internet. As it is the simplest and the most common way of sheet music for guitar, you can find almost any song’s tablatures on different web pages like Ultimate Guitar.

This way, guitarists can learn and practice their songs of choice for free, quickly, and efficiently.

Disadvantages of Guitar Tabs

Accuracy of Tabs

There are many tabs of the same song with different notes, especially on the internet.

Searching for a popular song, like Stairway to Heaven, will give you hundreds of other guitar tabs with many different versions.

Many songs have wrong notes, chords, or rhythmic notation, so finding the correct tabs for a song can be tricky.

Lack of Rhythmic Aspect

Another significant disadvantage of guitar tabs is the lack of rhythmic notation. Most tabs on the internet are simple guitar tabs with only lines and numbers.

So, guitarists have to figure out the timings of the notes and chords by themselves. This process is very straightforward for some songs but can be challenging for more complicated ones.

Risk of Dependency

Being too dependent on guitar tabs will limit you as a musician. Guitar tabs are great shortcuts for learning songs, but you need to know more about music and different ways of sheet notation to grow more as a musician, for example. Playing with other instruments or creating your music would be pretty hard.

Sheet music helps you significantly in your journey as a musician by giving you a better understanding of music and music theory.

You can learn about notes, scales, harmony, and chord progressions to create your songs or communicate with other musicians to play a song.

Learning music theory can also be very helpful if you want to learn a song by ear. You can recognise chord progressions and scales to figure out the notes and chords of a song.

This makes learning songs much faster and easier. It also helps you immensely with your ear training.

If you are serious about playing guitar, you should take advantage of guitar tabs but not get too dependent on them and learn other ways to read music. 

Conclusion

Guitar tabs are just a tool for learning songs more easily and quickly for beginners and seasoned guitarists. As with any tool, they are not good or bad. They come with advantages and disadvantages, which guitarists should be careful with.

Guitar tabs are not cheating at all guitarists, but it is risky for guitarists who want to learn more about music, compose their songs, and/or play with other musicians. They should also learn standard sheet notation to a degree or learn a bit about music theory, as simple guitar tabs do not help you with those at all.