Let’s face it, reading tabs isn’t exactly fun, especially when you’re just getting started. Tons of numbers cluttered together, no markings for which left hand fingers to use, you think the line signifying the Low E string should be signifying the high E, it’s an absolute nightmare. It’s one of those things that’s evolved at an impossibly slow rate. What you see on Ultimate Guitar (the most popular website for tabs) in the year 2024 is not all that different from what you were seeing on MxTabs (which no longer exists) back in 2002. Songsterr, while giving you the feature to press play on the tab is extremely hard on the eyes with limited and difficult features to navigate.

Then there’s GuitarPro, an incredibly versatile program that brings a level of clarity to the learning process that many guitar students may not realize is attainable. It offers superior organization and is visually appealing compared to other programs, along with providing better, more accurate sound quality for all instruments. Visual learning manifests in different ways! While physical demonstrations on the instrument offer one form of visual clarity, the same can apply to the tabs you’re working with.

I’ll be utilizing GuitarPro in our lessons via screen-sharing in a variety of ways. We can adjust tempos, loop tricky parts, clarify strumming patterns, work on technique exercises, and even make personal notes or edits on tabs. And don’t worry if you’re not getting GuitarPro–I can always whip up a PDF and MP3 file afterward so we’re still on track. Gray area and confusion is the enemy to productive practice, so I make sure that we break down and clarify tabs as best as possible.

THE MEGA FILE:

After just a few weeks of teaching with GuitarPro, it hit me–I needed to create a GuitarPro database for my students. A spot where everyone, no matter their level, can dive in and practice everything we go over, from chords and chord progressions to strumming patterns, scales, arpeggios, popular riffs, rhythm and technique exercises–you get the idea. This massive file will keep evolving as I work with you and other students, finding new ways to make your learning experience as crystal clear as can be. And while it’s an excellent resource of information for my students, it’s an even better practice resource for all the reasons I mentioned earlier. I’ll be delving deeper into this and sharing examples of how to get the most out of it in the coming months on this blog.

You’d think that GuitarPro is paying me for all this praise, right? Nope. I just firmly believe that, given that tabs are going to be an integral part of your learning, we should utilize the best resource out there.