Opinion on DMB "Cherry Lane" authorized tab books?

[myonlybliss]

At first I thought they sucked and were wrong since there seems to be such a following on http://www.dmbtabs.com , but upon further inspection....

I realize that in some instances they are not exactly the same, like in Crash (or is the tab book right). But they are damn close. And actually---they are exact sometimes with an easier way to play. For instance, on the stone---instead of making those stretches on the fifth fret, they have it written to play the next open string---much less of a stretch---I don't even know why Dave plays the Stone this way if he can use the open strings like what's written in the tab book.

Anyway---these are "authorized edition guitar" so it seems like they would have to be pretty accurate......

[dmfollower]

Tab books suck.
They are too basic. They never capture an artists style, they only show you the easiest way to play a song which usually means open chords cutting corners. I've never seen this book but i've seen/purchased enough to realize that they are a waste of time.....in my opinion.
If you want perfect dave tabs then just out the tabs on this site.

[Matty Boom]

the tab books show you how to play the song, the tab site shows you how dave plays his songs when he plays live...it's a matter of preference, but most of dave's songs become easy once you get ahold of his style

[ericwormann]

The books are very useful if you are interested in learning the guitar parts that are on the corresponding cd. In other words, the books are (for the most part) note-for-note accurate to what is being played on the cd. Most people are disappointed with what they see in these books because they are expecting to learn what Dave plays live. What you have to understand is that the guitar parts you are hearing on DMB's live studio albums are being played 75% of the time by Tim Reynolds and 25% of the time by Dave Matthews.

Another issue that most people have with the books is that they transcribe guitar lines that are equivalent to what is being played, but not necessarily exactly what the artist is playing. For example, the tab book might have this note:

Code: Select all

e------
b--5---
g------
d------
a------
e------

when the note that Dave actually plays is:

Code: Select all

e--0---
b------
g------
d------
a------
e------

I think that is close enough, but lots of people have a huge problem with that.

Advantages of tab sites:
accurate transcription of what Dave plays live, some strumming patterns

Advantages of tab books:
lyrics, musical notation of vocal and guitar parts, alternate guitar lines that are played on the studio albums, some of Tim's fills, occasionally Leroi, Stefan, and Boyd's parts transcribed for guitar.

Hope that helps.

[infoghost]

I have not purchased a tab book in ages, everything I need is for free on teh interweb.

I find everything I need here, and it's the most accurate-as-played-by-dave. There are a couple other sites I fall back on if I have a question or doubt.

Of course, you don't need to play everything EXACTLY as he does if you find something that works for you. I find by doing it, I improve more in all areas, as he has some nasty chords and stretches. I could never pull long stretches off until I started doing them the way he does, and it's really helped in other areas too.

[jkanter]

There are a couple other sites I fall back on if I have a question or doubt.

[infoghost]

LOL, I did't mean it LIKE THAT!

Example, sometimes you might leave out the strums, where some sites might put them in, and if my ear is off that day, an extra visual helps. Sometimes seeing a different way to play things (even if it's not 100% correct) helps me get something I might be having trouble with. Seeing it in a different light, if you will.

I do, however, feel this is the best and most accurate site available, and it's where I build my DMB songbooks from.

Have I dug myself out of my hole yet?

[jjr0319]

ilove the tab books by cherry lane and hal leonard. as long as they're not the piano/vocal/guitar versions, they're great. those versions suck. the good thing about the tab books is you get all the parts of the song, not just the rhythm and solos. some things in those books are so quiet on the cd that you can barely hear it. but if they weren't there, the song would be empty. i rely on tab book for these parts.