I've looked up several tab files of the songs I'd like to learn how to play. They mostly show the chord above the lyrics for example:
G C D G
Mother do you think they'll drop the bomb?
G C D G
Mother do you think they'll like this song?
C G
Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls?
D C G
Ohhhh.. Ahhhh.. Mother should I build the wall?
As a beginner I'm not sure how to break this up into measures & beats or what the strumming pattern is. Is there a common technique in reading this and translating to playing it on the guitar? Thanks for your help on this.
Mike
Problem with this type of tab is there is no indication of strumming pattern or timing, apart from where the chord chages.
Basically, if you haven't already heard the song and don't know the strumming pattern and timing then its all but useless to you. But then most tab's are like that anyway!
if you have the recoding of the song its simple enough. Get a pen and paper... Write the chord names on a bit of paper with a bit of space between each.
Put the CD on and listen closely to the beats and chord changes (NOT the words to start off)
You can then write the number of beats that each chord is held for next to the chord names - and you're away.
Alternatively, copy the lyrics onto a bit of paper - then just put a shash through the word of the lyric where the chord changes are. Then fit your chord names to the slashes.
Hope this helps!
Matt
For the record, Mother is a tough song to start out on. It changes timing throughout the verse - some measures are four counts, some are five and I think there are one or two other odd time signatures. So definitely be prepared to make corrections as you go along with this one.
Peace
