Hi,
I have a question concerning the tablature. For example the tab for Fireball Mail uses sixteenth notes, whereas in the transcription i have of Fireball Mail of the Great Dobro Sessions (Stacy Phillips) the song is transcribed using eight notes (i.e. twice as many bars as in the sixteenth version). I have seen similar differences in Bill Monroe mandolin tablatures and never could figure out why, except that eight notes are easier to read for me ;-).
Is there any musical reason for this or is this just notation or matter of taste?
This response if from our staffer Ian who transcribes Rob’s videos for us:
“The Great Dobro Session tab for Fireball Mail is written in a cut time signature and ours is in 4/4. Cut time or cut common time is 2/2. Our tablature is in common time which is 4/4. In cut time, 16th notes become eighth notes…if the cut time signature is 2/2, which it is in this case. It’s a bit of a confusing concept, but essentially all of the note values are cut in half.”
Thanks a lot. Another mystery solved.
So I’ve been tapping my foot twice too often in cut time – as I am only able to play the song at half speed that didn’t matter that much ;-).
.
