Re: Violin tab for fiddle tunes

[David Kastrup]

"R.D. Latimer" <address@hidden> writes:

> Thanks, yes that makes sense from a fret number point of view.
> Unfortunately from a violinist/fiddler point of view, the semitone notation
> does no good.
>
> For example, on a violin, in the simplest 1st position:
>  (2nd string) A string:  A open, Bb/B 1st finger, C/C# 2nd finger, D 3rd
> finger, E 4th finger or open E string
>
> (3rd string) D string: D open, Eb/E 1st finger, F/F# 2nd finger, G/G# 3rd
> finger, A 4th or open A
>
> So in first position on violin, "frets 1/2" are 1st finger, "frets 3/4" are
> 2nd finger, "frets 5/6" are 3rd finger.
> I don't think fiddle players would want to bother trying to make this
> translation in their head while playing.

But the point is that tablature is supposed to convey pitches on
strings, not fingerings.

If you use a melodic E minor scale on the D string, you'll finger

dis'-1 e'-2 fis'-3 g'-4

so the fingering is off from the positions anyway.

> It would be great for fiddle players and fiddle tunes, to have a tab
> for fingering.

It could be argued that the normal notation is pretty close already...
You're certainly off better than cellists or flutists.  I _think_ that
there are tabs for fiddle playing, but I don't really know how they are
organized and whether the information presented there is conclusive
regarding the resulting pitch.

> I don't think the semitone notation will do any good for violin
> playing in tab.
>
> Let me know if there is a way in Lilypond for tab fingering in this
> case.  Otherwise I'm not sure it's worth having the tab for
> violin/fiddle,

Maybe you can try finding out whether tabs are being used for your style
of music, and if so, how they look?  I come from a classical background
myself, and even though I played quite a bit of folk and stuff, I don't
remember having seen anything like tablature so far.

I _think_ that there might be something like tab for violins, but I have
no idea where I might have seen it, whether it was in use for more than
just one book/author, and which style exactly was associated with it
(bluegrass maybe?).  In any book I have possessed, it would not have
been more than a passing mention I'd think.

-- 
David Kastrup