I've not only been a player almost all of my life; I have also taught guitar lessons since 1966. In the beginning I insisted that students learn to read notes and become musically literate. The difference between my lessons and those of other teachers was that, right from the beginning, I wrote my own arrangements of popular songs for students. Say a student wanted to learn "Yesterday" by McCartney, but the lesson that I wanted to teach was about correct fingering and the principal of minimum movement. I would simply write out an arrangement of "Yesterday" that was an example of fingering and minimum movement. Or if I wanted to teach the concept of using sharps and flats, I'd simply write a pop tune in a key that had plenty of sharps or flats in it. I always tried to give people what they wanted while teaching them something of more value than the tune itself.

When TAB first came into wide usage through guitar magazines I rebelled against it, thinking it was the "cheaters way out". In those days too, there was so much lacking in TAB, such as note stems and bar lines to count time, a way to indicate fingering without the numbers being mistaken for frets, etc. Still, TAB has a distinct advantage over note reading when it comes to learning pieces in alternate tunings.

I began to see the value of TAB, however, in that people could use it to learn tunes a lot faster than they could by reading notes. So I began adding note stems and bar lines to TAB and started working on a way to indicate fingerings, etc. What I eventually came up with is the system that I later named Picture-Perfect TAB. If you look over the example below you'll see that, first of all, the TAB lines actually look like guitar strings, windings and all. Then there is a guitar headstock on the uppermost TAB stave system as well. The combination of the head and the graduated string gauge appearance of the TAB make it more visually intuitive to figure out the orientation than just using six lines. Also, in the head there is a place to indicate the tuning, plus a box to indicate the time signature and another one to indicate the key. Just as in any other TAB notation, the 6 lines represent the strings and the numbers on them are the frets. Notice that the numbers here have stems attached to them and the 'staff' is divided into measures with bar lines just as in note reading. Of course techniques like the 'pull-off' that starts the sample piece below can be indicated with the curved 'slur' marking as well.

The biggest departure of Picture-Perfect TAB from traditional TAB, however, is in the inclusion of the line that appears above the TAB line. Here, the left-hand fingering can be indicated on a continuous fretboard diagram. Here is a common problem in reading TAB that you may have encountered. Have you ever been reading a difficult section of TAB over and over and just can't seem to get it? Then you finally figure out, "Gee, if I just place my fingers in this weird little chord position, I can get all these notes without even moving! Cool."

The truth is that the guy who wrote the TAB knew that all along but just didn't have a way to show it to you. When playing fingerstyle solos in particular, I've learned that the secret to clean execution is in the specific left-hand chord fingerings. Having a way to show these "anchor" fingerings was of paramount interest to me, so I added the fretboard line to the mix.

Try playing a bit of the tune below. Start by placing your left hand in the position indicated on the fretboard line and then begin reading the TAB itself. You'll see that the majority of the melody, bass and chord parts are all right within the chord shape. With more complex tunes, it's all the more necessary to discover the specific fingerings used in these anchor chord positions. Anyway, play around with the TAB below until you really get it before tackling 'In His Arms'...

Performance Notes for "In His Arms"

This piece has a relaxing, slightly South American flair to it. For me, it also has a spiritual meaning, reminding me that I can simply relax in the arms of a God who loves me and has everything under control, even when it doesn't seem like it.

When learning any piece, I always start by listening to it for a good while before picking up the guitar so that I have internalized the music before attempting the physical feat of playing it. If you find that you learn better that way too, download the audio file first and just let it play for a while before digging in. Also remember that "In His Arms" is one of the pieces in my Mel Bay book & CD set, Favorite Original Solos & Arrangements (20465BCD). You might want to pick up a copy so you can get all 8 tunes in TAB and on the CD.

As far as performance notes go, you don't need many because the Picture-Perfect TAB has just about everything you need already on paper. There is one little technique that is weird to figure out though; it is located in measure 22. You'll see that fret numbers 9 & 12 are repeated twice on the 1st and 2nd strings. The trick to making this come off as a set of triplet grace notes rather than a clubby sounding attempt at grace notes is in the right-hand fingering. Play the 9th fret of the 1st string and the 12th fret of the second string by holding both notes down with the left hand while doing a continuous rest stroke across the two strings with the index finger of the right hand. Then do another continuous rest stroke with the middle finger of the right hand right behind it. It's a goofy feeling thing to do, but when you get used to it you'll find it's really smooth and cool sounding.

I hope you enjoy "In His Arms" - and remember if you're interested, you can get seven more tunes of varying degrees of difficulty by purchasing the book through Mel Bay or at my site:

All the best,
John Standefer