I learnt early on my transcribing by ear days the mantra: "if it seems hard to play, look for another way". Most guiitarists play stuff that comes easy to them (discounting people like Jake E Lee with his freaky stretches). That lighbulb moment when you realise that the crazy-tricky lick or riff is actually easy if you play it on a different string is great. I suspect that a lot of these tab books were compiled by keyboard players.

I bought this book when I first started playing. You didn't mention that the best part is in 'Delivering the Goods'. For the lead break in that song, it simply states, "if you can play this, what do you need us for?" No tabs, no standard notation for that part, nothing! I'm dead serious.

@TheArtofGuitar

Жыл бұрын

Are you serious? I didn’t even see that. Damn. I have to go check it out. Thanks for letting me know.

@freepressright

Жыл бұрын

Now that's effin hilarious!

@BillLarkinmusic

Жыл бұрын

Wow what a clown book!

@DeathsquadDemongods

Жыл бұрын

What does that even mean? It’s like a dictionary with an entry saying “if you know the definition of this word, what do you need us for?”

@heavymetal2027

Жыл бұрын

Ha just posted the same comment before reading yours :)

Two rules about guitar playing that i've learned early, and that helped me a lot, were : if tab looks very difficult, especialy if notes are all over the place, it's wrong - guitarists always use as little space as possible to convey emotion. And if something is played very fast, it's usually very simple, and it's because of the speed that it sounds confusing.

@Roberto-nn6kb

Жыл бұрын

Sounds stupid, but actually is true

@thordurinn

Жыл бұрын

THIS! I have developed this intuition about tabs also, if the tab looks odd then it's probably wrong

As a youth, I spent hours with these tab books and trusted them. Couldn't figure out why I couldn't make it sound right.

@TJ-vt6rt

Жыл бұрын

Me too. I use to have a stack probably a meter or more high. The strange thing is that there is either some copyright issues that have never been addressed or the band weren't given the option for approval or they didn't really care.

@bojangles6444

Жыл бұрын

It seemed like Wolf Marshall wrote every one lol

@garygrinkevich6971

Жыл бұрын

I swear learning music back in the days of gathering pieces of lore from guitarworld and melbay was awful youtube was such a game changer for learning stuff in 05.

@Some0neSomewhere

Жыл бұрын

Same experience. I blamed myself for "not doing something right" for years. I even gave up on some songs (or especially whole books) because I thought I was just not sharp enough to play guitar.

@TheFettz

Жыл бұрын

Same😂 it used to get so frustrating as a beginner.

My old cover band played Living After Midnight and Hell Bent for Leather. Hell Bent for Leather usually went over like a turd in a punch bowl but we kept it on the setlist anyway because we liked it and it's a short song.

@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t

Жыл бұрын

Well Bent For Trevor is a classic tbh. And yeah, at under 3 minutes, it doesn't drag on long enough that it kills a gig if it doesn't go down so well.

@buttscarlton1830

Жыл бұрын

@Crap Tactular "Well Bent For Trevor" LOL

@XI_Daisy_XI

Жыл бұрын

@@buttscarlton1830 ✨🤣🤣🤣& "doesn't go down so well" 😮🤣🤣✨

@zacm9747

Жыл бұрын

Hellbent for Leather is a homosexual anthem as well. Just an FYI not knocking it if you're into that.

@heyjarrod

Жыл бұрын

Is it? I wouldn’t know.

I swear to god man you nailed this real good. When I was a kid about 13 or 14, I had that book and others. I dumped my guitar and never went back. My thoughts were precisely as you described. I was like, what am I doing here. I can't play, I'll never be able to be as good as them in my life. I'm useless. Now at age 57, the wife bought me an Angus Young signature SG And a Marshall for Christmas last year. They still haven't been out the box yet. It terrifies me to even begin trying. At my age, I'll die a happy man if I could just play 2 or 3 AC/DC songs fully. But I swear, as a beginner, those tab books are evil and will crush your soul for a lifetime. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience.... or sever lack of, depending how you see it!! Excellent video and advice there young man. Very well done.

@stoneagedjp

Жыл бұрын

That equipment reached you now for a reason. Give it a chance!

@r33th

Жыл бұрын

Go learn you shook me all night long & back in black! Marty Schwartz videos are straight forward and correct. He has full walkthroughs on both songs.

@rikosborne1212

Жыл бұрын

Don't give up! I'm 56, and I more or less abandoned electric guitar 30-odd years ago to focus on bass, which was more natural for me. I still strummed my acoustic now and then (so that I wouldn't forget my chords), but I more or less stopped learning anything new on guitar by the time I was 23 or so. Then, during the pandemic, I got bored and picked up a new Ibanez electric, and I've been having a ball with it since then. I still suck at it, but I'm having fun. Having KZread available has allowed me to finally *see* my favorite players in action, and it's revealed a number of places where I was making something more difficult than it needed to be. The key, I think, is to follow the advice I saw on a T-shirt: "I play guitar because I LIKE it, not because I'm GOOD at it!" Especially if you don't have any plans to start a band or play in front of other people. Just have fun with it, and who cares what anybody else thinks?

@TheChicagoTodd

Жыл бұрын

@ImSunk_Too You should really open up that guitar and amp, and start somewhere. There are sooooo many good quality online learning opportunities out there, and I think Mike offers lessons as well, so I'll refrain from mentioning any of my favorites. You have WONDERFUL wife that provided those gifts, show your appreciation by finally busting them out of their boxes and starting the learning journey! You can do it! So many good opportunities to learn these days....give it a shot! You've got some great equipment to get started!

@pieflies

Жыл бұрын

I didn’t quit but I got very discouraged when I was younger by a few books that I now know we’re incorrect.

Our drummer had one of those Thrash Master pedals back in the 90’s. The circuit board caught fire. 😂 (He plays guitar and bass too)

@dampcarpet2607

Жыл бұрын

😂

Classic! My first guitar solo I conquered many moons ago! Living After Midnight. Their version seems like a flamenco folk version

@mylogify

Жыл бұрын

Hahahahha :D

I actually gave up learning guitar when I was a teenager because of these crappy books and took up bass instead. Later on in life I actually learnt how to play lead guitar. So even tho I gave up as a teenager I did reach my goal as a guitar player in my 40’s. 🎉😮😂

I’ve known several people that were pro transcribers for tab books like this, one even did the Hal Leonard Recorded Versions Guitar of the Jimi Hendrix Experience Are You Experienced album, and they were all high AF every waking hour of the day…

being 22 and learning most of my guitar knowledge for 2 years on KZread (can't afford lessons) this series is absolutely mindboggling to me. I dont get how these books that were printed and published could be so wrong. The internet truly is a wonder and a place to learn anything. If I was trying to follow these books back in the day, I wouldve 100% given up if I didnt have a teacher like fuck these books are terrible.

Man, this video is so true. I learned in the heyday of the guitar mag and tab book, the late 80's and early 90's. For years I was frustrated by Rush's 'The Spirit of Radio'; every tab I saw in the magazines back then had Alex doing a weird hammer on from nowhere type lick on the 3rd and 4th notes (3rd to 5th fret on the B string) of the iconic opening riff that I just couldn't get down no matter how hard I tried. Then when I finally saw Alex's playthrough/lesson a few years back, I felt so vindicated. What I thought had been 'cheating' in the way I play it (pulloff 3rd fret to open B string) is the way Alex actually has been playing it all along. Score!

I must have had a later edition of that book (probably purchased in 1983), because the tabs were largely corrected (compared to the versions seen in this video), if still not perfect. The Hell Bent for Leather main riff was definitely transcribed differently in the copy I had. The first part of the solo was shown as being tapped, not picked, but it made the mistake of placing it all on the 1st string, so it required a bit more stretching than playing it on the 2nd string does. That book did, however, cause me to make one mistake that I think really hampered my playing back in the day. The edition I had included interviews with Glenn and K.K., and in one of them, Glenn says that he uses "thin" picks. Unfortunately, it didn't get any more specific than "thin", so my 17-year-old brain connected that to the extremely thin Dunlop nylon picks. The problem this created was that, because those picks were so thin and bendy, I ended up unconsciously using the tip of my index finger to reinforce them, with the result being the very tip of my finger striking the strings just ahead of the pick. I eventually dumped the electric guitar in favor of bass (which is really my true instrument). But I've picked up the guitar again now that I'm in my mid-50s, and thanks to KZread and other sources I have learned that most metal guitarists use quite "thick" picks, and that's made quite a difference. I've gradually worked up through heavier picks, to where I'm now using 2.0mm Dunlop FLOW Ultex picks. And I've spent a lot of time consciously working on my pick grip to keep my finger out of the way.

Judas priest has a lot of my favorite guitar riffs of all time. I can't imagine buying this book and being mislead

For Breaking The Law, maybe they are tabbing the outro. There's an octave higher overdub there

First time I noticed, can’t remember if it was KK or Glenn, getting that A on the fifth fret E string, instead of open how you played it… and how I see most people play it. I’ll have to try that sometime. I remember when I first learned it I guess around 1984, when I was 14, we would play it in the second position-using open A and E strings, ha ha. How a lot of beginners played it, and so did I. Breaking a law is a great first song to learn, no guitar solo. Back to Crazy Train, I’m sure you could find some great old funny tab for that song. I remember those tabs always being all over the place. Or even early tab for Eruption, took until just a couple years ago for someone great like Alan Garber to come in and transcribe such a great piece for guitar world. Even Steve Vai‘s transcription from the 80s is pretty funny. But apparently, legend has it, that he quickly transcribed it without even using a guitar. 🤘🏻😝🎸🇺🇸

Man, I just love these videos so much. Your style is so engaging and I really appreciate hearing your own story of learning guitar and tab books weaved in.

Early Priest is one of my fav bands. Just something so good about it to me...

2:19 I write quite a bit of music (Jazz band) and a common mistake arrangers make is doing stuff like this to make it a little bit easier (less ledger lines) but forgetting to have the treble clef be the 8vb Bassa (a little 8 at the bottom of the clef that indicates you play what's written an octave lower. As for the tab, my guess is they did the common method of Copy+Pasting the Notation onto the tab and the tab suffered because of the initial forgotten Treble with the Ottava Bassa. This copy and paste method is my theory, but It explains why there are often inhuman jumps on the fretboard

Great vids man - got so much to say about this as a former music teacher, but might save it for another vid. keep them coming, I love your stuff

Priest!! 🤘🤘Even though it was a bad tab video, thanks for showing some love for the originators 🤘🤘

I believe at the solo for "delivering the goods" it says:" If you can play this solo why did you buy this book?"

the single picking of the tapping part at 11:00 turns the solo into a deathspell omega riff

I feel like I might’ve had that one back in the day! No wonder I gave up so easily.

When I learn songs, I've always had to try and learn the whole thing. I'm kinda OCD that way, plus if I really love the song, I couldn't stand not learning it all lol. I started playing before there were tabs. I learned by ear. If the tabs were not right, I would learn it the best I could by ear. I used to rewind my tapes so much, that it wore thin, and I would have to buy another copy. CDs sucked to try and learn a song. One thing that blew my mind, was when I learned Diary Of A Madman. I started learning it by ear, and then when I finally got the tab, I looked at it, and had learned it right (that is if the tab was right) lol. You Rock Mike! Love this series!❤️🎸🎵🤟😜🤟🎵❤️ Edit: The tab version of Hell Bent For Leather sounds like a ZZ Top song!🤣

Man, this is spot on. I can't tell you how many tab "books" I wasted money on over the years that were totally wrong!!! LOL. Great video! Oh..you inspired me to purchase this exact model Jackson with this color! :)

Videos like this are why one of the first things new guitarists should learn is how to transpose.

Can you debunk how panteras intro riff in slaughtered is played, sometimes it sounds like its played, to keep it short, on all low E 0-2-3, but i see people playing it: E 0----3- A 2-2-5- D ---4---- Or E 0----3- A ---3-5- D ---5--- (How i learnt it. But also seems like the most common one, it sounds too happy to me) Like i said tried to keep it short but i hope you get the idea haha,

Olga online was about the same when the internet was new. I remember printing off like ten different songs and maybe one would sound right

I've always assumed 'tab books' are designed to make everything seem impossible to discourage new players and maintain the 'guitar god mystique'.

Are you collecting tab books now, Mike? 😆 Also, the way it's tabbed there and how you played it at 11:17 make it sound like Still DRE! It's wicked.

@vennuv5626

Жыл бұрын

Yeah I was thinking The same. What in The fuck

Congrats on 747k Subscribers! 🤘🏻🔥

Need that thrash master video pronto 🤣🤣 Love this series Mike. :)

My first practice rig was a Crate GX15 and a DOD Thrash Master. I was finally able to play "One" and "This Love" without having to stop and switch channels on the amp, lol.

Every time you do these videos it brings me right back to high school when I wanted to tear these books apart no internet no help until I got to my guitar lesson for the week it would take hours to try and figure it out note for note myself cuz it was always so obvious that the books were just wrong !!! Lol the internet really changed how easy it is to figure out songs and learn the guitar.

I love that Slayer/Buffy Shirt!!!

Ok so, right off the bat... I saw your "Slayer" T-shirt and thought "Huh, what's that shirt, I've never seen a Slayer shirt with the picture of a girl like that". But then I quickly realized that it's Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Sarah Michelle Gellar. I don't know where it comes from but it's a great idea, I love it !

I don’t know if they still have it, but they at least used to have The Ripper tabbed out on the official Judas Priest website incorrectly. It only has like four riffs in the whole song and they were all tabbed incorrectly.

@straitjacket85

Жыл бұрын

Still on there...lol

this tab book was the bane of my teenage guitar-playing self, my arch nemesis, i figured out more by ear than i did opening that damn book so i just started watching live videos and going by my ears and i never read a tab book again. the foul creatures that they are.

Bad Tab videos are always a treat!

A friend of mine had learned a ton of VH and had just figured it out by ear... He had a great ear but didn't know anything about tapping so he was manually picking almost every note... First time I saw/heard him do it I was floored... We were both jealous of each other lol. What he was doing had to be harder and that's why I wanted to learn how he did it. The opposite for him... Wanted that cheat code.

Inherited this book back in the day. Never dove into it for lessons, but yeah can relate.

Ha, I remember the add in Guitar For The Practicing Musician Magazine back in 1990 when that Thrash Master pedal came out. It had a couple other distortion pedals in the add. The description for that that one said "for those who deal only in death and destruction" my friend and I just laughed for days at that

Great video and sick jacket man!

Love this! New Buffy/ Slayer shirt looks awesome 🤘🏻

Oh boy, Living After Midnight with the barre chords and new solo sounds like a beer commercial or something

Still loving the bad tabs series! Torn between wanting more videos, and hoping that the supply of bad tab books is dwindling!

My very first concert was Judas Priest screamin for vengeance/ Iron Maiden Number of the a Beast so I've been a Priest fan forever, and since I started playing guitar I totally forgot about this song. IT'S SO MUCH FUN TO PLAY!!! Thank you!!!

Could you do the rest of the rust in peace book pls

Yep most tab books are shockingly bad. I suppose they’re a starting point. But can’t beat watching the band live to see how it’s played. Great vid 😂

I have a feeling many of those faulty tabs made their way to the internet. I always hope doing my own research makes me better at guitar :)

More tab videos there so great man

Another nice video. So many wrong tabs/ tab books. When I started playing guitar I was not confident enough to trust my ears when I noticed something was not right. So frustrating And it always reminds me of an Dave Mustaine video where he said « all the tab books are wrong. If you wanna play a song, figure it by ear, or ask your teacher, or the guitar player who wrote the riffs » And I think that is was the way Dave learnt songs in the beginning…

@markpell8979

Жыл бұрын

Good quote there from Dave Mustaine. Marty Friedman was his bandmate for a short while and that's a club with many members. Marty is a trained musician who knows all the theory, scales, modes, techniques. He was asked if Mustaine uses theory to play or write. "Absolutely not, he doesn't know any of that, no theory, can't read music. I mean, obviously he KNOWS about that but he doesn't use theory to write songs or guitar parts. He just hears it and plays." So one of our most flesh-ripping metal guitarists, who comes up with some very complex music, plays only by ear. I suspect his old buddy James Hetfield is the same way.

the solo to livin' after midnight sounded like one of those downloadable ringtones from like 2004

Have the book. Back in the day used it as a guide. I think The tab "Delivering the goods" has a litte disclaimer "If you can play this solo why do you need this book" something along that line.

I love that shirt awesome, Buffy and Slayer together is a great fit.

Man this brings back so many memories. These books were still bad 20 years ago. It made me rely on my ear more and get it better. So, silver lining I guess? Great video.

@pieflies

Жыл бұрын

They’re still not good now, unless you get ones that were written or explicitly reviewed by the band. I find it quite fun to work things out for myself though where I can. Gives an extra sense of achievement and it’s a good skill to have.

Please do a short video on the main riff of frayed ends of sanity brotha

11:30 A beginner would never attempt that lol

Really nice Jackson!

Here's the main problem with all of these books; a beginner who doesn't know any better believes that the sheet music/tabs were provided by Judas Priest, Metallica etc. You're thinking "Well this is exactly how you play it. It's Metallica's book with their logo/album cover/photos etc.". I think we all pretty much felt that way. I started in 1991 (I'm 51 now) and it took a while in bits & pieces to realize that a song that I learned from one of these books was played differently by say Jason Newsted when I'm watching live/studio footage. That's when I started realizing that I think their may be a few mistakes in the book. But how can that be? It's the "official" tab book for Ride The Lightning and surely Metallica wouldn't authorize incorrect ways to play their songs. Then a little while later I came to the conclusion that a lot of these books (or parts of them) are trash and it's just some clown thats not even that good himself trying to figure it out by ear. It's got no official stamp of approval from the band. Just someone trying to figure it out by ear that plays it completely wrong/wrong tuning/or in a way that's making you reach & stretch up and down the fingerboard. These videos are funny because they bring me back to when I was 19 yrs old and thought these books were the end all on how to play the songs. BTW - as far as bass goes one of the most egregious errors is when Guitar World tabbed (and maybe the tab book) out Man In The Box. That's one of my moments when I was like "Yeah, there is no A (flat) in the main riff whatsoever plus it's super easy to hear that there isn't. It's just the open E flat. Plus the tabs always have the wrong positioning for the prechorus (Mike played it all on the E string) and one time for the prechorus he plays it an octave higher on the D string which is never in the tabs. I just saw several of the incorrect ways to play it yesterday online. I guess why the pros always say the best thing to do is lock yourself in your room & try & decipher it yourself. But as a young person who has time for that lol? I just want to buy the book, plug in & start playing instantly. Cheers!

Honestly if you played the solo for Living After Midnight as written the only people in the audience that would notice are other guitar players.

Great video, I'm gonna start trying again

Man I love your t shirt ! So good

I see you did the upgrades to the guitar! When are we going to see the promised follow-up?

Another great video. Something I’d like to know about is the Diary of a Madman tab book. Was learning Over the Mountain from it and some things seemed weird. Then I go on KZread for some help, multiple covers, and see nobody play it like the book. Is it a crap book?

@Ch4MMPBoi

Жыл бұрын

95% chance the book is wrong.

I used to play hell bent for leather solo in that position until I saw Glenn Tipton play it on the G string. I found it annoying bringing back tab books to find they were god awfully wrong. Great video!

informative video. hey i got a dod thrash master it's my main go to distortion pedal. even tho i got roland gr-55 and boss gt-3. i grew up on judas priest.

When it came to learning songs in the 80s and 90s, tablature was how I did it. And these false tabs were all over the place. I remember I think it was Metallica, For whom the bell tolls, the slow beginning single note riff. It had to be wrong if after all these years, I am thinking of the right song. I would even, as a beginner, pluck out what I thought was right, instead of going with the tab. Back then I thought, well it must be a typo error. So much back then was probably wrong, and I am most likely still playing it like that today.

Eyo great video mike

What do you think about Anthrax Fistful of Metal tab book? The first book I learned out of ... I only bout it because it was the only metal tab book at the music store

I guess I'm lucky that the internet already was a thing, and my guitar teacher had the right tabs on paper haha.

You play that A and I hear smoking by boston

I was the first Mike! Cheers from Plymouth!

I'm jealous of that DOD FX-59 Thrash Master pedal. 😭

I loved the Thrash Master back in the early 90's. Picked one up a few years back and was a bit let down. Didn't sound as I remembered. Then again I have a completely different rig..

This video needs a Love button, not just like :D Had similar experience with the ...And Justice for All tab book.

6:13 lol it sounds like the theme to a 90s sitcom 😂

there's a Ratt tab book from back in the day that had me playing Lay it Down on just the first three strings with a screwy stretch for years lol

I remember hours and hours of rewinding tapes, or lifting the needle and trying to get it in the right place, to loop anything you had to rewind, hit play on one, record on another tape deck, never got the timing between loops right, and yes, terrible tabs! It's why I gave up on that and decided to write my own songs! Much more satisfying and rewarding! (

I was just watching JP live at the US festival in 1983! 🔥🎸🤘😎🤘🎸🔥

@216trixie

Жыл бұрын

I was at the US festival the next day. We were there for U2. Amazing day. 150,000 people there. More on the metal day before.

These books in the 90s turned me off as a beginner guitarist but since then KZread made me less sucky

Hi..I have that same book..it makes me wonder how accurate the gear section is..i seem to remember the strings gauges were like 08-10-12 20..lighter than Billy Gs strings..i made those gauges up as my book is in a box somewhere..I have a bunch of books from the 70s none of them were ever right..Thanks...Dave

I had the same problems with those books back then too. After i saw how bad they got some songs in the Master of Puppets book, i realized that i just needed those books as a quick reference. I can go on about this but I don't want to type a novel here.

That's why I always tell my students (well, nowadays we can) to use multiple resources: tabs, as many as they can get, their ears and their common sense. And when they are really in doubt, to watch videos with them playing the part. Especially with bigger bands it's very likely to find a recording where the camera zooms in on the guitar.

Bro, where you get that t-shirt? I love it!

I thought it was amusing when you showed how Living After Midnight should be played, then cut to a live performance where they played it tuned down...

Damnit where was this video like 40 years ago when I tried to learn from this exact book? I think I still have it somewhere

I'm kinda glad I've never had to deal with these tab books. I've only ever used the internet. Having bad tabs would've killed any motivation.

Learning guitar in the late 70s early 80s I always knew those books were way off and just sat down and learned by ear..

6:13 Living After Midnight (Nashville version)

I really liked The Early Years TAB. Introduced me to older JP that I never heard before and inspired me to play more guitar!

I try to ear train now but man, thank god I started with virtual tabs

Because I was self taught, those books knocked 10 to 15 years of my guitar learning life. literally. Great that your talking about this man....

Awesome video

Ugh, their solo part for Hell Bent for Leather will give me nightmares for a while...

I've wanted that thrash master as well. Didn't realize other people liked it that much ha

in all fairness, that first "wrong" hell bent for leather part is totally in the original mix if you're listening hard enough

Prior to the internet offering kids a fast jump start into accurate playing, these music publishing companies were highway robbery. They could put anything out and kids would buy it because they wanted to learn their favorite songs

Mike is that guitar a jackson js 32? it's really nice.