Key To The Rhythm Tab

As Mike Quill points out on the site referred to above, “What tab doesn't show is timing and rhythm...” which is why I use the system described here.

It's not really 'my' system; rather, it's just an extension of the way I was taught to count in the piano lessons I took as a kid.

If you ever took music lessons, the chances are you'll already be familiar with most of this. Even if you're not, there's no great mystery to it when shown in context.

With this simple system you can notate the beat or change of beat being used and you can show where the notes are to be played within the beat itself.

However, in order for it to work, you have to type the notes above the relevant part of the rhythm using a Teletype or 'fixed space' font, e.g. that used in Notepad. If you don't, the notes won't line up with the rhythm, and therefore, will make no rhythmic sense whatsoever.

12/8, 4/4, etc : time signature (12 X eighth notes: shuffle time; or 4 X quarter notes: straight time)

| : bar line

1 2 3 4 : counting beats

1 & 2 & : counting beats divided into two (straight time)

1 & a 2 & a : counting beats divided into three (shuffle time - or compound time as classical musicians might call it)

1 a & a : counting beats divided into four (straight time)

1 a & a & a : counting beats divided into six (shuffle time) or

1   & a & a or

1   & a & etc

In a nutshell, '&' always occupies a stronger part of the beat than the beat number or the 'a' that precedes it, with the strongest part of the beat being where it starts and the weakest part being where it ends.

I've not attempted to include irregular divisions of the beat, e.g. 5 played in the time of 4. You could always write:

4/4 1 a a a a 2 a a a a etc

to show that you want quintuplets; it's not very clear to read or verbalise, but it's there if you want to use it.

If you want to deviate otherwise from the beat, i.e. writing triplets in straight time or vice versa, just do exactly that:

4/4 1 & a 2 & 3 & a 4 & |

The presence of the beat – 1 2 3 4 – should make your meaning clear.

So, that's it. Providing that you always mark the beats then you should be able to notate rhythms on a computer keyboard in such a way that the rhythm can be interpreted without having to actually know the tune first.

Just remember that you have to write the notes above the relevant part of the beat. So, a dotted rhythm in straight time on the 2 draw would look like this:

4/4

2     2 2     2 2     2 2     2 |

1 a & a 2 a & a 3 a & a 4 a & a |

Or, if the second and third parts of each beat were to be silent, i.e. the first note of each beat is staccato, then just use the backslash (for silence) on those parts of the beat:

4/4

2 \ \ 2 2 \ \ 2 2 \ \ 2 2 \ \ 2 |

1 a & a 2 a & a 3 a & a 4 a & a |

That's about as complex as it gets.

|2  3' 2 3' 2 3' 2|
|a  1  a 2  a 3  4|

2   2^ 2

1 & a  2 & a