Tab Alive! Guitar Tablature Player

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Plays string-bends, hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides

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Tab Alive! Help

Welcome to the Tab Alive! Help area. Several topics are covered in this document. Here are links to various topics. A few minutes spent here will save you much time and frustration later.

CHORD ALIGNMENT

All chords should be left-justified in order for Tab Alive! to play all the notes together as a chord. Below is an example of the correct and incorrect way of aligning chords:

Correct	Incorrect
--12-- --9--- --11-- --9--- ------ ------	--12-- ---9-- --11-- ---9-- ------ ------

FRIENDLY ERRORS

Most inquiries are regarding tab submission and occasional errors generated in the process. Since tablature notation is still developing and since there are those who have a tendency to use their own special characters, there will be occasional errors generated in the submission process. There is no way for us to anticipate every possibility of what might be submitted but we will continue to work on developing friendly errors. Our desire is to help you to end up with a usable Tab Alive! file.

So what's a friendly error? Seem like a contradiction in terms? Consider the following...

<INCORRECT>
-------
--3p5--
-------
-------
-------
-------

What's wrong with the above tab example? You can't PULL-OFF from a lower fret to a higher fret! A pull-off is indicated from the 3rd fret to the 5th fret! Believe it or not, you'll see this quite a bit in tab files out there. Most of the time it's just that someone accidentally typed in the wrong thing. See the correct example below...

<CORRECT>
-------
--5p3--
-------
-------
-------
-------

So, if the Tab Alive! submission tool encounters the above in your tab you'll get a friendly error. Below is an incorrect tab submission followed by the actual friendly error that was generated by the Tab Alive! submission tool:

TAB SUBMITTED

--3-5-------
-------3p5--
------------
------------
------------
------------

FRIENDLY ERROR

Submission Error Occurred...

Oops! You need to go back to section 1, line 1 and correct a pull-off. Counting from the left, at position 8 on string 2, you entered the following: 3p5--You can't do a "pull-off" from fret 3 to fret 5. Again, here's where the error occurred:

String: 2
Section: 1
TAB line: 1

A pull-off requires that you pluck a higher note and then pull that left hand finger off of the string (actually with a slight downward motion sort of plucking the string with the flesh of your finger) to sound the lower note. The note on fret 3 is actually lower than the note on fret 5 so there's no way you could pull off from fret 3 to fret 5.

Please use your browser's back button to go back and correct this error and then resubmit the tablature.

FRIENDLY ERROR LIST

Error Type	Incorrect	Correct
Hammer-On	--5h3--	--3h5--
Pull-Off	--6p8--	--8p6--
Slide-Up	--5/2--	--2/5--
Slide-Down	--4\6--	--6\4--
Fret Number	22 or higher	0 to 21
Vibrato	-~3-- or -3~~~~~-	--3~--

Chords \| Friendly Errors \| Error List \| Supported Characters Submission Instructions \| Buttons \| Top of Page SUPPORTED CHARACTERS Before submitting tab for the first time please be sure you are familiar with the list of supported characters for Tab Alive! Attempting to submit tab with an unsupported character will result in the character being ignored, replaced with a dash "-" or an unfriendly error. Below is a list of the currently supported characters. Use these characters only in your tab submissions. This list will continue to grow as we develop new versions of the Tab Alive! application. Please let us know what you'd like to see added to this list by sending your comments and suggestions to support@hotfrets.com and include "tab alive! suggestion" in the subject line.
----	Dashes dashes indicate strings and are non-events.
0	fret position numbers You can include numbers up to the 21st fret. Any number above that will generate a friendly error telling you where the number is and how to correct it.
h	hammer-on this is placed between 2 notes like so: ---3h5--- The first number in the sequence is always lower than the second number. This is because you can't physically "hammer-on" from a higher fret to a lower one. That would be a pull-off. If you enter something like the following> --7h5-- you'll generate a friendly error that will tell you which section line and string the problem occurred and what caused the error.
p	pull-off as with the hammer-on, is placed between two notes: ---5p3--- The first number in the sequence is always higher than the second number. This is because you can't physically "pull-off" from a lower fret to a higher one. That would be a hammer-on. If you enter something like the following> --7h5-- you'll generate a friendly error that will tell you which section line and string the problem occurred and what caused the error and how to correct it.
/	slide-up between two fret positions ---5/7---- This means that you play the first note and then slide up to the next note. As with a hammer-on, the first note in a slide-up is always lower than the second note. If you enter something like the following> --7/5-- you'll generate a friendly error that will tell you which section line and string the problem occurred and what caused the error.
\	slide-down between two fret positions ---7\5--- This means that you play the first note and then slide up to the next note. As with a hammer-on, the first note in a slide-up is always lower than the second note. If you enter something like the following> --7/5-- you'll generate a friendly error that will tell you which section line and string the problem occurred and what caused the error.
I or \|	barline capital I or pipe "\|" indicates division of measures. This is simply used as a visual aid. Barlines are ignored by the player. They will be displayed wherever you've placed them in your original tab.
*	special marker asterisk sometimes emphasizes the end of the song or a section and as with barline indicators, they are ignored by the player.
~	vibrato Vibrato markers are supported by Tab Alive! but are not played. We decided to use actual audio in creating sound for the player because we really are tired of cheesy midi guitar sounds. As a result, trying to include vibrato audio in varying lengths would be impractical. However, there will be a vibrato indicator after the note to remind you that a vibrato is to be played.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE Tab Alive! SUBMISSION WIZARD

The submission wizard will walk you through submitting your tab. You'll be entering your tablature in sections, i.e., INTRO, VERSE, CHORUS, etc.. It's pretty self-explanatory but there are a few things you should be aware of. You should use a VALID email address because a Tab Alive! data file will be emailed to you for later use in the offline version.

Section Name: Whatever you enter here will become the label for this section's button in the Tab Alive! screen. It's best to use one word descriptions here.
Tab Here Field: Be sure to put tablature only in this field. If you enter chord symbols or anything outside the tablature, it will be discarded in the submission process and could possibly cause an error. Also, only use tablature characters that are supported by Tab Alive! at this time.
Instructions: The instructions field is where you should enter any special instructions such as chord symbols used or explanations needed to understand the tablature.

You can enter as many tab lines as you wish in each section but you must separate each line of tablature with 2 carriage returns.
Currently only 6 string EADGBE tunings are supported. Submitting anything else will cause an error such as trying to submit bass or mandolin tab.
Place only currently supported tab characters in this field. Currently supported characters are shown below

TAB ALIVE! BUTTONS

Play Button

click to enlarge

Though tablature makes no provisions for rhythm notation, we've decided to add a play button to step evenly through each section so you can pick up your guitar and follow the progression of notes or chords while hearing them sound!
Speed Controller
The speed slider does just what the name implies. Slide it to the left and the playback slows down, slide it to the right and playback speeds up!
Step Forward & Step Backward Buttons
Just like in the HotFrets lesson interface, you can move one fingering at a time through the Tablature you've submitted to get a step by step visual of the notes in the tablature. You'll also hear the notes being played!
Line Forward & Line Backward Buttons
Use the line> or <line buttons to move forward or backward one complete line at a time through any section.
Cursor Follows Notes on the Neck graphic!
So you always know where you are, a translucent bar graphic tracks your steps through the Tablature!
Looper Button

click to enlarge

You can click the looper button to reveal a resizable, shaded area. Drag the edges of the loop area to cover the section you'd like to loop and click the play button. Tab Alive! will automatically continue to loop the area you've shaded allowing you to pick up your guitar and play along.

NOTE: If an edge of the loop area is just outside of a hammer-on or other multi-note characters, you might have to fine tune the area by moving it in a little bit. Otherwise it may loop one extra note just outside the shaded area.
All You Need Is Notepad!
Notepad or any other text editor that allows you to create text-based tablature is all you need. Create you own or you can open, copy & paste tab from any of your existing favorite tabs. As you probably already know, there are hundreds of thousands of tab files on the Internet and most of them are free.

NOTE: There are many good tab files out there and then there are many that are strictly junk. You can check out some of the recommended tab sites here.
Stand-Alone Tab Alive! Coming Soon!
Our anticipated launch date for the stand-alone, offline version is November 1, 2004. It will be available for download at that time. You'll create the files using the online submission tool and receive them via email for offline use!