Is there a way to sync the YouTube video link within the UG tab so that as the video plays, the tabs follow with the video? It doesn’t actually need to be the video, but just the music/actual song. I’m trying to follow along and play with the actual song, but I’d like the tab to scroll through so I can see where I am. Any suggestions? Thanks
1 Like
I am not aware of a way to do that in Ultimate Guitar, but Songsterr does have that functionality (with paid subscription). The syncing isn’t always perfect, but usually pretty close.
3 Likes
I have a Songsterr subscription. It allows you to loop certain sections.
However I think the free version will give you the chords and the ‘bouncing ball’ to follow.
1 Like
Not a feature I have found on UG. And believe me, synching the tab and a seperate playback is no easy task, everytime I have tried despite my best efforts they fall out of sync pretty fast.
Best way I have found is to play with the backing tracks on UG until you have strong grasp on the song, then just play with the song without the tab. Good old brute force memorization. Even then, first time you try might be a wreck (mine was).
Or, there are a lot of Youtube covers that already have tab scrollign with the songs. Not ideal since you will have the bass fromt he video along with your playing, but still helpful if you want the full song experience.
There’s software and such that can asssit with dropping those basslines out of the mix, but that is beyond my tech skills.
2 Likes
I love Songster for this. You can loop sections, slow it down, and even mute individual instruments from the you tube video. For $10 a month it’s definitely worth it.
4 Likes
Yeah, it’s a hassle. I’ve been trying to start the video, then start UG and try to get them synced as much as possible, buts it’s a struggle. I like the accuracy of the UG tabs. I have the Pro version. The YouTube videos with tabs on the bottom that do go with the song usually don’t follow the UG tabs exactly, so it throws me off. I’ve tried writing my own tabs in a notebook, but it’s just easier to follow a red line moving along where you should be.
One thing I did try was to play the song through a bluetooth speaker via my iPhone, then start the UG tab without sound at the same time. That gets the song and the tab going pretty close, or at least close enough to the same time to follow along.
I’ll check out Songster. I just got the UG Pro version about a month ago. It seems like the official tabs they produce are as close as possible to the actual songs. Have you used UG? If so, do you like one better than the other? Thanks.
I use UG Pro. I like it. Thing to remember with tabs, is they can differ. Doesn’t neccesarily mean one is wrong. With Songsterr and UG Pro I’ve seen tabs that are very similar, but minor differences., mainly playing same notes on different strings/frets.
1 Like
I use both. I find UG more accurate on average 
You can also use Chordify for playing along. No tab just the chord structure.
1 Like
Or just use ToneLib Jam?
2 Likes
Tonelib Jam is good for this but it doesn’t have the song library that UG or Songster have. It’s not all pop or top 40 stuff but is somewhat limited compared to those 2. If you want to poke around with what they’ve got:
2 Likes
I subscribe to both and I agree. I think UG has more songs in more genres, too. I hate the electronic sounds in Songsterr compared to UG; but the feature in Songsterr to sync tabs with the actual track in YouTube is a really major plus. I also like having two sources to compare tabs and pick the best.
Some may think two subscriptions is luxury. I think it’s a better investment in my progress learning bass than indulging in GAS for another pedal or instrument.
3 Likes
Songsterr’s site is much better, the tabs are better on average factoring in the free ones IMO, but the UG Pro tabs are definitely as good or better than the Songsterr average, sure.
But for adequate genre coverage you need to factor in the free ones on both.
1 Like
I did try it for about an hour, I hated it and promptly canceled the trial. I can’t recall exactly what was frustrating the hell out of me but the front end interface is absolutely awful.
I’ll probably go back and try it out again at some point, In hindsight I was probably just having a bad day and annoyed at the pushiness of the signup on every other button click. I still think the interface is an atrocity to good UI design.
2 Likes
Yeah as far as overall web experience goes Songsterr is way, way better. Not really even close.
UG’s pro tabs are good though. Except when the “pros” embellish a bit, but that happens on Songsterr too.
Embellishing and the personal touches of the artist are great while playing but pretty much the last thing you want from a professional tab site. I’m not there for your performance, pro dude, just as canonical a reference to the original artist as I can get.
The last one I remember was a person adding octave fills and alternating octaves a la disco to something that was clearly a straight rock chug in the original. Just please don’t do that.
3 Likes
And here I was thinking I should give Dancing Queen a crack to expand my horizons a little.
1 Like
Disco octaves are surprisingly difficult to keep going for long, for me anyway 
1 Like
Only way I can think of to do this would be to make a screen recording of the UG playthrough. If you have a Mac, it’s easy to record the screen with Quicktime. I’m sure there are options for WIndows.
Anyway, in a video editor, put the screen recording together with the song in the background. How you get the audio is up to you.
It’s a bit of work, but if you’re going to be working on learning a song for a while, it might be worth it.
1 Like
Sounds complicated!
I will stop suggesting Tonelib Jam (in this thread). An Alternative is Go Playalong.
You just need the tabs (can you download those from UG or Songster?) and the original song.
It looks like this:
2 Likes
Ooh, that’s very nice! You can download from UG, except you cannot download their official tabs, which are generally going to be the highest quality.
1 Like