FWIW I do not think online sheet music is any better. Those are just user transciptions too, and I have found plenty of mistakes.
The free ones in Musecore were especially bad.
You must never go to Songsterr then, because all their tabs are that way.
I had never seen them before @howard brought them up but they do make sense.
I just do not understand why the hybrid type of TAB is not used more, especially in books.
Maybe the marketing department feels they use too much additional ink 
My philosophy is, why pay for wrong, OR use the free crap? Just play the damn notes as they are written? Why let some unknown person pull your strings like you’re a puppet? Just play the note. If it’s a middle C on the score, you play the middle C. There’s no question that it’s a C.
This whole playing be tablature thing befuddles me. Are we not musicians, or are we just puppets? I choose the former.
I’d buy that more if online sheet music was any better than tabs, transcription quality wise.
But in my experience, it isn’t.
I can say that after many many years of attempting to read music for multiple instruments, I have been entirely unsuccessful at wiring up a part of my brain to understand notation. I have to slog through the sheet music slowly until I can translate it into what theory structure is happening. I can remember the concept of what’s happening.
My jam groups include kids from around 10 years old to seniors approaching 90.
For absolute beginners in those groups TAB is really the best way I have found to get them playing along, without them having to learn to read music on top of all the other things they really need to know in the beginning.
I agree, and I have said this all along. But tab is the training wheels, and at some point they need to be removed. The sooner the better IMO.
@PamPurrs I have only been teaching for 6 years but if I have learned one very important thing and it is that the sooner you can get a absolute beginner playing a whole song the happier they are and they will come back for more. I always supply standard notation and TAB together for a song.
I couldn’t care less if they want to continue using TAB forever.
If they want to progress past that they will let you know.
At least, that has been my experience.
True and yes MuseScore is a joke. I tried it for sax and gave up. Was harder o fix it than to just transcribe it.
Constantine’s are still top notch. But I find errors in his too here and there. Working on one from another source now that’s meh and fixing it as I go.
I take it you are talking about the user transcriptions on the MuseScore site, and not the software itself, is that right?
In the end it’s all about tools for communication. And there’s a whole lot more communication of bass tracks via tab than sheet music, regardless of merit. Ignoring that seems like artificially limiting yourself for no good reason.
Right, and that is why I just can’t understand why the hybrid TAB you introduced to us is not more prevalent.
Yeah that would be nice. I think it’s just kind of what tab is evolving in to.
Yes, that’s exactly my point.
It MAY depend on the notes that came before, but it often shouldn’t.
I absolutely agree, which is one of the reasons Josh’s method on B2B works so well.
Neither do I. All I’m saying is they need to seriously consider learning to read and completely abandon tab at some point. The sooner the better IMO. Tab is way too restrictive, whereas with reading/transcribing/creating you have the ability to expand your artistic expression.
I do concede, there are many guitar and bass players who will never give up tab.
It’s interesting reading this thread. In reality, most gigs would only give you a lead sheet, not a full score by instrument or a lot of professionals use Nashville Numbering System. For those notation challenged, check out the book by Chas Williams. https://www.amazon.com/Nashville-Number-System-Chas-Williams/dp/0963090674
I’ve been studying NNS with my teacher and it works for me…
I absolutely love playing from lead sheets. I wish there were more of them out there.
I’ve seen that book before, I think either Josh or Mark (Smith) mentioned it at some point.
Assuming I’m already familiar with the NNS, what does this book bring to the party @Sully
It’s a whole different way of working with a piece of music, similar to a leadsheet, as it will contain details such as accents, sustains, etc. It leaves you as the musician/artist the latitude to create a line as you see fit. It’s different if you are trying to do an exact cover, as the NNS won’t necessarily tell you exactly how the recording artist played the line. For me it just makes sense and clicks. You do need to understand some theory, things like diatonic chords though.
it’s really about understanding chord progressions for a song and figuring out how you, as the bassist fit into that.
Yeah, I’m pretty much schooled on theory, so perhaps this book will be helpful. I ordered a “Used/like new” one from Amazon. Thanks