Tablature, reading music, etc.

[rjgoos]

I hope to have my first Stick in 7-10 days. It is a 10-string in classic tuning.

How important is it to learn tablature? Of course, on one level, one must learn a little to go through various lesson books, to learn some basic technique...but how important is tablature to this instrument? I mean, is there much actual printed music out there in 10-string-classic-stick tablature format?

Or is it more important to be able to read classic treble and bass clef (piano-type) music, and to play on a Stick?

I guess I want to learn to play this instrument "right."


RJ

[rockola]

Tablature is evil, as are all "bear-paws-substituted-for-note-heads" notations intended to simplify but only achieving obfuscation of the matter at hand. Sorry, but this is a pet peeve of mine...

If you wish to play written music, you need to be able to read music. Of course, with this particular tuning the 4ths-5ths dichotomy makes things a bit more difficult, but it's nothing that cannot be overcome.

Others might not agree, so in the end you'll have to investigate this for yourself. For a comparative look, check out Frank Jolliffe's "Touchstyle Songbook": all the tunes in there are notated both in standard music notation and in tablature.