tablature
Americannoun
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Music. any of various systems of music notation using letters, numbers, or other signs to indicate the strings, frets, keys, etc., to be played.
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a tabular space, surface, or structure.
noun
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music any of a number of forms of musical notation, esp for playing the lute, consisting of letters and signs indicating rhythm and fingering
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an engraved or painted tablet or other flat surface
Etymology
Origin of tablature
1565–75; < Middle French, Latinization (influenced by Latin tabula board) of Italian intavolatura, derivative of intavolare to put on a board, score
Explanation
Tablature is a system of musical notation that shows you exactly where to put your fingers on an instrument's strings. By reading tablature, you can easily form the notes to play "Freebird" on your lute. If you've ever taken piano lessons or sung in a chorus, you're familiar with staff notation, or sheet music that indicates the pitch and length of the notes you play. Tablature, on the other hand, illustrates which string to hold down, on which fret, when you play a chord. Tablature makes it fairly simple to form chords but doesn't tell you anything about rhythm or duration of notes. Stringed instruments can be played using tablature — the harmonica can, too.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That diary mostly contains tablature notation, but one entry, from before quarantine, last December, reads: “Try to find resonances — textural miracles that are confusing as to structure but spinning and mesmerizing.”
From New York Times • May 1, 2020
Monkey Wrench was one of the first I learned how to play, reading tablature in Guitar World magazine.
From The Guardian • Sep. 26, 2016
Everyone who purchases the game has access to at least two TV channels which stream music videos — overlaid with playable tablature.
From The Verge • Oct. 23, 2015
Someone offered a link to tablature in 3/4 time, which is incorrect.
From Slate • Feb. 26, 2014
L’hiver passé j’eut un mandit procès Qui m’donna bien d’la tablature.
From Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence by Kite, Elizabeth S.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
