I have both an electric and acoustic guitar in my room; I have picks, a capo, and two different kinds of tuners, but I’ve never really stuck with teaching myself to play the guitar. Maybe because it was never so easy before — but when I first got word of the tar Tabs iPhone app ($1.99), I had to wonder, was this finally my shot?
The easiest place to start is with the top 100 tabs. With a wide selection of songs we all know and love—such as Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”—you can surely find something here you want to learn. On the other hand, if you already have something in mind, like Brand New’s “Mix Tape,” or, I don’t know, let’s say you’ve been dreaming about learning Hole’s “She Walks Over Me” your entire life, then all you have to do is search for it via band or song name. (I happen to know for a fact you can find both of these songs here.)
What I find most refreshing about this iPhone app is that tabs are submitted by individuals. There’s no set format to adhere to, so there’s no hesitation to post for fear that you might be doing something wrong. More often than not, posters include their own commentary about the songs themselves, their process while figuring the tabs out, what they struggled with or where they found success, and if you’re lucky, sometimes posters even include their email addresses in case you should have any questions.
