How To Read Tablature At fiddlehub.com

Section links: Intro Which String Which Finger Up Bow Or Down Changing Bow Direction Note Values Summary, With Slur Demo

Do you change bow direction from one note to the next?

The answer, of course, is "Sometimes you do; sometimes you don't." Either way, fiddlehub tablature won't leave you guessing. In Figure 4, below the arrows, I have added some horizontal lines with short slanted lines at both ends that together look like this "\_______/." I use this as the symbol for a "slur." A slur is two or more notes played with only one bow stroke.

Figure 4

When you see this symbol "\___/" you know that you will be playing at least two notes with a single bow. You slur all the notes that appear above the symbol; and you don't change bow direction until you see the next arrow.

For example, in Figure 4 above, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th notes are all played with a single up bow.
I'll demonstrate this in a video at the end of this lesson.

By the way, I have seen other methods for marking a slur--usually a curved line connecting 2 or more notes; but I use the symbol you see above because I can put it below the arrows where I think it is easier to see, and it doesn't interfere with the fingering marks.