To be more specific, I would like to thank the people at TablEdit, particularly Keith Saturn, not only for a remarkably fine tablature product, but also for rapid and very responsive customer service!
I used TablEdit many years ago as I learned to play the 5-string banjo. I used the tabs that others had entered into TablEdit format as well as writing my own TablEdit arrangements (very easy to do). I am afraid that I took tablature programs for granted, not giving much thought to the expertise, time and effort required to create such useful programs.
I stopped playing banjo in 2000 after spending 5 months out of the country. As I began playing again very recently, I discovered how important TablEdit is to my musical development. Fortunately, even though I was not practicing banjo, I collected hundreds and hundreds of tabs for banjo and had stored many that I had written, almost all in TablEdit format. Do I want to relearn down-the-neck backup to fiddle? Run TablEdit, open the “Scruggs-style fiddle back up” tef file and practice. How about that blues-like lick I put into TablEdit format? What was that up-the-neck to down-the-neck run that Mr. Scruggs did in Earl’s Breakdown? Thank goodness I had TablEdit arrangements that saved me so much time. Oh, how did I play my own version of Fox on the Run back in 1999? There it is, preserved in TablEdit.
Another property of TablEdit that was critical for me is the capability to convert from other tablature programs into TablEdit. I have converted some files created in an older, currently unsupported tab program as well as tabs from another supported program. That permits me to consolidate all my tab files.
Do I depend solely on tab. Absolutely not. I do like to develop my own licks and styles. Do I have the time to slow down every performance I hear to decipher all the neat licks and solos (and backup – can’t ignore backup). I have a demanding career that takes much of my time. So, tab is critical for me.
So, my thanks again to the people behind the scenes who have done all the hard work to create the program I find so indispensable.
Ron