Lockheed
Joined: Feb 03, 2021
Posts: 4
California
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Posted on Feb 03 2021 01:49 PM
Hi All,
I have FINALLY just got into surf guitar after decades of greatly admiring it from afar. Until now, I've just been playing classical music on an acoustic.
I've noticed that it's VERY difficult to find tablature music for surf guitar on the Internet! I can only imagine that this is due mainly to copyright issues, as well as it being a very niche genre of music.
My question, then, is this: what are some of the best resources for finding guitar TABs? ... Are they song books that you order? Is there a site that I'm missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
That said, I've found a great YouTube channel that has a lot of great surf guitar learning content... https://www.youtube.com/user/tomcon21/videos
— Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learning how, come on a safari with me!
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19194
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Feb 03 2021 03:07 PM
There are backing tracks and tabs in the downloads section of this site.
Some previous threads:
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/29490/
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/28865/
— Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me
"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea
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Lockheed
Joined: Feb 03, 2021
Posts: 4
California
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Posted on Feb 03 2021 03:53 PM
Brian wrote:
There are backing tracks and tabs in the downloads section of this site.
Some previous threads:
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/29490/
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/28865/
Thank you for the reply.
I'm looking for more recent surf rock songs. Specifically, from Slacktone and the Surf Coasters...
Slacktone - Bells Of St. Kahuna
Surf Coasters - Last Train
I absolutely cannot find TABs for either of these songs.
— Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learning how, come on a safari with me!
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TheHappyHodad
Joined: May 15, 2019
Posts: 31
Vista, CA
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Posted on Feb 03 2021 05:57 PM
Lockheed wrote:
Hi All,
I have FINALLY just got into surf guitar after decades of greatly admiring it from afar. Until now, I've just been playing classical music on an acoustic.
I've noticed that it's VERY difficult to find tablature music for surf guitar on the Internet! I can only imagine that this is due mainly to copyright issues, as well as it being a very niche genre of music.
My question, then, is this: what are some of the best resources for finding guitar TABs? ... Are they song books that you order? Is there a site that I'm missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
That said, I've found a great YouTube channel that has a lot of great surf guitar learning content... https://www.youtube.com/user/tomcon21/videos
Welcome Lockheed!
If you can play classical guitar, I think you'll start to notice some similarities to surf songs. Malagueña by the Trashmen is one of those great crossovers!
I've only been playing for a few years and you're right about lack of surf tabs on the internet (aside from the more popular classics). I've found YouTube to be helpful with lessons, but as well as finding others who have covered a song and just watching them play. Watching live videos of bands playing songs you like is another great place to learn.. you can't always see exactly what they are playing but it gets you in the right area of the neck to start. Plus it helps you develop your ear!
If you're not familiar with it, check out the Surf Guitar Book by Martin Schmidt. I just got it this year and i've been impressed w/the lessons and some of the theory that goes in to surf guitar. Best part is that it comes with 20 surf songs tabbed out w/tracks (full and backing). It has mostly surf songs by the author but there are also bands like Slacktone,Los Kahunas and Jon and the Nightriders.
Cheers!
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edwardsand
Joined: Jun 29, 2018
Posts: 660
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Posted on Feb 03 2021 06:53 PM
I've found that availability of guitar tabs has a lot to do with popularity of the songs. Given that most seem to be made and posted by individual fans (rather than companies), it's about who is motivated to put the time into it, and the more fans there are of a song, the more likely there will be tabs created. I think copyright issues have little to do with general availability.
Until someone creates an AI to automate the process, you just have to wait around until someone tackles the songs you are interested in.
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Lockheed
Joined: Feb 03, 2021
Posts: 4
California
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Posted on Feb 03 2021 07:01 PM
TheHappyHodad wrote:
Lockheed wrote:
Hi All,
I have FINALLY just got into surf guitar after decades of greatly admiring it from afar. Until now, I've just been playing classical music on an acoustic.
I've noticed that it's VERY difficult to find tablature music for surf guitar on the Internet! I can only imagine that this is due mainly to copyright issues, as well as it being a very niche genre of music.
My question, then, is this: what are some of the best resources for finding guitar TABs? ... Are they song books that you order? Is there a site that I'm missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
That said, I've found a great YouTube channel that has a lot of great surf guitar learning content... https://www.youtube.com/user/tomcon21/videos
Welcome Lockheed!
If you can play classical guitar, I think you'll start to notice some similarities to surf songs. Malagueña by the Trashmen is one of those great crossovers!
I've only been playing for a few years and you're right about lack of surf tabs on the internet (aside from the more popular classics). I've found YouTube to be helpful with lessons, but as well as finding others who have covered a song and just watching them play. Watching live videos of bands playing songs you like is another great place to learn.. you can't always see exactly what they are playing but it gets you in the right area of the neck to start. Plus it helps you develop your ear!
If you're not familiar with it, check out the Surf Guitar Book by Martin Schmidt. I just got it this year and i've been impressed w/the lessons and some of the theory that goes in to surf guitar. Best part is that it comes with 20 surf songs tabbed out w/tracks (full and backing). It has mostly surf songs by the author but there are also bands like Slacktone,Los Kahunas and Jon and the Nightriders.
Cheers!
A huge THANK YOU for the warm welcome and info, TheHappyHodad!
I didn't know that this was the current state of the sub-genre... That's kind of sad, honestly. I thought that at LEAST the bands would put out books to learn from.
I was actually already looking into getting the Surf Guitar Book, but your comment has cemented my decision to get it.
Again, THANK YOU!
— Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learning how, come on a safari with me!
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Lockheed
Joined: Feb 03, 2021
Posts: 4
California
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Posted on Feb 03 2021 07:04 PM
edwardsand wrote:
I've found that availability of guitar tabs has a lot to do with popularity of the songs. Given that most seem to be made and posted by individual fans (rather than companies), it's about who is motivated to put the time into it, and the more fans there are of a song, the more likely there will be tabs created. I think copyright issues have little to do with general availability.
Until someone creates an AI to automate the process, you just have to wait around until someone tackles the songs you are interested in.
Ya, that's the sense that I'm getting. Unfortunate! Thank you for the info, edwardsand, sincerely.
— Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learning how, come on a safari with me!
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pavlovsdog
Joined: Nov 22, 2010
Posts: 281
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Posted on Feb 03 2021 11:30 PM
Dave Wronski does a walkthrough of Bells of St. Kahuna on Youtube.
https://youtu.be/68ypwRKygh8
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da-ron
Joined: Jan 02, 2009
Posts: 1299
The original Plymouth, UK.
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Posted on Feb 04 2021 03:23 AM
There is probably something for everyone to learn in the Surf Guitar Book. Except for Martin, of course, who already knows it.
If you can play classical guitar then I assume you can read music, so I guess any publisher can sell you the music sheets?
I found surf guitar requires more effort on the picking hand than rock music, but there are quite a few tabs on this site. Also somewhere someone has compiled a huge list of Man...Or Astroman tabs which would keep you pretty busy.
— http://thewaterboarders.bandcamp.com/
Last edited: Feb 04, 2021 03:25:56
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Tikidog
Joined: Jun 23, 2006
Posts: 177
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Posted on Feb 04 2021 04:26 AM
Aloha,
apart from my book (which I highly recommend)
https://www.thesurfguitarbook.com/
you can get these books below.
I'm working on Vol. 2 of THE SURF GUITAR BOOK and will definitely include Bells Of St. Kahuna. I would recommend learning things about music and guitar playing in general, then you can transcribe surf songs on your own - all the chords/scales/notes are used in other styles too
SURF GUITAR / Center Stream Publishing
THE BEST OF DICK DALE / Hal Leonard
BEST OF SURF GUITAR / Hal Leonard
SURF GUITAR / Roy Zimmermann Hal Leonard
Surf Guitar Play-Along Volume 23 / Hal Leonard
You can also buy single song tabs at www.guitarinstructor.com
There are some classics transcribed by pro transcribers
If you need more help... I can do songs transcriptions or Skype lessons with a special topic...just email me here
https://the-incredible-mr-smith.com/
Da Ron and Happy Hodad - thanks for the nice words!
Last edited: Feb 04, 2021 04:30:43
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LordWellfleet
Joined: Jul 12, 2012
Posts: 170
Cape Cod, USA
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Posted on Feb 04 2021 09:44 AM
Lockheed:
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that if you play classical guitar you should have no problem working out 90 percent of surf songs on your own. You might not get it note for note, but it'll be "close enough for surf!"  Others have provided some great pointers to resources. One other tip: I've found that if you search for backing track videos it's not uncommon to find the tab superimposed on the video. Those are quite helpful: You get both the tab and visual clues on the fingering. Good luck, and enjoy your surfin'!
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19194
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Feb 04 2021 10:45 AM
I think figuring stuff out by ear is the way to go, but everyone has to start somewhere. Those previous threads had some pointers, but not mentioned so far:
Daddy-O Grande has many Los Straitjackets tabs:
https://www.daddyogrande.com/tablature.html
Martin Cilia has tabs for some Atlantics and his solo stuff:
https://martincilia.com/guitar-tabs/
— Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me
"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea
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TheHappyHodad
Joined: May 15, 2019
Posts: 31
Vista, CA
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Posted on Feb 04 2021 06:02 PM
Tikidog wrote:
I'm working on Vol. 2 of THE SURF GUITAR BOOK and will definitely include Bells Of St. Kahuna. I would recommend learning things about music and guitar playing in general, then you can transcribe surf songs on your own - all the chords/scales/notes are used in other styles too
Wonderful to hear there will be an encore to the book!
Da Ron and Happy Hodad - thanks for the nice words! >
Sincerely mean it and thank you for putting together this surf book!
Two things I really enjoy are the stories behind the songs, i.e. "Let's go down to Brighton" or "Get out of the Van" Fun stuff to read.
Second - I really like how you personally signed the forward at the bottom, nice touch!!
Last edited: Feb 04, 2021 18:04:11
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TheHappyHodad
Joined: May 15, 2019
Posts: 31
Vista, CA
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Posted on Feb 04 2021 06:05 PM
Brian wrote:
I think figuring stuff out by ear is the way to go, but everyone has to start somewhere. Those previous threads had some pointers, but not mentioned so far:
Daddy-O Grande has many Los Straitjackets tabs:
https://www.daddyogrande.com/tablature.html
Martin Cilia has tabs for some Atlantics and his solo stuff:
https://martincilia.com/guitar-tabs/
Thank you for sharing the Daddy-O Grande tabs, I have not come across these ones yet. SCORE!
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