It's been a while since I've looked up a guitar or bass tab. For the most part, I learn by ear. Sometimes it comes in handy to see how other musicians interpret a song. About half of them, while still online, display a message that they have been contacted my lawyers from the MPA and NMPA threatening them with legal action. Obviously, the smart move is to cave. These tab sites are not big money ventures and generally run by a few dedicated musicians who collect and make available amateur transcriptions of guitar, bass, and sometimes drum parts. Some are accurate and some are far from it.

It's a sad day for amateur musicians. Musicians that likely own the music they're trying to play and likely attend concerts by the artists. Some of the music I am looking for can not even be found for sale. Take for example, Rod Stewart, Maggie May (Every Picture Tells a Story – 1971). I bought the LP in 1971, bought the CD in the 90's, bought the music in the 70's and bought the individual sheet music. Neither purchase of the book or sheet music contained the part I was looking for – the acoustic guitar intro. So if some fledgling musician has figured it out and posted it to a site as his or her interpretation of that part, then it should be available. Rod Stewart should be thankful that anyone still cares about a song he did before he started putting out garbage and still bought his stuff when it was in the bargain bin. What's more, he should be telling NMPA (National Music Publishers' Association) and MPA (Music Publishers' Association) that they don't represent him. That is unless Mat and Trey were right (see South Park Episode 709, Christian Rock Hard) – I encourage you to find it free online.