Hi Lynne,

I am a no expert here but maybe can help a little bit from my tabbing experience.
Since the 1st measure is almost empty, I’m sure you meant the 2nd measure. There is a good way to check if any tab is correct. Assuming you’re using the interactive tablature (Soundslice), on the bottom black bar change the playback setting from Video to Synthetic and the Soundslice app will play EXACTLY what it written rather than follow Brian’s recording. If there are any note or timing errors, you can easily catch them there.

As you can probably hear now, the tablature looks and sounds fine and the timing is exactly what Brian plays so it is indeed correct. The bend is on A# note (not a G) and it is a dotted eighth note and not a dotted half note as you mentioned. It starts on the count of 3 and lasts almost to the end of “and” followed by a quarter note which starts right ahead of the beat 4 which gives a 16th note room for the slide to start at the very end of the measure 2 and continue into measure 3.

So that’s the breakdown but the truth is, it is much easier to just follow along Brian’s playing and learn to feel the groove by ear rather than mathematics. Either way, I hope this helped a bit 🙂

Hi Lynn – You will find many instances where Brian does not play his demo exactly as he has written the tab, and the subject has been raised many times in the past here on the forum. Once I remember Brian saying that after he played his demo, he thought some minor tweak might be a better way to play it, so he wrote the tabs to reflect that. The conclusion among the forum members has always been that you should go with your ear, and just play what sounds best to you. Also, sometimes the tabs have a lick that is too fast or complex for your current ability, so most of us are quite happy to adjust those as needed to meet our abilities. Unlike classical guitar, the goal of all blues players is improv, so if it sounds good, it is good. Cut the rope and be free!

I have to agree with Jola and Steve; I would even dare to say that, in general, music that is supposed to swing (jazz, blues, folk, …) is never played exactly as written or, equivalently, never transcribed exactly as played. In fact, it is true for classical music as well; just look at a score of a romantic piano piece with all its embellishments, for example a Chopin prelude.
Music notation can be as accurate as you want it to be, but it quickly becomes almost unreadable.
The tab or score gives a general indication, but it is up to you to interpret that with the appropriate feel. Listening is very important.