Most of you know how to read guitar tabs. I have always viewed tabs as the melody part of the song. It seems strange to tab out chords...unless they are unusual chords. It's so much easier write a C chord than to actually write line by line string and finger position. Having said the I sometimes use the term tabs to describe chords to a song. I think on most guitar sites you'll see this is true. You may even use the terms interchangeably yourself. I think this term has evolved to mean musical information about a song. I don't mean to split hairs but this seems to be the case.
The term tablature on the other hand seems to have a more specific meaning. When I hear this term I'm looking to find the melody to the song. There are all kind of symbols to notate slides, hammer ons and pulloffs. I suspect you can become very proficient sight reading tablature. By that I mean you can look at a piece of tablature from a song that you have never seen or heard before and play it. It will sound as the composer wanted it to sound. For those of us less skilled tablature offers a way to fil in the blanks of a song. I know the chords and tempo of a song. I can sing the melody. I'm practically there. I just need to know where to put my fingers and on what strings. The better you know a song the more you will be able to benefit from guitar tabs....or tablature.
