Style guide for theorytabs

I’d appreciate it if there were an official FAQ or style guide that could be incorporated into the existing “before you edit” guide; this could help prevent or resolve disputes and unnecessary edits, and more importantly, more consistency can help improve the quality of searches and of analyses across the complete dataset.

Some examples of questions/discrepancies that I’ve seen come up:

  • Should applied or borrowed chords be preferred for IV and V in a minor key? Are there situations where either might be appropriate? (previous discussion)
  • Should alternate bass or other bass activity be tabbed as inversions? When is it actually an inversion?
  • Pickup measures: include or omit? If included, should they be on their own line? Should the pickup measure be fully tabbed or just include the melody that leads into the section), or somewhere in-between?
  • Should I split chords up and add gaps to try to replicate the rhythm of the accompaniment?
  • How should swing notes be transcribed? Should they be “straightened” and written in a simple time signature?
  • How should I decide whether a song should be tabbed in major or its relative minor, especially when both appear? Or some other mode? This can end up being a kind of contentious/difficult to resolve issue in some cases (1, 2, 3, 4). (previous discussion)
  • What should the artist and title be for video game and movie soundtracks? What about for classical works?

Ultimately I think even with a style guide it’s likely that some of these are going to involve judgement calls on a case-by-case basis, but some guidance is still likely to be helpful. I certainly have my own opinions in some cases but am looking to appeal to authority. :slight_smile: