ActionTab Reviewer's Comments

ActionTab provides tablature to popular songs with note-by-note instructions and lessons for right and left-handed players. The animated fretboard displays color-coded fingering for both hands and has a flip fretboard feature.

Ease of Use:  

ActionTab is extremely simple to use and the animated fretboard covers most of the screen, making the finger positions easy to see. The exercises have a start delay that gives you plenty of time to get in position before playing along. It even has a function that will slow down difficult selections to make them easer to learn.

Feature Set:  

ActionTab plays real guitar recordings and not MIDI. The tablature comes in a wide range of styles including rock, blues, metal, country, folk, jazz, Spanish, funk and classical. Through the homepage you can access short biographies of the artist or band that originally wrote some of the songs and you can receive updates for new downloads.

With ActionTab you are able to switch views and slow down the tempo for more difficult songs, so you can learn at a more comfortable speed. ActionTab includes a legend that explains what each icon signifies, to make navigating through the program a cinch.

Ease of Installation:  

We did not encounter any problems during the installation of this software.

Lesson Coverage:  

ActionTab offers around 50 guitar lessons that incorporate photos and illustrations. Unfortunately, video instruction and audio narration are not included. The lesson content does not cover all of the topics for becoming a master guitarist, such as rhythm instruction or lessons on learning how to play by ear. However, you can sign-up for a free newsletter that relates additional advice and tips.

Practice Tools:  

All of the practice songs include an animated fretboard that displays the notes as you play them. If you want to focus on a certain section of a song, you can loop sections of the song but the software will not record your practices or allow you to record your own songs. This software also does not have the ability to offer performance feedback and does include any games.

Help/Support:  

ActionTab provides a FAQ section on the product's homepage as well as email support. We found the answers to most of our questions through the 'Getting Started' tutorial, found in the main menu of the program.

Summary:  

ActionTab boldly takes on a new approach to learning the guitar by bringing tablature to life. The idea itself is highly commendable and this program has a lot of potential.

However, despite the makers' efforts in presenting this software, ActionTab just cannot compete with the leading software. It lacks the ability to record and print sheet music. It also does not include any instruction on how to care for your instrument or re-stringing your guitar.