Your post, Amos, seems an appropriate one to bring the debate to a conclusion. Most appear to favour the tried and tested building-blocks approach, which leads me to think my original post was about right. However, I'm swayed by some of the comments and observations made by pro-tabbists, sufficient at least to make me more open to it's potential as a learning tool.

I know of one player who uses it almost exclusively to great effect, and he's regarded as one of the best players locally. He does appear reluctant though to experiment and create; preferring to play in the syle of one or two of the greats, and certainly seems to avoid jammming sessions (though that may be personal choice rather than inability to improvise).