Tablature is useful when you're trying to learn a specific complex technique or lick from a specific performance and you can't tell from listening how the figure is played. For a beginner, a simple arpeggiated chord might require tablature to understand.

But for learning the melody and chord progression to an unfamiliar piece directly from the printed page, a lead sheet—musical score with single staff melody line and chord names above—is faster and more generally useful. The lead sheet focuses the player's attention on the music instead of the fingers. The fingers will just fall into place if one has learned a few scales without any need to look at the fingerboard.

The beginner will probably learn his or her first songs on the guitar by memorizing chord progressions for songs the student already knows and can sing or whistle without a guitar. This will start to create a feeling for the chordal structure of music without having to worry too much about details at first.

In any case, don't think there is some nobility or honesty that accrues to the student who eschews musical theory and notation. It just ain't so.

      - Mark