drum tabs are not really necessary! i used them on my beginner days... but if you listen a few times to a song, or lets say if you know the song well, that you like to play.. then its actually very easy to play without tabs.... at least if you are good enough to manage the song! further, if you want tabs of a song thats difficult to play then tabs probably won't help you that much, cause often people can't tab the song correctly!