FWIW regarding timing on the note highway (and you all may already know this) - the horizontal blue bars across the floor of the note highway correspond with the song measures. The start of a new measure is "highlighted" and the intermittent beats are of lesser prominence. If a chart is properly constructed (Official DLC/Charts and good CDLC), the "tab" should be match up with the note highway measure markers as appropriate and be in sync with the drums. I find that referencing the measure markers on the floor of the note highway can help with staying in time, recognizing note length, odd strum patterns, etc. (particularly on unfamiliar songs). If the chart isn't properly constructed, then all bets are off. Hope that helps.