How To Read Tablature

Tabs have a basic staff like this:

E------------------------------------
B------------------------------------
G------------------------------------
D------------------------------------
A------------------------------------
E------------------------------------

Each line represents one of the six strings of a guitar, the letter next to it says what it is.
So, a tab may look something like this:

E------------------------------------
B------------------------------------
G------------------------------------
D------------------------------------
A------------------------------------
E-----0------------------------------

A number shows what fret to play, a 0 is just the open string, so this tab would be just the open sixth string.

If there are many notes at the same point on the staff, it is a chord. For example:

E----0-------------------------------
B----2-------------------------------
G----2-------------------------------
D----2-------------------------------
A----0-------------------------------
E----0-------------------------------

Is an A chord

Also, there are some symbols used in tab:

/,\ or s=slide
h or ^=hammer on
p or ^=pull off
b=bend
<> or ()= Harmonics
~=vibrato
x=mute the string
t=tap the string

Some people may use different symbols, but they will usually say what they mean at the top of the tab page.

Unfortunately, a tab isn't able to show timing, for example:

E--------------------------------------
B--------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------
E---0--3--5--0--3--6--5--0--3--5--3--0

This tab has multiple notes one after another, If you haven't listened to the song before, you would know how long each note is or when to play each note.

I hope this helped you learn to read and write guitar tabs.

| Back to Guitar Lessons |