How to Read Guitar Tabs
Here you can learn how to read tabs, and where to find the best ones...
Learn how to read guitar tabs, and you are sure to be a successful modern guitar player. Understanding guitar tabs will allow you to make use of the internet which is an unbelievable resource for guitar lessons.Once you can read tabs, you can learn thousands of great guitar songs.
Looking for beginner guitar tabs? Click here.
Already understand how to read guitar tabs? Click here to see some advanced guitar tab symbols...
Guitar Tabs are most commonly laid out on a staff of six lines, each representing one of your guitar strings.
They are usually formatted with the high E string (the thinnest string on your guitar) on the top of the tab, and the low E (the thickest string) on the bottom
E-------------------------------------- (High E: Thinnest string)
B--------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------
D--------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------- (Low E: Thickest String)
The notes you will read on the tab are added to this blank staff in the form of numbers.
Each number corresponds with the number of the fret, where you will put pressure on the string with one of your fingers.
(Note: When placing your fingers on the neck of the guitar, place them just behind the actual fret for the highest quality sound)
Here's a simple Beatles Guitar Tab that we'll use for an example..
Day Tripper by the Beatles
E-----------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D---------------2--0------4------0--2-----
A-------------2--------2------2-----------
E---0---3-4-------------------------------
The '0' represents an open string- therefore the song starts with a low E.
For this tab, (and most others) you will assign each finger to a particular fret. In this case: your index finger will play all of the 2's, middle finger will play the 3's, and your ring finger will play the 4's. You can think of each finger having its own 'lane' on the fretboard.
Guitar Chords (multiple strings played at once) are commonly laid out like this:
E Major Chord
E---0-------------
B---0-------------
G---1-------------
D---2-------------
A---2-------------
E---0-------------
Take some time, and try to figure out how to read guitar tabs well. Once you begin understanding guitar tabs, you can play anything!
Play through that Beatles tab until you can get all of the notes sounding full, and then move on to something different!
Advanced Guitar Tab Symbols
h – hammer on
p – pull off
b – bend string up
r – release bend
/ – slide up
\\ – slide down
v – vibrato (sometimes written as ~)
t – right hand tap
s – legato slide
S – shift slide
PM – palm muting
= – hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
<> – volume swell (louder/softer)
x – on strum represents muted strum
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