How To Read Tabs

You read guitar tabs from left to right so this is how you d play the notes in the above picture.

How to read tabs. Frets are the metal strips that go along the neck of the guitar. A chord is played by strumming all the indicated strings at the same time. The above tablature indicates that you should hold down the notes in an e major chord the second fret on the fifth string second fret on the fourth string first fret on third string and strum all six strings at once. First you d pick the 6th string thickest top while holding fret 3. Before we get into reading tabs let s make sure you know the 3 basic numbering systems that all guitar players need to have down.

If you know how to read music all that detail is great. Then we ll move on to the first fret of the b string second string then the open b string. So in the example above you ll start by playing the open g string 3rd string twice then the note on the second fret then the open string again. For instance if a tab shows a 10 on that bottom most string you ll need to play the 10th fret on the 6th string of your guitar. Tabs are read like sentences in a book read them from left to right across the page dropping down to the next line only when you ve reached the end of the previous.

They may break the tab into measures usually signified by vertical lines in the tab between measures but they won t tell you the rhythm of the. It will include the notes on bass and or treble clefs that indicate both pitch and precise rhythm. Note that most but not all tabs don t display the rhythm with which you should play the notes in the tab. Traditional sheet music is much more detailed than tablature. How to read guitar tabs guitar tab is read left to right and all notes indicated are in chronological order.

Note that the top string of your guitar the 6th or e string is written at the bottom of the tab and the bottom string 1st of e string is written at the top. The one farthest to your left if you are right handed is the first fret. Also tabs are read from left to right. Reading chords within a guitar tab is a relatively simple process. Play the notes and chords in sequence as you read them from left to right.

You ll read your tab from left to right and the numbers show which fret you should put your fingers on to play the correct notes. The next one to the right of the first one is the second and so on. When the numbers are in line with each other vertically they represent a chord. Next you d pick the 4th string with no fret held down a 0 mean it s played as an open string then you d pick the 5th string while holding down fret 2.