Confused about how to read guitar TAB? Have no fear! We’ve got you covered. If you’re looking to learn how to read TAB on guitar, this handy guide will break down everything you need to know – from the absolute basics to all of the expressive symbols you’ll encounter when reading TAB.
Ever since fretted instruments came on the scene, there have been attempts to design a system that would cater for the idiosyncrasies of the guitar’s multiple strings and frets. Most guitarists assume that guitar TAB is a fairly new system, designed for all the up-and-coming guitarists who couldn’t be bothered with learning how to read standard notation. However, TAB, (from the word tablature) has been around for ages!
Unlike some other instruments, guitars are set up so that you can play the same pitch note in several places on a fretboard.
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Reading sheet music for guitar can indeed be very challenging – luckily the TAB system simplifies the process. One downside of reading TAB that you should know about is that it sometimes doesn’t give note lengths or rhythms like sheet music does. Some TAB, however, accounts for this via sheet music-style rhythmic structures outlined underneath the TAB.
TAB is generally very simple to read. However, as you encounter more complex pieces, there are over a dozen handy symbols that’ll help guide you through exactly how to play a piece. We’ll break them down for you below.
A hammer on is a technique where you slam your finger onto the fret with a hammering motion, (either from an open string or a note fretted by another finger) hard enough so that it rings out without the need for your picking hand to play the string.
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It takes some practice to hammer the finger on the fretboard hard enough to make a sound, and is often coupled with a pull off. Using these techniques in conjunction with each other allows several notes to be played without the use of the picking hand.
A pull off is performed by pulling a finger off a string, so that the lower note (either an open string or a note fretted at a lower pitch than pulled-off fret) rings out without the need for picking.
Bending strings is a personal technique with a ton of possible variation. The way you bend strings really forms a large part of your playing style and personality.
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Bending and releasing a note allows you to bend the note up to a higher one, then return it back down, usually to the note you started from.
This technique requires a great deal of practice to master. The string is first bent to a higher note, but without first having been struck. Once in its bent position the note is then plucked.
(!) the grace note is a very quick note played immediately before another note, with emphasis generally being placed on the second note.
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A slap is often used as a percussive technique, a way to cut off several ringing notes, or a method of rhythmic syncopation.
Vibrato is a wildly variable technique, and is often the key to the individual style of a player. The speed, width, onset, and symmetry, or lack of it, of the vibrato makes it a valuable asset.
Tapping has become a common technique these days, especially amongst the shredding community. Most people assume it’s a recent development, though there is a wonderful black and white video of a guitarist using a tapping technique in 1965.
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Paganini was using tapping techniques on his violin in the 18th Century. There’s also footage of a ukulele player tapping in the 1930s!
Palm muting is a technique achieved by resting the palm of the strumming hand on the strings at a position near the bridge.
A muted note occurs when the finger rests on the fret, but no pressure is exerted to make that fretted note sound. The result is a percussive sound with an indistinct pitch. Sometimes if a single finger is resting on a harmonic, that harmonic pitch will sound, in which case more than one finger needs to be applied, to avoid the harmonic note sounding.
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This indicates picking or strumming in a downward motion. Similar symbols are used for stringed instruments like the violin, to indicate bow direction.
Fingerpicking generally dispenses with the pick, and either the nails, the ends of the fingers, or individual steel or plastic nail substitutes, attached to the ends of the fingers, are used to play the strings.
If you do venture into using ‘steels’ or their plastic counterparts, make sure you have them on the correct way round. They attach to the finger with the nail substitute on the opposite side of the finger to the actual nail, so that the ‘steel’ can slide easily off the strings.
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Raking the strings involves striking muted strings before playing an actual note. This action can be performed from low strings to high strings and also in the other direction.
When you arpeggiate a chord, you are playing the notes in a staggered fashion. It is also known as spreading the chord. An arpeggio is when notes in a chord are played sequentially, rather than all at the same time.
Harmonic notes occur in numerous places on the fretboard. A Natural Harmonic is played by touching the string over a particular fret, rather than using pressure behind the fret. The bell-like nature of these harmonics produces a sound akin to a harp.
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Waterfall harmonics, so deftly demonstrated by players like Tommy Emmanual are indeed a thing of great beauty. Having had the extreme pleasure of watching him demonstrate this technique from a couple of feet away, I can assure you it looked like some kind of voodoo or close-up magic!
In this technique the string is being shortened by fretting a note, which places the harmonic positions in different places on the fretboard. This allows you to play harmonics that differ from those produced using open strings.
You won’t encounter all of these symbols on a daily basis, but it’s smart to get a sense of them so you’re prepared for anything in your guitar journey. Feel free to bookmark this guide as a reference until you’re a TAB master.This article was co-authored by Michael Papenburg. Michael Papenburg is a Professional Guitarist based in the San Francisco Bay Area with over 35 years of teaching and performing experience. He specializes in rock, alternative, slide guitar, blues, funk, country, and folk. Michael has played with Bay Area local artists including Matadore, The Jerry Hannan Band, Matt Nathanson, Brittany Shane, and Orange. Michael currently plays lead guitar for Petty Theft, a tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
How To Read Tabs: Beginner Guitar Lesson With Examples
Guitarists have their own special system of music notation called guitar tablature, or guitar tabs for short. Using guitar tabs, a guitarist can play a wide variety of music without ever having to learn how to read standard sheet music. Though guitar tabs aren't a perfect way of describing music, they've allowed newer generations of guitarists to quickly and easily share information about how to play songs across the globe via the internet. Every guitarist should have at least a basic understanding of how to read tablature - it's the de facto shorthand for much of the guitar music you'll find written out online.
Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about playing the guitar, check out our in-depth interview with Michael Papenburg.
This article was co-authored by Michael Papenburg. Michael Papenburg is a Professional Guitarist based in the San Francisco Bay Area with over 35 years of teaching and performing experience. He specializes in rock, alternative, slide guitar, blues, funk, country, and folk. Michael has played with Bay Area local artists including Matadore, The Jerry Hannan Band, Matt Nathanson, Brittany Shane, and Orange. Michael currently plays lead guitar for Petty Theft, a tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This article has been viewed 2, 472, 627 times.
How To Read Guitar Tabs (tablature Guide)
To read guitar tabs, start by corresponding each of the 6 tabs with a string on the guitar, with the low E representing the thinnest string and the high E representing the thickest string. Next, use the numbers on the tab to determine where you should place your fingers. For example, a 1 on the bottom line means to play the lowest note on the first fret. Then, read the notes on the tab from left to right in sequence, and drop down to the next line only when you've reached the end of the line before it. For more advice from our Music reviewer, including how to read special symbols, like those for string bends or slide techniques, read on!of the information needed to expertly perform a piece of guitar music, including information that is highly specific to the instrument that may be harder to express using standard music notation.
Looking at the example, the top line is actually the high, thin “e” string and the bottom line is the low, thick “E” string. To many holding a guitar in their hands for the first time, this notation seems counterintuitive. After all, the thickest string is on the top when
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