Not everybody can read music. Not even all musicians can read music. That is why simpler methods have been invented for several of the main instruments in a standard rock band. The most common written adaptation for guitar music is guitar tablature. And to a beginner, it can look like chinese at first. This instructional is designed to get someone who has never read music or guitar tablature off and running in a few minutes time.
The Basics
Guitar tabs typically go from bottom to top. Although the lightest e string may seem like the last (because you strum from the heaviest e string to the lightest), it is actually considered the first string and, therefor, is the first line of tab on a guitar tab. This always seemed strange to me and took a little getting used to. Maybe it is because I am a left-handed guitarist playing on right-handed guitars. Its a crazy mixed up world. The basic structure of a guitar tab is as follows.
1e ———-|
2B ———|
3G ———|
4D ———|
5A ———|
6E ———|
Even if the guitar tablature that you are reading doesn’t include the string names and numbers, it is safe to assume that this is the order they are in. The basics of reading guitar tabs are the string order and then the number of the fret starting from the left hand side. The fret number will appear along the line of the string that is supposed to be plucked.
1e ———-|
2B ———|
3G ———|
4D —–5—|
5A ———|
6E ———|
In the above diagram, you should pluck the fifth fret of the fourth or D string. Here it is again without the string name or number.
———|
———|
———|
—5—-|
———|
———|
Easy enough right? Now lets move on to strumming chords.
Strumming Chords
A chord is any two or more notes that are in harmony, strummed at the same time. In basic guitar tablature, chords that are meant to be strummed will appear as a series of notes lined up directly on top of each other.
1e —-0—–|
2B —0—–|
3G —1—–|
4D —2—–|
5A —2—–|
6E —0—–|This is an E major chord that is meant to be strummed
Plucking or sweeping
Chords that are meant to be plucked individually or sweep picked will appear in the order they are meant to be plucked, from left to right on a single bar of tabs.
1e ————————-0-|
2B ——————–0—–|
3G —————-1———|
4D ———–2————–|
5A ——2——————-|
6E –0———————–|Here is an E Major chord plucked individually from last (E) to first (e) string.
OR
1e —0———————–|
2B ——–0——————|
3G ————1————–|
4D ——————2——–|
5A ———————2—–|
6E ————————0–|Here is an E Major chord plucked individually from first to last string.
Timing in Guitar Tablature
Timing can present a problem with tabbing, as there is no standard for time signatures. The fundamental flaw with guitar tabs is that is you haven`t heard a particular part of a song before, there is no way to tell how long to hold each note. In most cases, guitar tabs are meant for helping you to learn a song as you are listening to it. The end of a bar will often be indicated by the vertical lines in between to tabbed out riffs.
Bar 1 Bar 2
—————————————-|——————————————-|
—————————————-|——————————————-|
—————————————-|——————————————-|
—————————————-|——————————————-|
-0-4-0-5-4-0-4-0-5-4-0-4-5-4-0-|-0–4-0-5-4–0-4-0-5-4-0-4-0-5-4-0-0-|
—————————————-|——————————————-|
By the way, that was a derivative of `Blister in the Sun` by the Violent Femmes.
Other symbols in tablature
There is a lot more to guitar than just strumming and plucking strings. So there has to be more to tablature as well. Some of these signs and notations are up for debate as not all guitar tablature uses the same characters but oftentimes it is just common sense.
Hammer ons and pull offs
Hammer ons are usually indicated by first tabbing the note that you start on, and following with the note that you should be hammering on or pulling off. They are usually tabbed with either an H or a P i.e. —7-h-9– would be a hammer on starting on the 7th fret and ending on the 9th.
Bends
Bends are usually indicated by telling you the note to bend and on which string, and what note it should sound like once fully bent.
i.e. –7-b-9– would mean for you to bend the 7th fret until it sounds like the ninth fret of the given string.
Slides
Slides are usually indicated by telling you which fret to start on and which fret to slide to using only one finger. It is usually tabbed as a single letter S, but can sometimes be substituted with a slash symbol. i.e. 7-s-9– or 7é9 would mean to pluck the string with your finger on the seventh fret and then quickly slide over to the 9th fret of the given string.
So hopefully we`ve gotten ourselves started on reading guitar tablature and should be able to read simple tablature with ease. From there it will simply be a matter of practice. It takes time to be able to read tabs quickly enough to play and read on-the-fly as you are learning a song, but you have gotten off to a good start. Here are some great sites that I use for guitar tabs.
ultimate-guitar.com - Probably the biggest and best place to find guitar tabs online. Ranging from popular songs of all time to the latest song on the radio. Bookmark this website. You will use it often.
Guitar World - A major publication with interviews and lessons from well known guitarists from your favorite bands. They will teach you to play like a pro. Guitar World magazine features tablature and standard musical notation.
punkhardcore.com The best place to find, punk rock, hardcore, ska and other alternative guitar tabs.
