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This is geared toward reading Guitar Tablature
For explanations of drum tab
| Guitar Tablature, also
known as tab, notation, tabliture and taleture all refers to the
same thing. It is not sheet music in the traditional
sense. It is a system for communicating the 'place' on the
guitar neck where you play the note. This is not the same
as reading music. It doesn't give you the timing of the
notes (how quick or slow to play them) so you must already know
the song. The main reason for using tab is that some
people are not able to read sheet music. Tab allows for
another method of communicating notes on paper to people unable
to read full music keys. Basically, you can learn to read
tab in about 2 minutes. So lets get started learning ...
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| In guitar tab, each
string is represented by a line (that is why there is 6 lines -
for the 6 strings on the guitar). To understand which
string is which, pretend the guitar is laying on your lap with
the strings pointing up. Look down at the fret
board. The strings are in the same order as they appear in
guitar tab.
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|
Guitar Head
Would Be Here |
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E------------------------1st
string-------------------------------------
B--------------------------2nd
string----------------------------------
G----------------------------3rd
string--------------------------------
Guitar Body
D------------------------------4th
string------------------------------
A--------------------------------5th
string----------------------------
E----Fattest String----------------6th string------------------------- |
| Below is a
simplified version of the first section of "Sweet Home
Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. |
The number represents the fret number where your
finger should be positioned.
The number 0 means you should play that string open (not pressing
on any fret)
You move through the music from left to right so in this example
you would play:
Fourth string (D) played twice without holding down any frets
(open)
Second string (B) played once with your finger on the 3rd fret
Third string (G) played once with your finger on the 2nd fret
And so on ........
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-----------------3--------------------------------3----------------------------------------
G-----------------------2-------------------------------2-------------------------------0---
D-----0---0---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------2---2-------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------3---3---------
One other problem with tab is that it doesn't tell you which
finger to use. You will have to experiment with which
fingers make it easiest to play, but ultimately as long as you
play it in the correct fret, it will sound right. |
| Below is a
simplified version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" |
| This one shows you how to read chords in tab.
Again, the number represents the fret number where your finger
should be positioned. The number 0 (zero) means that you
should leave that string open (but still strum it as part of the
chord)
Chord
G
Chord
D
Chord C
E----------------3-------------------2-------------------0--------------------------------------
B----------------0-------------------3-------------------1--------------------------------------
G----------------0-------------------2-------------------0--------------------------------------
D----------------0-------------------0-------------------2--------------------------------------
A----------------2---------------------------------------3--------------------------------------
E----------------3------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Below are the symbols used in tablature.
They are listed with the most commonly used at the top.
| h |
hammer on |
| p |
pull off |
| b |
bend |
| r |
reverse bend - aka - release bend |
| s |
slide |
| s/ |
slide up |
| s\ |
slide down |
| (#) |
optional note - aka - ghost note |
| <#> |
harmonic |
| t |
tap on |
| v |
vibrate |
| ~ |
warble |
| sq |
squeal note |
Go to
the Guitar Tablature Section
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