Guitar tablature (tabs) tell a guitar player what notes are to be played, and because they seem less complex than standard music notation, it’s a popular method used to read music (especially for songs).
A guitar tab consists of 6 horizontal lines denoted to the individual strings of the instrument and often mentions the chord name to aid the guitarist. In guitar, tabs are musical notations that guide players where to place their fingers along the strings and on which fret.
- Tabs are frequently used for guitars and other stringed and fretted instruments.
- This is the more popular reference for learning guitar for pop and rock music.
- These look easy to understand, compared to the musical notations used in classical music (staff notation that denote rhythm and timing and more).
Guitar tabs are musical notations that look like a written sheet music document but with some minor differences. Instead of the usual dots spread on a 5 line stave to show a specific note, the frets are numbered on a six line stave. The line represents a guitar’s string. Therefore, the six lines are the six strings of the guitar. Guitar tabs are also read from left to right. A tab will tell you how to play all the notes of a song, in addition to the chords.
If you have a four-stringed guitar, the guitar tabs will show four horizontal lines representing the four strings. The topmost string is the G string, followed by the D string, the A string, and lastly, the E string.
If you see two numbers (one above the other) on one string, it indicates that the string is to be played simultaneously.
If you’re reading guitar tabs, you will notice that you won’t be determining the position of the fret board where you have to play the note. The guitar notes can be played in various left hand positions and on diverse strings. guitar tabs are also easy to understand because the notations are clear.
Instead of learning how to study the pitch, you are learning where to place your fingers.
Here’s an example that will help you understand this better. Below is an example of G Major Chord denoted on a guitar tab.
3--
0--
0--
0--
2--
3--
The top line represents the first string & the bottom string denotes the sixth string. Since all the numbers are stacked vertically, you have to play all vertical notes at the same time.
Number 3 on string 1 means you play fret 3 on the 1st string.
String 2, 3, & 4 are to be played open as 0 means that you play the string open (not fretted).
On string 5 you fret at the 2nd fret.
For string 6 at the bottom you hold down the 3rd fret.
Here’s the G major chord played as an arpeggio.
-----------------3--
--------------0-----
-----------0--------
--------0-----------
-----2--------------
--3-----------------
Here’s an example of a lead riff in G Major.
-------------------2--3-----
----------------0-----------
--------------0-------------
--------0--2----------------
-----2----------------------
0--3---------------------3--
One of the important things that you will need as a beginner is a good set of practice material so that you can practice and also build a repertoire of songs. There are several guitar books with songs written in tab format that are great for practice.
Best Guitar Books with Tabs
- Selections from Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
- Metallica: Black, Guitar Tab
- The Great American Country Songbook (Easy Guitar with Notes & Tab)
- Ultimate Easy Guitar Collection
Guitar Sheet Music for Beginners
Once you can read notes, you can learn many new things on your own. It also makes sense to have a collection of sheet music that you can use for practicing as well.
- Beginning Guitar Superbook (Hal Leonard)
- Guitar for Dummies
- Beginning Jazz Guitar
- Classic Hits For Guitar – Baroque, Classic And Romanic Periods
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