How To Read Guitar Tabs

The following tutorial will help to explain to you the basic concept of reading guitar tab. Although it may seem complex, learning to read tab is quite simple, and you should find yourself reading tab easily in no time.

Nothing wrong with taking the more informal approach to learning music, but it does create some inherent problems when it comes to laborious duties like learning to read music. Learning to sight read takes a reasonable amount of work, without immediate benefit, and it is these sort of skills that self-taught musicians tend to avoid.

It's never too late to learn to read music... if you want to get serious about a career in the music industry, it really is essential. However, guitarists have created their own method of music notation, guitar tablature which, while admittedly flawed, provides a simple and easy to read way of sharing music with other guitarists.

Look at the tab in the same way you look at your guitar. There are six lines in a tab, each corresponding with a string on the guitar.
E----------------------------------||(Thinnest string)

B----------------------------------||

G----------------------------------||

D----------------------------------||

A----------------------------------||

E----------------------------------||(Thickest string)
1. 1
2
Refer to the number on each line to put your finger on the correct fret. If it is 0, then you pluck the open string. If it is a number greater than 0, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc, then press your finger on that fret when you play(one being the fret closest to the stock, numbers going up as they get closer to the body).
3
Play vertically stacked numbers at the same time. As you're reading and playing the tab from left to right, many times you'll come across numbers that are aligned vertically. These are chords that should be played at the same time. You might see the chord name written as well. See Example 2 below.
4
Look for additional symbols that tell you how the note is played:
- Hammer on - An "h" is inserted between the original fret and the hammered on fret (e.g. 7h9). Sometimes "^" is used instead (e.g. 7^9).
- Pull off - A "p" is inserted between the original fret and the pulled off fret (e.g. 9p7). Sometimes "^" is used instead (e.g. 9^7).
- String bends - A "b" is inserted between the original fret and the fret that that it should be bent to sound like (e.g. 7b9). Sometimes the second number is in parentheses, and occasionally the "b" is omitted altogether. If there is an "r" it denotes what the note should be released to (e.g. 7b9r7).
- Slides - An ascending slide is marked by a forward slash "/" and a descending slide is marked by a backwards slash "\" (e.g. 7/9\7). Sometimes the letter "s" is used, but it doesn't indicate whether to slide up or down to the note (e.g. s9).
  - \n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
  - \n - tremolo bar down
  - n/ - tremolo bar up
  - /n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
- Vibrato - Look for "~" or "v".
- String mute - Indicated by "x" or a dot below the number. Several of them in a row, on adjacent strings, indicates a rake.
- Right hand tapping - Represented by a "t" conjunction with the pull off and hammer on techniques (e.g. 2h5t12p5p2).
- Harmonics - The fret is surrounded by "< >" (e.g. <7>).
- Artificial harmonics - [n]
- Tapped harmonics - n(n)
- Legato slide - "s"
- Shift slide - "S"
- Trill - "tr"
- Trem. picking - "TP"
- Palm muting - "PM"
Check the Video on "How to read guitar tabs" below:

Guitar Tab College

How To Read Guitar Tabs