Guitar tab · Reading tablature
How to read guitar tab
Six lines, one number at a time. Tab is how guitar music is shared online. It shows exactly where your fingers go, and you can learn to read it in an afternoon.
01The six lines
Each line is a string
Tab draws the guitar's six strings as lines, and puts a number on the string you play.
The top line is the thinnest string, high e, and the bottom line is the thickest, low E. That is upside down from how the strings look when you glance down while playing, so it is the mistake every beginner makes once. When a tab sounds wrong, check this first.
A number is the The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step. to press on that string, and 0 means play it open. Numbers that touch belong together: 12 is the twelfth fret, not a 1 and then a 2.
Tab tells you where to play, not which finger to use. Choose what is comfortable; one finger per fret is a good default.
The open strings, low to high, then 3 on the low E and on the high e: both G, two octaves apart
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- In this tab
Tap any column of the tab to hear it.
02Melodies and chords
One after another, or all at once
Numbers in a row are a melody. Numbers stacked in one column are a chord.
Read tab like text, left to right, one number at a time. When numbers line up vertically, play those strings together: that is a chord. The same chord picked one string at a time is an A chord played one note at a time instead of all together., the pattern behind countless songs.
A vertical line is a bar line. Spacing gives a rough idea of rhythm, but plain tab cannot say exactly how long each note lasts. Listen to the song, or see the rhythm chapter for counting.
Ode to Joy, on the top two strings
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Tap any column of the tab to hear it.
C, G, Am and F: strummed as chords, then picked as arpeggios
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Tap any column of the tab to hear it.
03Techniques
The marks between the numbers
A letter or symbol beside a number says how to play it. These nine cover almost every tab you will meet; tap any column to hear it.
- h
Hammer-on
Pick the 5, then sound the 7 by hammering a finger onto it, without picking again.
- p
Pull-off
Hold both frets and pick the 7, then flick that finger off the string so the 5 sounds.
- /
Slide up
Pick the 5 and slide the same finger up to the 7, pressing all the way so it keeps ringing.
- \
Slide down
The same in reverse: pick the 7 and slide down to the 5.
- b
Bend
Push the string sideways until the 7 sounds like fret 9: a whole step, two frets higher.
- r
Bend and release
Bend up as before, then let the string back down to the 7 while it rings.
- ~
Vibrato
Rock the string slightly up and down so the note shimmers.
- x
Muted notes
Rest the fretting hand lightly on the string and pick it: a click with no pitch.
- PM
Palm mute
Rest the edge of your picking hand on the strings by the bridge for a short, chunky sound, until the line ends.
04Read a whole riff
Put it all together
Two bars in A minor with most of the techniques. Slow it down and loop it until it feels easy.
An original riff in A minor
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Tap any column of the tab to hear it.
- Read it through once without playing: find the strings and the techniques first.
- Play it slowly, every note clean. Speed comes later.
- Loop it and play along until you stop thinking about the numbers.
- Then switch to normal tempo.
Apart from the open E, every note sits in one hand position around the 5th The metal strips across the neck, and the spaces between them. Each fret raises a string by one half step.: the first A minor A five-note scale. The minor pentatonic is the most used scale in rock and blues guitar solos. box.