How to Learn to Read Guitar Tabs

When you first learn to play guitar, you must learn the proper technique, chords and how to play songs. But one thing that is commonly overlooked--and yet, is very important--is how to read guitar tablature. Guitar tablature is like another language, and is something guitarists use to communicate how to play songs with other guitarists. You'll be learning how to read guitar tablature (also known as guitar tab) here.

Instructions

    • 1

      Pick up your guitar and look closely at the neck--specifically, the fretboard. You'll notice that there are pieces of wire. This wire separates each fret. On a traditional guitar, there are 24 frets and six strings (EADGBE).

    • 2

      Play the first fret of the low E string. In guitar tablature, this would be represented as E:--1--. This is because every fret is represented by a number in guitar tab. In this case, since it is the first fret, the number is 1.

    • 3

      Play the second fret of the A string, which would be represented as A:--2-- in guitar tablature. This is also known as the B note, because every fret on the fretboard represents a half note.

    • 4

      Play the third fret of the D string, also represented as D:--3-- in guitar tablature. Anytime you see the number 3 in guitar tablature, whether it's on the D string or the B string, it means you play the third fret of that string.

    • 5

      You'll now play a hammer-on from the fifth fret to the sixth fret of the G string. In guitar tablature, this is represented as G: --5h6--. You will commonly see things like 6p5, 7h8, 6b8. This means you'll be playing the 6th fret, pulling off to the 5th fret, doing a hammer-on from the 7th to 8th fret and then playing the 6th fret and bending the string so that it sounds as if it's from the 8th fret.

    • 6

      Play the high e string openly, which is e: --0-- in guitar tablature. Anytime you see 0 in guitar tablature, that means to play the note without any hands on the fretboard.

    • 7

      Practice this guitar tablature: E: |------------4----B: |----------3------G: |--------4-------D: |------3---------A: |----0-----------E: |--1-------------Because you read guitar tablature from left to right, you'll first be playing the 1st fret of the E string, then the A string openly, then the 3rd fret of the D string, then the 4th fret of the G string followed by the 3rd fret of the B string and finally, the 4th fret of the high e string.

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