Below is the narration for the video on how to read guitar tab. There are some easy guitar tab videos such as the easy Super Mario Bros Tab or Easy Fur Elise Tab in the Tab Videos area. Fur Elise has less to memorize.
A typical guitar has 6 strings. The E string the B string the G, D, A, and E string. These strings are named after the note that string produces when it is played 'Open'. Open means 'Without pushing down on any frets.'
E-----------------------
B-----------------------
G-----------------------
D-----------------------
A-----------------------
E-----------------------
You may have noticed there are 2 strings both named E. Both of these strings do produce an E pitch but they are 2 octaves apart. It's not important to know what an octave is in order to read guitar tab but you should know these 2 E strings produce different frequencies, in other words, they do not produce the exact same sound. In order to communicate with other guitar players we refer to the higher pitched skinny E string, as the 'High E' string. And like wise it is common to call the thick, low pitched E string, the 'Low E' string.
Now let's get into some actual tablature. The simplest guitar tablature is just 6 lines with numbers written on those lines. Most of the tabs I've seen have labeled those lines. Each line represents a guitar string with the High E string as the 1st string at the top, and the low E string some times called the 6th string, at the bottom.
E-----------------------
B--2-2-2-0--2-3-2--0----
G-----------------------
D-----------------------
A-----------------------
E-----------------------
To play this tab here, you start at the left and read to the right. This entire melody is played on the B string, which is the 2nd skiniest string. The numbers tell you which frets you will push the string down onto. The zeros that you see mean you will play the B string Open, without pushing down on any frets. Now watch as this melody is played a few times.
Ok, I hope that was easy for you to understand, let's move on to Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs.
You see here I have modified the original tablature to include an H and a P. Whenever you
see an H it means you will Hammer-On to the very next note. What that means is you will
not pluck or strum or strike the string with your Picking Hand but instead you will use
your fretting hand to produce the note. To do this you will pluck the first note and then,
using a different finger on your fretting hand you will literally hammer-on to the next note.
In this example we will pluck the 2nd fret of the Bstring and hammer on to the 3rd fret
like so:
E-----------------------
B--2-2-2-0--2h3p2--0----
G-----------------------
D-----------------------
A-----------------------
E-----------------------
A pull off is the opposite of a hammer on. Just like the hammer-on whenever you see a pull-off you will not pluck or strum the next note. Instead you will use your fretting hand to sound that note. To do this you will need to push down on 2 different frets at the same time and then lift up the finger you are using to fret the first note. In this example we will have to push down on the 2nd and 3rd fret at the same time and then lift up the finger holding down the 3rd fret. This will cause the string to produce the note at the 2nd fret.
In the example shown there is a hammer on followed by a pull off. This is common with hammer ons and pull offs. To play this series of 3 notes you will only need to pluck the B string once. Let's see it in action.
Slides.
A slide is usually represented by a forward slash or a back slash. Forward slashes are used when the note you are sliding to is higher up in pitch than the note you start with. Like wise a backslash is used when the note you are sliding to is lower in pitch. The way a slide works is you pick the first note before the slide symbol and while still applying pressure to the fretboard you move your fretting finger to the next note. In the example shown we will slide up to the 3rd fret from the 2nd fret and then we will slide right back down to the 2nd fret. So just like when we hammered on and pulled off on our last example we will hear 3 notes when we only pick the first note. Here's how this tab will sound.
Bends and Releases
A bend is where you literally bend a string to produce a higher pitch. In this example we will bend
the B string after picking the 2nd fret. We will bend the string until it sounds like the 3rd fret.
This can be difficult for a beginner because you need a certain amount of finger strength to be able
to pull this off and you need to be able to recognise when the correct note has been reached.
Hopefully you don't run in to any of these for a while. The opposite of a bend is a release. In
the example shown we will bend the 2nd fret until it sounds like the 3rd fret and then we will
release the bend so that the note at the 2nd fret can be heard once more. Check it out:
Let's move on to String Muting now. Whenever you see an X when reading guitar tab you will mute
whatever string that X is on. To do this you lightly touch the string while you strum. It doesn't
matter where along the string you mute it, so long as you create a nice dull sound. String
muting is about rhythm rather than melody. Take a look at this tab here: Whenever you see two
or more numbers on top of each other it means you will have to play more than one string at a time.
Here is how this tab should sound:
So there you have the basics of guitar tablature. It becomes a lot easier to read after you learn a few songs.
There are some variations to the symbols I've shown you but these are the ones that I see the most. I have
a few tablature videos geared toward beginners, you might want to check them out.
h = hammer-on
p = pull-off
/ = slide up
\ = slide down
b = bend
r = release
x = string mute
And there you have the guitar lesson on How To Read Guitar Tabs. If you want a fairly easy song to learn, the simple version of Fur Elise is pretty easy. Also I have tabbed out a simple version of the Super Mario Bros tab. Check out the Tab Videos area for a complete list of video tabs. Any song you learn will require some patience and the more you practice the easier it becomes. Feel free to link to my site. :)
