“Tab Reading – for Total Beginners”

Hi guys – welcome to today’s video on how to read guitar tab;

Guitar tab is a very easy system for writing and notating music for the guitar which is
why it is so popular on the internet.

You basically have six lines – one for each string on the guitar.

Any numbers tell you what fret to play on that particular string.

Any numbers “stacked” vertically on top of each other are played at the same time.

That’s pretty much it !!!

There are possibly hundreds of different techniques for making a sound come out of the
guitar; hammer-ons, scrapes, slides, bends to name a few.

Each of these has it’s own symbol, eg. a hammer – on is a “h”.

Any good guitar teacher will introduce each new symbol ONLY when you learn that
technique on the guitar.

Trying to learn all the symbols before you can play them is very confusing
- so don’t try to do it !!

Hope you enjoy the lesson.

Gord
 Guitar Strings - Their Names & Numbers

String 1 = Thinnest = E
String 2 = B
String 3 = G
String 4 = D
String 5 = A
String 6 = Thickest = E

The Basic Tab System - Strings Only

E-------------------------------------This is the thinnest string------------------------------------------------

B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------This is the thickest string------------------------------------------------
 Example 1: - Open Strings
“0” on a string means you play that string “open” – no fret is used,
you just pick that string by itself.

E-----------------------------------------------------------0-------------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------0----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Play the thickest string by itself (open)

Play the thinnest string by itself (open)

Play the 3rd string by itself (open)

Example 2: - Notes on frets

E-----------------------------------------------------------1-------------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------1----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Play the 1st fret on the thickest string (string 6)

Play the 1st fret on the thinnest string (string 1)

Play the 1st fret on the third string (string 3)

 Example 3: - More notes on frets

E-----------------------------------------------------------3-------------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------3----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Play the 3rd fret on the thickest string (string 6)

Play the 3rd fret on the thinnest string (string 1)

Play the 3rd fret on the third string (string 3)

Example 4: - “Stacked Notes”

Any numbers “stacked” vertically on top of each other are played at the same time.

E---------------------------5--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B---------------------------5--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Play the 5th fret on the thinnest string (string 1)

And at the same time !!

Play the 5th fret on the second string (string 2)