Guitar tablature

The following examples are labelled with letters on the left denoting the string
names, with a lowercase e for the high E string. Tab lines may be numbered 1
through 6 instead, representing standard string numbering, where "1" is the high E
string, "2" is the B string, etc.

The numbers that are written on the lines represent the fret used to obtain the
desired pitch. For example, the number 3 written on the top line of the staff
indicates that the player should press down at the third fret on the high E (first
string). Number 0 denotes the nut — that is, an open string.

Number are then added to the staff to indicate the equivalent note value on the
guitar fret board.

The word TAB is normally added to the staff and the corresponding music notation
is displayed above showing the note values enabling you to play the notes in the
correct timing.

To indicate a chord, the number are stacked one above the other, strings that are
not played in the chord have no numerical value so are not played by the student.
Some tablature programs can include the chord diagrams above the notation.

For chords, a letter above or below the tablature staff denotes the root note of the
chord.

There are also a number of more basic ways to display guitar tablature:
Tablature can use various lines, arrows, and other symbols to denote bends,
hammer-ons, trills, pull-offs, slides, and so on. These are the tablature symbols that
represent various techniques, though these may vary:

How to Read Guitar Tabs

It is really important to know how to read guitar tabs, due the fact that this notation is really
used in popular music in general. And it couldn’t be different, because learning guitar tabs is
really simple and practical. We will show in this topic how to read tabs in the guitar, but tabs to
the other string instruments follow the same rule. The written form for tabs consists in 6 lines
that represent the 6 strings of the guitar. The order of the strings in tabs, from up to bottom,
is the following:

The thickest and bass string (E bass) is the lower one, while the thinnest and acute string (E
acute) is the top one. The other ones follow the same logic that the instrument represents. In
each string, we put the number that represents the fret of the fretboard that should be pressed.
Check it below:

In this example, you should press the third fret of the string A with the left hand and play this
string with the right hand. When other numbers appear in sequence, you should play one note
after the other. Check it:

In this case, you should play the 5th fret of D string, and then the 7th fret of the same string.
After that you should play the 5th fret of G string and so on. Observation: the number zero
represents the free string (without pressing any fret), for example:
Here, the B string should be played free.

When the numbers appear one above the other, it means that they should be played in the same
time. Check the example below:

In this case, you should press all these frets in their respective strings and play them in the same
time. Notice that this is the way we represent the chords. If a line appears empty in this time, it
shouldn’t be played.

Very well, now you know how to read tabs. Did you see as it is simple?

In tabs, besides showing what you should play, we can also show the techniques used to play
each note. See as follows the most common techniques and symbolism.

Hammer-on

It consists in hammering with the left hand the string in a specific fret, without the help of the
right hand (what plays the note is only the left hand). It can be represented by the letter h beside
the number that shows which fret should be played, or for a line that connects one note to the
other:

Pull-off

It consists in sliding down the finger of the left hand in a string that was being pressed, with the
aim of playing this string without the help of the right hand. Check it below (the same notation
as Hammer-on):
In this case, the finger that was pressing the 5th fret on A string should slide down (vertically) in
a way that the sound comes from the 3rd fret. Notice that this finger from the left hand is taking
the function that would be for the right hand playing the 5th string when the 3rd fret was being
pressed.

The Pull-off can also be represented by the letter p. Its technique represents the opposite of
Hammer-on. These two techniques use to be used together and they are called “rolls”.
For example:

Bend

It consists in raising or lowering a string with the fingers of the left hand, with the aim of
reaching the sound of the frets that are after that one that was pressed. When the Bend reaches
the sound of one fret forward, we call it Half Tone Bend. When it reaches the sound of two frets
forward, we call it One Tone Bend, or Full Bend. You can also reach high tones; as much as you
raise the string, more acute the sound is, in other words, more tones forward are possible to be
reached. Its notation is an arrow that informs how many tones we have to reach:

In this example, the Bend was supposed to be a half tone. When we want to raise the string and
then return to the initial position, the notation is the following one:

Slide

It consists in sliding the finger form the left hand horizontally, going from a fret to another,
sliding the finger through the frets until arrive in the destiny. Its notation is a bar:
In this example, you should press/play the 5th fret in the 3rd string and then slide the finger to
the 9th fret of this string (letting this string sounds in all this process).

Vibrato

It consists in vibrating the finger after pressing and playing the string and a specific fret.
This oscillation is achieved by “shaking” the finger, as if you were doing a lot of short Bends
quickly from up and down. Its notation is a light wave after the note to be pressed:

Tapping

It consists in hammering one string in a specific fret using the right hand instead of the left one.
It is the same technique that we saw on the “rolls” (Hammer-on and Pull-off), but made by the
right hand instead of the left one. Who spread this technique was the guitarist Edie Van Hallen
in the 80ies. But there are some records of this technique being used long before this, even
before Van Hallen was born. So he cannot be considered the “creator” of Tapping. The fact is
that, after him, this technique became wide spread and incorporated in solos of millions of
guitarists and bass players.

Tapping is represented by the letter “T”, indicating which are the fret and string that should be
pressed with this technique:

Generally, tapping is used together with Hammer-ons and Pull-offs in the left hand, allowing
that you walk through the fretboard using “rolls” with both hands, as if you were playing the
piano. This is why this technique was also known as Two-Hands.