Beyond Bedroom Guitar by Spencer Westwood - HTML preview

How to Read Guitar Tab

There are two sorts of tab. ASCII tab produced by and or on a computer or full tab notation that is created with a notation program such as Sibelius or Finale. The only difference is the notation program versions are more polished and the symbols richer.

Before we go any further get yourself a copy of powertab. It’s free and it’s one of the best tab programs I have found!
http://www.power-tab.net

Tab in its simplest ASCII form looks like this:-

|-3-2-0--------|-!2----| |-3---3--0-1-3-|-!3----| |-0---0--------|-!2----| |-0---2--------|-!0----| |-2---3--------|-------| |-3------------|-------|

This format is mostly seen in email, text files or newsgroup posts.

 

Printed versions, using a tablature editor or printed books usually have the music line as well as the tablature, thus:-

 

Instead of the lines representing note names like the clefs on ordinary music, the lines represent the strings of the guitar the lowest note being at the bottom. A number is placed on each line showing which fret needs to be pressed (nothing on the string line means don’t play, 0 is an open string and X is a muted string if necessary).

The spacing along the tab represents where in time that particular fretted note or notes are to be played. Some tab is quite accurate in this, using extra dashes to represent the space between the notes but I don’t always trust it – especially things posted in newsgroups.

There are other symbols, which are shown in the table below. Again some of these are more common or important than others.

 

example and tab example

 

|--------|
|-2h3----|

 

h

|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|

|--------|
|-3p2----|

 

p

|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|

|---------|
|-3b5r====|

 

b

|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
|---------|

|----------|
|-5pb7-----|

 

Pb

|----------|
|----------|
|----------|
|----------|

|---------|
|-5b7r====|

 

r

|---------|
|---------|
|---------|
|---------|

|-----------|
|-\9--/7----|

 

/\

|-----------|
|-----------|
|-----------|
|-----------|

hammer-on

 

pull-off

 

bend

 

pre-bend

bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)

slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")

 

example and tab example

 

|--------|
|-5s7----|

 

s

|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|

|--------|
|-5S7----|

 

S

|--------|
|--------|
|--------|
|--------|

<n>

|-------------------|
|-<5>-[7]--5(17)----|
[n] |-------------------|

n(n)

|-------------------|
|-------------------|
|-------------------|

~
|----------|
|----------|

~ |-7--------|
|----------|
|----------|

|----------|

|-------------|
|-------------|
|-7tr8--------|_{tr |-------------|}

|-------------|
|-------------|

 

legato slide

 

shift slide

natural harmonic artificial harmonic tapped harmonic

vibrato

 

trill

Most guitar magazines that feature pieces, give their own list of the way the tablature is notated. This is worth studying at length, and I’ve written them out several times (it’s a good way of memorising them especially when I imagine playing them at the same time and imagine doing them and imagine the sound. Kind of re-enforces the symbol.

Also because there are loads of different special techniques that can be done whilst playing (whammy bar tricks, harmonics etc.) it gives you a unique list of the techniques – even if you don’t know them at the moment. It won’t cover every possible thing, but its 99% there.

One of my trademark licks is to bend the G string down towards the floor then release and bend it up towards the ceiling before playing a note using my pinkie on the B string – a double bend that sounds completely different if you just bend the string down to the floor twice – I’ve never seen that notated anywhere.

So now we’ve covered the facts that you need to read music and Tab. Granted there is more to learn about both but the basics are here.