The guitar is a very versatile instrument.
Traditional musical notation uses either four or five lines. Guitar tab uses six, to represent the six strings. It often looks like this:
fig 1
E ---------------------
B ---------------------
G ---------------------
D ---------------------
A ---------------------
E ---------------------
The letters to the left show the tuning of each string. You'll notice that this shows standard tuning, and that the high E is at the top and the low E is at the bottom. Some tab might leave out the tuning. If it does, you can assume the song is in standard tuning. You might also see tab with a different tuning indicated:
fig 2
D --------------------
B --------------------
G --------------------
D --------------------
G --------------------
D --------------------
This example shows an open-G tuning; to follow the tab properly you'll need to tune your guitar as indicated.Reading Notes and ChordsAs mentioned earlier, notes and chords are indicated in tab by placing numbers, to indicate the fret to be played, on the appropriate line (string). Open notes are indicated with a '0'. So, an E major chord would look like this:
fig 3
E ----0----
B ----0----
G ----1----
D ----2----
A ----2----
E ----0----
This tab shows that you should fret the A and D strings at the second fret and the G string at the first fret, and the rest of the strings should be open. Stacking the numbers on top of each other indicates that the notes should be played at the same time, although in this case it doesn't indicate how long the chord should be held. You'll also sometimes see chord names listed below the tab:
fig 4
E ----0----
B ----0----
G ----1----
D ----2----
A ----2----
E ----0----
E MajEspecially online, this practice varies widely, but you will usually see it in more professional tablature. As you learn guitar tabs and become more proficient, you'll be able to recognize many chords even without the labels.In all tab, from beginner guitar tabs to the most insanely complex tabs, single notes are indicated like this:
fig 5
E ----------------
B ----------------
G ----------------
D ----------------
A --------0---2--
E 0---3----------
This tab shows the first four notes of the E pentatonic scale. To play this tab, pick the open low E string, then fret at the third fret and pick again. Move to the A string and pick the open string, then fret at the second fret and pick. Notice that you can't tell exactly how long to play each note, or the exact rhythm of the notes. Printed tab, even easy beginner guitar tabs, is much more precise. The same phrase in a magazine would look like this:
fig 6
-----------------------
-----------------------
-T---------------------
A--------------------
B---------0-2--------
-----0-3-------------
Notice the line above each note: these are quarter notes, which means there are four of them per measure.
