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I often get asked ‘How do you read guitar TAB?’
The great thing about guitar TAB is that it’s simple and easy to understand!
After this lesson you should be able to start learning many of the lessons on this site.
If you have any questions please email me and I will try and answer them as soon as possible.
Six lines graphically represent the six strings of the guitar fretboard. The top line is the thin high E String (string number one) and the bottom line is the low thick E string (string number six). Below to the right is professional looking TAB notation. Below to the left is the type of notation often found on the Internet (using a fixed width font so that the TAB displays correctly).
E (1) thinnest string ------------ B (2) ------------ G (3) ------------ D (4) ------------ A (5) ------------ E (6) thickest string ------------
The notation can best be explained with a few examples:
To notate picking the thin high string you would write a 0 (zero) on the top line.
E(1)------0----- B(2)------------ G(3)------------ D(4)------------ A(5)------------ E(6)------------
To notate picking the 3rd fret on the thin high string you would write a 3 on the top line.
E(1)------3----- B(2)------------ G(3)------------ D(4)------------ A(5)------------ E(6)------------
To notate picking the 3rd fret on the second string you would write a 3 on the second line.
E(1)------------ B(2)------3----- G(3)------------ D(4)------------ A(5)------------ E(6)------------
To notate picking all three high strings at the same time on the 5th fret you would write a 5 on the top three lines.
E(1)------5----- B(2)------5----- G(3)------5----- D(4)------------ A(5)------------ E(6)------------