If you have never learned Tablature (or TAB), prepare for some amazing fun. Because after you learn tablature in this lesson, your life as a guitarist will never be the same!
What is Tablature? Lesson 1
A simple form of guitar sheet music notation is called Tablature or TAB. TAB allows you to write down songs or solo ideas you may have. Inversely, it allows you to recall your ideas at a later time. With TAB you can also study another guitarists songs or solos (there are many of these available on the internet as well as your favorite local music store). Because TAB is not as complex as standard sheet music, it is much easier to learn.
In example 1 we’ll look at the six strings on the guitar, and what these would look like when translated into TAB. Since “0” means an open string. The example below means play all of the strings open at once. [note: the small “e” represents the high e string on your guitar]
Ex.1
e —–0———————————————————-
B —–0———————————————————-
G —–0———————————————————-
D —–0———————————————————-
A —–0———————————————————-
E —–0———————————————————-
You’ll notice that if you’re holding your guitar in your lap, the tab is not a mirror image. But instead, an up-side-down version of your neck. You can see that each string has its own line. And each number represents a fret position on your guitar. This is what the tablature would look like if you strummed all the open strings on your guitar from top to bottom.
Ex.2
e ——-0——————————————————–
B ——0———————————————————
G —–0———————————————————-
D —-0———————————————————–
A —0————————————————————
E –0————————————————————-
In Example 1 you’ll notice that all of the notes sit on top of each other. This means they are meant to be played or strummed all at once. When notes are stacked in this fashion they are usually called a chord. In example 2 we saw how TAB can describe a series of individual notes, and the order in which they are played. TAB is always read from left to right just like a book. In this next example the open strings are picked from the highest string to the lowest. This is the opposite of Example 2.
Ex.3
e -0—————————————————————-
B –0—————————————————————
G —0————————————————————–
D —-0————————————————————-
A —–0————————————————————
E ——0———————————————————–
Okay you’re doing pretty good, there is just one more thing to know and you will have mastered basic TAB!
Here it is: I have shown you how a string with an “0” on it means play an open string. So what would TAB with a 1 2 or 3 on it mean? It would mean play the first, second, or third fret on that string.
Check it out.
Ex. 4
e —————————————————————–
B —————————————————————–
G —————————————————————–
D —————————————————————–
A —————————————————————–
E –0-1-2-3-0——————————————————
The above example would mean play the Low E string open,
then play the 1st fret on the Low E string
then play the 2nd fret on the Low E string
then play the 3rd fret on the Low E string
and finally, play the low E string open again.
TIP: Always use a different finger for each fret.
So in the example above you would have played the open E string
then used your first finger to press down the first fret
then used your second finger to press down the second fret
then used your third finger to press down the third fret
and finally you would have the low E string open again.
A final note/comedic disclaimer: So the above title said, “Learn Tablature in 5 minutes and play over 5 million songs by tonight”. It might be more accurate to say, “after this lesson you will have the *ability* to understand just about any song out there you find on TAB”. And there are at least 5,000,000 out there. HOWEVER, your experience level will determine *how well* you will be able to play those songs.
🙂
HOMEWORK:
1. Visit Google or your favorite search engine and search for a song to play, starting with title, artist and TAB.
Example: Running Down A Dream, Tom Petty, TAB.
2. Print out a blank sheet of blank TAB (search google for free TAB) and try your hand at writing-out some TAB for a chord progression or melody you’re familiar with on guitar. TAB is an incredible tool for guitar notation for the songs and lead ideas you come up with.
Have fun!