Step 1 - Knowing the strings
First of all you should recognise that when you are holding the guitar the string closest to your torso and the thickest of all strings is called the Bottom E string and that the strings that follow are called A,D,G,B and finally the Top e string which is the thinnest string and in tab form is shown by the lower case ‘e’.
In tablature the strings are shown down the left hand-side like so:
|e| ------------------------------------------------------------------------
|B| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|G| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|D| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|A| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|E| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 2 – Knowing the frets
The frets on a guitar are shown in tab form by the corresponding number of the fret for instance 5 = the fifth fret and 12 the twelfth.
0 represents an open string, which means you just play the string without your fingers on the fret board.
Using the information above try to play this simple piece
|e| -----------------------5------0---------------------------------------
|B| -------------------4-------------0----------------------------------
|G| ---------------0-------------------5----------------------------------
|D| -----------5--------------------------0---------------------------------
|A| -------5---------------------------------0------------------------------
|E| ---5----------------------------------------0--------------------------
You start here and end here
If two numbers are shown in the same column then you simply play these notes together.
Try this next
|e| ------------------------------------------------------------------------
|B| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|G| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|D| -------------------------------------------------5-------7--------------
|A| ----------3--------5---------3-------------5--------------7---------
|E| ----------1--------3---------5---------5-------------------- 8-------
If the same number is written close together several times then you repeat that note as many times as shown
For example
|e| --------------------------------------------------------------5555--
|B| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|G| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|D| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|A| ----------------------------------------------------3333-------------
|E| -------55555555-------33333333-----------1111--------------
Step 3 – The Symbols
Here are the main symbols used in tablature and what they mean
/ = Slide your finger without taken it off the fret board from the first note to the one after the symbol
^ = Bend the string using the finger on the fret
^( )= Bend the string so it sounds like the note in the brackets
h = This means that you start on the note before the sign and only pick the string once, while he string is ringing you ‘hammer’ down on the note after the sign, this is called a hammer.
P= This term is called ‘pull off’ and is the opposite to a hammer, you start with one finger on the note on the left of the P and the other on the note on the right side of the P and then after picking the string you ‘pull off’ the note on the right hand side of the P.
Now that you know the most basic and frequently used tab symbols try and play this
|e| -------------------------------------------------------12/1---------
|B| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|G| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|D| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|A| ------------------------3h5—5p3----------------------------------
|E| ----5^-------5^----------------------------------------------------
Step 4 – Enjoy Playing
Now that you have mastered guitar tabs, feel free to browse the web in search of your favourite song tabs to play.
But first why not have a go at this simple tab I wrote purely for this exercise. It includes every technique we have covered.
|e| ------------------------------------------------------------------------
|B| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|G| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|D| ---7777----/-----9999-------------------3333-----5555----7---
|A| ---5555---/------7777---------3333------------------------------
|E| --------------------------------------------------------------------
|e| ------------------------------------------------------------------------
|B| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|G| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|D| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|A| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
|E| ---0h5------0h6------0h7---------0h8-------0h9-----0h10^---
|e| ---------10p8---8h10---------------------------------------------
|B| -------------------------------10p8---8h10-----------------------
|G| ----------------------------------------------------------------------
|D| -------------------------------------------------------5555--------
|A| -------------------------------------------------------3333---------
|E| -------------------------------------------------------------------0—
Thanks a lot for checking this out I hope it helped
