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This page is designed to explain how to read guitar tablature ("tab"), especially the ASCII-drawn tabs available on the internet. There is some variation in conventions, but once you understand the basics you should be able to figure what any well-written tab means. |
Tablature ("tab") is a way of representing music for fretted stringed instruments. Most people are familiar with the dots and lines of standard music notation, but tablature is something quite different.
Tab is written as a series of numbers on a group of lines called a stave. The lines represent strings, so there should always be the same number of lines as strings on your instrument (except for instruments with doubled strings, like mandolin or 12-string guitar, when there will be half as many lines as strings). The top line of the stave represents the string with the highest pitch, while the bottom line is the bass string (this is not strictly true if the strings on the instrument don't follow a pattern from low to high, as in a 5-string banjo). Often the strings may be labelled with their tuning to avoid confusion.
So guitar tab generally has 6 lines, matching the six guitar strings as follows:
The tablature stave
E|-----------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------|
D|-----------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|
Notes are represented by numbers on the stave, with each number telling you at what fret to play the string. A zero indicates a note on the open string. You read from left to right, so if a bunch of notes on different strings are to be played at the same time, they will appear in the same column, stacked on top of each other.
Strictly speaking, tab doesn't convey much information about timing, but it is usual to space longer notes further apart than shorter ones. It also helps if bar lines ar included to break the music into equal length bars, and double bar lines may be used to indicate the start and end of major sections, just as in standard notation. Another common convention is to include timing markers either above or below the stave to indicate where the major beats fall in relation to the tabbed notes. Different people use different timing markers, but I tend to use a comma (,) for a major beat, and a full-stop (.) for a minor beat. Occasionally you might see letters like "q", "e", or "h" given for each note in the tab, in which case these probably stand for "quarter note" (crotchet), "eight note" (quaver), and "half note" (minim) as a way of indicating the timing. Personally, I find this much more difficult to read and interpret than simple beat markers, though it is closer to what is usually done in printed tab books.
Even with timing markers it can be difficult to pick up the correct rhythm just from a tab. Also, tab doesn't tell you which notes make up the main melody and which are accompaniment or bass notes. It is always much easier to learn a song from a tab if you are familiar with that song or can play along with the recording as you learn.
Example tablature
, . , . , . , . , . , . , . , .
E||-----------------|-----------------||
B||-1---------------|-----0---1-------||
G||-----0-0-1---0---|-----0---0-------||
D||-----------------|-----3---2-------||
A||-----------------|---------3-------||
E||-----------------|-----3-----------||
Before we go much further I should mention an important rule for using ASCII computer tabs - you should always view tabs using a monospaced font. Monospaced fonts, such as Courier, are designed so that every character has the same width on the screen. If you try viewing tabs using a proportional font, where different characters have different widths, the timing of the tab will get jumbled and it will be difficult or impossible to read it correctly. Compare the excerpt below with the previous example - both are exactly the same, but when veiwed in a proportional font as below the timing is completely ruined and the tab loses much of its meaning.
Proportional font problems
, . , . , . , . , . , . , . , .
E||-----------------|-----------------||
B||-1---------------|-----0---1-------||
G||-----0-0-1---0---|-----0---0-------||
D||-----------------|-----3---2-------||
A||-----------------|---------3-------||
E||-----------------|-----3-----------||
Another pitfall to watch out for is line-wrapping. Most tabs are written so that lines are less than about 80 characters long, but occasionally you might see something like the example below. If this occurs you can try turning off the line-wrapping feature of the program you are using to view the tab, enlarging the viewing window, or using a smaller font size.
Line-wrapping problems
, . , . , . , . , . , . , .
, .
E||-----------------|-------------
----||
B||-1---------------|-----0---1---
----||
G||-----0-0-1---0---|-----0---0---
----||
D||-----------------|-----3---2---
----||
A||-----------------|---------3---
----||
E||-----------------|-----3-------
----||
One of the great advantages of tab over standard notation is that it is much easier to indicate in tab those little tricks and techniques that make guitar music unique. A note may be played in several different ways, and these are indicated by various performance symbols within the tab.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| h | hammer on |
| p | pull off |
| b | bend string |
| r | release bend |
| / or s | slide up |
| \ or s | slide down |
| H or <> | natural harmonic |
| A | artificial harmonic |
| x | percussive damp |
| () | optional note |
| ~ | strum |
| v | vibrato |
A hammer on involves the left hand tapping forcably onto the required note, usually while that particular string is still ringing from a lower note. The converse is a pull-off, which involves the left hand pulling off a higher note to a lower one in such a way as to pluck the string in the process. In both cases the right hand does not participate, all the sound being produced by the force of the left-hand action.
A bend involves dragging a held string sideways across the fingerboard with the left hand, thereby increasing the tension and raising the pitch of the note with a slur. The reverse action is known as a release, though sometimes a pull-off may be used to release the bend instead.
During a slide you would keep the left hand pressed to the fingerboard and slide it either up or down the neck to the following note.
Natural harmonics occur at even divisions along the string length. Half way along the string is directly above the 12th fret, a third is at the 7th fret, and a quarter is at the 5th fret. At these points you get a natural harmonic by pressing lightly on the string with a left hand fingertip, then plucking the string and immediately removing the left hand finger from the string. For an artificial harmonic, the string is fretted as usual by the left hand, while the right hand alone strikes a harmonic exactly half way along the length of the string, which is above the fret exactly 12 frets up from the left hand position. The index finger of the right hand touches the string lightly and releases as the thumb or third or fourth finger of the right hand plucks the string. This is a very difficult effect to do smoothly and reliably, and may require considerable practise.
A percussive damp is achieved by thumping the strings with the heel of the right hand close to the bridge of the guitar.
Examples of these symbols, as they might appear in a tab, are shown below. You may come across other performance techniques not covered here, but hopefully these should be explained in context most of the time.
Examples of performance symbols
4/4 , . , . , . , . , . , . ,
. , . , , , ,
E||--------------------|--------------------A2-|-A3--~3---||
B||-0h1p0--------------|------H12-----A3-A5----|------3---||
G||-----------9b10r9-x-|--------<12>-----------|-(0)--4---||
D||-0h2p0------------x-|---H12------0----(0)---|------5---||
A||------------------x-|-10--------------------|------5---||
E||-3-----3/8----------|-----------------------|------3---||
In addition to the notations described above, indicators like repeat signs, alternate endings, da capos, etc are sometimes borrowed from standard notation. Most of these should be fairly obvious.
Many tabs will provide other basic information on a song, such as the tempo and time signature. Alternative tunings should be specified as well as the capo position if one is used. Note that fret positions as shown in a tablature are always relative to the capo, not to the headstock. Often chords and lyrics will be included with a tab. Usually the chords will be written above the stave and lyrics below.
Any well-written tab should make it easy for you to figure out exactly what you need to know. In most cases untidy or incomplete tabs found on the internet are usually grossly inaccurate as well, and not worth the time trying to decipher them. If someone has obviously put time and effort into typing up a tab clearly and tidily, then they have probably also put a lot of time and effort into figuring out the song correctly.
© John Kean