Reading tablature
How guitar tab works, what its numbers and symbols mean, and what information it leaves out.
Essential
Content under musical review. It may contain inaccuracies.
Loading…
How guitar tab works, what its numbers and symbols mean, and what information it leaves out.
Essential
Tablature (or "tab") is a notation system designed for string instruments. Instead of showing which note sounds, it shows where to put your fingers: which string and which fret. It's quick to learn and very common on guitar.
This short original phrase is the one written in the tab in the next section:
e|------------------------|
B|------------------------|
G|-----------2--0---------|
D|--------2--------2------|
A|--0--3------------------|
E|------------------------|
The basic rules:
The phrase's notes belong to the Am chord, except the passing G:
String 6, Open: E2 · 5 · Fifth
Play the phrase string by string:
A chord in tab is written with stacked numbers. The Am below would read, from sixth to first string: x, 0, 2, 2, 1, 0.
Besides numbers, tab uses symbols for technique:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| h | hammer-on |
| p | pull-off |
| / and \ | slide up or down |
| b | bend; "r" means release the bend |
| ~ | vibrato |
| x | muted note, no definite pitch |
| PM | palm mute |
For example, "5h7" on a string means: fret the 5th and, without picking again, hammer onto the 7th.
The big limitation of plain tab is rhythm: it doesn't say how long each note lasts. That's why many tabs are printed alongside standard notation, or add stems and beams under the numbers. If all you have is the tab, you need to hear the music to know the rhythm.
Professional tabs add rhythmic values under the numbers: stems, eighth-note beams and rests, just like standard notation. Learn the note values first and you'll read these tabs without relying on the audio.
Rhythm & accompanimentRhythm readingRead and play note values and rests accurately against the pulse.Tablature isn't a modern invention: it was already used for lute and vihuela in the Renaissance, with letters or numbers on lines representing the instrument's courses. Some old tablatures, like the Italian one, put the lowest string on top, the opposite of modern tab.
If you work with alternate tunings, remember that tab shows positions, not notes: the same tab sounds different in another tuning. Good tabs state the tuning at the top.
Compare tunings