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How to Play Guitar Tabs: Learn to Read Tab Notation & Play Your Favorite Songs!

In this article we’ll explain the basics of how to play guitar tabs, give pointers on reading tab notation, and get you started on the right note with a FREE symbol guide!

Musicnotes

Jun 10, 2015 • 8 min read

Have you always wanted to play guitar, but are unsure about where to start? Guitar tabs offer beginning and experienced musicians alike a quick guide to playing their favorite songs.

In this article we’ll explain the basics of how to play guitar tabs, give pointers on reading tab notation, and get you started on the right note with a FREE song and symbol guide!

What is Tab?

Tablature (or tab) is a type of sheet music scoring specifically designed to help guitarists and bassists quickly learn how to play their favorite songs. In addition to helping the reader associate fret positions with the notes on the staff, tablature also provides annotation on the way the notes are expressed.

How Does Guitar Tab Work?

You don’t need to know how to play music to use a tablature score. This is part of what makes tablature so accessible. However, a general knowledge of music, rhythm, and sight reading will aid you greatly when using tabs. Click here for a basic overview of music theory.

Let’s first take a look at some tabs! We’ve chosen to use Ben E. King’s ‘Stand By Me‘ scored for guitar tab (of course!). You’ll be able to tell which pieces at Musicnotes.com are scored for guitar tab by the sub-title (Digital Guitar Tab), as well as in the right-hand column under “scorings.”

You may notice right away that the music has two staffs: a standard treble clef on top and another staff with more lines and numbers instead of notes. This staff below the treble clef is the tab. It has that many lines because a tab staff will always have the same number of lines as your instrument has strings. So, a six-string guitar will have six lines and a four-string bass will have four lines.

Just like with the treble clef, a lower line means a lower note. On the tab staff, the bottom line is the lowest (or 6th) string of the guitar. The strings simply proceed higher on the guitar as they do in the tab staff.

As you may have guessed, the number on the line corresponds to the fret (note) to be played. So when you see the first note of ‘Stand By Me’ is a 2 on the middle line you will know to play the 2nd fret on the G string for one eighth note.

Stand By Me Guitar Tab — © 1961 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Likewise, the second note shows a 0 on the 2nd line which tells us to play the open B string for another eighth note. Numbers stacked on top of one another are to be played at the same time as in the fourth note of the song in measure 2.

Tabs are also a great way to learn how to play chords. You’ll notice on some guitar tabs that chord names are written above the measures and chord diagrams provided generally on the first page (like on the tab for ‘Stand by Me‘).

When a chord is written at the start of a measure, it usually implies the overall harmony for any notes actually being shown from that point on.

All of the notes played in measures 2 and 3 are in the chord ‘C’ (C Major).

How Do Chord Diagrams Work?

If you want to know just how to play the chord ‘C,’ take a look at the diagrams provided at that start of the song and find the diagram underneath the chord name. This will show the exact frets and strings to play when strumming a full chord.

With a chord diagram, the left-most string is the lowest string of the guitar. The strings ascend as you move left to right just as the frets ascend as you move top to bottom. Notice the ‘O’s above the 1st and 3rd strings. These tell you that the associated string is played open. When you see an ‘X,’ like the one above the 6th string, be sure that this string is not played.

The dots on the remaining strings tell you which frets to hold when you strum the chord. In the above example you’ll play the 3rd fret on the A string, the 2nd fret on the D string, and the 1st fret on the B string, making sure to also strum the two open strings. Doing so will provide you with all the notes need to play the C Major chord.

Sometimes a chord diagram will tell you more than just how to play a chord; it may also tell you how that chord is voiced in the piece. There are many ways to play the same chord on an instrument with a range like a guitar. If things just aren’t quite sounding right when you’re playing along, double check the chord diagrams to make sure you’re using the correct fingering. This can sometimes make a big difference in the feel of a song, especially if you’re going for authenticity.

What Do the Symbols Mean?

Tabs use a variety of symbols to help the player know how and when to add expression to what is being played. We’ll touch on a few of the most common symbols below like slides, pull-offs/hammer-ons and bends:

Slides

If you see this symbol between two notes in a tab, it means that you will slide your finger along the fretboard toward the next note instead of stopping the note when the duration is over as normal. Slides may be done up or down the neck and even performed on chords. Sliding provides a simple yet effective way of adding expression when playing.

Pull-off

A Pull-off occurs between two or more descending notes. When you see this written, be sure to pick only the first note and then lift your fingers off the fretboard in succession for each additional note in the pull-off. No additional picking is performed through the rest of a pull-off.

Hammer-on

Much like a pull-off, a hammer-on occurs between two or more ascending notes. Instead of lifting a finger off a fret you will pick the first note and then “hammer” your next finger down onto the next fret causing the note to sound. No additional picking is performed through the rest of a hammer-on.

A passage may include both a hammer-on and pull-off.

Bend

A bend occurs when a note is picked and then the fretting hand is used to bend the string and slightly raise the pitch. How far and long the string is bent can be just as important as any note in a song. Typically, a bend will be described as being a ¼ or ½, letting you know just how far to raise the pitch. A subtype of a bend is the release bend, which requires the string to be returned to the ‘unbent’ position after the bend.

There are many symbols that may be included in a tab. For a more extensive collection of tab symbol meaning, we recommend checking out this article from our friends at Songsterr.

More Things to Look Out For

Capo

A capo is a tool used by guitarist to quickly alter the key which sounds from the guitar. A capo will raise the key but not change the fingering in which chords are performed, making it a quick way to transpose a song. For an example, let’s take a look at Jeff Buckley’s guitar tab version of ‘Hallelujah.’

Take a look at the top left of the score for the note “Capo V.” This means that a capo is placed across the fifth fret of the guitar. You will play the chords with the same fingering as you would without the capo, but now the fifth fret is considered “0,” zero, and is effectively the beginning of the guitar’s frets.

As seen in the fourth measure of this song, the chord played has the same fingering as Em but the notes actually sound an Am chord due to the Capo V position.

Tuning

Tuning is very important to note when playing tab, as the song may not always be written for standard tuning. Alternate tuning can also change the fingering of chords. However, like a capo, tuning is sometimes used to achieve an overall change in pitch without changing fingerings.

For example, please take a look at Jimi Hendrix’s guitar tab version of ‘Crash Landing.’ Note that the tuning is described as “down a ½ step,” followed by a guide to show what each strings destination should be. In this example all strings are detuned down one half-tone. This leaves all chords with same relative sound.

Even though the chord at measure 5 is described as B7, the actual notes that sound are the notes of a Bb7 chord due to our detuned guitar. However, because all strings have been tuned the same distance, for the sake of playability, we can use the implied chord names when displaying the harmony.

tuning guitar tab — © 1975 Experience Hendrix LLC

Transcription

Although a guitar tab arrangement may seem to be just what is played on the album, these scores are not specifically published to represent a recording. When searching out a tab which is specific to a recording, please look for ‘Guitar TAB Transcription’ under “Notation” in the Musicnotes guitar tab catalog. For example, check out Queen’s guitar tab transcription version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’

Start Playing Guitar Tab!

Now all that’s left to do is start playing tab. We hope the above instructions have inspired you to learn to play guitar tab. And, to help you along on your musical journey, we’ve put together a couple tools.

First, print your copy of our FREE “Common Guitar TAB Symbols” guide, which includes the symbols we covered above and more. Then, download and print FREE easy guitar tab for “Skip To My Lou,” and start practicing your guitar tab playing skills. Simply enter the $0 item to your cart, then proceed through the checkout process. [Free for a limited time]

When you feel comfortable with that piece, be sure to check out all of the easy guitar tab offerings at Musicnotes.com. You’ll find simplified versions of tab notation for rock essentials, modern top-40 hits, country classics and more, all ready to buy, download and print instantly!