How to Read Guitar Tabs for Beginners
If you want to learn songs on guitar today, the easiest way (not the most effective way) is by guitar tablature. Tablature, or tabs, is a good way to start learning to play, but I also recommend learning actually music notion as soon as possible. The problem with tabs is that they don’t give you any sense of rhythm or notation for the song. (And if you find them on the internet, they could be terribly wrong – after all, even you can post guitar tabs right now… without even knowing how to play guitar!)
I will give you a starting point on how to read tabs. Here is what a blank tab sheet would look like for a six string guitar:
Got it? Good. Now that you have the strings down, let us learn how to read tabs. A number on each string will indicate the fret that you will play. It is very simple concept.
0 – Open String. Just pluck the string with the pick. No finger placement needed!
1 – First Fret. Put your finger on the 1st first and play it.
2 – Second Fret. Put your finger on the 2nd fret and play it.
9 – Ninth Fret. Put your finger on the 9th fret and play it.
Alright, well now that you know that the numbers indicate which fret to play and which string to play it on, lets look at a basic tab and you try to play it.
When you are playing this first exercise for learning tabs, its important that you use your first finger, or “pointing” finger, to play the first fret. Use your middle finger for the second, ring finger for the third, and your pinky for the fouth. As a general note, you should build up your strength in your pinky! A lot of players don’t use their pinky and it will help tremendously if you do.
This is just a basic overview of tablature – there is tons more to learn, but you are getting there!
