As an amateur guitarist, I’m always alert to news about how to read guitar tabs, or how to play by ear.
An article today at Learning Guitar Inspection talked about how easy it is to read guitar tabs, as long as you learn a few main principles. Apparently, according to the article, tabs were created by guitarists who didn’t read “real” music but still needed a way to graphically display which notes they were playing.
In brief, each line in the tab represents a string on your guitar. The top line of the tab represents the bottom string of the guitar. The note (or chord) played is indicated by a number next to the string/s, i.e. A-5. This means the fifth fret of the A string is depressed.
Once you understand that the lines correspond to the strings of your guitar, and the numbers correspond to frets, you’ll soon be on your way to reading guitar tabs like you’ve been doing it all your life.
