Guitar Tabs, and how to read them

Guitarists have created their own method of music notation, guitar tablature also know as tab which
is very useful because it provides an easy way for musicians to play their favorite songs.

A tab staff for guitar has 6 horizontal lines, each one representing a string of the guitar. The bottom line of the staff represents your lowest "E" string, the second line from the bottom represents your "A" string, etc.

Notice that there are numbers located in the middle of the lines (aka strings). The numbers simply represent the fret the tab is telling you to play. For example, in the illustration above, the tab is telling you to play the third string (the “G” string) seventh fret.

Note: When the number "0" is used in tablature, this indicates that the open string should be played.

Reading Chords with Tab

Reading chords within guitar tab is a relatively simple process. When a tab displays a series of numbers, stacked vertically, it is indicating to play all these notes at the same time. The above tablature indicates that you should hold down the notes in an E major chord (second fret on fifth string, second fret on fourth string, first fret on third string) and strum all six strings at once. Often, tablature will additionally include the chord name (in this case E major) above the tablature staff, to help guitarists recognize the chord more quickly.