There are many of us out there who struggle to read the traditional form of music. Fortunately someone came up with a way to script music just for the guitar. Guitar tablature (TAB) is a alternative to standard or traditional musical notation. It is a visual display that shows you which fret to play on each string of a guitar in order to play a lick, melody or tune. It is ideal for those of us who do not read music well and devised to make music easier to read for fretted instruments. The advantages of tablature notation is that it is easy to learn and it is not essential that you know any musical theory.
Reading Tablature
Let’s explain how to read guitar tabs. Looking at Guitar TAB is like leaning over and looking down at your fretboard. You have to look at tablature as if you are holding the guitar on your lap with the headstock over to your left.
Guitar tablature has six horizontal lines that signify the six strings on the guitar so each guitar string is represented by a line. The lowest line indicates that we want the string low E or the lowest-pitched string. The top line, on the other hand, represents indicates high E or the highest pitched open string.
It shows the strings that are played. A fret to be played is represented by a number. The numbers tell which frets the fingers must press to play the notes for the tune. The open strings are represented by a ‘0’ therefore there are not to be any fingers pressing down on any fret of the string indicated. You will only ever play the strings where numbers are marked.
Tablature is a way of writing music which is easier to read and understand by the guitarist. It is a godsend for those who do not read music. It can be learned quickly and you really do not need to know a lot of music theory. As we progress, you will learn that a little knowledge of music theory is always of value.