Guitar tablature, or tab, is the reason so many people teach themselves guitar. It skips the years of learning to read standard notation and tells you exactly where to put your fingers. Once you know how to read guitar tabs, nearly every lesson platform, songbook and online transcription opens up. This guide explains the system from the ground up, with worked examples you can play right now, and is honest about the one big thing tab does not tell you.
What guitar tab is
Tab is a picture of the guitar neck turned on its side. Six horizontal lines stand for the six strings, and numbers written on those lines tell you which fret to press. That is the whole core idea. Everything else, such as bends, slides and hammer-ons, is extra symbols layered on top.
Tab describes where to play, not how long each note lasts. Keep that in mind; we come back to it near the end.
How to read guitar tabs: the six lines
In standard tuning, the strings from the thickest (lowest pitch) to the thinnest (highest pitch) are E, A, D, G, B, E. In tab, the top line is the thinnest, highest string and the bottom line is the thickest, lowest string. It is upside down compared with what you see looking down at the guitar, but it matches the way pitch is shown on a page: high at the top, low at the bottom.
e|----------------| 1st string (thinnest, highest) B|----------------| 2nd string G|----------------| 3rd string D|----------------| 4th string A|----------------| 5th string E|----------------| 6th string (thickest, lowest)
The high string is often written as a lowercase e to tell it apart from the low E. Some tabs leave the letters off entirely and assume standard tuning. If a tab uses a different tuning, such as Drop D (D A D G B E), it should say so at the top; tune before you play, using a clip-on tuner such as the Snark SN5X Clip-On Chromatic Tuner or our free online guitar tuner.
Reading fret numbers
A number on a line is the fret to press on that string. A 0 means play the string open, with no fret pressed. Read from left to right, like text, and play the notes in that order.
e|-----------------| B|-------------0-1-| G|---------0-2-----| D|---0-2-3---------| A|-3---------------| E|-----------------|
This is the C major scale in open position. Step by step:
- A string, 3rd fret: C
- D string open: D
- D string, 2nd fret: E
- D string, 3rd fret: F
- G string open: G
- G string, 2nd fret: A
- B string open: B
- B string, 1st fret: C
Eight notes, C to C, with no sharps or flats, exactly as the C major scale should be. A useful habit: use the finger that matches the fret number in open position (1st finger on the 1st fret, 2nd on the 2nd, 3rd on the 3rd).
Reading chords in tab
When numbers are stacked vertically, play them at the same time. That is a chord. Here are four of the first chords most beginners learn, written in tab:
G C D Em
e|---3---0---2---0---|
B|---0---1---3---0---|
G|---0---0---2---0---|
D|---0---2---0---2---|
A|---2---3---x---2---|
E|---3---x---x---0---|
An x means do not play that string (or mute it). So for C, strum from the A string down; for D, start from the open D string. Chords are often easier to learn from a chord chart, which shows the finger positions as a diagram. Our guide on how to read guitar chord charts explains those, and the two formats work well side by side.
Sometimes the notes of a chord are written one after another instead of stacked. That means pick them individually, an arpeggio, letting each one ring:
e|-----------0-------| B|---------1---1-----| G|-------0-------0---| D|-----2-------------| A|---3---------------| E|-------------------|
Hold the C chord shape the whole time and pick through the strings. This is the foundation of a lot of fingerpicking.
Common tab symbols
Most tabs use a shared set of symbols for techniques. You will meet these early:
| Symbol | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| h | Hammer-on: pick the first note, then press the higher fret without picking again | 5h7 |
| p | Pull-off: pick the higher note, then pull the finger off to sound the lower one | 7p5 |
| / | Slide up to a higher fret, keeping pressure on the string | 5/7 |
| \ | Slide down to a lower fret | 7\5 |
| b | Bend: push the string to raise the pitch, usually to the pitch of the fret shown after it | 7b9 |
| r | Release a bend back to the starting pitch | 7b9r7 |
| ~ | Vibrato: a small, repeated wobble in pitch | 7~~ |
| x | Muted or dead note: a percussive click with no pitch | x |
| PM | Palm muting: rest the side of your picking hand on the strings near the bridge | PM—- |
So 7b9 means: fret the 7th fret, pick it, and bend the string until it sounds like the 9th fret, which is a whole step higher. Not every tab writer uses identical symbols, so check for a legend at the top of a tab.
A worked riff: E minor pentatonic
The minor pentatonic scale is the backbone of rock and blues lead playing. Here it is in open position in E minor, using only open strings and frets 2 and 3:
e|-----------------------0-3-| B|-------------------0-3-----| G|---------------0-2---------| D|-----------0-2-------------| A|-------0-2-----------------| E|---0-3---------------------|
The notes are E, G, A, B and D, repeated across the strings. Play it slowly up and back down, then try this short phrase built from the same notes (B, D-E, G-A, a slide from A up to B, then back down to A and G), using hammer-ons and a slide:
e|---------------------------| B|---------------------------| G|-----------0h2-2/4-2-0-----| D|-----0h2-------------------| A|---2-----------------------| E|---------------------------|
Hammer-ons and slides keep the line smooth because you pick fewer notes. To go deeper into this shape, see the pentatonic scale explained.
The big limitation: rhythm
Basic text tab tells you where to play but not when. The spacing between numbers is only a rough hint. That is why the same tab can sound right to someone who knows the song and baffling to someone who does not. Three ways to fill the gap:
- Listen first. Learn the part by ear alongside the tab. The recording is the real reference; the tab is the map.
- Use tab with rhythm. Many lesson platforms and guitar software show tab with note stems or standard notation above it, so you can see note lengths.
- Count with a metronome. Once you know the rhythm, practise slowly with our free online metronome and speed up gradually.
Also be aware that free online tabs are often user-made and can contain mistakes. If something sounds wrong, compare a couple of versions, or trust your ears.
A practice routine for reading tab
- Tune up and play the C major scale tab above, saying the string name and fret number out loud.
- Play the four chords in tab, then switch between G and C, and between D and Em, for one minute each.
- Play the E minor pentatonic scale up and down, slowly and evenly.
- Learn four bars of a song you love from tab, checking each phrase against the recording.
Ten to fifteen minutes a day on this is plenty. Within a week or two, most beginners read simple tab almost as fast as they can play it. If you want a structured course that uses tab throughout, our comparison of the best online guitar lessons lays out the options.
FAQ
Is it bad to learn guitar only from tabs?
No. Plenty of excellent players read tab only. It is worth learning a little rhythm reading and theory alongside it, so you understand note lengths and why the notes work, but tab alone is a perfectly valid way to learn songs.
Why is the top line of a tab the thinnest string?
Because tab follows the convention of written music: higher pitches go at the top of the page. The thinnest string is the highest in pitch, so it sits on the top line.
What does a number above 12 mean in a tab?
It is simply a higher fret. The 12th fret is one octave above the open string, so fret 15 on the low E string, for example, is the same note as fret 3 (G), one octave higher.
