Understanding basic tab

Tablature (TAB) is an alternative (or catalyst) to reading music for guitar players.

To understand TAB you must know the fret numbers, string numbers and names. (press to define)

To go directly to frets
To go directly to finger numbers of fret hand
To go directly to finger letters for strumming hand
To go directly to rhythm for tab
There are a few variations of writing tab.

The Strings:


Let's start with the layout of the strings. Most people write them out vertically -
E --------------
B --------------
G --------------
D --------------
A --------------
E --------------

Sometimes they use the string numbers instead:

1 --------------
2 --------------
3 --------------
4 --------------
5 --------------
6 --------------

Make sure you don't mix up the 1st and 6th string! Remember, this is NOT a mirror image of your guitar. If you're not sure, put your guitar facing upwards on your lap. The string order should directly match the above diagrams.

If the information is not complicated (i.e. a single chord) then some people write the strings horizontally-

E A D G B E
- - - - - -
or 

1 2 3 4 5 6
- - - - - -

The Frets:


In most cases, numbers on the string lines represent fret numbers -
This is a C major scale ascending then descending, ending with a C chord.
E ------------------------------------------------0-----
B ---------------------0--1--0--------------------1-----
G --------------0--2------------2--0--------------0-----
D -----0--2--3------------------------3--2--0-----2-----
A --3------------------------------------------3--3-----
E ------------------------------------------------------

With the above tab, you start from the left and work your way to the right.
The first number,3, means to play the 3rd fret of the A or 5th string, then you play the D string open, then 2nd fret of the D string and so on....
If the notes are stacked on top of each other, you would play them all at once.
Strings that don't have numbers written on them are NOT played.

Some people draw the frets in and use O's for finger placement. (this is ok for chords)

E O|---|---|---|---|
B O|---|---|---|---|
G ||-O-|---|---|---|
D ||---|-O-|---|---|
A ||---|-O-|---|---|
E O|---|---|---|---|

In the above example, you'd play all the strings at once with string #1 open, string #2 open, string #3 first fret, string #4 second fret, string #5 second fret and string #6 open. It's up to you to decide which fingers to use.

The fret hand finger numbers:


Most people don't write out the fretboard hand (left hand is most common) fingering, it's up to you to use what seems the best. If they do, here's some things to know.
The number for each finger of the fretting hand is -
index =  1
middle = 2
ring  =  3
pinky =  4
thumb =  T  (not very common)
open  =  0  
don't play = X

Ex.1

        E ------------------------
        B -------------5----------
        G -------------5----------
        D ----------7-----7--7----
        A -------7--------------0-
        E -5--8-------------------
fingers -  1  4  3  3  1  3  3  0
                       1

Ex.2
E A D G B E
X 5 4 5 5 5 - frets
X 2 1 3 3 3 - fingers

Some people draw the frets in and use the numbers for the fingers - (great for chords)

E O---|---|---|---|
B O---|---|---|---|
G |-1-|---|---|---|
D |---|-3-|---|---|
A |---|-2-|---|---|
E O---|---|---|---|

If it's some kind of scale, it'll look something like this. Assuming that you know to start on the lowest sounding note (3rd fret, 6th string) and play up to the highest sounding note (6th fret, 1st string). Don't try to play all the notes at once, like a chord, it's impossible.

E |---|---|-1-|---|---|-4-|---|---|
B |---|---|-1-|---|---|-4-|---|---|
G |---|---|-1-|---|-3-|-4-|---|---|
D |---|---|-1-|---|-3-|---|---|---|
A |---|---|-1-|-2-|-3-|---|---|---|
E |---|---|-1-|---|---|-4-|---|---|
              ^3rd fret

Some people write in the scale degrees (intervals) instead of the finger numbers (this is the same as the above scale)-

     E  -|-R-|---|---|b3-|---|--
     B  -|-5-|---|---|b7-|---|--
     G  -|-3-|---|-4-|b5-|---|--
     D  -|b7-|---|-R-|---|---|--
     A  -|-4-|b5-|-5-|---|---|--
     E  -|-R-|---|---|b3-|---|--
             ^ 3rd fret

The Strumming Hand finger letters


For those delving into classical, the strumming or picking hand (usually right hand) also has symbols for it's fingers - 

thumb =  p
index =  i
middle = m
ring  =  a
pinky =  ch or l

Ex.1

E ------------------------
B ----------1-------------
G -------0-----0-----0----
D ----2-----------2-----2-
A -3----------------------
E ------------------------
   p  i  m  a  m  i  m  i  - R.H. fingers (picking hand)

Rhythm for Tab


Most tab is written in a loose rhythm format. The larger the space the longer you wait to play the next note. Some people say listen to the song to get the timing (rhythm), others write in the count (1+2+3+4...) over top of the tab.

Here's a few examples of "You Really Got Me"

Ex.1
Rhythm written approximately

E ---------------------------------------------
B ---------------------------------------------
G ---------------------------------------------
D --5--7--7--5--7------5--7--7--5--7-----------
A --5--7--7--5--7------5--7--7--5--7-----------
E --3--5--5--3--5------3--5--5--3--5-----------

Ex.2
Rhythm written with a count

    +  1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +  1  +  2  +  3  +  4   
E --------------------------------------------------
B --------------------------------------------------
G --------------------------------------------------
D --5--7--7--5--7-----------5--7--7--5--7-----------
A --5--7--7--5--7-----------5--7--7--5--7-----------
E --3--5--5--3--5-----------3--5--5--3--5-----------

Ex.3
With bar lines to show where "1" is

E ----|-----------------------|---------------------
B ----|-----------------------|---------------------
G ----|-----------------------|---------------------
D --5-|7--7--5--7-----------5-|7--7--5--7-----------
A --5-|7--7--5--7-----------5-|7--7--5--7-----------
E --3-|5--5--3--5-----------3-|5--5--3--5-----------

To understand more on rhythm basics - press here.

To understand more on rhythm notation - press here.

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