Using Guitar Tablature
by Liam McCabeTablature (commonly called “tabs”) is a style of musical notation that indicates fingering rather than pitch, as in regular ol’ staff notation. The use of tabs dates back to at least the 14th century, when it was used for plucked string instruments like lutes and harps. Today, it’s the preferred style of notation for guitarists in many genres.
When people talk about tabs, they’re often referring to ASCII-style tabs—text files created on a computer using letters, numbers, and symbols for easy dissemination across the Internet. More traditional, sophisticated systems for tabs are used in books, but ASCII tabs are the predominant style used among guitarists sharing music on the Internet.
Guitar tablature offers some distinct advantages over staff notation. Since a guitar has a range of roughly five octaves and can hit some ledger lines in both the upper and lower registers, guitar music can be a hassle to read. Tabs avoid this problem. A horizontal line represents each string and a number represents each fret. Even a total novice can use tabs to play his or her favorite songs minutes after picking up a guitar for the first time because tabs indicate where each finger goes on the fretboard. Staff notation requires an extra step of first determining the pitch on the staff, then figuring out how to finger that pitch on the fretboard.
The guitar’s layout lends itself to tablature. The bottom line represents the lowest-pitched string and the top line represents the highest-pitched string. Most tabs label each line with a note that the corresponding string should be tuned to, although some label each line as though it were in standard tuning, even when it indicates a different tuning at the top of the page. The guitarist should read the tab sheet completely before trying to play it. There also may be helpful playing tips included.
The tab in Figure 1 (below) is in standard tuning. Figure 2 is in Eb, where each string is tuned a half-step down.
The tuning for each string is indicated to the left of lines.
Figure 1: Figure 2:
e|---- eb|----
B|---- Bb|----
G|---- Gb|----
D|---- Db|----
A|---- Ab|----
E|---- Eb|----
When a number appears on a line (string), it indicates that the note should be played with the corresponding fret. When numbers are lined up vertically across a few lines, they’re played at the same time to form a chord. Take a look at these three simple examples.
Example 1: The guitarist first plays the low E string with the first fret pressed down, then plays an open E, then plays the A with the second fret pressed, then plays the D with the third fret pressed.
Example 2: The guitarist plays the bottom three strings simultaneously, pressing down the second fret on both the A and D string. He then plays the bottom three strings at the same time with the corresponding frets pressed. Then he plays the A, D, and G strings simultaneously with the indicated frets pressed, and then plays the top three strings with the corresponding frets pressed.
Example 1: Example 2:
e|------- e|------3-
B|------- B|------4-
G|------- G|----8-4-
D|------3 D|2-5-8---
A|----2-- A|2-5-6---
E|1-0---- E|0-3-----
Other symbols indicate different techniques, including ‘h’ for hammer-on, ‘p’ for pull-off, ‘/’ for a slide, ‘b’ for bend, and loads more. They may vary from tab to tab, though the best tabs will include a guide.
Example 3: The guitarist plays the first fret on the low E string, hammers onto the second fret, and pulls off back to the first fret. He then plays the third fret on the A and slides up to the fifth fret. Then he plays the fifth fret on the B, bends the string so that it sounds like he’s playing a whole step up on the seventh fret, and releases the bend back to the fifth fret.
Example 3:
e|-------------
B|--------5b7r5
G|-------------
D|-------------
A|-----3/5-----
E|1h2p1--------
There are some downsides to using tabs—rhythms are rarely included, and the easy-to-read format gives guitarists a crutch to lean on, so they don’t have to learn staff notation or music theory. But on the whole, tablature is an effective, efficient notation system for modern guitar.
