TAB Reading Introduction

To easily read and write music, guitar players use a number system known as tablature (TAB for short). You don't need TAB to learn guitar from video lessons, but TAB is easy to learn so its worth taking 5 minutes! Guitar TAB is made up of six horizontal lines each representing a guitar string. The thinnest string (high e) is the top line, and the thickest string (low E) is the bottom line, and the notes run in the order EADGBe like so:

When you view a guitar fretboard head on the strings are arranged like this:

So as you can see, the low E string is on the top and the high e string is on the bottom, which seems backwards from the TAB! However, the way TAB is arranged makes sense when viewed from the guitarists' perspective...

When you hold a guitar and view the strings, you will find that the low E string is closest to your face, and the high e string is furthest away - which is exactly the way guitar TAB is printed, with the low E on the bottom line, and high e string at the top.

Reading The Numbers

When a string is played open (which means the fret hand is not touching the strings), it's represented as 0 in TAB:

First the open E string is played 3 times. Next, D is played twice, then B is played twice, and open e is played once.

When the fret hand is holding string(s) down, the fret number for that string is displayed on the TAB:

The 3rd fret of E is played, followed by the 5th frets of A, then D then A. Next the 5th fret of A and the 7th fret of D are played at the same time, twice in a row. We finish with an Em chord, where all strings are played at the same time.

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Fretting & Picking Hands

Using correct fingering is very important when playing guitar, so you need to know how each finger is referred to on your picking and fretting hands. Take a look at these pictures:

In Ace Guitar Lessons videos, the fret hand fingers are usually referenced by name (index, middle, ring, pinky). Sometimes the fingers are also named as: T for thumb, 1 for index, 2 for middle, 3 for ring, 4 for pinky.

The P I M A C naming system for the pick hand is used in TAB for fingerstyle classical guitar playing:

Note: These are diagrams for a "right pick-hand, left fret-hand" guitarist, so if you play guitar the other way the opposite applies.

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Chord Diagrams & TAB

Chords are often represented in one of two ways: either by a fretbox diagram, or by TAB. In this example we will first look at a chord fretbox diagram for a D major chord:

A fretbox diagram is a visual copy of the fretboard viewed vertically, the thick black line at the top represents the nut, or fret 0. The strings run left to right - E A D G B e - as shown. The two small x's mean that the E and A strings are not played in this chord.

The white circle means the D string is played open, and the black dots show that D major is held on the 2nd frets of the G and e strings, and the 3rd fret of the B string. The numbers in the dots represent the fret hand fingers: 1 - index, 2 - middle, 3 - ring, 4 - pinky, and T - thumb. Now lets take a look at the TAB of D major:

It shows us that D major consists of an open D string plus the G and e strings on the 2nd fret and the B string on the 3rd fret, all played at the same time, but does not include fret hand fingerings. Don't worry what the actual notes are just yet, we'll get into that in the lessons. Finally, when a chord is played higher up on the neck, such as an E major octave chord, the diagram will look like this:

Notice that the thick black line representing the nut is gone and instead there is a number 12, showing us what fret we are at. From this diagram we can see that the E, B and e strings are played open, while the A and D strings are fretted at the 14th fret, and the G is fretted at the 13th fret. On TAB, E major octave chord looks like this:

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Scale Diagrams & TAB

Scales are often represented in one of two ways: either by a fretbox diagram or TAB. Here is a fretbox diagram for the A minor (Am) pentatonic scale, notice it starts at the 5th fret of the E string (an A note):

These fretbox diagrams are visual copies of a fretboard viewed vertically, with strings running left to right - E A D G B e - as shown. We can see that this scale starts at the 5th fret of the E string, then 8th fret. On the A string we play the 5th fret and 7th fret, and so on. A TAB of this A minor pentatonic scale looks like this:

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Tab Symbols - Picking Techniques

Here are some guitar TAB symbols for pick hand techniques.

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TAB Symbols - Fretting Techniques

Here are some guitar TAB symbols for fret hand techniques.