Guitar tablature (TAB) is an alternative to standard notation that shows exactly which strings and frets to play. It is widely used online, in guitar magazines, and in books - and knowing how to read it opens up an enormous library of songs and solos.
Guitar tablature (TAB) is a notation system that represents the physical action of playing guitar rather than the abstract pitch of notes. Instead of a five-line musical stave, TAB uses six lines representing the six guitar strings, with numbers showing which fret to press.
TAB has been used for centuries - early lute music was written in a form of tablature. Today it is the most widely used notation for guitar on the internet, in guitar magazines, and in many instructional books.
TAB uses six horizontal lines - one for each string:
The bottom line is the thickest string (low E) and the top line is the thinnest string (high E). Numbers placed on a line indicate which fret to press on that string. The number 0 means play the open string (no fret pressed).
When you look down at your guitar, the thinnest string is at the bottom. In TAB, the thinnest string is at the top. This reversal confuses many beginners at first - just remember the TAB bottom line = thickest string = lowest sound.
Numbers are read left to right - just like reading text. A number on a line means: press that fret on that string and pluck it. Numbers in sequence are played one after another. Numbers stacked vertically are played simultaneously (a chord).
Example - melody: Numbers appearing one at a time, left to right on the top (1st string) line: 0-1-3-1-0 means play open E, then F (fret 1), then G (fret 3), then back to F, then back to open E.
Example - chord: Multiple numbers stacked vertically (e.g. 0 on line 1, 1 on line 2, 0 on line 3, 2 on line 4, 3 on line 5) are all played simultaneously - this represents a C chord in TAB form.
5h7 means pluck fret 5, then hammer onto fret 7 without re-plucking. The number after H is sounded by the left hand alone.
7p5 means press both frets, pluck fret 7, then pull off to sound fret 5. The pull-off note is not plucked by the right hand.
5s7 or 5/7 means play fret 5, then slide the same finger to fret 7 while keeping string pressed. The pitch glides between the two notes.
7b9 means play fret 7 and bend the string until it sounds like fret 9 (a whole-tone bend). The target pitch is shown after B.
A number followed by ~ means apply vibrato - repeatedly bend and release slightly to create a wavering, singing quality in the note.
Harm.12 or <12> means play a harmonic at fret 12. Lightly touch the string directly over the fret wire without pressing down.
The main difference between TAB and standard notation:
Many modern guitar books and online resources show both notations simultaneously - standard notation on top (for rhythm and duration) and TAB below (for string and fret position). This combined format gives the best of both systems.
Online TAB especially often omits or inaccurately represents note duration. If rhythm is important to you - and it always is - listen to a recording of the piece alongside the TAB to understand the correct timing. Never rely on TAB alone for rhythm information.
Guitar tablature (TAB) has been the primary written notation for guitarists since long before the internet existed. Its popularity comes from one key advantage over standard notation: you do not need any prior music theory knowledge to read it. While standard notation tells you the pitch of a note (which requires knowing the treble clef and key signatures), TAB tells you exactly where to put your fingers on the fretboard. For a guitarist, this is often all you need to learn a song quickly.
TAB does have significant limitations. It does not convey rhythm or note duration as precisely as standard notation. It does not always indicate picking direction, finger choice, or dynamics. But for the purpose of learning songs, chord shapes, and riffs, TAB is the most practical system ever developed for guitar and it is why virtually every song ever written is available in TAB format online.
A TAB staff has six horizontal lines, one for each guitar string. Crucially, the bottom line represents the thickest (lowest-sounding) string (low E), and the top line represents the thinnest (highest-sounding) string (high e). This is the opposite of what many beginners expect: when you hold the guitar in playing position, the low E is at the top physically, but in TAB notation it is at the bottom of the staff.
Numbers on each line tell you which fret to press on that string. The number 0 means play the string open (no fret). The number 3 means press the 3rd fret. A number 12 means press the 12th fret. If numbers appear stacked vertically (one on top of another across multiple strings), they are played simultaneously as a chord.
Beyond numbers, TAB uses several symbols to indicate techniques. A lowercase h between two numbers (like 5h7) means a hammer-on: play the first note, then hammer your finger onto the second without picking again. A lowercase p (like 7p5) means a pull-off: play the first note, then pull your finger off to sound the second. A forward slash / means slide up (5/7 means slide from the 5th fret up to the 7th). A backslash means slide down. The letter b followed by a number means bend (7b9 means bend the string from the 7th fret until it sounds like the 9th fret). A tilde (~) means vibrato: oscillate the pitch by repeatedly bending and releasing.
These symbols give TAB a vocabulary for the expressive techniques that are unique to guitar. Learning to recognise them on sight and execute them cleanly is what separates a guitarist who can read TAB from one who truly uses TAB as a learning tool.
Standard TAB does not show rhythm. You need to know the song by ear to know how long to hold each note. This is both a limitation and a feature: it keeps TAB simple and accessible, but it means you must always listen to the original recording alongside the TAB. Many modern TAB publications add rhythmic notation above the TAB lines to solve this problem, but free internet TAB often omits rhythm entirely.
When using TAB without rhythm notation, play through the TAB while listening to the recording simultaneously. Pause the recording at each note in the TAB and identify how long that note lasts. After working through a section this way, you will have both the pitch information from the TAB and the rhythm information from your ears combined into a complete picture of the passage.
TAB found online is often written by other guitarists rather than the original artists and may contain errors. Always verify the TAB against the original recording, especially for chord voicings and riffs that sound slightly off. If a note in the TAB does not match what you hear in the recording, trust your ears and find the correct fret yourself. This process of correcting TAB is itself excellent ear training.
While tablature is the undisputed king of internet guitar learning, it is important to understand its biggest limitation: rhythm. Standard guitar tabs tell you exactly what fret and string to play, but they rarely tell you how long to hold that note.
Because of this, it is almost impossible to learn a song from a text-based tab unless you have actually heard the song before and know the melody in your head. Professional published tabs solve this by pairing the tablature directly underneath standard musical notation (which provides the exact rhythmic values).
The primary weakness of standard tablature is that it rarely provides the rhythmic timing of the notes. A string of numbers on a line tells you exactly where to place your fingers, but it doesn't tell you how long to hold each note. Because of this, guitarists who rely exclusively on tabs often have to listen to the original recording repeatedly to reverse-engineer the strumming pattern and the underlying groove.
To overcome this limitation, many modern tab websites and premium transcription books have started combining traditional tab with rhythmic stems underneath the numbers. Until you learn to read these rhythmic indicators, always keep the original song playing in the background while you read the tab. Focus heavily on identifying the downbeats and upbeats by ear, mapping them onto the numbers you see on the page.
Everything you need to know about this lesson
The top line of a tab represents the high e string (the thinnest string, closest to the floor). The bottom line represents the low E string (the thickest string, closest to the ceiling).
It stands for 'hammer-on'. For example, '5h7' means you pick the 5th fret and hammer a finger down onto the 7th fret without picking again.
It stands for 'pull-off'. For example, '7p5' means you pick the 7th fret and pull your finger off to sound the 5th fret without picking again.
These represent slides. A forward slash (/) means slide up the neck (e.g., 3/5). A backslash (\\) means slide down the neck (e.g., 7\\5).
It means a 'muted' or 'dead' note. You lightly touch the string with your fretting hand so it makes a percussive 'thwack' sound when strummed, without ringing a clear pitch.
It stands for 'bend'. '7b9' means you play the 7th fret and bend the string up until it sounds like the 9th fret.
It stands for 'release', usually following a bend. '7b9r7' means you bend the 7th fret up to the 9th, and then release the bend back down to the 7th fret pitch.
This represents vibrato. You wiggle the fretting finger rapidly back and forth to give the note a singing, vibrating quality.
Yes, you read tab chronologically from left to right. If numbers are stacked vertically on top of each other, it means you play them all at the exact same time (a chord).
Tablature is actually hundreds of years old! It was originally used during the Renaissance period (around the 1400s) for the lute, the ancestor of the modern guitar.