How to Read Guitar Tabs: A Complete Beginner's Guide

Tab is how most guitarists learn songs online. It's not standard notation. It's simpler than that, which is both its strength and its weakness. You can start reading tabs in about 5 minutes, but they'll never tell you the rhythm. More on that later.

The six lines

A tab has six horizontal lines. Each one is a guitar string. The bottom line is your lowest (thickest) string, the top line is your highest (thinnest). This confuses everyone at first because it feels upside down. Think of it as looking down at your guitar while you're holding it - the high E string is closest to your face.

The numbers

A number on a line means “play this fret on this string.” A 0 means play the string open (no fret). A 5 on the third line from the bottom means play the 5th fret on the G string. Numbers stacked vertically mean play those notes at the same time (a chord). Numbers in a row mean play them one after another.

Common symbols

h = hammer-on. Play the first note, then slam your finger onto the next fret without picking again. p = pull-off, the opposite. / = slide up. \ = slide down. b = bend the string up to the next pitch. r = release the bend back. x = muted string (touch the string lightly and strum). These symbols vary slightly between tab sources, but these are the most common.

The thing tab doesn't tell you

Rhythm. Tab shows you which notes to play but not how long to hold them or when to play them. This is its biggest weakness. You need to listen to the actual song to get the timing right. Some tabs include rhythm notation above the staff, but most of the free ones you find online don't bother. If you're playing a song you've never heard, tab alone isn't enough.

Getting started

Pick a song you know well, find the tab, and follow along while listening. Make sure your guitar is in tune first - an out-of-tune guitar will sound wrong even if you're hitting the right frets. The OpenFret tuner handles that in about 30 seconds. Once you can follow tabs, you might want to learn the actual note names on the fretboard so you understand what you're playing, not just where your fingers go. Guitar Quest is good for that part.