How To Read Guitar Tablature in 3 Easy steps.
If you are a beginner guitar player, or an experienced guitar player, you will find that a vast majority of guitar resources exist in guitar tablature. You will want to learn the 3 step process you must go through in your mind to read guitar tab.
Guitar tab is an alternate system for learning a fretted instrument like guitar, bass, ukulele, etc. Guitar tablature speeds up the learning process because it allows you to postpone or skip reading actually music notation which can be mentally taxing, boring, and slow. Guitar tab is also the predominant language that guitar resources is written in so you will find more content if you read tablature well.
The EASY 3 step process to read tablature.
When you look at a piece of music, and see a bunch of numbers on lines, your brain must go through a 3 step process. Once you have enough repetition, your brain will instantly translate.
Question 1: What number is it?
This question tells you what area of the guitar your fretting hand must move to. So if the tablature says 3, then you know you are dealing with the third fret..
Question 2: What line is it on?
This question identifies the string that you need to play. So if you see a 3 on the first line, you now know you need to press down on the 3rd fret high E string.
Question 3: What finger do I use?
This is not always made apparent depending on the tablature you are looking it. IF you look underneath the staff, (the 6 lines), you might notice a small number that could be a 1,2,3 or 4. This tells you which finger you need to use.
If you want an easy and fun creative exercise, print out some tab paper, then write a bunch of random numbers on random lines from left to right. Then practice finding those notes on your guitar. by asking yourself the 3 questions; “What number is it”, “what line is it on”, “which finger do I use”.
There are more advanced concepts that show up when you are learning a tab such as different
symbols, numbers being stacked on top of each other. This article is focused on just getting you in the game as a beginner guitar player so you can start learning how to find music to play. In future articles, you will learn how to read rhythms, articulations, harmonics, picking direction, strumming direction, dynamics and a whole bunch of other awesome musical tools. The beginner guitar player should just focus on bite size improvement and getting used to reading the guitar tablature.
About the author: Josh Beetler is the owner and creator of the Guitar School Taunton Guitar Lessons where he teaches his students to massively improve their guitar playing in less time and enjoy the process. If you are in the Southern Massachusetts area and looking for the best guitar lessons, contact Josh Beetler at the above link.
Guitar tab is an alternate system for learning a fretted instrument like guitar, bass, ukulele, etc. Guitar tablature speeds up the learning process because it allows you to postpone or skip reading actually music notation which can be mentally taxing, boring, and slow. Guitar tab is also the predominant language that guitar resources is written in so you will find more content if you read tablature well.
The EASY 3 step process to read tablature.
When you look at a piece of music, and see a bunch of numbers on lines, your brain must go through a 3 step process. Once you have enough repetition, your brain will instantly translate.
Question 1: What number is it?
This question tells you what area of the guitar your fretting hand must move to. So if the tablature says 3, then you know you are dealing with the third fret..
Question 2: What line is it on?
This question identifies the string that you need to play. So if you see a 3 on the first line, you now know you need to press down on the 3rd fret high E string.
Question 3: What finger do I use?
This is not always made apparent depending on the tablature you are looking it. IF you look underneath the staff, (the 6 lines), you might notice a small number that could be a 1,2,3 or 4. This tells you which finger you need to use.
If you want an easy and fun creative exercise, print out some tab paper, then write a bunch of random numbers on random lines from left to right. Then practice finding those notes on your guitar. by asking yourself the 3 questions; “What number is it”, “what line is it on”, “which finger do I use”.
There are more advanced concepts that show up when you are learning a tab such as different
symbols, numbers being stacked on top of each other. This article is focused on just getting you in the game as a beginner guitar player so you can start learning how to find music to play. In future articles, you will learn how to read rhythms, articulations, harmonics, picking direction, strumming direction, dynamics and a whole bunch of other awesome musical tools. The beginner guitar player should just focus on bite size improvement and getting used to reading the guitar tablature.
About the author: Josh Beetler is the owner and creator of the Guitar School Taunton Guitar Lessons where he teaches his students to massively improve their guitar playing in less time and enjoy the process. If you are in the Southern Massachusetts area and looking for the best guitar lessons, contact Josh Beetler at the above link.