What Are Easy Guitar Tabs?

Throughout history different cultures have utilized different methods of recording and sharing their music. Over time, however, the western world developed a standard format for recording notes and rhythms that all musicians could read – this method is most commonly called standard notation. For many Western musicians, standard notation is the only way to record the notes and rhythms of a song so that it can be duplicated by another musician. By using different symbols to represent different durations of notes and by placing these symbols on the lines of the musical staff, musicians can share their songs with other musicians. Not all musicians read standard notation, however, so other means were needed to communicate the way a song was played.

For guitarists, this means was accomplished through guitar tablatures – a system which uses six horizontal lines to represent the six strings of the guitar and numbers printed on those lines to represents frets on the neck of the guitar. For beginning guitarists, guitar tablature looks complicated but with a little practice they are easy to read.

If you want to learn how to read guitar tablatures, you should begin by familiarizing yourself with and playing some easy guitar tabs. An easy guitar tab should consist of single notes composing a simple melody; save the chords and more difficult melodies for later. When reading easy guitar tabs, know that each line represents a string on the guitar. The bottom line represents the lowest E string and the top line is for the highest E string. The numbers which are printed along the lines are meant to show which fret to play on each string. For example, a number two printed on the second line from the bottom suggests that you should play the second fret on the fifth, or A, string. A “0” printed on any line indicates that an open string should be played. Practice is the key to learning to play easy guitar tabs – the more you read and the more you play them the more quickly you will begin to recognize notes and your fingers will begin to move automatically as your brain quickly makes the connection between numbers and frets. In less time than you imagine you will be ready to move on from simple guitar tabs to more advanced tabs, acquiring new skills and mastering new techniques as you go along. Before you know it you will have graduated from being a beginner guitarist to being a professional!

Learn to play the guitar with online video lessons

Back to Easy Guitar Tabs

Related Articles About Easy Guitar Tabs

Filed under Easy Guitar Tabs Articles by #