Reading Guitar and Bass Tablatures

Q. What is tablature?
A. Tablature, or tabs is a form of music notation that anyone can read with little experience with their instrument. Tabs are by-ear, note for note transcriptions of recorded songs that anyone can have access to. Having access to the recording is important as tabs are much more simplified than standard music notation and will usually not tell you things such as note length, which fingers you use to fret which note, and will usually not tell you anything about picking and strumming, etc.

Q. How do I read the tabs?
A. Tabs are written in with each line representing one string on the guitar or bass, usually 6 or 4, respectively. In tablature, the highest line represents the highest (pitch) string. So the "top" string is actually on the bottom when you hold a guitar. If this is confusing, imagine having the guitar strapped on and then flipping it up to your face, you would essentially be looking at the guitar upside down, and the thinnest/highest pitch string would be on top. Trust me, just practice and it gets easier :)

Two more things you should know about tabs.
1) The number displayed is the fret, counting from 0, an open string, and increasing one for every fret -- you start counting from the headstock end, moving towards the body of the instrument.

2) Most tablatures will tell you the tuning of the instrument, with the letter tuning of the string to the left of it. If there is no bar showing tuning, it is either implied to be standard tuning, or will probably be indicated in the introduction to the tab. With that said, lets look at a basic tab – (guitar on left, bass on right)

e|--3----------
B|--0----------
G|--0---------- G|--------------------------
D|--0---------- D|-----------2--3—-2--------
A|--2---------- A|-----2--5-----------5--2--
E|--3---------- E|--3-----------------------

On the left is the open position “G” chord on the guitar, on the right is the first bar of a 12 bar blues pattern, in the key of “G” on the bass. These two examples tell you something very important about tabs – the notes are read left to right, and if they are on top of each other you play them simultaneously.

As mentioned before, the numbers correspond to the fret that you play. On the guitar tab, you play the chord by pressing down the 3rd fret on the low (pitch) string, 2nd fret on the next lowest, open on the next three, and 3rd fret on the highest string.

For the bass tab, play one at a time, the third fret on the lowest (E) string, then the second fret on the second lowest (A), then the 5th fret on that same A string, etc.

Also keep in mind that these are by ear transcriptions, the tabber had to listen to the song to write it down and it is important that you listen to the song to get the timing of the notes.

Q. What other common symbols can be seen on tabs?
A.

x mute
b bend
r release
h hammer on left hand
p pull off left hand
s slide
/ slide up
\ slide down
~ vibrato
(h) harmonic
(ph) pinch harmonic
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Here is an explination for some of the most common tablature symbols:

h - hammer on
p - pull off

With hammer-ons and pull-offs you might find things like these:

G------------------------5h7--------------------
D-----------------5h7---------------------------
A---------5h7-----------------------------------
E---5h7-----------------------------------------

Which would mean play the E string, 5th fret and then slam another finger down onto the 7th fret. Then play the A string, 5th fret and slam a finger onto the 7th fret, etc. No need to strum or pick the note right after the “h” as the act of slamming gives the string more energy.

A “Pull off” is pretty much a backwards hammer:

G------------------------7p5--------------------
D-----------------7p5---------------------------
A---------7p5-----------------------------------
E---7p5-----------------------------------------

For each pull off you only pick the first note of the pair with the right hand - so in this example you would start with one finger on the 7th fret, and one on the 5th. Then pick all the notes on the 7th fret, and lift up that finger leaving the finger on the 5th.

As stated before, you give the string an extra bit of energy when you hammer on or pull off, so you only need to play the first note. It should be noted that it does take a fair amount of finger strength and dexterity to sound a clear tone with this technique.
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/ - slide up
\ - slide down

For a slide you start off plucking the first note and slide on the string up or down to the second. Oftentimes the “slide down“ symbol ( \ ) is never used and the slide up ( / ) is used to indicate any sliding at all. For example:

G|--------
D|--------
A|---3/7--
E|--------

You would play the “A” string, pluck it at the 3rd fret and then, without releasing pressure, slide your finger up the fret board to the 7th fret
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s – slap
p - pop

While an entire tutorial much longer than this could be devoted to the subject of slapping and popping, I will only cover the basic concept here, just to get you started in the right direction.

Slapping is the height of percussive playing on the bass guitar. This style is mostly associated with Funk playing, but most famously combined with Punk by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and later brought into Metal by bassists such as Fieldy of Korn. Slapping involves hitting a string, usually the E or A string, with the side of your thumb. Your hand should be resting parallel to the strings, and the whole motion is made by the rotation of your forearm, so as to swing your thumb and bounce back in a clean motion.

Be sure to bounce your thumb back quickly so as not to dampen the sound. To "pop" a string, place your first (index) finger of your slapping hand part way under the string (just enough to grab it), pull the string out lightly and then let it pop back against the fret board. Keep your hand in the same relaxed position we talked about last time. Keep your first finger just stiff enough to pull the string out. Once you get comfortable with those techniques and produce a nice, clean sound, try this octave slapping patter:

G|---------------------------
D|-----2-----3-----4-----5--
A|---------------------------
E|--0-----1-----2-----3-----
S P S P S P S P

The slap and pop can be combined into one efficient movement. When your thumb comes crashing down on the string, simultaneously slip your index finger under the string you wish to pop and as your hand bounces back pull on the string to pop it. Also experiment with muting with your left hand to shorten the sound of the slap or pop.