How to read guitar tab: strings, frets, and the symbols for hammer-ons, bends and slides

Tablature, or tab, is the notation most guitarists actually use. It tells you where to put your fingers rather than which pitch to play, which is why it is quick to read and why it needs a few conventions for everything a staff would show.

Lines and numbers

Six lines, one per string. The top line is the thinnest string, high e; the bottom line is the thick low E. A number on a line is the fret to press on that string, with 0 meaning the open string. Numbers stacked vertically are played together as a chord. Reading left to right is reading in time.

   G           C
   
e|---------------|---------------|
B|---------3-----|---------1-----|
G|-----0---------|-----0---------|
D|---------------|---------------|
A|---------------|---3-----------|
E|-3-------------|---------------|

Timing

Plain tab does not show note lengths well, which is why TabFollower draws it on a grid: each bar is divided into sixteenths, and a note's position in the bar is exactly where it is played. Scrolling tab makes this concrete, because the playhead reaches each number at the moment the note is due.

Technique symbols

• h hammer-on: sound the note by tapping the fretting finger down, without picking.
• p pull-off: the reverse, flicking a finger off to sound a lower fret.
• s slide: pick the first note and slide the finger to the second.
• b bend: push the string sideways to raise the pitch. A half bend raises one fret, a full bend two.
• ~ vibrato: a quick, regular wobble of the pitch.
• pm palm mute: rest the edge of the picking hand on the strings at the bridge for a chunky, short sound.

In TabFollower these are drawn on the tab, and the app scores a hammer-on, pull-off or slide by the pitch it ends on, since an iPad can hear the note but not how your fingers made it. A bend counts when it reaches the pitch it bends to.

Time signatures

Most songs are in 4/4: four beats to the bar. 3/4 has three, the waltz feel; 6/8 has two groups of three quick notes, the shuffle feel in a lot of folk and blues. The count-in matches the meter, so listen for how many clicks you get.

More guides: How to practise electric guitar on an iPad with an iRig · Practising lead guitar with a backing band that waits for you · Guitar practice songs written by AI for your level, strings and frets. Or browse the free songs.