Guitar Tabs for the Beginner
If you're just learning how to play the guitar, chances are, you are either teaching yourself how to play, or possibly have taken a couple informal lessons from a friend.
Guitar players are a unique group of people, and as a general rule, they don't want to learn how to read music, they just want to play!
Guitarists have created their own method of sharing music so others can just play along with their favorite songs by creating guitar tablature, or guitar tabs. Guitar tabs simply show you which strings to play, and which frets to play.
Guitar players are a unique group of people, and as a general rule, they don't want to learn how to read music, they just want to play!
Guitarists have created their own method of sharing music so others can just play along with their favorite songs by creating guitar tablature, or guitar tabs. Guitar tabs simply show you which strings to play, and which frets to play.
How to Read Guitar Tabs
An Easy Lesson for the Beginner
A guitar tab staff has 6 horizontal lines, each one representing a string on the guitar. The bottom line of the staff represents your lowest "E" string, the second line from the bottom represents your "A" string, etc.Notice that there are numbers on the lines (strings). The numbers simply represent the fret the tab is telling you to play. For example, in the illustration above, the tab is telling you to play the third string and the seventh fret.
When the number "0" is used in a guitar tab, you simply play that string with no frets. That's called an "open string."
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Playing Chords
How to Read a Guitar Chord
When a tab displays a series of numbers, stacked vertically, it is simply telling you to play all these notes at the same time.The guitar tab above tells you that you should hold down the notes for an E major chord (second fret on fifth string, second fret on fourth string, first fret on third string) and strum all six strings at once.
Problems with Guitar Tabs
Guitar Tabs Can be Confusing for the Beginner!
As I've searched for beginner guitar tabs for myself and my daughter, I've noticed a few quirky things relating to tabs.
First, guitar tabs can seem to be written "upside down." Guitar tabs tell you that the lowest "E" string, which is shown on the bottom line of the tab, is actually played by most players with the top string while playing since the low (bigger) strings for most players are on the "up" side of the guitar.
Then, as I find tabs on the internet, some guitar tabs are actually written with the low (bigger) strings denoted as the top lines on the tab, so I need to reverse everything while I play.
There is also no accounting for the rythem of the song. Playing a song you haven't heard before is extremely difficult using guitar tabs.
First, guitar tabs can seem to be written "upside down." Guitar tabs tell you that the lowest "E" string, which is shown on the bottom line of the tab, is actually played by most players with the top string while playing since the low (bigger) strings for most players are on the "up" side of the guitar.
Then, as I find tabs on the internet, some guitar tabs are actually written with the low (bigger) strings denoted as the top lines on the tab, so I need to reverse everything while I play.
There is also no accounting for the rythem of the song. Playing a song you haven't heard before is extremely difficult using guitar tabs.
Beginner Guitar Tabs
Where to Find Them
I've had the best luck with the guitar tabs at TabCrawler. They don't have popups/registration, etc., and seem to have the best easily-readable guitar tabs.
See my recommendations for easy guitar songs for beginners HERE
If you would like some links to FREE beginner guitar lessons, visit my Beginner Guitar Lesson Online page.
See my recommendations for easy guitar songs for beginners HERE
If you would like some links to FREE beginner guitar lessons, visit my Beginner Guitar Lesson Online page.
Here's my favorite link:
by BeginnerGuitar
My daughter and I have been looking for beginner guitar lessons online, and want to share our findings with other beginning guitarists. (more)
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