How Do U Read Guitar Tabs? How to use them as a tool ... not a crutch.

Let's get started ...

Tablature is a way of indicating the positioning of notes and fingering on the guitar fretboard.

There are 6 tab lines representing 6 strings on the guitar. (The 6th string is the thickest, the 1st string is the thinnest.)
They are as follows:

1st Fret, 1st string then
7th Fret, 3rd string, then
8th Fret, 2nd string, then
2nd Fret, 4th string, then
12th Fret, 6th string

h - hammer on
p - pull off
b - bend string up
r - release bend
/ - slide up
\ - slide down
v - vibrato (sometimes written as ~)
t - right hand tap
x - play 'note' with heavy damping

When you see all numbers in a line one after another ... it means you play the entire chord using all strings.

When you see tabs that have "h" .... it means to do a "Hammer On" from the 7th fret to the 9th fret and again for the 10th fret to the 12th fret.

When you see other tabs that have "p" ... it means to do a "Pull Off" from the 9th fret to the 7th fret and again for the 12th fret to the 10th fret.

When you see other tabs that have "b" ... it means strike the string 5 on the 7th fret, then bend the note up so that it sounds the same as the note played on the 9th fret and then strike string 5 on the 10 fret and bend up to the note on the 12 fret.

h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (release immediately if no number after r)
/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
- natural harmonic
[n] - artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
\n - tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
<> - volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash

In recent years there's been a lot of controversy over the legal position of free tablature online, as many guitar tab websites provide tabs free of charge without holding the right to publish musical works, and not paying the original songwriters royalties. In 2005, distributing free tabs copyrighted music using the internet was considered illegal by the music industry in the United States.

In 2006, an unprecedented legal move was taken by the Music Publishers' Association (MPA), initiating legal action against tablature websites that featured interpretations of songs and music. The MPA had been pushing for websites offering free tabs to be shut down. Several websites that offer free tablature have already taken their tablature offline until a solution or compromise is found.

One of the proposed solutions is an alternative compensation system, which allows the widespread reproduction of digital copyrighted works while still paying songwriters and copyright owners. In addition, there are now a number of "legal" services offering guitar tablature that have been licensed by music publishers.

These actions by the MPA should give aspiring guitarsists even more incentive to learn guitar without relying on tablature. Music is in your ear, not on a piece of paper or pc screen.