how to read guitar tab
If you want to learn to play guitar, then it is important that you learn how to read guitar tab. If you are not able to read this kind of music, in time you will not be able to understand what you are playing. You also will not be able to advance and grow in the music that you want to play.
What is Tab?
The guitar tablature (tab) is the easiest way to learn to read guitar music and play the guitar. In the early day of guitar, the tab was used to show exactly where the fingers should be placed when playing certain notes on the guitar. The six lines have numbers (or letters) to represent the different frets.
Recognizing Tab
The word TAB is usually placed at the beginning of the line to distinguish it from the rest of a musical staff. The lines will of course, represent the six strings on the guitar with the first line being the first string.
Numbers
If you see a “0” it stands for an open string. This means you should play the first string with your right hand but do nothing with your left hand. The “1” stands for the first fret. You should put your finger behind the first fret of the same string and play the note. A vertical line marks off the measures.
Rhythm
The length of individual notes is represented by having a different symbol for each length. There are also symbols that represent rests. This will help you understand and find your rhythm. A dot that is placed after any note increases its length by half.
When you have learned to read these tabs, to count beats properly, to hold each note for the correct length and to play dotted notes and melodies, you will be ready to move on to longer pieces and actual songs. You will learn to play chords and then you ca put those chords together and actually be playing songs
Finding Guitar Tabs
You can find guitar tabs for many popular songs of varying levels of difficulty. You may at first want to get guitar tabs of easy chords and work your way up as you advance. You will learn to play chords and arpeggios in tab. By working with familiar songs, it will be easier for you to tell if you are getting it right or not. If you do not know what the song is supposed to correctly sound like, it will be harder to learn.