Help Sections:
Basic Guitar Tab Reading
Guitar Tab Notations
Guitar Tab Effects
Basic Guitar Tab Reading
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The most basic thing you need to know to read these tabs are the way the chords are portrayed.
Here is how the strings are represented:
e - high e string
B -
G -
D -
A -
E - low e string
To indicate what fret is being pushed, the number of the fret is written on the line of the string.
If the song requires the 3rd fret on the A string be pushed it would be written:
e ---
B ---
G ---
D ---
A -3-
E ---
So to build a chord, the frets are stacked on top of each other.
A standard C chord would be written:
e -0-
B -1-
G -0-
D -2-
A -3-
E ---
Any string that is not used has a hyphen ( - ) in place of a fret number.
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Guitar Tab Notations
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The most common standard notations are repeating and having different endings.
Dynamics that are important are staccatos, mutes, and pick slides.
Other important notations are hammering on, pulling off, bending, sliding, and implied notes.
For repeats, I use the standard musical notation which is two vertical bars with a colon before them.
In the guitar tabs, these look like this:
Intro of Oh Blah Blah (clean):
e -3----3---4--x-7--x--3-x-3-x-3- ||
B -3----5---6--x-7--x--5-x-5-x-5- ||
G -4----3---4--x-5--x--3-x-3-x-3- .||
D -3----5---6--x-7--x--5-x-5-x-5- .||
A -5----3---4--x-5--x--3-x-3-x-3- ||
E -3-----------.----.----.-.-.-.- ||
^---- This is the repeat sign.
In traditional music notation, this means repeat only once.
In the guitar tabs, however, sometimes these may mean repeat several times.
And many of these times, the last ending is different. This is written as:
Verses of New Kid (clean):
1st ending------i last ending-----i
e -------------------------------|--------------- || e -0-0-0-0-x\--
B -------------------------------|--------------- || B -0-0-0-0--x\-
G -------------------------------|--------------- .|| G -0-0-0-0-x\--
D -------5-----------------------|--------------- .|| D -0-0-0-0--x\-
A -6-6-6---6-------5---------3---|-x-3-3-4-4-5-5- || A -x-x-x-x-x\--
E -----------6-6-6---6-4-4-4---4-|--------------- || E -4-4-4-4--x\-
pm............................................_| OD............_|
The endings last from the horizontal bar under the label, going until the i at the end.
When there is just an ending to a section, sometimes two vertical bars are written:
2nd ending -----i (from Speed Freak's choruses, clean)
e -3--0-----/- ||
B -3--0-----/- ||
G -4--1-----/- ||
D -3--0--h2-/- ||
A -5--2-----/- ||
E -3--0-----/- ||
^---- Ending bars.
When "2nd ending" is specified, that means the repeat was only once.
When "last ending" is specified, that means the repeat was several times.
A staccato is when a note/chord is played very short.
In standard musical notation, these are written as a dot above/below the note.
In the guitar tabs, they are written with a period:
Intro of Not Quite Punk (clean):
1st ending-----------i
e -x--7--x--7--x--7--x--7--10--x--10-|-x--5--x-5-x--5- ||
B -x--9--x--9--x--7--x--7--10--x--10-|-x--5--x-5-x--5- ||
G -x--9--x--9--x--8--x--8--11--x--11-|-x--6--x-6-x--6- .||
D ----.-----.-----.-----.---.------.-|----.----.----.- .||
A -----------------------------------|---------------- ||
E -----------------------------------|---------------- ||
The periods under the chords mean that each chord is to be played short and quick.
Muting is when you place your palm across the strings to create a percussive sound.
Muting is commonly used, and is represented by an x.
Look at the clip from Not Quite Punk above for an example of how mutes are written.
Pick sliding is when the pick is dragged across the strings.
There aren't usually set strings for these, but the low E, A, and D are usually used.
These are written as:
2nd ending-----------i (of the intro to Not Quite Punk, listed above, overdrive)
e -5-x\---------------
B -5---\---x\---------
G -5-x\-\----\---x\---
D -.---\-\-x\-\----\--
A ------\----\-\-x\-\-
E -------\----\----\-\
Bending a string is when you pull the string at a certain fret so that its pitch becomes that of a higher one.
These are written with a b:
e -----
B -8b9-
G -----
D -----
A -----
E -----
Sliding is when you slide your finger on the fretboard from one fret to the next.
These are written with a \ for sliding down, or a / for sliding up:
e -----------
B -8/9-------
G -------5\3-
D -----------
A -----------
E -----------
Hammering onto a string is when you go from a lower fret to higher one without ending the first note,
ie. all in one "pick." These are written with an h:
e -----
B -----
G -4h6-
D -----
A -----
E -----
Pulling off a string is going from a higher fret to a lower one without ending the first note,
ie. all in one "pick." These are written with a p:
e -----
B -----
G -6p4-
D -----
A -----
E -----
There is no sliding or bending in either hammering or pulling.
Implied notes are fingered, but not necessarily played.
These are written in parentheses:
last ending----------------------------i (from bridge of New Kid, overdrive)
e --------------------------4-4---/\--
B -----------------(4)(4)-4-4-4-x/--\-
G --------(5)(5)(5)-5--5--5-5-5---/\--
D -4-4-4-4-4--4--4--4--4--4-4-4-x/--\-
A -4-4-4-4-4--4--4--4--4--4-4-4---/\--
E -2-2-2-2-2--2--2--2--2--2-2-2-x/--\-
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Guitar Tab Effects
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The main guitar effects I use are the clean guitar sound, overdrive and palm muting.
At the beginning of each section tabbed, overdrive or clean is specified.
When only a section of clean guitar needs to be overdriven, it is written:
Verse from Not Quite Punk (clean):
e -7-7-x-7-x-7-x-7- || ---------------------------
B -9-9-x-9-x-9-x-9- || ---------------------------
G -9-9-x-9-x-9-x-9- .|| ---------------------------
D ----------------- .|| -9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-
A ----------------- || -9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-
E ----------------- || -7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-
OD.........................._|
The OD stands for "overdrive," and everything above the dots are what is played with the effect.
Palm muting is written in much the same way:
Intro from New Kid(clean):
e ------------------------------------------- ||
B ------------------------------------------- ||
G ------------------------------------------- .||
D -------5-------------------5---6-8-6h8p6-5- .||
A -6-6-6---6-------5---6-6-6---6------------- ||
E -----------6-6-6---6----------------------- ||
pm.............................._|
The pm stands for "palm mute," and everything above the dots are what is played with the effect.
Clean guitar is generally specified at the beginning.
But if there is a section of clean in an overdrive section it would be written:
Solo from Jigglypuff (overdrive):
e -------------------------------------------------------------------------4-x-4-x-4-x-4-
B -11b12b11-9--------------------------------------------------------------5-x-5-x-5-x-5-
G ------------11-\8-8h9p8-9-11---(11b/)-\--------------------------------x-6-x-6-x-6-x-6-
D -----------------------------------------------------------------------x-6-x-6-x-6-x-6-
A -----------------------------------------------------------------------x-4-x-4-x-4-x-4-
E ----------------------------------------4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--x---------------
pm..........................._| CL..........._|
The cl stands for "clean," and everything above the dots are what is played with the effect.
Other effects (notated like CL, pm, and OD):
The Chorus effect (Secret Agent Man, Never Bee) would be written as a CH.
The Wah effect (SkaRiot) would be written as WAH.
The Delay effect (Accusations, New Kid) would be written DL.
The Shaking effect (Fallen, Infant Dialogue) would be written as SH.
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