How to read tablature? How to read guitar tablature?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Every aspiring guitarist wants to play their favorite song. Because of this, perhaps, many take the tool in hand. However, choosing the parts yourself is a very difficult task for a beginner, especially if you do not know the notes. Here tablature comes to the rescue - simple and understandable.

How to read tablature?

These forms of musical notation are purely guitar, they do not exist, say, for the piano, since the main way to convey information about a piece of music here is digital fret notation. Below we will look at how to read tablature correctly. And it is immediately worth noting that this is the most simplified way of transmitting musical symbols, which everyone can master.

Highlights

And yet, how to read tablature? To begin with, it should be understood that this form of musical notation has never been the main means of reading music, and never will be. All professional musicians, including guitarists, play only from notes or just by ear. Tablature will only help the beginner to better navigate in finding the right notes and the principles of construction.chords and intervals. It is very simple and convenient, but far from perfect, it is not possible to show many musical elements that are present in the notes. You should keep this in mind during training, and, in addition to using tablature, try to take time to gradually master musical notation.

Pros and cons

The main advantage of this form of musical notation is simplicity and convenience. You don't have to think about where which note is and which string to press. To understand how to read tablature, you just need to know the numbers and remember some characters. However, there are quite a few drawbacks, the most important of which is the lack of note duration. Of course, with their different lengths, the numbers will be at different distances, this will give an approximate idea of the duration, but it will not form a clear picture. Then how to read tablature correctly? The answer is simple - after listening to this song before, or having the notes or rhythmic pattern of the song at hand. In addition, the tablature may not indicate the time signature, tempo, and many other rather important musical elements.

String placement

The tablature shows six guitar strings, numbers corresponding to fret numbers, and various symbols showing different playing techniques. On the left side you will see six letters. These are Latin notations that may not always be listed in some tablature readers such as Guitar Pro. The picture below is providedtablature for standard guitar tuning. The strings are arranged from top to bottom, at the top is the first - the thinnest and highest sounding string (note E, or E), below - the thickest and lowest, the sixth (also E, but lower by two octaves). Next, the second string is the note si, or B; the third is the note G, or G; the fourth is re, or D; and the fifth - la, or A. You should know the Latin notation, they will not only help you figure out how to read guitar tablature, but also help you read chords.

Basic symbols

Now about the designations themselves. As for the numbers, everything is clear here - they correspond to the number of frets. The number 0 is the string in the open position, when no fret is pressed. Number 1 is the first fret, 2 is the second, and so on. When the numbers on the tablature stand together, in one vertical line, this means that they all need to be extracted at the same time. But sometimes there may be other symbols: various crosses, arrows and others. They appear when using various game techniques. A cross, instead of a number, means a muffled sound, in which the fret is not completely clamped - the guitarist onlytouches the string in the right place. Here another disadvantage of tablature appears: the cross itself does not indicate any mode, and you will have to guess where to take it, judging by the rest of the figures on the tablature. An arced up arrow means a string pull, or a band. To remove the band, strike the string and pull it up or down with your left hand. The number at the arrow indicates the interval for which it is necessarypull out the band. If it is ½, you need to tighten the string by half a step, or one fret. The word "full" means pulling up a whole tone, or two frets.

The next symbol is glissando, in other words, sliding. It usually looks like this: (), or like this: (/). As you might have guessed, it means slipping from one fret to another, while the string continues to sound. Glissando can occur in the form --7\2--, which means that you need to hit the string on the seventh fret and move out on the second without muting the string. There is one more symbol - legato, on tablature it is usually denoted by the letters p and h, which means descending and ascending legato, respectively. It looks like --3h5--. To extract it, you need to hit the string on the third fret and put your left finger on the fifth fret, without muffling the string. In addition to all these signs, there are also many others, you can remember them as you learn the game.

Bass tabs

Bass tabs are built on the same principle, only they will not have the top two strings. Down strings can be added, depending on their number on this instrument, as well as those elements that are used only when playing the bass guitar. For example, a blind hit, which is denoted by the letter S. Blind is a special technique in which the musician hits the string with his thumb so that it hits the neck. Sleep is found mainly on bass tablature and very rarely on simple guitars, while the technique of playing blindon a regular guitar is radically different. Well, in general, bass tablature is no different from ordinary ones, so the question of how to learn to read this type of tablature should not arise.

Guitar Pro

Finding any tablature is easy enough, many are posted directly on special sites. However, there is a very handy program in which you can not only read tablature, but easily write them yourself. It is called Guitar Pro, all beginners and already skilled guitarists are recommended to install it on their personal computer. With this program, you will no longer have the question of how to read tablature. It is simple and easy to use, very quickly absorbed, has many functions. In it, along with tabs, there are also notes of the composition, which means that there will be no problem of determining their duration. In addition, you can listen to tablature directly in the program thanks to specially pre-recorded midi-files. At the same time, in addition to guitar tablature, Guitar Pro works with notes for piano, for various orchestral instruments, bass guitars, and even with parts for drums. So feel free to write whole symphonies in this wonderful program.

In conclusion

Having mastered all the above principles of building guitar tablature, you will facilitate and speed up your learning. These forms of notation will not give you complete knowledge of musical grammar, they will only help you learn any songs and parts without any problems. In general, this is exactly what they are intended for.tablature. For beginner guitarists, it is recommended to quickly master them and go further in the study of music, and use such forms as an auxiliary instrument.