FENDER PLAYERS CLUB HOW TO READ GUITAR TABLATURE

Guitar Tablature
Tablature is the notation used to show the guitar parts for a piece of music. There are several different styles
of tablature. The style described here is the one used by many music publishers today, including Hal Leonard,
Cherry Lane, Berklee Press, Musicians Institute, and Centerstream Books.

Just like standard notation, guitar tablature is divided into measures that include a set number of beats per
measure. However, while standard notation uses notes written on a staff, tablature uses fret numbers
written on a grid that represents all the six strings of a guitar.

3
5 3
5 7 5 5 4
7 7 5 5

The top line represents the first string, or high E, while the bottom line represents the sixth, or low E string.
The numbers indicate which fret to play on the given string, with a zero (0) indicating the open string.

In the example above, we see the fourth string fretted at the 7th fret, followed by the third string fretted at
frets 5, 7, and then 5 again, and so forth.

When more than one string is played at the same time, the numbers are lined up like the 5-5-5 and 3-3-4-5
in the example.

You'll also notice the symbols and , which mean "wide vibrato" and "hammer-
on/pull-off." More on this later.

The main drawback to using fret numbers is that the numbers give you no indication of the value of each
note -- that is, the length of time that note is held while being played. While standard notation employs half
notes, quarter notes, sixteenth notes, and notes of other values, as well as rests that tell you when not to play,
guitar tablature simply has numbers, plus figures that tell you to use special techniques such as sliding,
hammering, pulling off, or bending.

For this reason, it's very helpful to place guitar tablature just below the standard notation for a piece of music.
This way, you can see the note values and rhythm of the music as you follow the tablature. Even if you don't
read music, you can still follow along with the notes and measures.
 Symbols in Tablature
Because so much of guitar playing is about technique, it's very helpful to show all the important techniques
that the player used in performing the piece. In guitar for popular music, the most common are bends -- that
is, when you bend the string as you play it.

BENDS:

HALF-STEP BEND: Strike the note and bend WHOLE-STEP BEND: Strike the note and GRACE NOTE the note and SLIGHT BEND: Strike the
up 1/2 step. bend up one step. immediately bend up as indicated. note and bend up 1/4 step.

1 1/2 1/4
1/2

9 9 9
9

BEND AND RELEASE: Strike the note and PRE-BEND: Bend the note as indicated, PRE-BEND AND RELEASE: Bend the note UNISON BEND: Strike the two notes
bend up as then back to then strike it. as Strike it and release the bend and bend the lower note up
the note. Only the first note is back to the original note. to the pitch of the .
struck.

1 1 1
1/2

7
9 (9)
9 9 (9) 9

Other techniques, which fall under the category of legato, include vibrato, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, trills
and tapping:

VIBRA A The string is vibrated by rapidly WIDE T

TO: pitch is varied to a HAMMER-ON: Strike the first note PULL-OFF: Place both on notes
bending the note with the greater degree with the fretting with one , then e to be sounded. and
fretting hand. hand. (on the same with another finger by without the finger off to sound
fretting it without picking. the second (lower) note.

9 9 9 11
11 11 9

SHIFT as legato slide, except TRILL: Ve alternate between the T “ ”) the fret indicated
then the or the second note struck. notes hammering with finger
e on and to by fret
is not struck
struck. hand.

7 9 7 9 7 (9) 12 9
 More tablature symbols
There are also symbols to tell you when to use different kinds of harmonics, scrapes, rakes, muting, vibrato
bar techniques, and other picking techniques:

NATURAL
A
ATURAL HARMONIC: Strike the note while PINCH The is fretted HARP HARMONIC: The note is fretted y PICK The of pick is
the touches the is by the rubbed down (or producing
directly over the fret indicated. adding the pick ’s the a scratchy sound.
the the pick e
normal pick attack. hand’s or assists by the
appropriate string.
8va

Harm. P.H. H.H. P.S.

12 5 7 (19)

MUFFLED per sound is PALM

P The note is partially muted RAKE: Drag the pick across the strings TREMOLO PICKING: The note is picked as
produced by laying the fret hand across the by the pick hand the indicated a motion. rapidly and continuously as possible.
string(s) without depressing, and striking string(s) just before the bridge.
them with the pick hand.

rake
P.M.
5
X 5 7
X X
X
0 0 0 0

ARPEGGIATEA : Play the notes of the chord

ATE VIBRATO
A BAR DIVE AND RETURN: The
ATO VIBRATO
A BAR SCOOP: Depress the bar just
ATO VIBRATO
A BAR DIP: Strike the note and then
ATO
indicated by quickly rolling them from pitch of the note or chord is dropped a before the note, then quickly immediately drop a number of
bottom to top. of then release the bar. steps, then release back to the original
returned to the pitch. pitch.
-1/2 -1/2 -1/2

w/ bar
w/ bar
w/ bar -1/2 -1/2 -1/2
5
5 4 5 7 7 7 7
0 (0)

-1

Navigating your way through the music

D.S. al Coda
C • Go back to the sign (
then until • Repeat measures between signs.
the measure marked To ,” then skip
to the section labelled “Coda.”
1 2
D.C. al Fine • Go back to the beginning of the song and • When a section has different
play until the measure “ ” (end). endings, play the only the first
time and the ending only the
second time.
More Tablature Symbols and Conventions
A D E G
6 6
Rhythm Slashes open 3fr

Rhythm slashes are written above the staff, and show you
the strumming pattern to play. Strum the chords
according to the rhythm indicated. A round notehead in
the rhythm slashes means to play a single note instead of
a chord: in this example, you play the notes E and G on
the 6th string, open and 3rd frets.

Accents Picking/Strumming

• Downstroke
(accent) • Accentuate note (play it louder)
• Upstroke
(accent) • Accentuate with great intensity

(staccato) • Play the note short

Abbreviations and Directions

tacet Instrument is silent (drops out).

w/slide Use a slide (bottleneck).

w/o slide Use fingers instead of slide.

** Chord symbols reflect implied tonality. Chords shown are not actually played in this version, but are
provided so that you can play chords if you wish.

Parentheses (8) Numbers in parentheses indicate a note that is either a) sustained (held over) from the
previous measure, b) sustained while another note is subsequently played, or c) a barely-audible
"ghost"note.
Examples of Tablature
In the following example, note the symbols for "slide" and "vibrato" and how they are played on the audio track.
Also note the tempo ( = 112 ), chord symbols, and how the notes of the standard notation show you the rhythm
of what to play:

AUDIO CLIP
= 112
A B7/A C mi/A B7/A A

A Lydian

7 11 12 11 12 11
7 10 9 7 9 10 12 14
8 9 6 9 8 9
7 9 9
6 7

In the second example, you'll see some muffled strings (indicated by Xs), upstroke and downstroke symbols,
and some additional directions: N.C. (No Chord), B Verse (the B section of the piece, which is the Verse), and
below the tablature, there are numbers telling you which fingers to use in fretting the notes (1=index,
2=middle, 3=ring, 4=pinky). Also note the direction "let ring," which tells you to let that note ring until the
end of the dashed line.

B Verse
AUDIO CLIP
N.C.(D) (C) (G) (D) (C) (G)
Rhy. Fig. 2 End Rhy. Fig. 2

let ring let ring let ring let ring let ring let ring

3 3
7 5 5 3 7 7 5 3
7 7 5 5 4 X X 7 7 7 5 4 4
7 5 5 X X 7 7 5 5 5
5 5 3 X X 5 5 5 3 5 5 5
3 3 3 3 3
1 1 3 3 3 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 2 1 3

There are two other important things to note in this example. First, notice the repeat signs, which tell you to
repeat the music between them. Second, you'll notice the directions "Rhy. Fig. 2" and "End Rhy. Fig. 2".

This tells you that this section is a rhythm figure. Often, a guitar part is repeated several times in a song, so
instead of writing it out over and over again, it is presented as a rhythm figure. Within the piece, you'll be
directed when to play the rhythm figure -- simply play it until it says to end.