The Ultimate Guide To Guitar Tabs (Setup, Timing & Examples)

Tabs can be intimidating if you’re new to it. Some are simple with just numbers on some lines, but then you start seeing swiggly lines, x’s, and others and you don’t really know what to do. Don’t worry, I got you.

I haven’t really found a truly detailed guide to tabs and on Facebook groups, I find people regularly asking what this or that means, so I aim for this to be an all in one guide. If you like it, feel free to subscribe or send me a tip on Ko-fi!

Table Of Contents

• The Basics
• Setting Up Your Guitar
• Timing Of Notes
• Music Notation Lesson
• Tab Timing Examples
• Other Tab Notation (Slides, Bends, etc)

The Basics

Compared to reading sheet music which will have notes on a staff and you have to figure out what that note is and then where that note is on your instrument, tabs are super easy! This is because tabs are a visual representation of the notes on a guitar.

“Tabs” are short for tablature. Compared to sheet music that has 5 lines, tabs will have 6 lines. Why? Because a guitar has 6 strings. Each of these lines represent a string on the guitar. If you ever look at tabs for the bass instrument, they will have 4 lines for the same reason.

The line at the bottom of tabs is the 6th string, or thickest string on your guitar, the one that will be closest to your face. The line at the top of the tabs is the 1st string is the thinnest string, the one closest to the floor.

e|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

So when you look at tabs, it should match the way you see it. If you laid your guitar flat on the floor or your lap, it will match the tabs as you can see above.

As for numbers on the tab, this represents the fret you will play on that string. So if you see the number 3 on the 6th line on the tabs, this will be the 3rd fret on your lowest string. If the song is in normal tuning (EADGBE), then that would be G.

If you aren’t familiar with music notes yet, please check out my article on scales and modes. This will greatly help you understand the fretboard, along with everything else in music.

Setting Up Your Guitar

When you start learning a song via tabs, you can’t just jump in. If you don’t set up your guitar properly for the song, it is not going to sound right, even if you are playing the string and fret that it says.

On every piece of tab (unless the creator forgot to add it), it should tell you the tuning of the song. You may see this written at the top (Tuning: EADGBE, Normal Tuning, Drop D, etc) or you will see it on the left side of the tab beside each string. If you don’t see anything, you can assume it is in normal tuning.

If the song is not in normal tuning, you will need to retune your guitar to play the tabs as intended. Depending on the tuning of the tabs, there are sometimes ways to get around it. I won’t get into ittoo much in this article as it can be complex if you’re new to tabs.

But as an example, if the tabs are written in D# tuning, where every string is a semi-tone (1 fret) lower than normal, but you never see “0” anywhere on the tabs, you can still play it in normal tuning! All you have to do is play all the tabs 1 fret lower than written. If you see “5” on the 6th fret, you will play this as “4” instead, and it will match the pitch. Test this out with this easy song when you’re done with this article.

On top of the tuning, you should keep an eye out to see if a “Capo” is needed. A Capo is a simple tool that you will place onto the neck of your guitar, acting like a new nut. Because all the strings are now shorter, the pitch is higher.

Normally, a “0” on the E string would be an E, but if the tab places a Capo on “fret 3”, like the picture above, now a “0” on the E string will actually be a G. If you played tabs that needed a capo without it, your notes will always sound lower than they intended.

Here are some examples of what to look out for:

Last thing to know is that if notes are stacked ontop of each other, that means they are played at the same time. This could be a simple dyad, or it could be a chord, like a power chord, open chord, or barre chord. If the numbers are not stacked, then they are played after each other in sequence. You are reading the tabs from left to right.

Timing Of Notes

So now that we know what the lines and numbers mean, let’s pay attention to the ‘when’ of notes.

With some basic written tabs, there may be no way to tell the time as the notes are simply written out.

Some will make it a bit easier to tell when to play by adding lyrics, but you will still need to be familiar with the song to be able to play it the way it was intended.

There are also tabs that put the notes into bars and measures, which make it a little easier to figure out when to play it, but it’s still impossible to know exactly when to play each note and for how long, like the example below.

You may get lucky and find the odd tab where the creator went out of their way to add the timing to the notes by adding the beat to the tabs. This way, you should be able to play it without hearing the song. We’ll go into why in the music notation section in a little bit.

Thankfully, with new technology, there are sites like Ultimate Guitar and Songsterr, along with software like Guitar Pro, that allow musicians to input the note into tabs, like they would on sheet music. You can then hear the tabs being played back, and it should sound pretty accurate to the song.

Songsterr is my free tab of choice since they visualize the note values, making it easier for me to see and figure out strumming patterns without having to play the tabs out loud. However, I understand that many guitarists can’t read music, so it makes no difference to them.

In the music notation section, I will go into detail on why this is actually an amazing thing to learn and why it will help you in general as a musician.

The reason I can tell exactly how to play the Songsterr example without listening to it is because of note values.

When music is normally written on sheets, they don’t just put it on the staff so you know what note/pitch to play, but the notes are written in a certain way that allows you to tell how long you hold each note for. We’ll get into that below.

Music Notation Lesson

Music is all about rhythm. Without rhythm, it’s just noise or poetry, or something else. Music requires a beat, and a beat creates a groove. It’s what gets our heads bobbing and our feet moving. Thus, when music is written, it is done so in a formal manner that allows all musicians to read it and know not just what to play, but when to play it, even if they’ve never heard the song before.

At the beginning of a staff, the 5 lines where notes are placed, you will see some kind of clef. The most popular being the treble clef, the curly figure below. The treble clef tends to contain higher notes where the melody of the song is written. The next common clef is the bass clef, and I’m sure you can guess what instrument will utilize that. But as a guitarist, you will usually be playing with the treble clef due to the range of pitches for the instrument.

After the clef, you will see 2 numbers, one on top of the other, like in division. This is called the Time Signature, and it should not be neglected. The top number tells you how many beats are in a bar. When you are counting the beat, this is what you will count up to. 

If the top number is 4, you will say: “1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 1 – 2 – 3 -4”. If the number is  6, you will say: “1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6”. If the number is 3, you will say “1 – 2 – 3 – 1 – 2 – 3”

At the very top of complex sheet music, near the time signature, you will see a little note and a number. This tells you the BPM (Beats Per Minute) of the song. When setting your metronome, you will input this number. Each click will represent the time of these beats.

The bottom number of the time signature will tell you what kind of note is considered 1 beat. There are various note values to choose from:

As a guitarist, you will usually see these 5 the most: Whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note. However, note that it can continue to be divided by two.

The whole note has no ‘stem’ which is the term of the long stick coming out of the notes. Eighth notes and beyond, they will have a ‘flag’, one added each time that note is further divided. Remember this for when we go into tab notation.

A whole note is 1/1. Just like in math and division, every note after is divided by two. So a half note is 1/2, a quarter is 1/4, eighth is 1/8, and sixteenth is 1/16. 

The bottom number of the Time Signature will align with the number on the bottom half of the note fraction. If the bottom number is 2, then the half note (1/2) gets a beat. If the number is 4, then the quarter note (1/4) gets a beat. If the number was 8, then the eighth note (1/8) gets the beat, and so on.

The very famous 4/4 time signature will mean there are 4 beats in 1 bar (1 – 2 – 3 – 4), and the quarter note gets a beat. Naturally, 4 quarters make a whole, and everything else is easy to calculate when working with this time signature.

While 2/2 and 8/8 is ‘technically’ the same when it comes to note values, and you just need to change the BPM, the western world is used to counting to 4. Even if we say 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & to makeup the beats between, and that is technically counting eighth notes, we are focused on the numbers. It is what it is. The writer of the song determines their preferred time signature at the end of the day.

On that note, if you are in 4/4 and the song only contains whole, half, or quarter notes, you can just say “1 2 3 4”. If eighth notes are involved, say “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &”. If 16th notes are involved, then say “1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a”. If it ever goes into 32nds….you’re on your own haha

You can be creative when filling up a bar. In 4/4 time, you could use 4 quarter notes, or 2 half notes, or 1 half and 2 quarters notes, or 2 quarter notes and 4 eighth notes, etc. All that matters is that the bar is filled completely with either notes, or rests. You should not be short, nor should you overfill a bar.

The rests have the same names and work the same with timing. The only difference being, no sound will be made. The names are: whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, eighth rest and sixteenth rest. Just like with notes, you will continue to add a flag if it is divided further.

In complex guitar tab, notes will be represented by the number, and a stem below it to tell you how long the note is. Rests will be written the same way above since no number is present. Written tab will never (or almost never?) write out rests. It’s up to you to figure out when to rest. If a bar/measure is empty (no numbers) you are resting.

Tab Timing Examples

Let’s look at some examples of tabs so you can see it in more detail and know how to read and understand it’s timing:

Here are a few others for you to see and figure out the timing on your own. They are all in 4/4 timing. Figure out how long each note is by it’s stem/flag, and how long you will hold it for when counting beats.

Other Tab Notation

Holding Notes

One of the most common notation is a curve (facing down) that are not connected to a number, or may be connected to the same number, sometimes in brackets. These simply let you know that you are holding the note and allowing it to ring out. If the note carries on to the next bar/measure, this let’s you know that you are holding the same note from the first bar, as opposed to playing a second note.

Muting

While rests represent nothing is being played, muting means you are ‘kinda’ playing the note, just quieter or acoustically (percussion).

If you see P.M. above a part, that means you are playing the notes as usual, but you will rest your palm (more like the side) of your picking hand on the strings near the bridge. Lightly enough that the notes don’t ring out as loudly, but you can still kinda hear what notes you are playing.

If you see XXXs where the numbers would be on the tab, this means you are muting with your fretting hand. Some refer to this as a “dead note”. I find this is usually done while playing chords/rhythm for an acoustic effect. You have two options, and you can choose which is easier to do at the moment. I’ll tell you what I will do.

I find that in most cases, you will see muted strums when playing power or barre chords. Since your fingers are already touching all the strings, all you have to do is lift your fingers up gently, so you are still touching the strings. This means they won’t ring out like an open chord, nor will you hear them like you were fretting down on them. Here are some examples:

In the odd case you were playing an open chord (0s were played along with other fretted notes) prior to the X section, you may have to adjust and put your whole fretting hand over the strings so they won’t ring out. If you tried lightly lifting them like the example below, there will still be open strings left untouched that can ring out.

Some songs really love their muting that you’ll see a combination of Palm Muting and Fret-Hand Muting, like clip below.

Slides

Slides are pretty easy to spot out. You will see a straight line between two numbers. Some tabs will have a straight line going up or down, depending on if you’re sliding to a higher or lower note.

If you see a slide down but no following numbers, it means you slide down (sometimes all the way to the nut) and lift off so the note fades out. Similarly, if you see a slide up before a number but you can slide up from any number, like a fade in or introduction.

Hammer-On/Pull-Off

Hammer-ons and pull-offs are similar to slides, in that you will see a curved line or bump between two notes. And compared to the notation for holding notes, these will have a curve facing upwards.

If the second note is higher, then it is assumed to be a hammer-on. If the second note is lower, you will be pulling off. If you see 3 numbers, but 2 are the same, you are doing a hammer-on-pull-off-hammer-off combo, or vice versa.

For written notation, between the two numbers, you will see a ‘h’ for hammer-on and a ‘p’ for pull-off.

Tapping

Usually, hammer-ons and pull-offs only happen between two numbers, so if you ever see 3 or more numbers clustered together with an upward curve, depending on the distance, it could be an HO/PO, or it may be tapping.

In examples like the ones below, there are quite a few notes in a short amount of time (1 measure), so using both hands would allow you to play faster. Thus, if you see something like this, it’s best to assume you are tapping, and not attempt to play this with hammer ones and pull offs, unless you got the speed and dexterity to do so.

Bends

Bends are probably the most complicated tab thing to understand in tabs, but don’t worry, it will make sense now.

On basic written tabs, you will probably just see the letter “b” beside the number, like 3b, 9b. If you see an ‘r’, that means you will release the bend. You may see the b and r together, meaning you bend and release it, or the ‘r’ may show up after another number, so you will bend up to the note that fret represents and then release the bend.

On some tabs, you will see the actual fraction above, or you may see a letter like ‘F’ which means full bend (More on what this means below). For written tabs, if you’re not sure what the letter means, the creator will usually write what terms they are using at the very bottom of their tabs.

As for the complex tabs, bends will be represented by a big upwards curve. The curve may or may not be followed by a downward curve. If it only goes up, you bend and end the note while bending. If it curves down afterwards, then you bend back down, usually to the original note unless stated otherwise.

If you see 1 or “full”, that means you are bending a whole step, which would be whatever note is 2 frets above the one you are playing at. If you were playing G, you will be bending to A. If you were on E, you will be bending to F#. (If you don’t know about music notes and steps, read my article on scales and modes).

If you see a 1/2 bend, then you are bending a half-step/semi-tone, which is the note 1 fret higher. If you were playing a G, you will be bending to G#/Ab. If you were playing an E, you will be bending to F.

You will also see 1/4, and this is a very slight bend, it changes the pitch, but not enough to change the note, so don’t bend too hard.

There are higher bends too, and these will take a lot of technique and practice to reach. In the case below, you have more than a full measure to reach that 1&1/2 (3 semitones) bend.

If there is no number, listen to the song and try to figure out how high you have to bend. If the tabs say to bend, but you don’t hear much of a bend in the song, it may be a very subtle or quick bend.

Vibrato

Vibrato is similar to bending, in that it changes the pitch, but just slightly. And instead of just doing one bend to hit a specific note, you are actually wavering up and down many times, thus why this is represented by a squiggly line.

In the snippet below, the song has a riff that has a lot of vibrato, but at the very end we have a constant bend. The technique is the same, but the vibrato is faster with a more miniscule pitch change while the bend is slower with a more noticeable pitch change.

Staccato

If you ever see dots above the note (not beside it, this would be use to determine the length of the note), this is a staccato.

Essentially, you are still playing the note for the duration of it’s time, but it will be cut off just a bit short, and thus, it will sound disjointed/disconnected from the other notes, as opposed to notes flowing together smoothly. I usually do this by releasing the note with my left/fretting hand for a millisecond to mute it, and then quickly reset to play the next note.

Harmonics

Harmonics are quite rare, so it may catch you off guard when you do finally see it. Harmonics are a bit hard to explain, but it’s a trick used to make a high pitched/sharp note ring out without playing your guitar normally.

In written taps, you will see different letters above the notes you are supposed to play harmonics to. In the examples below, you will see ‘n.h.’ which means natural harmonics, and ‘ph’ which means pinch harmonics.

On complex tabs, you will usually see a little diamond shape and sometimes letters above it. In this case, it says ‘S.H.’ which means Semi Harmonics. I haven’t personally learned to play harmonics, so if you’d like to learn more, check out this video.

Conclusion

There you have it. A collection of everything I’ve seen written out on tabs. I will be sure to update this if I come across something else, but this should be more than you need if you are new to tabs.

If this article has been useful to you, please share it! A tip through my Ko-Fi account will also help me keep this blog alive.

Feel free to check out my other articles on my blog. I write a lot of content in detail for beginner musicians, as I am just past the beginner phase, so the memories are still fresh to me.

If you have any ideas for other articles, please comment below or contact me! I’d love to write anything you and others may find useful.

Happy playing!