Why Songsterr Has The Best Tabs For Guitar Beginners

There’s quite a few places to find guitar tabs today, the most famous being Ultimate Guitar. However, since I first discovered Songsterr around 2015 during my first band attempt, it has been my go-to. Of course, everyone will have their own views and opinions, but here’s why Songsterr is my fav.

Btw, this article is not sponsored, they don’t even have an affiliate program, but I just love this site so much and want to share it with you if you haven’t heard about it before or haven’t taken time to explore it.

1. Everything Is Free!

Every single tab on Songsterr is free! No sign up or payment required! Don’t be disappointed when you see some highly rated tabs just to find out you can’t view it unless you pay or become a member. Every ‘pro’ tab on here is available for anyone to view with just a click. You can choose to upgrade if you want additional features, like slowing down the tabs or picking out a single instrument, but I have been using it for free all this time and the free features are enough for me to learn songs thoroughly.

2. All Tabs Have Playback Available

There are still many sites that have simple written tabs, but as a beginner, it’s super beneficial to be able to see and hear the tabs in front of you for various reasons. It’s a great way to check the accuracy of the tabs, but also work on your timing if it’s not too clear in the song. Knowing that all tabs (not chord charts) on Songsterr has playback available is truly a blessing.

3. (Usually) Only One Tab Available

What I hated most about Ultimate Guitar is that, a popular song may have 10+ versions available. Some have 4.5 stars, some have yet to be rated, some require different tunings or a capo…it’s just a lot to dig through and try out. And again, as a beginner, how would you know what’s right or what’s best? There are 50+ tabs for Ed Sheeran’s Perfect on Ultimate Guitar….It can be quite overwhelming and you’d have to play through them yourself to compare.

On Songsterr, however, most songs only have 1 tab available, and various people can come and add their parts or improve it. Sometimes, I would see a few versions, and this is because the parts provided are quite different, but both are accurate. Someone may also submit their own fingerstyle version of the song. Regardless, you can always read and listen to see which one you’d want to learn. There are only 10 tabs for Ed Sheeran’s Perfect on Songsterr, 4 of which say (Fingerstyle) in the title, and 1 is bass only.

4. Band Tabs Are Available

Ultimate Guitar is, obviously, a guitar focused site. While some pro tabs will have other instruments available, and they do have ukulele and bass tabs as well, it’s not the norm. Now, not every song on Songsterr has all instruments available obviously, but you’d be surprised with the collection that has guitars, bass, drums, vocals and sometimes synth and other effects included into the mix.

If you do plan to play in a band, it’s a great way to hear how your band would sound ahead of time, and it also prevents headache and confusion from everyone learning something different and it not syncing up well. No worries about accuracy or different keys or tools being required. Just use one free and complete tab from Songsterr.

5. Note Notation & Values Included

While many guitarists may not know any music theory or how to read sheet music, this feature is amazing for those who do. Normally, tabs won’t have indicators as to when each note is played, and thus, you need to be very familiar with the original song to play along. But, with note notation involved, letting you know the measure of each note, along with it’s duration (quarter, half), you can learn tabs without knowing the song or playing the tabs.

Ultimate Guitar does have a playback feature for pro tabs, but note values are not visible on the page. It is on Songsterr. It eliminates a lot of guessing, and makes it easier to practice with a metronome. Learn more about guitar timing and notation in my detailed article on tabs.

6. Nicer & Cleaner Layout

While I usually don’t care about aesthetics, I do really like Songsterrs layout. It’s big, it’s bright, and it’s not overcrowded with things like ads that can become bothersome or distracting. As much as I love dark themes, I feel this layout makes it easier to focus on the black tabs. It kinda reminds me of real sheet music. There is one ad at the bottom of the website, but it doesn’t get in the way nor moves the whole page when I was about to click on something -___-

7. Easier To Search Through

With so many versions of tabs and tabs also being divided by chords, tabs, pro….power(??), again, it can be quite overwhelming. Even if you know what you’re looking for, you can still end up in different sections or clicking on the wrong tabs. Maybe the only tabs available are behind a paywall, or you wanted tab but there are only chords.

On Songsterr, there is one search box. You don’t even have to know the whole name or the artist as it will start listing any matches it has right away. You can just scroll to see what popular songs pop up, and you have the option to sort by instrument and tuning as well. You can also click on the artist in the title of a tab to see other tabs made by that artist. Everything is sorted really well and it just makes finding the tabs you’re seeking that much easier. It you want to explore, you can check out their tag page.

8. Free App Available

Last, but definitely not least, Songsterr works great in your browser and on the phone app. There’s even a desktop app! The app looks great on every screen since the tabs take center stage. While there are ads on the phone app, it only pops up now and then when leaving a tab, so no worries about it blocking your screen or getting in the way when you’re playing.

Conclusion

I don’t know where I would be without Songsterr. I just love how simple and detailed it is, and not being advertised to everytime I visit.

If you’re curious about cons, the only one I can personally see is that they do lack chord charts. Songsterr is a tab focused-playback site, so you won’t find much simple written chords on here.

However, I don’t mind that chords are tabbed out, as it saves me time from having to look chord up, and the strumming pattern is automatically included. Some tabs even go the distance and will tell you what chord you are playing on the tabs, which is a great way to learn new chords and shapes!

Also, you’re not going to find every single song you want to play on here. Personally, I only really play Japanese rock music, so it can be disappointing if a song I really wanted to learn doesn’t have tabs, but at the same time, they do have a pretty decent J-music and anime tab collection! Full band tabs too which is just what my anime cover band needs.

So if you’ve been looking for a free, detailed tab site that you can rely on, definitely try Songsterr if you haven’t already. I’m sure you would love it 🙂 And if the lines beneath the notes make no sense to you, be sure to check out my detailed article on tabs and timing for guitar!