Guitar Tabliture (or Tab as it is more commonly known) is easy to read and is a good substitute for sheet music. It is basically a six line chart that diagrams the 6 strings of a guitar, with the lowest string on the bottom and the highest on the top.
e|------------------------------------------------------------------
b|------------------------------------------------------------------
g|------------------------------------------------------------------
d|------------------------------------------------------------------
a|------------------------------------------------------------------
E|------------------------------------------------------------------
A number on any line indicates the fret number that you should push your left hand on, and a zero indicates to leave the string open (don't fret the string). The following example indicates you should play the fifth fret on the B string, which is the second highest string.
e|------------------------------------------------------------------
b|-5----------------------------------------------------------------
g|------------------------------------------------------------------
d|------------------------------------------------------------------
a|------------------------------------------------------------------
E|------------------------------------------------------------------
Its that simple. There are a lot of other symbols to learn as well though. Here is a chart of the symbols that I use when making my tab.
x : muted strings: do not push the string all the way down to the fretboard and strike it with the pick, producing a percussive "chuck" kinda sound
/ : slide up : hit the first note then slide your left hand finger up to the next fret indicated.
\ : slide down : hit the first note then slide your left hand finger down to the next fret indicated
h : hammer on : hit the first note and then fret the next note with your left hand but don't play the second note
p : pull off : fret both notes that are going to be played and hit the first note then pull that finger off and let the lower note be sounded
p.m. : palm mute : put the heel of your right hand against the bridge and the strings to mute the notes but still allow them to be played
b : bend : play the note indicated and then bend the string to the sound of the next fret indicated
r: release : after bending a note a release is when you release it to the original sound
I also put bar lines in some songs. These are there to help you get a feel for the timing of a song. Not all songs include bar lines but i try to put them in some of them.
Another thing I do is if there are only chords being used for a section, I write the chord rhythms instead of tabbing them out. These look like this:
|Am / G / |F / G / |
The | are bar lines. The / stand for one beat. So in the previous example the first measure would be 2 beats of A minor and 2 beats of G. These chords are always referenced at the bottom of the page.
The chord references are easy to read. The name of the chord is on top and the frets on each string are placed underneath. I do not tell you what fingers to use for each fret. I think that it is much better and it will pay off if you figure that out yourself. Plus I use different fingers to play different chords all the time. The strings on the chord references are low to high from left to right.
And one more thing is that if you see two different ways to play the same chord in different songs, it doesn't matter which way you play it.
For example if you see a G chord referenced like this:
G
320033
and in another song you see it like this:
G
355433
It doesn't matter which you play. Both are G chords. But one might be easier to play than another in a particular song.
Well i hope i'm not forgetting anything.
If you have a question email me at [email protected]