Guitar tab paper to print

How to read and write guitar tab

Six lines, one for each string, where a number on a line is the fret to hold on that string. It says where to put your fingers rather than what the pitch is.

Step by step

1. 1The top line is the thinnest string. Tab is drawn as if you are looking down at the fretboard, so the high E is the top line and the low E is the bottom one. This catches almost everybody once.
2. 2Numbers stacked in a column are played together. A chord is a column of numbers; a run of single numbers left to right is a melody. A zero means play the string open.
3. 3Write the timing underneath. Tab says which note, not how long, which is why the space under each stave matters. Strumming marks or counts written there turn a shape into a part.

Why six lines and not five

A musical stave has five lines because it maps pitch; tab has six because it maps strings. They look alike and read in completely different ways.

Good for

Learning songs by ear, writing riffs, and teaching someone who does not read music.