Guitar tablature consists of a series of horizontal lines forming a staff
(or stave) similar to standard notation. Each line represents one of
the instrument's strings. Therefore standard guitar tablature has a
six-line staff and bass guitar tablature has four lines. The top line of
the tablature represents the highest-pitched string of the guitar. By
writing tablature with the lowest pitched notes on the bottom line and
highest pitched notes on the top, tablature follows the same basic
structure and layout as Western Standard Notation.
The following examples are labelled with letters on the left denoting the string names, with a lowercase e for the high E string. Tab lines may be numbered 1 through 6 instead, representing standard string numbering, where "1" is the high E string, "2" is the B string, etc.
The numbers that are written on the lines represent the fret used to obtain the desired pitch. For example, the number 3 written on the top line of the staff indicates that the player should press down at the third fret on the high E (first string). Number 0 denotes the nut — that is, an open string.
For chords, a letter above or below the tablature staff denotes the root note of the chord.
Examples of guitar tablature notation:
The chords E, F, and G:
Guitar tablature is not standardized and different sheet-music
publishers adopt different conventions. Songbooks and guitar magazines
usually include a legend setting out the convention in use.
The most common form of lute tablature uses the same concept but differs in the details (e.g., it uses letters rather than numbers for frets). See below.
When circles are used to indicate fingering, sounded notes are white, an assumed root is grey, and a sounded root is black.
The following examples are labelled with letters on the left denoting the string names, with a lowercase e for the high E string. Tab lines may be numbered 1 through 6 instead, representing standard string numbering, where "1" is the high E string, "2" is the B string, etc.
The numbers that are written on the lines represent the fret used to obtain the desired pitch. For example, the number 3 written on the top line of the staff indicates that the player should press down at the third fret on the high E (first string). Number 0 denotes the nut — that is, an open string.
For chords, a letter above or below the tablature staff denotes the root note of the chord.
Examples of guitar tablature notation:
The chords E, F, and G:
e|---0---1---3---
B|---0---1---0---
G|---1---2---0---
D|---2---3---0---
A|---2---3---2---
E|---0---1---3---
E F G
Tablature can use various lines, arrows, and other symbols to denote bends, hammer-ons, trills, pull-offs, slides, and so on. These are the tablature symbols that represent various techniques, though these may vary:| Symbol | Technique |
|---|---|
| h | hammer on |
| p | pull off |
| b | bend string up |
| r | release bend |
| / | slide up |
| \ | slide down |
| v | vibrato (sometimes written as ~) |
| t | right hand tap |
| s | legato slide |
| S | shift slide |
| * | natural harmonic |
| [n] | artificial harmonic |
| n(n) | tapped harmonic |
| tr | trill |
| T | tap |
| TP | tremolo picking |
| PM | palm muting (also written as _ and .) |
| \n/ | tremolo arm dip; n = amount to dip |
| \n | tremolo arm down |
| n/ | tremolo arm up |
| /n\ | tremolo arm inverted dip |
| = | hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls |
| <> | volume swell (louder/softer) |
| x | on rhythm slash represents muted slash |
| o | on rhythm slash represents single note slash |
| ·/. | pick slide |
The most common form of lute tablature uses the same concept but differs in the details (e.g., it uses letters rather than numbers for frets). See below.
When circles are used to indicate fingering, sounded notes are white, an assumed root is grey, and a sounded root is black.
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