How do you read tabs in guitar?

Answer by  Dixie82 (103)

Reading tabs does not require any ability to read music. Rather than each line corresponding to musical notes, each line corresponds to a string on the guitar. The bottom line corresponds to the lowest string, or the E string, and continues up from there. The number on the line corresponds to which fret should be engaged at that count.

Answer by  veronica26 (193)

You will see a horizontal line for each guitar string. Chords are separated by vertical dotted lines. To play each chord, the fingering is labeled on the tab. The numbers indicate which of your fingers belong on each string. An O means an open string that you still strum. If there is an X, do not strum that string.

Answer by  moonlightdesert (70)

The letters in the beginning of the lines represent the strings of guitar. The numbers represent the how far in the fret the note is. You look at the numbers in each string and play those numbers in that string. So if there is 3 in the line started by E, you play the 3rd place in E.

Answer by  Bobbie40N (79)

Guitar tabs are charts that represent the frets and finger placement for creating chords. The horizontal lines represent frets and the vertical lines represent strings. The top fret is the top fret of the guitar, the one nearest the tuning pegs and the top string on the guitar is shown as the line on the far left of the tab.

Answer by  BrandonAllin (968)

The basic rule of thumb is that the line represents the string, and the number you see on the line represents the fret. There are lots of other symbols and whatnot that can come into play, so use google if you need more information.