Guitar Tablature Made Easy

The words “guitar tablature easy” goes together like a major G chord. Guitar tablature (commonly called tabs) is amongst the easiest representations of music for a novice to read. Eschewing complex forms and notation, this form of writing gives only the basic information necessary to play a song.
It may not be a substitute for actually learning how to read music, but tablature is a great tool anyone that wants to learn how to play popular songs quickly. There is a wealth of free tablature resources online, so becoming familiar with the notation style is a great benefit for any budding guitarist.

Why Use Tablature?

The best reason to use tablature is that guitar music is incredibly difficult to read. Written in a manner similar to all other sheet music, the notes on the page do not necessarily easily translate into the strings and frets of a guitar.
If you wish to learn how to play a familiar song quickly, it is only natural that you might want to use a form of written music that is actually representative of the instrument that you are playing. Whether or not you know how to read sheet music is irrelevant, tablature is simply an easy conversion of traditional written music.

How to Read Tabs

Tablature, by its very nature, should be quite easy to read. Tabs are written from right to left, with six lines representing the strings. Notes are represented by fret number, and the spacing between notes can sometimes give a rough sort of rhythm. Simply depress the indicated fret number on the indicated strings in order, and you can quickly play a popular song.
Notation for bends, hammers-on and off and whammy bar usage tends to vary between tablature sets, so make sure to read the legend included with the tab before you begin to play.

Guitar Tablature Made Easy

Tablature should always be easy to read, but a smart guitarist can make the process much easier for himself or herself.
A great trick is to copy pre-written tabs onto an excel spreadsheet, with each row corresponding to a string. You can then insert the tab numbers in a much easier to read format than is present in most online tabs, and you can take the time to add your own notations as you figure out the song.
Tabs are not a perfect system, but this simple change in format can make most tabs much easier to read.
Most guitarists use tabs because they are unable or unwilling to read complex sheet music. Learning how to read tabs is fairly easy, and there are tricks that can be used to make even the messiest only tabs a bit more legible.
If you are already familiar with a song but wish you knew the right frets to play, tablature is a great tool to use.

It is no substitute for learning how to read music, but it is a good intermediary step to learn on your road to becoming a better musician.