(Good god, I can't believe no one has noded this yet..)

Tablature (tab for short) is a form of musical notation which works best for fretted string instruments like the guitar or bass guitar, although there are adaptations for other instruments. Most of the following is going to deal with guitar tablature, since that's what I'm familiar with, and it's not to hard to see how it can be applied to similar instruments.

Tablature for the guitar consists of six lines, one for each string of the guitar. The standard tuning for guitar strings, from lowest tone to highest (thickest string to thinnest) is E A D G B E. A bit of tablature might look like this:

e|-----------------|
B|-----------------|
G|-----------------|
D|-----------1-3-4-|
A|-----1-2-4-------|
E|-2-4-------------|

(For those interested, that's the F# major scale)

The string each line represents is denoted by the letter at the beginning, with a lower-case 'e' denoting the high E string (usually the thinnest string on the guitar), and an upper-case 'E' denoting the low E string (usually the thickest string on the guitar). The tablature is read from left to right, with each number representing the fret to be played. In the above example, the guitarist would first play the second fret on the low E string, then the fourth, then the first fret on the A string, and so on. Numbers which are directly above or below one another are supposed to be played simultaneously. Sometimes the space left between notes is supposed to denote timing, but this is difficult to do when dealing with ASCII text, so it's not too common and usually not exact.

Various symbols are used to denote certain 'effects' and picking styles. They tend to vary from tab to tab, but the most common ones are:

x - pick scrape; also sometimes used to show muted strings in a chord.
m - palm mute
^ - bend the string
. - staccato
~ - vibrato, or sometimes it just means to hold the note
/ - Slide up from the previous note to the next
\ - Slide down from the previous note to the next
h - hammer-on, as in |--4h6--|.
p - pull-off, as in |--6h4--|.

(More to be added)

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Update 2001/02/05:
Lactic.Acid pointed out the use of x for the muting of a string in chords, and reminded me about hammer-ons and pull-offs. Thanks!

Bass Guitar Tablature contains some other symbols, since basses are played in multiple ways. Often, funk and progressive bass lines use 'unorthodox' read: not used in pop music methods to extract sound from a bass. These include, but are not limited to:

s or t (thumb) - slap, as in |-5s--3s-|
p - pop, as in |-7p--5p-|
L - left hand tap, which is shown above the notes you play
R - right hand tap, which is shown above the notes you play
V or \/- flamenco downstroke, shown above played notes
^ or /\- flamenco upstroke, shown above played notes
x - muted note (sometimes a muted slap or left hand tap)

Example: Tommy the Cat by Primus

               V                             V ^ 
g|----------|--4---------------------------|-3/4----------------------|
d|----------|*-4---------3h5--5s-5s-5s-0s-*|-3/4---------3h5--5-5-5-0-|
a|----------|*----------------------------*|--------------------------|
e|-3s-/-10\-|----0h3-x-x-----5s-4s-3s-0s---|-----0h3-x-x-----5-4-3-0--|

The Basics

All tablature should be clearly marked as being chords, power chords, regular guitar(which is just playing the song the way it sounds) or bass. If it's not clearly marked then you should soon be able to tell the difference anyway.

First things first. There should be one line of TAB for every string there is on your guitar. So for a six-string guitar the TAB will look like this-

e|----------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------|

The letters on the left hand side of the TAB is the note that the corresponding string should be tuned to. The lower case 'e' is the thinnest string on the guitar and the uppercase 'E' would be the thickest. For a bass guitar there would only be four or five strings depending on what type of bass you are playing.

The Notes

TAB will tell you what strings to play and which fret to play them on at a glance so it is very easy to read. The numbers in TAB appear on the string you have to play and the number indicates which fret. So, if there is a three in TAB then you have to depress the third fret on the string indicated, like this-

e|----------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------|
D|----3-----------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------|

This shows to play the third fret of the 'D' string. If 0 appears it means to play free string(Not holding any frets down).

You read TAB from left to right as though you are reading a book or any other piece of music. This TAB shows a pentatonic minor scale-

e|--------------------------------3--6----|
B|--------------------------3--6----------|
G|--------------------3--5----------------|
D|--------------3--5----------------------|
A|--------3--5----------------------------|
E|--3--6----------------------------------|

The Symbols

h - Hammer on. A hammer on is where you play a note and then bring your finger down hard onto a different fret of the same string. It would look like this in TAB-

e|-------------3h5------------------------|
B|-----------------------7h8--------------|
G|----------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------|

p - Pull off. A pull off is where you play a note and then soon after release the fret. It would look like this in TAB-

e|--------5p3-----------------------------|
B|-----------------------8p7--------------|
G|----------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------|

b or ^ - Bend string. These are hard to begin with but become easier with practice. Play a note and then bend the string. On the TAB it will look like this - 6^9(6). The first six is the initial note to be played. The nine is the note it will be bent to. The final six is the note that you bring the string back to before releasing(it can be released at a different pitch to the initial note). Also, if the sign appears before the note it means to bend before strumming and then release. There is a lot of ways of writing these but that is how I was taught-

e|---------6^9(6)-------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------|
G|------------------4^5(4)----------------|
D|----------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------5^8(7)-----|
E|----------------------------------------|

/ and \ - Slide Up and Slide Down. Start by playing a note and then slide your finger up or down the string to the indicated fret. Like this-

e|------8/10------------------------------|
B|----------------9\5---------------------|
G|----------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------2/7----------|
A|----------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------|

v or ~ - Vibrato. Play a note and then wiggle your finger up and down on the string (The '~' sign can also mean to let the note ring instead of vibrato)-

e|----------------------------------------|
B|-----------6~---------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------|
D|--------------------7~------------------|
A|-----------------------------8~---------|
E|----------------------------------------|

. or _ - Staccato. Play and then mute the note very quickly-

e|----------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------|
D|------7-------5-------------------------|
A|------7-------5-------------------------|
E|------5-------3-------------------------|
        _       _ 

X - Mute. This is achieved by putting your finger or palm lightly on a string just to cancel the noise out ('PM' means to mute with the palm of your strumming hand)-

e|----------------------------------------|
B|------9--------------0------------------|
G|------X--------------X------------------|
D|------6--------------8------------------|
A|----------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------|

X however means something completely different in a chord TAB. In a regular TAB for free string you leave the space blank. For chord TABs X means free string instead of mute-

e|----X--------3--------------------------|
B|----1--------X--------------------------|
G|----X--------X--------------------------|
D|----2--------X--------------------------|
A|----3--------2--------------------------|
E|----3--------3--------------------------|

Note length

This aspect is quite often left out of tablature and leaves things to your knowledge of the song. For when it is used it can change from author to author so here is a basic overview. M for minims, C for crotchets, S for semibreve, Q for quavers. These letters are placed above the TAB in line with the notes. As I said that is a basic point of reference and will change from author to author.

Tab"la*ture (?), n. [Cf. F. tablature ancient mode of musical notation. See Table.]

1. (Paint.)

A painting on a wall or ceiling; a single piece comprehended in one view, and formed according to one design; hence, a picture in general. Shaftesbury.

2. (Mus.)

An ancient mode of indicating musical sounds by letters and other signs instead of by notes.

The chimes of bells are so rarely managed that I went up to that of Sir Nicholas, where I found who played all sorts of compositions from the tablature before him as if he had fingered an organ.
Evelyn.

3. (Anat.)

Division into plates or tables with intervening spaces; as, the tablature of the cranial bones.

 

© Webster 1913