https://www.simplifyingtheory.com/how-to-read-guitar-tabs/

Each line represents a string. Starting from the high E at the top and the low E at the bottom. The number denotes which fret you hold down on that string. If they are stacked, that is a chord.

The letters at the top are telling you the chord that is being played. Tabs are fun to use, but working out the songs are even better for you when learning.

You can do a mini bar chord with your index finger on the 2nd fret to catch the high 3 strings. Dont touch the 4th since its open, and then just use your middle finger to pick up the 3rd fret on the 2nd string.

2
3
2
0
X
X

DallasTeleAg said:

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Each line represents a string. Starting from the high E at the top and the low E at the bottom. The number denotes which fret you hold down on that string. If they are stacked, that is a chord.

The letters at the top are telling you the chord that is being played. Tabs are fun to use, but working out the songs are even better for you when learning.

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What do the numbers represent?

Quad Dog said:

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I've tried and failed to teach myself guitar more than once, maybe I'll try again. I struggle with the D chord, it's supposed to be a fundamental chord and I always mute the high E string with my ring finger. I've put some time into it and it still just clunks every time. That pisses me off and I stop.
Any tips?

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Do this variation:
5
3
2
0
X
X

62strat said:

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Quad Dog said:

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I've tried and failed to teach myself guitar more than once, maybe I'll try again. I struggle with the D chord, it's supposed to be a fundamental chord and I always mute the high E string with my ring finger. I've put some time into it and it still just clunks every time. That pisses me off and I stop.
Any tips?

---

Do this variation:
5
3
2
0
X
X

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What do the numbers mean?

Look guys... said:

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DallasTeleAg said:

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Each line represents a string. Starting from the high E at the top and the low E at the bottom. The number denotes which fret you hold down on that string. If they are stacked, that is a chord.

The letters at the top are telling you the chord that is being played. Tabs are fun to use, but working out the songs are even better for you when learning.

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What do the numbers represent?

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The fret number. They are written with the high E string on top and low E string on bottom.

For a D chord its the 2nd fret, 3rd fret, 2nd fret, open on the 4th string but none of the others. X = mute or dont strum. 0 = open fret.
2
3
2
0
X
X

For a G chord
3
3
0
0
2
3

C Chord
0
1
0
2
3
X

Look guys... said:

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DallasTeleAg said:

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Each line represents a string. Starting from the high E at the top and the low E at the bottom. The number denotes which fret you hold down on that string. If they are stacked, that is a chord.

The letters at the top are telling you the chord that is being played. Tabs are fun to use, but working out the songs are even better for you when learning.

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What do the numbers represent?

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the fret number.

Look at my post above. That is a chord that has a finger on the 5th fret high e string, 3rd fret b string, and 2nd fret g string, and an open D string.
It's a D chord. The notes are, from the highest down, A,D,A,D

X means don't strum that string, or mute it somehow.

On previous page there are similar charts, and those umbers represent which finger is on that fret. That is for beginners who are trying to figure out finger positioning.

Typical tab is not showing you finger positioning, only which frets to press down on which strings. It is up to you t figure out how to move your hands around to make that work. That is where practice comes in.

Look guys... said:

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DallasTeleAg said:

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Each line represents a string. Starting from the high E at the top and the low E at the bottom. The number denotes which fret you hold down on that string. If they are stacked, that is a chord.

The letters at the top are telling you the chord that is being played. Tabs are fun to use, but working out the songs are even better for you when learning.

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What do the numbers represent?

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The fret number. For example, if it has '2' on the top line it is the 2nd fret of the high E string, an F#.

This is what I mean by previous page charts.



This is showing finger number, 1 being pointer through 4 being pinky (thumb is not used). The zeroes are open strings, x is not played. This is not tab, but a finger chart and again is helping a beginner figure out how to form a chord by telling you which fingers to use on which strings. You'll notice the strings left to right, instead of top to bottom. That is how to differentiate tab from a chord chart.

As said above, stacked numbers on tab are chords (all frets hit at same time).
One thing tab doesn't translate well for beginners is timing/rhythm. If you've never heard the song, it may be hard to play recognizably.

Thanks. It's easy to figur me out when mirroring people but when looking a chords on paper I have to flip everything.

I found a song that I know and have to switch between 4 chords.

G - Em-C-D

I was wanting a song to play to practice switching between chords.

Once you get some basic chords down, there are a couple things to work on. You can practice cleanly switching from chord to chord and make sure all the notes are cleanly ringing out and you haven't fretted the wrong notes as you switch.

You can also work on picking up and down the individual notes in the chord while you hold the frets down. Once you can do that, look up a chart that shows the other notes in the scale and try to work those in (will now require you to change finger position on your fretting hand while picking). Once you get a scale or two figured out, start looking where else on the guitar you can play the exact same scale and try to get familiar. For example, try to find every fret on the guitar that is an E as a start.

Eventually you can start to work in familiar songs to build on this. I know its cliche, but Stairway to Heaven is a good one to illustrate this concept but might be too tough to jump straight into right away. House of the Rising Sun is good too. Eventually you can start to learn things like Wish You Were Here, Nothing Else Matters (though some chords are tricky at first).

Look guys... said:

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I found a song that I know and have to switch between 4 chords.

G - Em-C-D

I was wanting a song to play to practice switching between chords.

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that's the I vi IV V progression. Probably 75% or more of pop/rock songs use those 4 chords (order varies though). Probably 99% of popular music in the last few years use them.

Look guys... said:

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I found a song that I know and have to switch between 4 chords.

G - Em-C-D

I was wanting a song to play to practice switching between chords.

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That's a very common chord progression.

Move it around to practice it in other keys. C,Am,F,G or A,F#m,D,E, etc..

For that particular key, you can play the G,Em and C very simply by keeping your ring/pinky on third fret 1st and 2nd string. Very little movement required.

like this:
G
3
3
0
0
2
3

Em (actually Em7) All you do is move middle finger from 3rd fret low E string to 2nd fret 4th string (d string)
3
3
0
2
2
0

C (actually Csus2) Now you're just like a G chord as before, but one string higher. Middle finger on 5th string.
3
3
0
2
3
x

Then D is your only big switch
2
3
2
0
0
x
x


You're ring finger never leaves the third fret on second string.

Quote:

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G
3
3
0
0
2
3

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My chart of chords has the G major as

G
3
0
0
0
3
2

Is my chart wrong?

what chart?

Look guys... said:

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Quote:

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G
3
3
0
0
2
3

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My chart of chords has the G major as

G
3
0
0
0
3
2

Is my chart wrong?

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You switched the frets on the 5th and 6th strings. The G chord can be played w/ an open B string which is the 3rd note of the chord (B) or with it fretted at the 3rd fret which is the 5th note of the chord (D).

Major chords only have 3 notes - root, 3rd, and 5th. With 6 strings you are just repeating some of those notes, so there are alternate ways to play them. You'll learn later about inversions which are chords played with the 3rd or 5th as the bass note instead of the root.

Chipotlemonger said:

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what chart?

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?v=1580834091

Look guys... said:

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Quote:

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G
3
3
0
0
2
3

---

My chart of chords has the G major as

G
3
0
0
0
3
2

Is my chart wrong?

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Different folks play it different ways. It sounds slightly different because one version has two B's and the other has two D's (double Ds ftw)

3 (G) 2 octaves up
0 (B) 1 octave up 3rd
0 (G) 1 octave up
0 (D) 5th
2 (B) 3rd
3 (G) root


Vs

3 (G) 2 octaves up
3 (D) 1 octave up 5th
0 (G) 1 octave up
0 (D) 5th
2 (B) 3rd
3 (G) root

gggmann said:

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Look guys... said:

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Quote:

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G
3
3
0
0
2
3

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My chart of chords has the G major as

G
3
0
0
0
3
2

Is my chart wrong?

---

You switched the frets on the 5th and 6th strings. The G chord can be played w/ an open B string which is the 3rd note of the chord (B) or with it fretted at the 3rd fret which is the 5th note of the chord (D).

Major chords only have 3 notes - root, 3rd, and 5th. With 6 strings you are just repeating some of those notes, so there are alternate ways to play them. You'll learn later about inversions which are chords played with the 3rd or 5th as the bass note instead of the root.

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Yeah...i have to do it backwards for your righthanders and made an error.

With standard tuning, each subsequent string is 5 steps higher than the previous string. The G-string pulls a trick on you because of a natural half step everywhere else (there is no such thing as B sharp or E sharp). You can quickly check your tuning of one string vs another by fretting the 5th string of the lower string and open string of the next higher one and seeing if the tone is the same (exception of the G string which is the 4th fret)

0 (E)----------5 (A)
0 (B)----------5 (E)
0 (G)----------4 (B)
0 (D)----------5 (G)
0 (A)----------5 (D)
0 (E)----------5 (A)


If you move up two strings and over two frets, its an octave. (2 x 5) + 2

Look guys... said:

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Quote:

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G
3
3
0
0
2
3

---

My chart of chords has the G major as

G
3
0
0
0
3
2

Is my chart wrong?

---

As others have said, with guitar, or any stringed instrument, there are multiple ways to skin a cat. You can literally play a G major chord a dozen or more different ways on the guitar. I easily use 5-6 of them regularly. Fretting the 3rd fret B string vs not fretting it.. both are G major chords. They sound slightly different.. in fact to an untrained ear, they may sound exactly the same.
You can also do
3
3
4
5
5
3

for a G major. You might use this if you are coming from or going to an F, F# or G# sharp for instance, because those are often played with a barre cord. So it's just an easy slide up/down fret board not changing your finger shape.

So many songs have G then C (every rose has it's thorn for example), so in that example, you'd likely put ring finger down on 3rd fret 2nd string in the G chord, so when switching to C, you just move middle/pointer up a string. It's actually a Cadd9, but sounds great in that context. (I incorrectly called it a Csus2 earlier.. Csus2 doesn't have major or minor, Cadd9 does. Otherwise, similar chords)
G
3
3
0
0
2
3

to Cadd9
3
3
0
2
3
x

On the flip side, you could do this, which is just as easy;
G
3
3
4
5
5
3

to Csus2
3
3
5
5
3
3

That's an easy transition using barre chords.

It all depends on what else is going on. What other chords are you moving from/to? Are you playing a melody with the chords as well? Where are you on the fretboard?

Lots of factors that determine which shape you use. None are wrong/right, assuming you have the right chord.

When playing tabs, you can easily spot a barre position by noticing the low E string is the same fret number as 2 or more other strings.

back to G
3
3
4
5
5
3
that's a barre chord with pointer finger laying across entire third fret.

Or the first inversion of the G (the 3rd is the root note, a B)
7
8
7
9
10
7

is played with pointer finger barred on the 7th fret. Pinky on the 10, ring on 9, and middle on the 8. It's basically the classic chord C shape, but elsewhere on the neck.

A. Do you have a 62 Strat?
B. Can I haz ur 62 Strat?

That is all.

62strat said:

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Or the first inversion of the G (the 3rd is the root note, a B)
7
8
7
9
10
7

is played with pointer finger barred on the 7th fret. Pinky on the 10, ring on 9, and middle on the 8. It's basically the classic chord C shape, but elsewhere on the neck.

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Lol. If he is having trouble with a C shape, he is fairly far away from pulling this off.

I got the C down when I can place my fingers 1 at a time now. Thank you very much.

I have no idea what 62strat is talking about tho. Goes. Right over my head.

Try this. There's a button on the upper right to make it flip for left handed guitarists. If you click on the next/previous arrows it will take you through the different positions of whichever chord you are on.

https://www.oolimo.com/guitarchords/find

gggmann said:

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Try this. There's a button on the upper right to make it flip for left handed guitarists. If you click on the next/previous arrows it will take you through the different positions of whichever chord you are on.

https://www.oolimo.com/guitarchords/find

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Awesome. Thank you.

DallasTeleAg said:

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62strat said:

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Or the first inversion of the G (the 3rd is the root note, a B)
7
8
7
9
10
7

is played with pointer finger barred on the 7th fret. Pinky on the 10, ring on 9, and middle on the 8. It's basically the classic chord C shape, but elsewhere on the neck.

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Lol. If he is having trouble with a C shape, he is fairly far away from pulling this off.

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oh yeh I didn't mean it like try this next or anything. Just elaborating on how there are many different ways to play the same chord.

I do have a Fender 'vintage 62'. Production model about 15 years old that I bought new like 2 years after it was made. ('Old new stock it's called') so I got a smoking deal on it, like $1300 at the time.
I broke a finger on my left hand a few days before it came in the mail, so I could only stare at it the first few months I had it!

62strat said:

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I broke a finger on my left hand a few days before it came in the mail, so I could only stare at it the first few months I had it!

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dude.

ruddyduck said:

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62strat said:

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I broke a finger on my left hand a few days before it came in the mail, so I could only stare at it the first few months I had it!

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dude.

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That sucks. I was bummed when I broke two metacarpal in my left hand a couple years ago and couldn't play for nearly 2 months.

Some good advice on this thread. Here's my 2 cents, which is worth what you paid for it. I'll add that I learned in a time before YouTube and almost gave up as a young kid because Mel Bay was super boring - so there could be some great resources out there I don't know about.

1. I would start with learning the basic chord shapes: E, E minor, F, G, A, A minor, C, D, and D minor
2. Learn a basic 12 bar blues: Clapton Unplugged - Before You Accuse Me is a good place to start
3. Learn to read chord charts and to read tab
4. Practice to play a song that you like - chords first, fills second, and solos third
5. Learn your first scales: E minor pentatonic and C major

Enough of that and with the help of a capo you can play almost anything you would want. If you stick with it, you begin to get an understanding of theory, why things work or don't work, how/why a capo works and why you might not need one, what the tab numbers mean, what the chord numbers mean, etc.

There was also a tip on here about practicing with a metronome. I agree with that - or always playing with a backing track. Playing in time is important and I've found you are usually playing faster than you think you are without something to keep you grounded.

Quote:

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1. I would start with learning the basic chord shapes: E, E minor, F, G, A, A minor, C, D, and D minor
2. Learn a basic 12 bar blues: Clapton Unplugged - Before You Accuse Me is a good place to start
3. Learn to read chord charts and to read tab
4. Practice to play a song that you like - chords first, fills second, and solos third
5. Learn your first scales: E minor pentatonic and C major

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I'm learning the chords now. The rest of what you're saying makes no sense to me right now.

I'm not at the point where I can put my fingers down on the chords so working on that.

How do I practice with a metronome?

Download a metronome app. Set the tempo and it will keep you in time.

However in order to do that you have to first get good at switching between chords quickly.

They are steps in a progression. If you are on step 1, I wouldn't expect anything else to make sense right now. It takes time but you will get there. Google is always there (and probably with better answers than I have) but happy to help with any questions you might have along the way.

Step 1 is learning basic chords and chord shapes. Step 2 is putting a simple song together. All you really need for something like Before You Accuse Me is an E, A and a B chord and knowing how to move between them. (Some folks have said the same thing on here by saying learn a I, IV, and V chord progression. Theory to me always made more sense with an actual song application.)

From there the other steps start to build on each other and your own curiosity will eventually take you wherever you want to go on the instrument.

The metronome tip is probably secondary to playing along with a track/song as a beginner until you've gotten the basics down. As you advance and begin to practice more and more, there's a tendency to "noodle" which without staying in time may not be very productive. Hence the need for something to help you stay in time and play with a beat. I just wanted to second the point that no matter how advanced you are, practicing in time is important.