Tab (tablature) is why guitarists get to skip years of sight-reading school. It's a picture of your fretboard: six lines, some numbers, and that's genuinely most of it. Ten minutes here and you can read the tab for almost any song on the internet.
Rule 1: the lines are strings — and the bottom line is the thickest
e|-------------------| ← thinnest string (highest sound) B|-------------------| G|-------------------| D|-------------------| A|-------------------| E|-------------------| ← thickest string (lowest sound)
This is the part everyone gets backwards once. The BOTTOM line of tab is your LOW E (the thickest string, closest to the ceiling when you're holding the guitar). Tab is the view from above, looking down at your own guitar.
Rule 2: numbers are frets, read left to right
e|----------------| B|----------------| G|----------------| D|------2---2-----| A|--0-0-----------| E|----------------|
0 means play the string open. This example: open A twice, then the 2nd fret of the D string, then 2nd fret again. Numbers in sequence = one note at a time.
Rule 3: stacked numbers are a chord
e|--0--| B|--0--| G|--0--| D|--2--| A|--2--| E|--0--|
Numbers in a vertical line sound together — strum them. You already know this one: it's E minor.
The symbols you'll run into
Internet tab uses a small shared alphabet. The five you'll actually see:
h — hammer-on (7h9: pick fret 7, then tap fret 9 without picking again)
p — pull-off (9p7: the reverse)
b — bend (7b9: push the string up until it sounds like fret 9)
/ or \ — slide up or down between frets
x — mute the string: touch it so it clicks instead of ringing
Don't memorize these tonight. Recognize them, look them up when they appear, and they'll be yours within a month.
Tab's one honest weakness
Tab tells you WHERE to put your fingers, but classic text tab is vague about WHEN — the rhythm. That's why every xpex lesson pairs its tab with video: you hear the rhythm from the teacher, and read the frets off the tab. Between the two, nothing's missing.
Try it right now: our free lesson on the six string names uses exactly the tab style you just learned.