GUITAR TAB SYMBOLS
Simple guitar tab guide “guitar tab symbols”
As you progress with you are playing and attempt to take on more difficult songs,
You will come across some symbols in the tabs, which you may not understand.
This guide should help you get to grips with these symbols
If you struggle to play any of these techniques, you will need to practice them as much as you can.
If you need to learn more about these techniques then check out the relevant articles (when they appear)
Slides
Slides are indicated by either an “s” or a “/”
This example is a simple slide from the 5th fret to the 7th fret, and then a slide back from the 7th fret to the 5th fret
Both examples mean the same thing
E¦————–¦————–¦
B¦————–¦————–¦
G¦————–¦————–¦
D¦–5s7—-7s5–¦–5/7—-7/5–¦
A¦————–¦————–¦
E¦————–¦————–¦
Hammer-Ons
This technique is worth taking the time to master, it’s used in so many solos and riffs that you might want to learn.
These are just a couple of examples
E¦—————¦—————–¦
B¦—————¦—————–¦
G¦———-0h2–¦—————–¦
D¦——0h2——¦—————–¦
A¦–0h2———-¦–0h2-0h2-0h2—-¦
E¦—————¦—————–¦
Pull-Offs
Hammer on and pull-offs work together
E¦—————¦—————¦
B¦—————¦—————¦
G¦———-2p0–¦–2p0-2p0-2p0–¦
D¦——2p0——¦—————¦
A¦–2p0———-¦—————¦
E¦—————¦—————¦
Bends
You can recognize bends from a “b” next to the number
E¦———————¦———————¦
B¦———————¦——0—-0—–0—¦
G¦———————¦—3b—3b—-3b—–¦
D¦——–5–7-7b-7—-¦———————¦
A¦–5–7—————¦———————¦
E¦———————¦———————¦
Mutes
This is a technique where you use your fingers to purposely mute the string
You shouldn’t come across these very often as a beginner unless you use other peoples tabs
These example chords with mutes are more for the intermediate player
E¦–x—-x—-x—-¦
B¦–5—-1—-5—-¦
G¦–6—-2—-5—-¦
D¦–6—-3—-4—-¦
A¦–x—-x—-x—-¦
E¦–5—-1—-5—-¦
Vibrato
These are shown as ~
They are fairly tricky to spot in this example, so it’s next to the 11 and the 8
E¦——————-¦——————-¦
B¦——————-¦——————-¦
G¦——————-¦——————-¦
D¦–12-12–10-12—–¦——————-¦
A¦—————-12-¦-11~-10——8~—-¦
E¦——————-¦———10—–10-¦
Harmonic
These are in brackets, so commonly (12) or (7) or (5)
E¦———–(12)—————————————-¦
B¦——(7)———–(12)——————————-¦
G¦-(5)————(7)———-(12)———————-¦
D¦————————-(7)———-(12)————-¦
A¦———————————-(7)———-(12)—-¦
E¦——————————————-(7)——-3-¦
