Guitars are so much fun to play with, even if you don’t know what you’re doing. Playing the guitar comes naturally to some people, and others (like me) struggle just to learn the basics. Guitar tabs are some of the easiest parts of the guitar learning process, but it’s a concept that a lot of people struggle with. I can’t guarantee that I’ll explain things any better than anyone else, but here are a few tips that might make reading tabs a bit easier to learn.

            If you start learning guitar after you learn another musical instrument, then the biggest problem that you’re having is thinking of the horizontal rows on the tabs a strings rather than notes. On regular music notations, the lines represent EGBDF, but with guitar’s the lines represent each of the strings of the instrument, EADGBE. It’s hard to train your brain to think of them that way, but it’s just something that you have to do.

            Just like any other music though, tabs have measure lines and time signatures for reference. Each measure represents a certain amount of notes played at a certain speed, and no measure should be any longer than the next. If there’s the equivalent of 4 whole notes in the first measure, then the second measure can’t have five whole notes, or three for that matter. Thinking about this will help you keep a rhythm when you read because everything should follow a basic pattern and beat.

            When the numbers come in, it’s gets a little tricky. Each string has a set of numbers that represent each of the frets. 1 is closest fret to the guitar body on each of the strings. If the number 1 is on the bottom line of the tab, then that means to play the first note on the sixth string. Sure, some tabs get into notations, but learn the basics and then work your way up. If all the notes are shown in a vertical line, it means that they are played at the same time. Just put your fingers on each string where the number points you and strum!

            After that, all you have to learn is how to pick up on the rhythms, and you’ll be a tab master! Practice is crucial to really learn what you’re reading though because eventually you won’t even have to think about the numbers. You’ll be able to pick up a set of tabs and play the song like you’ve known it your whole life. Don’t be frustrated and don’t give up. After a little bit of time, you’ll be able to wow anyone around.

Howdy! Today we will take a brief look at the basics of fingerpicking. Fingerpicking is very common and relatively easy to learn as well. The idea behind it, is the development of individual finger movements in your right hand, which would enable you to play bass lines with your thumb, plucking the bass strings (4^th, 5^th and 6^th), while playing the melody with your other fingers on the top strings (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd). We could talk a great deal about different variations and combinations, but for now, let’s look at the simple ones, where your thumb is directly responsible for the bass line, and your fingers play the melody.

The first thing you need to consider is how you place your right hand on the body of your instrument. The argument continues, as to whether the positioning of the right hand of classical guitarist is better than that of others. Blues players seem to favor American clawhamer positioning, but probably the best thing to do is to adopt a position that is comfortable to you, one that allows you to play all the notes clearly and evenly. The positioning of your right hand may look like this, or may include variations as well.

One of the useful things when finding a comfortable position is to find a good anchor point – be it placing your palm on top of the bridge or getting a grip using your forearm.     

Let’s look at some of the universal fingerpicking patterns, that can be used both in your beginning stages, and as you advance, in playing ballads, soft rock, etc. The “x” sign that you see is simply an indication that a note on a string is to be played, whether it’s an open string or a fretted one.

One of the simplest examples of a fingerpicking pattern:

e|----------X-------------X--------

B|--------X---X---------X---X------

G|------X-------X-----X-------X----

D|---------------------------------

A|-----------------X---------------

E|--X------------------------------

The interesting thing is that you can fit almost any kind of chord to sound well with this fingerpicking pattern. Try incorporating some of the chords that we have already studied in our lesson on basic triad chords: A, Am, C, D, Dm, E, Em, F, G.

A little more complicated fingerpicking pattern:

e|------------X--------------------

B|--------X-------X----------------

G|------X---X---X---X--------------

D|---------------------------------

A|----------(bass notes on the bottom 3 strings can be alternated)

E|--X------------------------------

And a flatpicking pattern, where you simultaneously pick 3 top strings:

e|------X--------X----------X------

B|------X--------X----------X------

G|------X--------X----------X------

D|---------------------X-----------

A|------------X--------------------

E|--X------------------------------

Once you have a clear understanding of different fingerpicking patterns, try to combine them with simple chord progressions, alternating bass notes as you progress from chord to chord. The most important thing here is keeping a steady rhythm every time you make a chord change, thus playing with metronome would help you a lot with this. Let’s take a look at this example, which represents an E Am F G chord progression.

For your personal practice try to fingerpick using the above mentioned finger picking patterns the following simple chord sequences:

• G C G C
• Am Dm G C E Am
• C G E Am C
• Am Dm Am E Am

In this lesson we have covered a good amount of ground. Stay true to your practicing routine, and until next time!