-GUIDE TO TAB AND CHORDS- The Living End By Michael Fryar manumick20@yahoo.com TAB really is simple to read, You start out with 6 lines (or four for bass). These correspond to the strings of the instrument. The top line is the highest pitch string, and the bottom line is the lowest pitch string. Below is a blank bit of TAB with the string names at the left. E---------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------- Numbers are written on the lines to show you where to fret the string with the left hand. If a zero appears , this means play the open string. Like standard musical notation, you read from left to right to find out what order to play the notes. The following piece of TAB would mean play the sequence of notes (E F F# G G# A) on the bottom E string by moving up a fret at a time, starting with the open string. E---------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------- E---0--1--2--3--4--5--------------------------------------------- Here we have notes being played one at a time. If two or more notes are to be played together, they are written on top of one another, again just like standard notation. In the next example we have a G bar chord. E----3----------------------------------------------------------- B----3----------------------------------------------------------- G----4----------------------------------------------------------- D----5----------------------------------------------------------- A----5----------------------------------------------------------- E----3----------------------------------------------------------- So this means play all these notes together as a chord. Simple hey? *Next Example (we will use the same G chord) E--------3------------------------------------------------------- B-------3-------------------------------------------------------- G------4--------------------------------------------------------- D-----5---------------------------------------------------------- A----5----------------------------------------------------------- E---3------------------------------------------------------------ This would mean strum the same shape starting at the bottom string, so that each string is hit slightly later than the last string, but all notes will ring together. Below is am example of the same shape again, but now the gaps between the notes are bigger - so you would probably pick the strings separately instead of slowly strumming the shape E------------------3--------------------------------------------- B---------------3-----3------------------------------------------ G------------4-----------4--------------------------------------- D---------5-----------------5------------------------------------ A------5-----------------------5--------------------------------- E---3-----------------------------3------------------------------ You might ask - How do I know how fast or slow to play this ? Are all the notes supposed to be the same length ? This is where TAB differs from standard notation. Most often TAB will not give you any information on the note lengths. It is usually left up to you to listen to the song to pick up the rhythm. However - don't despair. TAB should give you some indications of timing. In the example above all the notes are evenly spaced so you can reasonably assume that the notes are the same length (maybe all eighth notes or quavers) but this may not always be true - it depends on who wrote the TAB. *Spacing As a general rule, the spacing of the notes on the TAB should tell you which notes are the long ones, and which are the short and fast ones, but obviously it won't tell you if a note is a triplet or anything like that. Or of there are no spacings you may see a (:) which is also a spacing sign. As an example, here are the first few notes of the Table Top Show solo in TAB. I`ll do one example with spacing, the other with the spacing symbols (:) You should see fairly clearly that the different spacing corresponds to the different note lengths. *Spacing e-----12~------8----------------- b---12-------------10-8-7-8-7---- g-12--------------------------9-- d-------------------------------- a-------------------------------- e-------------------------------- *Spacing Symbols e-----12~-:---8----------------:- b---12----:-------10-8-7-8-7---:- g-12------:------------------9-:- d---------:--------------------:- a---------:--------------------:- e---------:--------------------:- Obviously it will be a lot easier to play the TAB for a song you know well than for a song you've never heard of because you will already be familiar with the ryhthms of the familiar song. *Other Symbols A lot of other imprtant information can be included in a piece of TAB. This includes hammer-ons, pull offs, slides, bends, vibrato and so on. The standard practice is to write extra letters or symbols between notes to indicate how to play them. Here are the letters/symbols most often used : h - hammer on p - pull off r - release bend s - slide ~ - vibrato/bend t - right hand tap x - play 'note' with heavy damping (mute) *Hammer ons-Pull Offs With hammer-ons and pull-offs you might find things like these : E---------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------- A---------5h7-----------5h7-------------------------------------- E---0--0----------0--0------------------------------------------- which would mean play the open E twice, then hit the A string at the 5th fret and hammer on to the 7th fret. Pull offs look very similar : E----3p0--------------------------------------------------------- B---------3p0---------------------------------------------------- G--------------2p0----------------------------------------------- D-------------------2-------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------- *Bends/Vibratos When bends are involved you need to know how much to bend the note up. This is indicated by writing a number after the '~'. For example, if you see this : E---------------------------------------------------------------- B------7~9------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------- It means strike the B string at the 7th fret, then bend the note up two semitones (one whole step) so that it sounds the same pitch as a note fretted at the 9th fret would do. (Sometimes the bend is written with the second part in brackets, like this ---7~(9)--- ) Something like this : E---------------------------------------------------------------- B------7~9--9r7-------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------- means play the note at the 7th fret, bend up two semitones, strike the note again whilst it is still bent, then release the bend so that the note has it's normal pitch. Sometimes a pre-bend is used - this is where the string is bent up *before* the note is struck. After striking the note, the bend is released. Pre-bends are usually written like this: E---------------------------------------------------------------- B------(7)~9r7--------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------- This means: fret the note at the 7th fret and bend the string up two semitones (without actually playing the note). Now strike the string and release the bend. You sometimes get a note which is bent up only a quarter of a tone or so. In this case it would look a bit strange to write : E--------------------- B--------7~7.5-------- G--------------------- D--------------------- A--------------------- E--------------------- if you have to bend it up half a fret's worth. Instead it's written as : bend up 1/4 tone E---------------------------------------------------------------- B------7~-------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------- D---------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------- with instructions on how much to bend written above the note. *CHORDS A B C D E F G 577xxx 799xxx x355xx x577xx 022xxx 133xxx 355xxx or or or or or or or 022xxx 244xxx 81010xxx 101212xxx x799xx x81010xx x101212xx or or or or or or or 577655 x2444x x3555xx x5777x 022100 133211 355433 Am Bm Cm Dm Em Fm Gm 577555 x24432 x35543 x57765 022000 133111 355333 or or or or or or or x02210 799777 81010888 101212101010 x79987 x8101098 x1012121110 A#(Bb) C#(Db) D#(Eb) F#(Gb) G#(Ab) 688xxx x466xx x688xx 244xxx 466xxx B7 C7 *as from Living In Sin x21202 x32310 Dmaj7 *as from Growing Up(Falling Down) x576xx By Michael Fryar Any Questions? E-mail me manumick20@yahoo.com