Guitar Tablature

In the earliest days, music for the guitar was written in a form known as tablature. This
system indicates exactly where the fingers are to be placed by showing the strings as six lines,
with numbers (or letters) representing the frets. Here is an example:

e|---------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------2----------------------------------------------------|
A|------2--------------------------------------------------------|
E|--0------------------------------------------------------------|

The word TAB is conventionally placed at the beginning of the line to distinguish these
lines from those of the musical staff. Here, the lines represent the six strings, the first
string being the top line.
➤ “0” stands for open string. Play the first string with the right hand; do nothing with the
left.
➤ “1” stands for the first fret. Place a finger behind the first fret on the same string. Play
the note.
➤ “3” stands for the third fret. Finger the third fret, play the note.
➤ The vertical line marks off the measures, as in conventional notation.
Note that the numbers have nothing to do with the fingers. In this example they happen to
coincide, but they refer only to the frets.