How to Read Music - Tab
With
Tommy Webb
What's in the course
47 lessons (1h 40m) · 1 free
01. Welcome to the Course
1:41
02. Meet Your Teacher
0:40
03. Guide to the Guitar
6:52
04. Sitting with Your Guitar (Acoustic)
3:29
05. Sitting with Your Guitar (Electric)
0:49
06. How to Tune Your Guitar
4:57
07. How to Use a Guitar Pick
2:49
08. Make Your First Sound on the Guitar
2:45
09. How to Strum a Guitar
2:02
10. How to Read Music - Tab
You are here1:52
11. How to Read Music - Notation
3:03
12. Note Values and Rhythm
5:08
01. Introduction to Rock riffs and melodies
1:47
02. How to get a clean fretted sound
3:19
03. Riff using the E&G notes
3:30
04. Riff using the E&G notes (performance)
1:10
05. Riff accenting the strong note
1:34
06. Riff accenting the strong note (performance)
0:58
07. Riff using half notes
1:44
08. Riff using half notes (performance)
0:50
01. Intro to Rock pt2 and my Gibson Les Paul
1:10
02. Riff combining half notes & quarter notes
1:36
03. Riff combining half notes & quarter notes (performance)
0:56
04. Melody A combining 4 notes
4:00
05. Melody A combining 4 notes (performance)
0:57
06. Melody B combining 4 notes
2:32
07. Melody B combining 4 notes (performance)
0:55
08. Rock City - bars 3&4
2:18
09. Rock City - bars 3&4 (performance)
0:58
10. Well done on the Rock section
0:17
01. Intro to the pop section and rests
1:14
02. Riff with rest on beat 3
3:36
03. Riff with rest on beat 3 (performance)
1:04
04. Riff using F note with rests
2:53
05. Riff using F note with rests (performance)
1:05
06. Melody using C note and rests
4:59
07. Melody using C note and rests (performance)
0:54
08. Summary of Pop part 1
0:55
01. What is a Fender Telecaster
1:05
02. Melody with a D note
3:51
03. Melody with a D note (performance)
1:10
04. Melody using whole notes
2:34
05. Melody using whole notes (performance)
0:57
06. Riff combining note values
2:32
07. Riff combining note values (performance)
1:03
08. Party People bars 13-16
2:23
09. Party People bars 13-16 (performance)
1:22
Lesson transcript
Understanding Music Notation for Guitar
Reading music may seem a little daunting, but we're going to break it down and go through it together.
Two Lines of Music
When playing guitar, there are generally two lines we'll be looking at:
- The Stave: This is the top line in our example and has five lines.
- Tab: Underneath the stave, we have the tab, which has six lines.
These are exactly the same pieces of music, but we use them in different ways to find and work out a song.
Understanding Tab Music
The tab music, which is specific for the guitar, has six lines that represent the six strings on our instrument:
- The thickest E string (the big one) is played on the bottom line.
- We go through all six strings until we reach the high E, which is on the top line of the tab.
We can remember this by referring to the bass and treble:
- Bassier notes (the low notes) are at the bottom.
- Treble notes (the high notes) are at the top of that line.
The Role of the Stave
Above the tab, we have the stave, which is used to help with our notated rhythms.
- Tab music is great for learning songs quickly, as it tells you where on the neck to play the notes, with:
- The numbers indicating the frets.
- The lines representing the strings.
However, tab music doesn't specify when to play the notes, which is why we use the notated rhythms above.
Blending Stave and Tab
We're blending the stave and tab music together to learn a piece of music quickly.
Recap:
-
The tab music at the bottom is used to find our strings and the frets on those strings:
- The lines tell us the strings.
- The numbers indicate what fret to place our fingers on.
-
The stave above helps with notation, which guides us in understanding the rhythms and where we should be playing the notes.
Final Note
When playing through these examples, don't worry if it feels tricky now.
It takes time to get used to, but we will gradually work through the examples in the future, building up to a deeper understanding of music notation.
47 lessons
1h 40m of structured video lessons
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Tommy Webb is a London-based guitarist who completed a BA(Hons) Degree in guitar at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, studying under Sandy Beales (One Direction, Wheatus) and Nicolas Meier (Jeff Beck). His own playing moves freely across rock, pop, indie, hip-hop, country and metal - the exact ground his guitar methods cover.
Tommy has worked with a wide range of artists and bands across the country, including Jarki Monno and Indira May, sharing stages and sessions with guitarists Paul Murray (Jess Glynne, Zak Abel) and Adam Chetwood (Paolo Nutini, Mark Ronson), and drummers Alex Woodward (Black Honey), Luke Robinson and “Bambi Music” (N-Dubz, Lethal Bizzle, Wretch 32, Tinie Tempah).
On stage, he has performed at the Jazz Cafe opening for soul singer Jocelyn Brown, plus venues and festivals including Ronnie Scott's, Troy Bar, The Watford Colosseum, Camden Assembly, Kensington Roof Gardens, Notting Hill Arts Club, Meraki Festival and Sundown Festival.
On record and radio, Tommy has played live sessions for BBC Three Counties Introducing, Vibe FM and Pulse 88, with tracks featured on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2. He has recorded at studios including South Lanes Brighton, Hempstead Road and Titan Studios with producers such as Steph Carter (Gallows, Lyoness) and TMS / Froe Barnes (Lewis Capaldi, Dua Lipa).
In his guitar methods, Tommy passes all of that working-musician know-how on to you - teaching the techniques, tones and feel behind real styles, from rock and pop to indie, hip-hop, country and metal, so you can play the music you actually love.
