reading guitar tabs help?

Question

when i read guitar tabs some of theme have this but i dont know what it means...

h : Hammer On
/ : Slide up
\ : Slide Down
b : Bend
r : Release

and also another question regarding tabs... do they teach reading tabs in guitar lessons/music schools? or they just teach notes and chords???

thank you

Answer 1

Like what others said, hammer ons are when you pick the first note and then use another finger to hit the string on a fret ahead of the first note without picking again. so..
---5 h 7----
means to pick the note on the 5th fret and then hit the 7th fret with a different finger without picking.

note: a pull off is the opposite of a hammer on. it's when you have one note and you pull your finger off that fret to a note that's lower than it. so
----7 p 5-----
means to pick the 7th fret note and pull that finger off to expose the 5th fret note behind it without having to pick it.

Sliding either way means to play a note with a certain finger and slide that finger to a different fret without picking the 2nd note you hear. so
---4 / 6---
would mean to slide your finger from the 4th fret to the 6th fret so you don't have to pick the 2nd note. It also works the other way so
---6 \ 4----
means to do the same, except go from the 6th to the 4th fret.

bends are a little harder to do that the other techniques. if you see this:
---7 b 9----
it means to play the note at the 7th fret and bend the string on that fret until it sounds like the note played on the 9th fret (in this case, you are bending a whole step. if you bend from 7 to 8, then you are bending a half step. If you bend from 7 to 10, you are bending 1.5 steps, etc..).

most bends don't stop here. What do you do after you've held that bend out? You release it back to sounding like it's supposed to sound on that fret.
So usually, you see this:
----7b9r7----
Which means to pick the 7th fret, bend the string to sound like the 9th fret, and release the bend so that it sounds like the 7th fret again.

The good part is, these are the most common techniques you'll use in guitar and the most common you'll see in tabs. The bad part is, there's a crapload of more stuff that you might not have seen yet.
Like this:
........................\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
--------------5-----7----8---------------
the \/\/\/\/\/\/\/ means to use vibrato on the note that is under it for the duration of the \/\/\/\/ (the ......'s are just a space filler because it won't show up right if I just use spaces)

or this
-----x------
which means to mute the string you're playing

or this
-------(7)-----
which, depending on the tab may mean different things. It could be a harmonic on the 7th fret or to pinch a harmonic to sound like it would on the 7th fret, or to create an artificial harmonic at the 7th fret.

And most schools don't teach tabs. They go by the little black dots we all love and hate :) But tabs aren't hard to learn. I still prefer to play by ear, but everyone cheats once in a while :)

Good luck!

Answer 2

If it is showing a chord you generally start at the top string for the chord ( top being you looking down at the neck of the guitar) that is shown in the tab. Then just strum down, form lowest sounding string to highest. Many tabs will tell you if the strum pattern deviates from this. Individual notes are to be played just like reading a book, from left to right.

Answer 3

I'll tell you what I did that'll simplify your life.. Go to Barnes and Noble and look for "Reader's Digest Complete Guitar Course"... it cost me $30, and it was well worth the price. It explains all the basics, things such as hammer on's and pull off's.. It teaches you how to read tabs and sheet music, all the standard chords... the best book I've ever owned. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Answer 4

hammer on means to press on the string quickly.

sliding up and down means just what it sounds like, sliding your finger up or down a string from one fret to another.

bend involves playing a note and raising the string to create a different pitch. release means to stop bending the note.

and i'm sure you could ask a guitar teacher to teach you how to read tabs, but mostly you'd learn notes, chords, finger exercises, etc.

Answer 5

hammer-on = Fret a note and pick it such as (--5--) then slam another finger onto a higher note(without picking) such as (--5h7--)

Slides = just slide your finger up (--5/7--) or down a string (--5\3-)

Bend = bend a note such as(-5-) til it sounds like whatever not is described next to it (--5b7--)

Release = a release is simply releasing a bend

No, it is not likely you will find a school that teaches tab.
but trust me, it is so easy to read tab, just try looking around here ultimate-guitar.com

Answer 6

look on ultimate-guitar.com
for begining guitar lessons on these things
thats were i learned them!