How to read Guitar Tabs - II

In last post, How to read Guitar Tabs - I, we've discussed about the basic form of Guitar Tabs and how it is read. In this post, we'll talk about most important symbols mainly occurring in Guitar Tabs.

1. Slides

Slides are performed by striking a note and moving the fretting hand up or down the same string to another note. The two types of slides we perform are

(i) Ascending Slide (/): They are represented by a forward slash '/'. The note written before the slash is played with picking hand and the fretting hand finger slides up towards the note written after the slash.

Eg: A 2/6 on Guitar Tab means the 2nd fret is to be played and the fretting hand slides up to 6th fret.

(ii) Descending Slide (\): They are represented by a backward slash '/'. The note written before the slash is played with picking hand and the fretting hand finger slides down towards the note written after the slash.

Eg: A 6\2 on Guitar Tab means the 6th fret is to be played and the fretting hand slides down to 2nd fret.

(iii) Combined slides: It can be played by striking the first note, and sliding remaining notes by the fretting hand without taking the hand off from the fret board.

Eg: A 5/8\6 on Guitar Tab shows us to play 5th fret, slide up to 8th fret and slide back to 6th fret all without taking hand off from fret board but just by sliding.

2. Hammer-ons

Hammer-ons are indicated by an 'h' in Guitar Tabs. To play hammer-ons play the first note and then tap the finger on fretting hand to next note.

Eg: 7h9 on Guitar Tab means, play the note on fret 7, tap the 9th fret with another finger on fretting hand. This rings out the note on 9th fret. When tapping the 9th fret, the finger already on 7th fret remains there itself.

3.Pull offs

Pull offs are opposite of hammer-ons. Play the first note, use another finger to fret and quickly lift fretting finger from fret board. This will ring out the second note.

Eg: 6p4 on Guitar Tab means, play the note on fret 6, fret the 4th fret with another finger and quickly pull off the finger on 6th fret. When its learned, the fretting of 4th fret and pull off from 6th fret occur almost simultaneously.


Hope this helps to read the tabs correctly, leave comments below and keep visiting for more......