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Lesson 1 of 4

Reading tab

Tab shows where to put your fingers, not which notes they are. Six lines, one per string: the top line is the high e string, the bottom line is the low E. A number is the fret; 0 is the open string.

Read left to right; numbers stacked in the same column are played together. Where a column has no number, let the last note ring or rest as the audio does. Before you play, press Play and listen once.

The open strings, low to high, are E A D G B E. Say each name out loud as you pick it. The most common mistake is hitting a neighbor string, so look at the picking hand for the first few loops, then try it without looking.

Symbols you'll meet later

  • 7b9: bend fret 7 up until it sounds like fret 9
  • 8b10r8: bend, then release back down
  • 5h7 / 8p5: hammer-on / pull-off
  • 7/9: slide up, 9\7: slide down
  • 7pb9: pre-bend: bend to the pitch of fret 9 before picking
  • ~: vibrato, PH: pinch harmonic, x: muted scratch
  • > above a note: accent, pick it harder

Exercises

Open strings, low to high and back

60 → 90 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. low E string, open
    2. A string, open
    3. D string, open
    4. G string, open
  2. Bar 2
    1. B string, open
    2. high E string, open
    3. rest
    4. rest
  3. Bar 3
    1. high E string, open
    2. B string, open
    3. G string, open
    4. D string, open
  4. Bar 4
    1. A string, open
    2. low E string, open
    3. rest
    4. rest

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Frets 0 to 3, string by string

60 → 90 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. low E string, open
    2. low E string, fret 1
    3. low E string, fret 3
    4. rest
  2. Bar 2
    1. A string, open
    2. A string, fret 2
    3. A string, fret 3
    4. rest
  3. Bar 3
    1. D string, open
    2. D string, fret 2
    3. D string, fret 3
    4. rest
  4. Bar 4
    1. G string, open
    2. G string, fret 2
    3. rest
    4. rest

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

A first melody on two strings

60 → 90 bpm
  1. Bar 1
    1. high E string, open
    2. high E string, fret 1
    3. high E string, fret 3
    4. high E string, fret 1
  2. Bar 2
    1. high E string, open
    2. B string, fret 3
    3. B string, fret 1
    4. rest
  3. Bar 3
    1. B string, open
    2. B string, fret 1
    3. B string, fret 3
    4. high E string, open
  4. Bar 4
    1. B string, fret 1, hold, hold
    2. rest

Clean 3 times in a row? Raise the tempo by 5 bpm.

Checkpoint

Move on when you can do all of these.

  • Name the six open strings from low to high
  • Play the exercise at 90 bpm without looking at the tab
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