LEFT-HANDED  TABLATURE
Tablature or TAB is often thought to be written for Right-Handed guitarists, however when you look close at TAB you'll soon realize that it also applies to the Left-Handed Guitar.   While holding your guitar, look down at the top of the Fretboard and you will see that the 6th string (thickest) is always at the top of the Fretboard.   It doesn't matter if you play Left or Right so TAB works for either Right or Left-Handed guitars.   Remember, when you buy music song books or sheet music with TAB and guitar Chords, it is often advertised on the front cover that guitar Chords diagrams/charts are included, which people know are only written for the Right-Handed guitar.   So it's easy to make the mistake of thinking TAB is only for the Right-Handed ... It's Not.

Tablature is used to show guitarists where to put their fingers for the Notes or Chords of a song without having to read music and is very easy to learn. Here we will show you how to read TAB and the various symbols and notations used for proper performance.


Tablature notation show guitarist's when to change the notes and how notes are to be played such as string bending, hammer-ons, pull-oofs, slurs and so on.


The pictures below show a Left-Handed fretboard marked with each string's number, string name and the Fret numbers. The fret numbers are used on the Tab staff.

The TAB staff consists of 6 lines with each line representing each of the 6 strings. The fret number will appear on a TAB line to show you which Fret to play for each string.

The Number "0" means to play that string as an open string OR play a string without pressing down on the string with any fingers of your Right-Hand.

When a number appears on a Tab line it tells you which fret to play for that string only. The Left-Handed fretboard picture below shows all of the fret numbers.

When a TAB line does not have any numbers it means you don't play that string. This is the same as when you look at a chord diagram which has an "X" above a string.


Notice that TAB is often shown below the music score. The advantage to this is that it further shows the timing of the notes or chords to be played. Some TAB scores also have slash marks to show rthyms just for chord timing.
TABLATURE NOTATION
Different symbols are used in TAB to indicate additional ways to play certain notes such as:
  • Bending a string.
  • Slurring a note.
  • Rthym slashes.
  • And much more.
 




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