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Reading guitar tablature found on the
Internet
Slides
For a slide, the forward
slash (/) is used to indicate an upward slide, and the backward slash (\) is
used to represent a downward slide.
E:--------------------
B:--------------------
G:-----5/7-----7\5----
D:--------------------
A:--------------------
E:--------------------
You may see a slide symbol
that does not have a note designated as the starting point. In that case, just
start your slide from a few frets above or below depending on the direction you
are headed. This is more than likely just a decoration or an ornamentation of
the note, rather than a transition between 2 notes like above.
E:------------------
B:------------------
G:-----/7--or--\7---
D:------------------
A:------------------
E:------------------
One other symbol commonly
used for slides, is an "s".
E:----------------
B:----------------
G:---5s7---7s5----
D:----------------
A:----------------
E:----------------
Reference Lessons
For more information on
slides, check out this lesson.
Slides -
Another guitar technique used to ornament a note, or to transition between
notes.
Bends
The most common symbol used
for a bend in Internet tab, is the "b". The "b" is placed between two different
numbers. The first number indicates the fret you are playing. The second number
indicates the pitch that the bent note should sound like. You will not play the
note represented by second number. It is only a reference to tell you how far to
bend. Sometimes the second note is written in parentheses, just to clarify that
it is not plucked.
E:--------------------------------
B:----------- or -----------------
G:-----7b9----------7b(9)---------
D:--------------------------------
A:--------------------------------
E:--------------------------------
Reverse Bends (Release
Bends)
A reverse bend is indicated
by an "r". The first number that you see is the note that the second note sounds
like when bent. Sometimes the note is bent before you pick it, this is known as
a pre-bend. Other times the reverse bend will be part of a bend, then a reverse
bend combination. Either way you are hearing the bent note come back down to the
note represented by the second number.
E:--------------------------------
B:----------- or -----------------
G:-----9r7----------(9)r7---------
D:--------------------------------
A:--------------------------------
E:--------------------------------
Smears
A smear is when you bend a
string just slightly, not enough to bend the string up to the next half step
higher(1 fret ). This is sometimes indicated by just a "b" after a note, with no
real indication of how far to bend it. Or, sometimes you will see a .5. The .5
indicating a quarter of a step bend. A quarter of a step would be equal to half
of one fret. This is by no means an exact measurement of how far to bend.
E:--------------------------------
B:------------- or ---------------
G:-------5b------------5^(.5)-----
D:-----7----7--------7--------7---
A:--------------------------------
E:--------------------------------
Reference Lessons
For more information on
bends, check out this lesson.
String Bending
- Make the guitar sing and cry. Bends help put some emotion into your playing.
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