Tapping

Tapping is much like a hammer-on but you don’t strum any notes. Just tap the notes on the fret board with your fretting hand.

Vibrato

Vibrato is like a constant rhythmic bending of the string. You do a bend up and bend down quickly to create a moving sound. It is usually represented by ‘v’ or ‘~’.

A Slide-Down

Opposite of a Slide Up, slide down is represented by the symbol ‘\’. You would play the first note on 7 then slide the finger that is holding that note down to 5.

A Slide-Up

A slide up is represented by the symbol ‘/’. You would play the first note on 7 then slide the finger that is holding that note up to 9.

A Release Bend

A release bend is represented by the symbol ‘r’, this is just like a bend, but it tells you when to release the bend and go to the next note.

A Bend

A bend is represented by the symbol ‘b’, this is where the fretting hand actually bends the string to give a wobbly effect.

A Pull Off

A pull off is the opposite of a hammer on, so the first note is played again then the fretting hand pulls the finger off and lets the one fretted behind it play.

A Hammer On

A hammer on is executed by picking a note and then hammering done with the fretting hand on the second note. The second note isn’t actually picked but kind of echos the first one. Here is an example of how hammer ons are written in tab:

Tablature Symbols

The numbers don’t really describe the subtle techniques that a guitarist can execute, these are the tablature symbols that represent various techniques.

Chords

To tab a chord the notes would be placed in a vertical line upon the horizontal ones. This diagram represents a C Chord. You would strum the bottom 5 strings of the guitar in one motion if you were to read this tab properly.

The Basics

To start out, tabs are written in lines, each line representing a string on the guitar. The thickest string being the bottom most line and the thinnest string being the topmost.