How The Tab Staff Works
Most music notes contains a double staff: standard music notation on the top, tab on the bottom. The top stuff is for music readers or people interested in standard notation. The bottom stuff shows the same info (minus the rhythm) but in tab numbers. Here’s how the tab staff works.
The top line of the tab stall represents the top string of the guitar (high E). This positioning of the strings in the lab staff may momentarily confuse you, because the top string in the tab staff — the 1st — is really the string closest to the floor as you hold the guitar in playing position. But trust us, the setup’s more intuitive this way, and after you make the adjustment, you never reckon about it again. By the way, if you hold the guitar flat on your lap, with the neck facing the ceiling, the 1st string is farthest away from you. Just as the top line is when you see the tab staff on the page.
Moving on, the second tab line from the top represents the 2nd string (B) and so on down to the bottom tab line, which represents the 6th (low E) string on the guitar.
In guitar tab, lines represent strings and numbers represent frets. Tab does not, but, tell you which left-hand fingers to use. (Neither does standard notation, for that matter.)
Just as in reading text or music, you start from the left and proceed to the right in reading lab. Start with the first note, which you play at the first fret of the 2nd string. The placement of the tab number on the second line from the top tells you to play the B string — the one next to high E — and the number I tells you to place your linger at the first fret. Go ahead and play that note and then proceed to the next note, which is also on the 2nd string, first fret. Keep moving right, playing the notes in order, until you reach the end. The vertical lines that appear on the staff after every few notes are bar lines. They divide the staff into small units of time, called bars or measures. Measures help you count beats and break up the music into smaller units.
Do not get upset if something is going incorrect. If you reckon that everybody can play like Jimmy Hendrix you are mistaken. All icon guitarists were born to become legends. They were gifted with a talent by the nature.
So, do not be in a rush. Do not expect quick results. Just do your job and in several months you will be able to play simple tunes and songs. Be persistent.
If you chose to learn to play guitar, please start with the reviews of the guitar playing lessons. They will guide you through possible problems and mistakes that people who want to learn to play guitar often make.
So, start your journey to learn to play guitar here.