Easy Guitar Tabs

It is a type of notation that is used by guitarists to understand the sequence and the progression of notes and chords in a particular song. In the next sections, we will have a look at some basic guitar chords followed by a few simple guitar tabs.

Before we move on to learning a couple of guitar tabs, let's examine some basic guitar chords, and the fingering involved in them.

Here is the guitar tab for the chord 'C major'.
e ------------------------O
B ----1-------------------
G ------------------------O
D ---------2--------------
A ---------------3--------
E -------------------------X

The letters e, B, G, D, A and E represent the six guitar strings of an acoustic guitar with 'e' being the thinnest string and 'E' being the thickest.

The symbol 'X' when written in front of a string, means that, that particular string is not to be played in that particular tab. The symbol 'O' stands for an open string i.e., the string is to be played without pressing down on any of that string's frets.

The numbers 1, 2 and 3 that are written in front of the strings 'B', 'D' and 'A' respectively, represent the fret positions for those respective strings.

Therefore, the given tab for C major should be read as: "C major involves the strings e, B, G, D and A. Do not play 'E', and 'G' and 'e' are open strings. Fret positions for 'B', 'D' and 'A' are 1, 2 and 3 respectively." In this manner, here are a few more guitar chord tabs.

The following is the tab for the chord 'A major'.
e ----------------O
B -----2----------
G -----2----------
D -----2----------
A ----------------O
E-----------------O

In this case, 'e', 'A' and 'E' are open strings whereas 2 is the fret position for 'B', 'G' as well as 'D'.

Here is the guitar tab for 'A minor'.
e ---------------------O
B ---1-----------------
G ------2--------------
D ------2--------------
A ---------------------O
E ---------------------X 

In this case, 'E' is not to be played, 'A' and 'e' are open strings, whereas 1, 2 and 2 are the fret positions for 'B', 'G' and 'D' respectively.

The following is the notation for 'F major'.
e ----1----------------
B ----1----------------
G --------2------------
D ------------3--------
A ------------3--------
E ----------------------X 

As you can see, 1 is the fret position for both 'e' and 'B', 2 is the fret position for 'G', whereas 3 is the fret position for both 'D' and 'A'. 'E' is not to be played.

The fingering for G major is the same as that for F major with one exception. The entire set has to be moved 2 frets down. Therefore, you have 3 as the fret position for both 'e' and 'B', 4 as the fret position for 'G', and 5 as the fret position for both 'D' and 'A'.

Here is the guitar tab for 'D major'.
e -----2-------------
B -----------3-------
G -----2-------------
D -------------------O
A -------------------X
E -------------------X 

Strings 'A' and 'E' are not to be played. 'D' is an open string. 2 is the fret position for 'e' and 'G' whereas 3 is the fret position for string 'B'.

The following is the tab for 'E major'.
e ----------------O
B ----------------O
G ---1-----------
D -------2-------
A -------2-------  
E ----------------O 

'e', 'B' and 'E' are open strings, whereas 1 is the fret position for 'G', and 2 is the fret position for both 'D' and 'A'.

Now that you are aware of the fingering for the mentioned guitar chords, let us have a look at a couple of easy-to-learn guitar tabs involving them.

Here is a strumming pattern that makes use of the chords C, F, G and A minor. A_m is the symbol for A minor.
C - F - G - G
A_m - E - A_m - A_m
You can have a variety of strumming patterns for the given chord progression. For starters, you may begin with a 'down up down up down' type of strumming pattern.

Here is another strumming pattern that makes use of the chords D, A_m and G.
D - D - D - D
A_m - A_m - A_m - A_m
G - G - G - G
D - D - D - D

Once you are comfortable with the different finger positions and the shifting of chords from one to another, you can move on to some higher level guitar lessons which involve advanced guitar tabs and chords.