What are guitar tabs and are they harder to read that normal notes??

Question:The difference between standard music notation and tab is this: music notation shows you what notes to play (what sounds to make, IOW) but leaves it up to you to know where to go on your instrument to find those notes; guitar tab shows you where to put your fingers to make the right sounds (what string and what fret position on the guitar) but doesn't tell you what notes you're actually sounding.

Guitar tab will have 6 horizontal lines, each line represents a string on the guitar. The top line represents the highest pitched (thinnest) string, the bottom line is the lowest sounding (thickest) string. Numbers placed on a specific line or string mean "play this string at this number fret". So, for example, a 3 on the top line means play the first (E) string at the third fret.

The main problem with tabs is that they're not always very good at showing you how long to hold each note, so unless you already know how the piece you're learning is supposed to sound, it can be very easy to get the rhythm and the phrasing wrong --this is where standard notation is much clearer than tab. Another problem is that guitar tab is only readable by a guitar player, whereas standard notation can be read and used by anybody no matter what instrument they play. So if you have guitar tab for a song, and you want your piano or flute or fiddle playing friend to play it with you, they're out of luck -- they're not going to be able to read the tab. OTOH, if you have the song written out in standard music notes, you can all read off of the same sheet music.

Both tab and standard notation are useful tools, but in different ways. I would learn them both.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: The difference between standard music notation and tab is this: music notation shows you what notes to play (what sounds to make, IOW) but leaves it up to you to know where to go on your instrument to find those notes; guitar tab shows you where to put your fingers to make the right sounds (what string and what fret position on the guitar) but doesn't tell you what notes you're actually sounding.

Guitar tab will have 6 horizontal lines, each line represents a string on the guitar. The top line represents the highest pitched (thinnest) string, the bottom line is the lowest sounding (thickest) string. Numbers placed on a specific line or string mean "play this string at this number fret". So, for example, a 3 on the top line means play the first (E) string at the third fret.

The main problem with tabs is that they're not always very good at showing you how long to hold each note, so unless you already know how the piece you're learning is supposed to sound, it can be very easy to get the rhythm and the phrasing wrong --this is where standard notation is much clearer than tab. Another problem is that guitar tab is only readable by a guitar player, whereas standard notation can be read and used by anybody no matter what instrument they play. So if you have guitar tab for a song, and you want your piano or flute or fiddle playing friend to play it with you, they're out of luck -- they're not going to be able to read the tab. OTOH, if you have the song written out in standard music notes, you can all read off of the same sheet music.

Both tab and standard notation are useful tools, but in different ways. I would learn them both.

They appear to be easier to read compared to normal notes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_tabs

Tabs are without a doubt way easier to read and understand then sheet music