Offering help to beginners in tabs first lessons from me

well many people asked me how to really play tabs
n in an easy understanding language coz they can't
fully understand the helps in IGT
so here is my version
well its not a full lesson on tabs but the rest will b
posted later if required
this lesson on tabs is reserved for beginners who know little or nothing
abt guitar playing n tabs n its my pleasure to help u coz i can understand ur
difficulty coz i was once a begginer like u

first lesson

as u all know the guitar has 6 strings
so normally when we represent the strings on paper it is
as shown below
E-----------------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------
D-----------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------

there r 2 E
the A is the second most thickest string n the B the second most thinnest
one so u can now know the positions of the E B G D A E
beware folks
if u c only
E
tu neh mujhe pehjaana
D
ashik hoo mein

then the E n D r not the strings we r talking of
they r chords n tabs n chords r poles apart

ok

2nd lesson

now second part how to read tabs
lets begin with easy tabs

E|-8-7-8-7-8-7-8-12-10-8-7-6-7-6-7-6-------------
B|--------------------------------------------------
G|--------------------------------------------------
D|--------------------------------------------------
A|--------------------------------------------------
E|--------------------------------------------------
Har Ghadi Badal Rahi Hai Dhoop Zindagi
Chaw Hai Khabi Khabi Hai Dhoop Zindagi

ok when we read tabs we start from up to down n the letter which
comes first is played
a bit confused????/
ok we start from up to down
we have 8 on E thin string
so we put our finger on the 8th block( if i can it) from the start piece of guitar
strings of string E thin one n then strike it
then we see 7 on E thin
we strike 7 block on E thin
then its 8th n so on

the blocks which i am mentionning abt r callled frets in technical terms


third lesson

now we move to third part
if we have got sth such as shown below

------5-------------------5----------
--------6--5----------------6--5-----
---7----------7--------7----------7--
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Bin tere sanam, Mar mitenge hum

well here even if the string names r not given we can deduce that up
is E thin n down is E thick ie it is same as shown below

E------5-------------------5----------
B--------6--5----------------6--5-----
G---7----------7--------7----------7--
D-------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------
Bin tere sanam, Mar mitenge hum

u must know the song u gonna play its very important

now as i've said earlier we move from up to down
we c that 7 fret of string G comes first
am i right??
u understood folks?
then its 5th fret of ctring E thin
then 6th fret of B then 5th block of string B
then 7th fret of string G

when am saying 7th fret of strring G it means u press the string G
on the 7th fret after the start guitar arm (u must b knowing abt what am
talking i hope) then while pressing it strike the string G
then move on to the next


ok i've got a song called bin tere sanaam n dhoom
i think its quite popular n its easy to play u folks can start practising on
these
DHOOM
Ishq Ishq Kerna Hai Kerlay

E-3-3-3-3-3-2-3-2-0---------Repeat it again---
B---------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------

Ishq Ishq Na Ho Dobara

E-2-2-2-2-2-0-------2-0-----------------------
B---------------3-----------------------------
G---------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------




Bin Tere Sanam


------5-------------------5----------
--------6--5----------------6--5-----
---7----------7--------7----------7--
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Bin tere sanam, Mar mitenge hum

-----5--------------------------------
---------6---8---6--5-----------------
-7------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Aa meri, zindagi...


-5-----5--6---5-----------------------
-----------------8---6--6--8--5-------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
hoooo aana hi pada sajnaaa....


--------------------------------------
--5--6--5-----6--5--------------------
-----------6--------7-----------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
Zaalim hai dil ki lagi..


if u have any problems n queries u can send mi an instant msg via yahoo msger
on high_energied its my id
ok njoy n plzzzzzz do rate this help
i think i've worked hard to make this lesson as simple as it can b
any comments or help to improve it will b welcomed
even if there r many things on tablature to b covered in my lessons
its for begginers n i think they wont get prob if they start with
such easy tabs
its what i think n have learnt abt tabs well even if many things r left
to b included
the other parts of my tabs help will b posted soon
still working on it
n i think it will b a great help to guitarist
thnx

hey give ur vote above ok

very nice one dude its a great help for me waioting for the other posts soooooooon

hey thnx dude was nice to b with u on sundays meeting n as u promised u posted the help
it gonna really help me

I think the starting step for folks with no western music background would be to read some books on basic music theory .. te kidns they teach in primary school...
about Scales,Rhythm,harmony etc.

Startng with guitar tabs, when you dont know what a C major scale is and what a D minor scale is is not the right first step in my opinion.
what that wil make u in the long run is just parrots, depending on tabs posted by someone else, and just reproducing them blindly on the guitar.. u dont want that to happen dont ya?

It also helps that one talks the same musical language as the rest.

For example, till the time i was in 12th grade, I didnt know what C major was..
But I had been harmonizing on my keyboard for a very long time.. I could play songs like Pehla Nasha and Papa Kehte hain without knowing what chords i was actually playing, in fact i didnt even know i was playing chords, but the concept of melody and harmony was familar to me and thats what matters essentially.

Now coming to the common language part, guitaristofm mentiones some "blocks" in his post.. what he actually means is a "fret".. now he has obviously picked up playing the guitar in an isolated environment, and hence is unfamilar with certain terminologies which everyone else takes for granted. This is very normal and typical, it is guitaristofm's responsibilty to fix that.. now that he is a member of IGT. he should read all the old posts and pick up knowledge, bits of information from here and there and tie it up. this goes for all of ya who feel they r in the same boat and can relate to what i am saying.

yep i know about the frets but preferred to use the term blocks coz its a much simpler term
well i learnt tabs first n now am playing chords chords r more demanding n i think one should start with chords

yep i know about the frets but preferred to use the term blocks coz its a much simpler term n they will more easily understand someone mailed me to say that he did not understand a term of an IGT article abt tabs so i thought that it would b better if i use such simpler terms
well i learnt tabs first n now am playing chords chords r more demanding n i think one should start withtabs n simple ones b4 moving to chords

Technical terms are not to be substituted with 'simpler terms' theguitaristofm. Atleast i dont think calling frets 'blocks' is prudent. But the lesson was good, and i agree with jay, some background on music theory is very essential, that's why i'm formally taking lessons now. But as to the lesson part, it was a good post theguitaristofm.

ya disturbed will include more technical terms in other posts thnx

Originally Posted by theguitaristofm

yep i know about the frets but preferred to use the term blocks coz its a much simpler term
well i learnt tabs first n now am playing chords chords r more demanding n i think one should start with chords

you are using tabs synonymous with melody, and treating chords as something different. thats wrong.

tab = guitar tabulature, it is a way of representing music and is an alternative for regular sheet music.

u can represent both horizontal(melody) intervals, and vertical (chords) intervals using guitar tabs.

for example melody

E-------------------------------------
B-------------------0-1----------------
G--------------0-2--------------------
D-------0-2-3-------------------------------
A-----3-----------------------------------
E-----------------------------------
C major scale

chords
d d
E----0---x--x--2---x--x--------------------
B----0---x--x--3---x--x----------------
G----1---x--x--2---x--x------------------
D----2---x--x--0---x--x---------------------
A----2---x--x--x---x--x----------------------
E----0---x--x--x---x--x--------------------
.......E............D

for example the above tabs shows u how to play the two chords E and D
and also specifies the rhythm with muted intervals specified by x, which goes like

Jang chiku chik Jang Chiku Chik
..E......x......x.......D ....x......x


please read more on guitar tabbing basics.. from the guitar tab forum.

nice work ppl . keep on rocking

Very good work both of you, guitaristofm for posting the lesson, and jayswami for clearing up all the issues and providing a wealth of information. Really good work.

@jayswami ok dude wil b more careful n use technical terms

@all hey i saw my articlebeing copy pasted in other sites well glad that u liked it

i just wanted to thank theguitaristofm for the lesson. I am extremely new to the guitar. just started as of saturday actually. and this lesson helped me out alot!!

and i wanted to mention to jayswami, that i agree with you completely. and i will be taking the necessarty steps to learn the scales and whatever else i should be learning.

i am already a percussionist. but have been facinated by the guitar, so i want to learn.

Thanks to all of you for providing such a forum that can help us newbie's out.