Tablature


 What is Tablature?

Tablature is a music notation system that focuses on conveying the technique, or fingering, 
of the notes in the piece. It uses symbols and numbers to show the fingerings of the notes. 
It does not show the rhythms in the music, or the duration of each note. Since rhythm can't 
be shown in tablature, most of the time a musical staff is shone above each line of 
tablature. Tablature is most commonly used for stringed instruments, because there are many 
different ways to play a single note, so technique is very important. Tablature can also be 
used for wind instruments such as the recorder, oboe, or clarinet, although it is very rare.
This kind of tablature shows which holes of the instrument should be covered and which 
should be open.

 



 Reading Tablature

Reading tablature is relatively simple. For stringed instrument tablature, each line of the 
tablature represents one string. For example, for guitar tab the top line of represents the 
highest string, E. The numbers on the lines represent the fret number that should be 
fingered. Wind instrument tablature uses dashes on a six-line staff to show which holes of 
the instrument are covered. As with most tab, rhythm notes are shown above so the duration 
of each note is shown.