A few basics will take the fear out of reading notation for many people. Yes, it can and
does get complex at the higher levels but if you're just reading the basics of notation, signs
and terms will get you a long way. Indeed, learning the basics of music notation is not much
harder than reading guitar tablature. So where should you begin? Good question! I'd say right
at the start...
The Basics of Musical Notation
The Alphabet, Staff, & G Clef
Notes On The Staff
Time Signatures
The musical alphabet is exactly the same as the first seven letters of the English alphabet, namely: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, (then back to A).
This series of notes continues up and down the staff. A staff is a series of lines and spaces that a music note sits on or between. Additionally, the use of a "clef" sets the pitch of the notes that are on the staff and in guitar music we use the "G" or treble clef almost exclusively.
The common notes in musical notation are the Whole note; the Half note; the Quarter note; the eigth note; the 16th note; The 32nd note; the 64th note; and the 128th note.
Time signatures are mostly found at the beginning of the music and consist of two numbers (one vertically above the other), which indicate both the number of beats in a bar and the value or duration of each beat in the bar. A bar line groups the beats into equal portions. Bars are also known as "measures".
A double bar line usually indicates the end of a section of music.
The Basics of Guitar Tablature
Music Notation and Tablature
Tablature Represents The Guitar Neck
Time Signatures
Tablature is a way of reading guitar notes,chords,and music using a six-lined staff.
It looks similar to the music staff that is used in music notation but is in fact a graphic
representationof the six strings of a guitar. For example, here are the open string notes
in both music notation and guitar tablature.
Guitar tablature is very different from the staff line because it is a graphic representation
(picture) of the guitar strings themselves. Just imagine that you are holding a guitar in the normal sitting position
(assuming you are right–handed!)on your left leg and you turn it up towards yourself so that you are
looking at it upside down. That would mean the lower E bass string is at the bottom and the
treble E string is at the top. This is how the notes of an E, A, B7 chord would look inguitar tablature.
You may have noticed the different numbers in the tab section of the two preceding examples. The
numbers in tablature are the FRETS where the note is played or stopped with your left hand fingers, or an "O" for an
open string note. In other words the E major chord above consists of these notes: Open E bass or sixth string; B note played
on 5th string 2nd fret; E note played on 4th string 2nd fret; G# note played on 3rd string 1st fret;
Open B treble string & Open E treble or first string.
