Tab Guitar Symbols

This widget is a quick reference chart for the different types of articulation marks used in guitar tablature notation. Simply listen to an example of the mark’s execution and observe its appearance on the score. It also has two modes of interaction: Mouse (or Trackpad) that allow you to simply click on whichever mark you’re interested in hearing/seeing, Keyboard Mode which allows you to jump around using the Tab key or arrow keys on your keyboard.

At the top of the widget is a row of symbols themselves. A button for each one appear, showing not only its name but also the corresponding ASCII character you’ll see in tabs. Just click the desired button to select that symbol. The notation will appear in main panel below on a staff graphic. There, you will also see it described in plain English to show how you would play it on your instrument.

How to Use the Guitar Tab Widget

You also have the option of controlling the widget via your keyboard if that’s more comfortable for you. Just hit the Tab key repeatedly until you see the tabs for each symbol being highlighted. From there, you can either keep tabbing or use the arrow keys to navigate through various symbols. When you’ve got one selected and want to play its sound, simply hit the Spacebar or Enter button. The mapping will let you cycle through techniques quickly without having to grab your mouse.

Each of these symbol comes with a sound example to listen to. When you click on one, the little widget plays a snippet demonstrating what this technique sounds like. A hammer-on is just a smooth connection of two notes; a bend rises in pitch; and a slide connects from one fret to another, gliding between the two. It helps you tell how each one sounds or feels in your head before you try it on the guitar.

Below the staff graphic there is a Replay button which will play back what it’s been showing. This isn’t an option that changes what it’s doing but simply allows you to repeat if you’d like to hear something again. You may find this helpful when you’re concentrating on a particular technique. If you’ve selected two different sounds, then switch symbols and replay them both several times for comparison.

You can also control how loud the sound is played without adjusting your computer’s own sound settings using the volume slider. If you prefer a quieter volume than the default or need to listen in a louder environment, just drag the slider up or down. That way it will remember and stay at that volume even when you change from symbol to symbol, so you don’t have to keep fiddling around with it.

Click the How to play button at the top of the page (see image) to open a help panel if you need help reading tab. The panel gives an overview of how tab works; what each number means as well as the symbol that sits between or after them. It also points out that the highest string is at the top of the page (the high E string in this case).

The Fullscreen button up at the top of the page will expand the widget to full-screen size for easier reading of tab descriptions and graphics on smaller screens and if you just wish to concentrate on the content itself (just click Exit fullscreen or press the Escape key to go back). Pressing the Escape key on your keyboard is also an alternative way out of fullscreen mode.

Here are a couple of tips on how to get the best use out of this tool. Practice your new songs with it open as a dictionary. That way, whenever you come across a mark in your tabs that you don’t know what it means, you can find it here to make sure you’re playing the right motion.

Pay attention to which one sounds like a hammer-on or a pull off. Both link notes without picking them again, but the direction of the force is differenter. Note that there is a staff graphic on each symbol. You can see just how it relates to the fret numbers. That kind of visual context will help you put any symbols in the right places both when reading complicated arrangements and writing your own tabs.

And because they’re standard ASCII marks, the widget covers those marks and what’s displayed here is applicable directly to tabs you’ll read online. If you’d like to learn more about how they sound try them all in sequence; it will help you get used to the sound of each symbol and you’ll find out that not all of the techniques are equal in terms of sustained duration, which gives you a mental model for how much energy each technique requires. Bends and vibratos last longer then other techniques so this provides a mental model of how hard to play each technique.

Alternatively, you can turn down the sound to look at the notation only without any sounds playing. Click on whatever symbol interests you and begin to explore. Read what it does in the description and listen to the demo to learn about physical action needed. For those who wish to speed through the techniques, you’ll find a set of keyboard shortcuts too. Take as long as you like over each of these entries. This widget is intended to bridge the gap between reading a word and saying it corectly.