This month’s Quick Quiz looks at how well you know Guitar TAB. Being able to read and write Guitar TAB is crucial for every guitarist. From learning how to play songs, finding exercises and lessons to writing your own songs, Guitar TAB is widely used. At the end of this post are lessons to help you understand the skills needed to read and write TAB.
Reading Guitar TAB
1. What chords are being played in the below TAB?
2. What are the two chords being played in the below TAB and how are they played?
3. How would you play the below TAB?
Writing Guitar TAB
4. Write the following left to right in Guitar TAB format:
- An E powerchord starting on the low e string
- A slide from the fifth fret on the fifth string to the seventh fret
- A hammer-on from the seventh fret on the fourth string to the ninth fret
- An Em barre chord formed on the seventh fret
5.Write the following chords in Guitar TAB format showing strumming direction:
- Em strummed four times (one beat each)
- Am strummed two times (half beat each)
- D strummed once (two beats length)
- C strummed once (one beat length)
Answers
Don’t cheat! Give the questions a proper try before checking the answers.
1. Am C D7 Em
2. Asus4 and E7 played as arpeggios
3. To play Barre chords (in this case Am) you flatten your first finger across the fifth fret then reach with your 2nd & 3rd (or 3rd and 4th) fingers to play the two seventh fret notes.
4.
5.
NOTE: You can choose whatever strumming direction you want, the pattern used in this answer is a very common way of strumming the chords.
Resources
If you found the reading questions difficult, check out this lesson here to read up on the basics on how to read Guitar TAB. Once you understand the basic format of Guitar TAB questions like these become very simple.
If you found the writing questions difficult, this lesson will explain the steps to take to get used to writing your own TAB. All it takes is a bit of practice and you will get the hang of what needs to be done.
Learn to read Guitar TAB lesson here
Learn to write Guitar TAB lesson here
If on the other hand you found the questions easy, well done! This skill is incredibly valuable and well worth the effort learning. These were meant to be fairly simple questions so don’t stop at this skill level – continue to develop your skills by trying to transcribe songs by ear and writing more complex TAB.