How to Read Melody on Guitar Tab

In guitar tablature, or "tabs," some elements are harder to read than others. Tabs are just written out as six lines (one for each guitar string) and notes identified by where your fingers are on the fret board. So, melody is hard to visualize in tabs. Here are some ways you can see a melody line in guitar tabs.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Find a flowing series of notes. A melody line in tabs will need to be one number after the other, in wavering lines or diagonal bars. The idea is that, since tab is read in rhythm by left-to-right distance, a melody line is one note after another, so the notes can't be up on top of each other. If you see notes in bars at the same place on the tabs, that's a chord or multi-note structure, not a melody line.

2. Check for lines of notes that go on for a longer distance, through several tab bars. The melody line should be fairly consistent, as it's generally the backbone of a song.

3. Pick out repetition. A melody line will usually repeat itself; after all, melody is the main line of a song, the one you hear in your head when the song is over. Find a line that runs through the song, repeating itself, and you may have the melody line.

4. Look for note combos that run in steps and half-steps. Your fret numbers should complement each other: a series like 1-2-5-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-5-6 will not sound as good as a 1-3-4-3-7-3-4-1. More experienced guitarists may be able to pick out dissonant notes better in tab, but it's no easy job.

5. Play out the line from the tabs on your guitar and listen. Because it's so hard to "see" melody in tabs, this should be your final and conclusive step. If you know the song, you should be able to pick out whether or not you're playing the melody line. If not, listen for resonant, complementary notes to find out whether it's truly a "melody" or just a collection of notes.