How to Read Double Picking on Guitar Tabs

Double picking, or tremolo picking, is a strumming technique used for the guitar. Double picking, like many of the cooler things you can do on the guitar, is taken from classical music. Over the years, a couple of different notation styles have sprung up to represent double picking in guitar tablature.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Take a look at the tablature style. If the tab includes a staff with traditional musical notation, double picking may be represented by the timing found in the traditional notation. In this case, double picking will be represented by sixteenth notes.

2. Double picking can also be represented by a pair of slash marks made across the stem of an eighth note, This indicates that the note is meant to be stuck twice in sixteenth note time, rather than plucked once and sustained for an entire eighth note. In tablature notation, the slash marks may be found directly over or under the fretted note.

3. For guitar tablature without traditional pitch and time notation, tremolo picking or double picking may be marked in several ways. Some guitar tabs add the abbreviation "trem" after a fretted note, which is short for "tremolo picking."

4. Some guitar tabs mark double picking by adding an "s" after a fretted note. This stands for "semi-quaver," which is another term for the sixteenth note.

5. Some guitar tabs mark double picking by adding the word "double" after a fretted note. This notation is the least common style of marking tremolo picking in a guitar tablature.

Tips & Warnings

• Guitar tab notation varies considerably. This article only addresses the common ways of marking double picking. Check with the tablature legend for further questions about notation.