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Step 1
Let's take a look at what guitar tabs look like. You can see in this picture that there are six lines to correspond with the six strings on your guitar. The lowest line is the low E string on your guitar, and the highest is the high E string. So basically the tabs are inverted from how you hold the guitar.
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Step 2
The next thing you need to know is what the numbers on each line actually mean!!! You can see on the picture that accompanies this step that the first number you see is a "2" on the third string from the bottom. What this means is that you play the 2nd fret on the D string (the third string) and that you play this note by itself. Only play this note! The next number you see is a "0" on the "B string" (the 2nd from the top) and this is telling you to play the B String without fretting any note. So you play it "Open." Follow these rules as you work through playing the rest of the notes. Remember that since these numbers are all by themselves on the strings (no note is also above or below in the same spot) you only play the single note each time.
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Step 3
In this picture you can see that some notes are "overlapping" or are at the same place on the strings. This means that you are going to be playing multiple notes at the same time. In this tab you will fret (hold down) the 2nd frets on both the "A" and "D" strings, and then playing all 6 strings at the same time. This is done because the numbers are all lines up, telling you that the notes need to be played together. So strum the notes shown here together. Again, the other strings show an open note or "0" so play those open. Using what I have taught you here, see if you can figure out what to do in the 2nd part of this song.
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Step 4
Now I am going to show you some advanced moves shown in the guitar tablature, but these aren't anything you need to worry about if you are just starting out. The first is calling "Muting" and this is done by pressing your picking hand lightly onto the strings near the bridge of the guitar to "mute" the amount of sound coming out of the amp. This particular tab shows "P.M" for palm mute, and tells you to play the 5th fret on the G string of the guitar while muting.
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Step 5
Next is called a "Hammer on" and/or a "Pull off" which is a advanced technique where you play the first note in a sequence and then fret the next note with your fretting hand to make the note ring out, but you do this without picking the 2nd note. A pull of is where you basically do the same thing, but in reverse. In this picture you can see that you play an open note on the "D" string and then hammer onto the 2nd fret on the D string without picking the note. The "H.O" stands for "Hammer on."
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Step 6
The final step we will go over is called "tapping." If you don't know what tapping is, go ahead and treat yourself to Van Halen's "Eruption" and listen to what Eddie is doing near the end of the song all they way until its conclusion. Neat huh? Well here is how you understand what the guitar tab for "tapping" means. In this picture you see that there is a circle around the 14th fret on the high e string. This means that you are "tapping" onto the 14th fret of the "High E" string. You do this by taking a finger on your picking hand (I use my middle finger) and press the note down with that finger. You then have to hammer on the 7th and 10th frets of the high e string to play this Tab. You can see the tapped note changes to the 15th fret, and but the technique used is the same.
