Chords and tabs are fundamentally different things, although, in many ways, they serve the same purpose. The purpose is to show you how to play certain songs, musical phrases, and ideas on the guitar or a similarly stringed instrument.
That said, the two are different from each other, although, they can certainly be used in conjunction with one another. It’s not uncommon for there to be chord diagrams on the top of tablature, to name just one example. That brings me to the difference though.
The difference between chords, chord diagrams, and tablature is the former concerns only the finger positioning of notes played together on the guitar fretboard. Tablature is a musical notation system that includes chords and single-note melodies through a numbered system rather than note names.
Free Printable Guitar Chord Chart, Basic Guitar Chords Chart, Downloadable
And that’s the brunt of the difference between the two. This topic isn’t really one that requires a person to really go in-depth, but I will explore it for the absolute beginner in the section down below. I’ll be diving into the answer I just gave in further detail, including some diagrams and pictures so you really get the message.
The Main Difference Between Chords and Tabs1) Tablature Is the Entire Score & Chord Diagrams Concern Only ChordsTablature Is For The Entire Score
Like I was saying earlier, tablature is kind of like the lazy man’s replacement for standard notation and sheet music. More specifically, it’s a notation system that guitarists have used for years and it works really well for a lot of us.
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Especially if you use Guitar Pro which is an incredible tool for guitarists – something I explained in great detail in my other article on the topic.
Most guitarists, especially those who are self-taught, will be very familiar with tablature. Classically trained guitarists will probably be much better at reading traditional sheet music, similar to pianists.
Mark Sarnecki’s Elementary Rudiments (including the Answer Book on Amazon) is the book I recommend if you want to learn this stuff.
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It works by notating each fret of the guitar as it relates to the actual string on the instrument. For example, if you take a look at the tablature below, you can see that I’ve outlined which line represents which string, and also which number represents which fret.
A tablature is an incredible tool for guitarists, and it’s no surprise that many people use it now, including myself. Not only that but it has been adapted in such a way that people have included timing notation and dynamics as well.
I would say that sheet music is actually fairly hard for a guitarist to use because the guitar can play many notes at the exact same pitch but in totally different pitches.
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For example, the E on the A-string (7th Fret), is the same pitch as the E on the 12th fret of the Low E-string. While the two have totally different tonalities because one string is thinner than the other, they are the same pitch.
This is part of the reason why guitarists don’t like sheet music, but I think the primary reason is that guitarists are often self-taught. The fastest and easiest way to figure out a song is with tablature. Whereas it can take years to learn how to read sheet music.
While tablature is faster for the beginner to figure out, there are some downsides to it. For instance, sheet music and standard notation can be applied to any instrument, and not just guitars. But tablature cannot.
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That’s a whole other topic we can discuss on another day. Moving on from this, let’s dive into how chord diagrams commonly work as a way of distinguishing the two from each other.
Chord diagrams, as the title suggests, mean they concern themselves only with the chords. They are extremely useful as well, and as I said at the start of the article, they can often be included at the top of sheet music or tablature.
I haven’t been a beginner for many years, but from what I’ve gathered, most beginners will be particularly attracted to chord diagrams because they show you how to play the guitar in a very visual manner.
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Moreover, chord diagrams are the medium of choice for the singer-songwriter type who just wants to figure out how to write their own song as quickly as possible, without any complications along the way. They are visual and anyone can read them.
Of course, one could say that sheet music and tablature are also visual, they’re not visual in the same way because they have to be
How a chord diagram works. For chords at other parts of the neck, the diagram will say things like “at the 7th fret, ” or “at the 13th fret, ” etc.
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Similar to tablature, chord diagrams are drawn in such a way that each line represents a string on the guitar. Usually, from left to right, or from bottom to top, is meant to signify the Low E string to the high E-string.Important Things to Note About Chords and Tabs1) Both of Them Can Be Used Together
It’s very common for there to be chord diagrams on top of the tablature. And the same thing goes for standard notation or sheet music as well.
When used together, tablature and chord diagrams are really effective at showing how a guitarist plays a song. When you add in other symbols for dynamics, timing, the use of effects, etc, it gets even closer.
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One thing I will say that is more obvious to people who have been playing for a long time, but not so much to beginners, is that both can be wrong. It’s not uncommon for tablature to be completely wrong, as a matter of fact.
It may even be the norm, considering much of the tablature online is user-generated. Sometimes the tablature that companies like Hal Leonard publish as “the official tablature” isn’t correct either.
Are famous for being not close to how the songs are played in reality. You can check out this YouTube video here which shows that.
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Andrew Siemon is the principal creator for , a website entirely devoted to all things guitar. From repairs, music theory, chords, and improvisation, to recording at home. I've been doing this for 20 years and I've got another 50 in me.
Traveling Guitarist also uses cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on the website. If you continue to consume the content, I assume you've given your consent.Guitar tablature, usually referred to as “tab”, is a method of notating music that empowers beginner guitarists to learn songs quickly and easily. Guitar tabs share similarities with music staff notation by showing you what notes to play, how long to play them, and what techniques to use.But when compared to standard music notation, learning and reading guitar tablature offers a serious advantage: it shows you where to play the notes on your guitar.
This comes in handy, especially since the guitar has many different places to play the same notes. For this reason, understanding guitar tablature and learning how to read tabs for guitar is particularly useful for beginners and allows students to learn how to play the guitar without ever having to learn how to read traditional musical notation.
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At School of Rock, we teach students how to read guitar tablature since it can show you both chords and single notes –– making it the fastest way to learn your favorite songs. It can also be an easier way to learn, since knowing how to read guitar tabs doesn’t require any special knowledge other than locating the strings and the frets on your guitar.
If you’re ready to learn about what guitar tabs are and what they can be used for, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s get started.
Guitar tablature is the visual representation of the notes in a song. The standard guitar tab consists of six horizontal lines, with each line standing for the six strings on the guitar. When learning how to read tabs for guitar, you’ll need to look at the tablature from top to bottom. The top line represents the high E string (the thinnest string) followed by lines that represent the B, G, D, A, and low E strings (the thickest string).
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This also reflects the view of the strings as you look down while holding your guitar. For this reason, think of guitar tablature as your roadmap, for it will provide you with the fastest route to learning guitar songs.
When reading guitar tablature, you will also see numbers on each line of tab. These numbers stand for the frets on your guitar, which are the metal strips found on the fretboard. The frets are numbered 0-24, start at the nut (the piece closest to the headstock), and run the entire length of the guitar neck.
For example, if the string has a 0, that means you play that string “open, ” or without using your fretting hand. If the string has a 1, then that means you must play using the first fret. When learning how to read guitar tabs, it’s important to understand that 1 represents the first fret, 2 the second fret,
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