Mandolin/Tablature

Tablature is a quick and easy way to play songs on your mandolin. Although it does not give some of the information of standard notation, its ease of use is impressive. This chapter will teach you how to read tablature.

1(E)---3-5-7-3-5-7-3----|-----------------|| (string with highest pitch)
2(A)------------------3-|-3---------------||
3(D)--------------------|-----------------||
4(G)--------------------|-----------------|| (string with lowest pitch)

These notes are played by pushing down a finger on the frets shown above while picking the corresponding string couple. A zero represents an open string.

1(E)---3-------------||
2(A)---2-------------||
3(D)---0-------------||
4(G)---0-------------||

When the notes are vertically aligned, play the strings simultaneously. When different notes are played together, it is called a chord. Above is a G chord. This chord can also be represented as (0023). When represented this way, an "x" in the chord refers to an unplayed string.