Quick Guitar Quiz – June 2011

This month’s Quick Quiz looks at how well you know Guitar TAB. Being able to read and write Guitar TAB is crucial for every guitarist. From learning how to play songs, finding exercises and lessons to writing your own songs, Guitar TAB is widely used. At the end of this post are lessons to help you understand the skills needed to read and write TAB.

 

Reading Guitar TAB

1. What chords are being played in the below TAB?

2. What are the two chords being played in the below TAB and how are they played?

3. How would you play the below TAB?

 

Writing Guitar TAB

4. Write the following left to right in Guitar TAB format:

  • An E powerchord starting on the low e string
  • A slide from the fifth fret on the fifth string to the seventh fret
  • A hammer-on from the seventh fret on the fourth string to the ninth fret
  • An Em barre chord formed on the seventh fret

5.Write the following chords in Guitar TAB format showing strumming direction:

  • Em strummed four times (one beat each)
  • Am strummed two times (half beat each)
  • D strummed once (two beats length)
  • C strummed once (one beat length)

 

Answers

Don’t cheat! Give the questions a proper try before checking the answers.

1. Am C D7 Em

2. Asus4 and E7 played as arpeggios

3. To play Barre chords (in this case Am) you flatten your first finger across the fifth fret then reach with your 2nd & 3rd (or 3rd and 4th) fingers to play the two seventh fret notes.

4.

5.

NOTE: You can choose whatever strumming direction you want, the pattern used in this answer is a very common way of strumming the chords.

 

Resources

If you found the reading questions difficult, check out this lesson here to read up on the basics on how to read Guitar TAB. Once you understand the basic format of Guitar TAB questions like these become very simple.

If you found the writing questions difficult, this lesson will explain the steps to take to get used to writing your own TAB. All it takes is a bit of practice and you will get the hang of what needs to be done.

Learn to read Guitar TAB lesson here

Learn to write Guitar TAB lesson here

If on the other hand you found the questions easy, well done! This skill is incredibly valuable and well worth the effort learning. These were meant to be fairly simple questions so don’t stop at this skill level – continue to develop your skills by trying to transcribe songs by ear and writing more complex TAB.

 

How to write your own Guitar TAB for your song ideas and riffs

Being able to read Guitar TAB is obviously a crucial skill to every guitarist. But some people don’t consider how important it is to learn to write TAB as well. Learning to write your own TAB is very simple and will help you out in a few different ways.

Writing your own TAB can help you:

  • Write down any song ideas
  • Ensure you don’t forget any riff or lick ideas you come up with
  • Transcribe songs
  • Write full songs to give to other players to learn
  • Come up with a collection of your own riffs and licks

This lesson here will explain the basics and the points you need to remember when trying to write your own TAB. The lesson is very straight forward because if you can already read TAB then you’re half way there.

You can access the lesson here – Learn to write your own Guitar TAB

Included in the lesson is a free Blank Guitar TAB Sheet you can download, print out and use straight away for any ideas you come up with.

New Guitar Lesson: Create your own rhythm and strumming patterns

This new guitar lesson will explain the basics of rhythm and how you can come up with your own rhythm patterns. The lesson will explain standard notation as well as provide you with a blank rhythm sheet you can print out for your own ideas.

This is a very basic exercise worth learning. Learning to write out rhythm patterns can help you:

  1. Write strumming patterns for chord progressions
  2. Transcribe strumming patterns from songs by ear
  3. Learn to play along with a drummer
  4. Give drummers ideas for beats and patterns
  5. Add an interesting rhythm to your licks and melodies
  6. Write riffs that are focused on a rhythm pattern

 

You can access the lesson here:

Create you own rhythm and strumming patterns

There are many more things you can do when you develop this skill so check the lesson out and start coming up with your own ideas.

Guitar FAQ: Proper way to hold a guitar

Getting the hang of guitar is a tough job for all new beginners. When you are first starting it’s crucial that you start out with the right techniques. A common question from beginners is how they should hold the guitar. Is there a right or wrong way to hold it and does it impact how you play? In this blog post a video lesson will explain and demonstrate important points to consider when holding the guitar. Check out the video below then have a read through the written explanation in the lesson here.

Don’t underestimate how important it is to hold the guitar correctly. Even a simple mistake like reaching your thumb over the top of the neck can have a big impact on your ability to play chords.

After you watch this lesson, don’t forget to check out the written explanation here.