Lesson 40 / 41 9 min
Guitar techniques in notation and tab
Hammer-ons, slides, every kind of bend, vibrato, whammy, harmonics, tapping, palm mute, dead notes, tremolo and trills.
Guitar Pro, Songsterr and printed transcriptions mark every guitar technique on both staves: a symbol in the notation and the same idea in the tab. This lesson goes through all of them. Each example plays the technique, so you can connect the symbol to the sound. (How to actually play them is covered in Bends, slides, hammer-ons and vibrato and Power chords and palm muting.)
Hammer-ons and pull-offs
A slur (curve) between two different notes, with H or P above it. Only the first note is picked; the rest are sounded by the fretting hand.
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Slides
- Legato slide — a straight line between the notes plus a slur: pick the first note only and slide into the second.
- Shift slide — a line without the slur: slide, then pick the second note again.
- Slide in — a short line rising into the note (from below) or falling into it (from above): start a few frets away and slide in.
- Slide out — a line falling away after the note: slide down the neck as the note ends.
- Gliss. with a wavy line — a long slide over many frets.
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Bends
In the tab, a curved arrow rises from the fret number, labelled with how far to bend: ½ (a half step, one fret), full (a whole step, two frets), 1½ or 2. The notation shows the starting note, often with a slur to the target note in brackets.
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- Bend and release — the arrow goes up, then comes back down: bend, then let the string return while it's still ringing.
- Pre-bend — the arrow goes straight up before the note is picked: bend silently, then pick. Usually followed by a release.
- Unison bend — two notes picked together, the lower one bent up to match the higher one.
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Vibrato
A wavy line above the note (and above the tab). A wider, bolder wavy line means wide vibrato.
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Whammy bar
Tremolo-arm effects are written as a line or curve with the amount in steps, plus w/bar:
- Dip — quickly push the bar down and let it come back.
- Dive — push the bar down slowly and far; return brings it back up.
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Harmonics
| Mark | Name | How |
|---|---|---|
| Diamond notehead, <12> in tab, N.H. | Natural harmonic | Touch the string right above the fret, don't press, pick |
| A.H. | Artificial harmonic | Fret the note; touch the string 12 frets higher and pick |
| P.H. | Pinch harmonic | Pick with the thumb edge grazing the string — a squeal |
| T.H. | Tapped harmonic | Fret a note; tap the string sharply 12 frets higher |
Harmonics sound higher than the fretted note, so the notation shows the pitch you'll actually hear, with diamond noteheads.
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Tapping
A T (sometimes +) above a note means: tap it with a finger of the picking hand, then pull off to the note held by the fretting hand.
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Palm muting
P.M. with a dashed line above the tab: rest the side of the picking hand on the strings near the bridge for the notes under the line.
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Dead notes and ghost notes
- Dead (muted) note — an x notehead and an x in the tab: touch the strings with the fretting hand without pressing, and pick for a percussive "chk".
- Ghost note — a notehead and fret number in brackets: play it very softly, almost felt rather than heard.
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Let ring
let ring with a dashed line: let the notes keep sounding over each other, instead of stopping each one when the next is played.
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Tremolo picking
Slashes through the stem mean: pick the note as fast as possible (tremolo), for its whole length. Three slashes = as fast as you can; one or two slashes = eighths or sixteenths.
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Trills
tr above the note, with the upper note in brackets in the tab: alternate hammer-ons and pull-offs between the two frets as fast as you can.
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Rarer effects
- Rake — a dashed line with an arrow before a note: drag the pick across muted strings into the note.
- Pick scrape — a wavy line with "P.S.": scrape the edge of the pick along the low strings.
- Volume swell — a crescendo hairpin from nothing: pick with the volume knob down and roll it up.
- Feedback, fade out and sound effects are usually explained in words above the staff.
Every score has a legend, often on the first pages, listing its symbols. When you meet something unfamiliar, check it.
Practice
Pick one technique a day. Play its example here slowly, then find it in a real song you like.