EXPLANATION OF TABLATURE:
Below is a straight forward help guide to understadning guitar tablature, or my version of it:

What is Tablature?:
Tablature (or tabs as they are known for short) are graphical diagrams of the guitar fretboard.
Each dotted horizontal line (--) indicates a string on the guitar, the letter by each string
shows its note when picked open. The numbers on the dotted line indicate what fret you place
your fingers on: 

e.g the C chord below 

	  C       --# Chord Name
e||---0----|| --# This string marked 0 is played open but not fretted
B||---1----|| --# The 1st finger is placed at fret 1
G||---0----|| --# This string marked 0 is played open but not fretted
D||---2----|| --# The 2nd finger is placed at fret 2
A||---3----|| --# The 3rd finger is placed af fret 3
E||--------|| --# This string is not fretted or strummed

In some tab documents you may find chords written out as follows:
G: 320003
   ------
Here the number represents the fret played, the string is assigned by its place in the 
sequence (from left to right this goes E, A ,D, G, B, e). Note an x on this kind of chord
box does not mean mute the string, rather that string is not played.

LYRICS IN RELATION TO TAB
If a lyric is written out with a  ___ after it, as below
G       Em7       Cadd9      D
Take____me in your arms again

Here the word 'take' is stretched when singing the chord played carries on over the top.

EXPLANTION OF THE KEY BOX:
You may have notice some tab document's have a key, here I'll explain what each means:

1) h = hammer-on
e||-------||
B||-------||
G||-------||
D||--5h7--|| Strike the first note with one finger, then sound the second note with
A||-------|| another finger by fretting it without picking.
E||-------||

2) p = Pull-Off
e||--------||
B||--------||
G||--------||
D||--11p9--|| Place both fingers on the notes to be sounded. Stike the first note and without
A||--------|| picking, pull the finger off to sound the second (lower) note.
E||--------||

3) \ = slide up
e||--------||
B||--------||
G||--------||
D||--19\7--|| Strike the first note and then slide the same finger up the fretboard to the
A||--------|| second note. The second note is not struck.
E||--------||

4) / = slide down
e||--------||
B||--------||
G||--------||
D||--3/9---|| Strike the first note and then slide the same finger down the fretboard to the
A||--------|| second note. The second note is not struck.
E||--------||

5) \s = slide up and restrike
e||--------||
B||--------||
G||--------||
D||--3\s9--|| Strike the first note and then slide the same finger up the fretboard to the
A||--------|| second note. The second note here is struck.
E||--------||

6) /s = slide down and restrike
e||--------||
B||--------||
G||--------||
D||--3/s9--|| Strike the first note and then slide the same finger down the fretboard to the
A||--------|| second note. The second note here is struck.
E||--------||

7) b = bend
e||-------||
B||-------||
G||-------||
D||--19b--|| Strike the note and bend up as indicated in that tab document (e.g. full or 1/2
A||-------|| step, etc).
E||-------||

8) br = bend and Release
e||-------||
B||-------||
G||-------||
D||--9br--|| Strike the note and bend up as indicated in that tab document (e.g. full or 1/2
A||-------|| step, etc), then release back to origninal note.
E||-------||

9) pb = Pre-Bend
e||-------||
B||-------||
G||-------||
D||--9pb--|| Bend the note as indicated in that tab document (e.g. full or 1/2
A||-------|| step, etc), then stike it.
E||-------||


10) prb = Pre-Bend and release
e||--------||
B||--------||
G||--------||
D||--9pbr--|| Bend the note as indicated in that tab document (e.g. full or 1/2
A||--------|| step, etc), strike it and release the note back to the original pitch.
E||--------||


11) v = vibrato
e||-------||
B||-------||
G||-------||
D||--5v---|| The string indicated is vibrated by rapidly bending and releasing
A||-------|| the note with the fretting hand.
E||-------||

12) P.M = Palm Mutting
   ----P.M-----
e||------------||
B||------------||
G||------------||
D||--5-5-5-7-7-|| The chord or note is partially mutted by the pick hand lightly touching
A||--5-5-5-7-7-|| the string(s) just before the bridge.
E||--3-3-3-5-5-||

13) x = Mutted stings
e||-------||
B||-------||
G||---x---||
D||---x---|| Here a percussive sound is produced by laying the fret hand across the sring(s) 
A||-------|| without depressing, and striking them with the pick hand.
E||-------||

Written July 2002. Last Updated January 2004
Need more help? Then e-mail tabs@walking-barefoot.com with your question.