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).

1(E)---X-------------||
2(A)---5-------------||
3(D)---5-------------||
4(G)---4-------------||

An "X" is sometimes shown instead of a number in chords (455X) to indicate an unplayed or muted string. To mute a string or course means to touch the string(s) in such a way that if you do strike it while playing the chord, the sound of the muted string is minimized and does not interfere with sound of the non muted strings.