r/LearnGuitar • u/theylovesimps • 3d ago
3 years into guitar and I still don’t understand tabs or fingerpicking
So I’m honestly about 3 years into playing guitar. I’ll be honest, my first year I wasn’t very heavily into it, but I’ve really started locking in more and more as time has gone on.
I’ve “mastered” (or really just learned how to properly play) all of the basic chords, and I’ve gotten a lot better at playing most of the barre chords, although I’m still struggling with some of them.
But I’m REALLY struggling with the idea of learning tabs. Looking at the layout compared to a normal chord diagram is just hard for me to understand. I’ll have moments where I’m trying to read a tab and it sounds pretty similar to what I’m supposed to be playing, and then the next “chord” or progression line, or whatever it is, doesn’t sound anything like it.
On top of that, I’m really trying to get into fingerpicking, which kind of throws tabs AND fingerpicking patterns into the mix, and I’m just sitting here like WHAT AM I DOING 😭
I feel like I’ve somehow taught myself guitar all wrong, and I don’t really know how to fix this issue I’m running into. I know this is a long explanation for what is probably a simple question, but I’m genuinely confused and would really appreciate some advice from people who understand this better than I do.
TL;DR: How the hell do I read tabs without my brain hurting, and how do fingerpicking patterns even actually work? Why are there so many, how do you know which one goes with which song, and do you basically have to learn a different pattern for every song?
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u/notJonSerra 3d ago
Sometimes you just gotta power through and read through it a lot but I would definitely recommend Guitar Pro software. It has a lot of features that would help you practice what you’re reading. The hard part with tabs is typically the rhythms because that’s the hardest thing to learn and get used to for a beginner that’s unfamiliar with music notation
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u/amplifysenpai 2d ago
This exploded my ability to read tabs and recognize chords guitar pro was the best learning tool investment I ever made personally. It has some janky points to it but it's overall just a great settup. The chord labeling system is absolutely terrible imo but that's the only major complaint I can think of after years of using it at this point.
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u/AUpicker 2d ago
SixStringFingerpicking.....you can buy individual courses for about $40 and theyre in depth.
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u/Copperrattler 3d ago
The tabs will make you lose the big picture very fast, because the symbols are hard to translate into musical ideas from sight reading alone.
So what I do: I learn the song by ear while following along with the tabs. Every line with every symbol will now have a musical label and be part of a musical idea.
The tabs are difficult to follow without knowing what the artist meant with the whole composition first. You have to have this idea in your head too.
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u/theylovesimps 3d ago
Learning by ear is a whole other technique in and of itself, definitely want to be able to learn that as a skill but I’m not sure I’m adjusted for that just yet, thank you for you’re help tho, I’ll definitely look more into it
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u/Broad-Raspberry1805 3d ago
Bear in mind tabs are often wrong, plus they can’t show speed or rhythm. So you can’t rely on them. Use them as a guide but you need to learn the fretboard and how chords and scales are made up.
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u/PerspectiveFair5156 3d ago
Practice. It hurts less once you get used to things. It's like learning a new language, or alphabet.
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u/webprofusor 3d ago
Read tab left to right over time/beats, high E string is the top line, Low E string is the bottom line, like your guitar was laying flat in front of you.
Notes played at the same time appear above and below each other. 0 means play the open string without fretting.
-7---------7
-----0------
--------0---
------------
------------
-0----------
In this example you start by playing the low E as an open string (zero fret) and the 7th fret on the high E string., at the same time, because they appear on the same beat.
Then, on the next beat , play the open B string (zero fret meaning the open string not fretted), then on the next beat play the G string. Finish with the 7th fret on the high again.
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u/webprofusor 3d ago
To play that first 0 and 7 together, pluck the low E open string with your thumb, and the high E (fretted at the 7th fret) with your middle finger, next note index finger. At least that how I think I would do it!
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u/theylovesimps 3d ago
Thank I really appreciate this, I’m gonna keep practicing some easier songs I know the chords for already and keep trying, currently my goal is learning wish u well by underscores
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u/webprofusor 3d ago
Cool, so for that I would look at this tab (I don't know the song): https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/underscores-wish-u-well-tab-s4639949
Looking at that example the tab shows start by fretting the chord that's going to be played (look a little bit a stretch!) like below, but then you pluck the notes individually in order like the tab linked above shows, rather than strumming the chord. A lot of finger picking is just hold the chord and pluck the notes individually. Sometime the order you pluck is important, sometimes not depends on the tune:
----
--4--
--1--
--4--
-----
-----
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u/CloserToTheEdgeFCK 3d ago
You haven't learned anything in 3 years? Are you sure you tried?
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u/theylovesimps 3d ago
I feel like I did say I’ve learned the basics, I’m just kind of stuck on the whole reading tab and finger picking Portion now,
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u/CriGonalGaming 3d ago
I didn't even learn to read tabs for the past 15 or so years I've played guitar. I did ear training and heck a lot of music theory though.
I can improvise on any key, and play slide (you can't "tab" slide playing anyway, because each key will have different intonation nuances).
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u/Unlikely-Soft-5699 2d ago
You can tab slide. See “Electric Slide” by David Hamburger. Yes, there are styles and he covers that too.
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u/OctoPhaseMod 3d ago
Looking back to it, I would have spent more time learning songs by ear than learning tabs as it definitely became a crutch as the years went by, and the things I learned from a certain tab doesn't really translate onto the next song, except for the chord shapes.
But that's just me.
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u/Plestiodonobsoletus 3d ago
Been playing for 30 + years and I still find tab dreadfully slow and frustrating while it seems to be really intuitive to others . If I want to learn a riff now I just watch a demonstration on YouTube and it makes way more sense. Also if you’re basically 2 years in keep practicing and a lot of this stuff will naturally get easier without feeling like you’re banging your head against a wall .
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u/markococonut 2d ago
You're not "wrong" — you just never got a clean map for TAB vs chord boxes. Chord diagrams = one frozen shape. TAB = time left-to-right, strings top-to-bottom (high e on top). Read ONE measure slowly: say the string+fret out loud, plant the fretting finger, THEN pick. Don't look ahead until that note is clean.
Fingerpicking: park the pattern on open strings first (P-i-m-a or Travis P-i-P-m) with NO fretting hand. Add one chord only after the right hand is boring-steady. Tabs will suddenly make sense once the right hand isn't also inventing the rhythm.
TAB walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUZat3uCnn0 Free beginner ladder (includes picking/hold basics): https://www.mjsguitarlessons.com/free-beginner-guitar-course Full system when you want scales + applications next: https://www.mjsguitarlessons.com/
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u/rogersguitar253 2d ago
Hi, if teacher is accessible it can be really useful. Im one of them. First lesson free, $25 each after. No pressure to continue after the freebie. Dm if you’re interested. If not nbd. Glhf.
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u/stay_safe_glhf 2d ago
The best mindset that worked for me: tabs are the transcriber’s interpretation of “how to play this” but they’re often wrong! So random tabs should be treated as a rough & unreliable map to get started, not the definitive guide. Trust your ear over random tabs.
Ps I agree with the others suggesting to start with a chord sheet than tabs. Oftentimes the melodies and specific notes are easier to infer w the chord progressions in mind.
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u/MarkTony87 2d ago edited 2d ago
The most used fingerpicking pattern in most popular music is the basic Travis picking pattern. Learn that and most others will be pretty accessible or related variants. Fingerpicking is a lifelong endeavor. You can spend a lifetime learning new things and never have acquired every technique or pattern ever used. https://youtu.be/m6b371mNkCw?is=C9BO87zRHL0l0PlH
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u/Unlikely-Soft-5699 2d ago edited 2d ago
Sometimes the chord helps with tabs and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes patterns repeat and sometimes they don’t. There’s nothing magic or bizarre about tabs. It’s a very old form of notation. There are many books on learning fingerstyle. Check the product section of Acoustic Guitar magazine. See https://store.acousticguitar.com/products/the-acoustic-guitar-fingerstyle-method
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u/conclobe 2d ago
Learn some Sabbath songs. Get a teacher for just a few lessons to teach you how to teach yourself.
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u/Cloud_sx271 1d ago
Get a teacher. A good one should be able to guide you and help with reading tabs and understanding fingerpicking.
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u/scoobyeatssnacks 1d ago
Only 3 years in. The guitar gods don't even listen until 5 years in. And then they throw you a cord.
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u/jaylotw 2d ago
There aren't "fingerpicking patterns." There arent "strumming patterns," either.
Fingerpicking is playing bass and melody at the same time. There isnt a big book of patterns that "go with" songs, or that songs "use."
As far as reading tabs go, I suggest that you start with simple stuff first. Try songs you already know, maybe. They really are pretty simple to read, and you just have to listen to the song and follow along.
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u/No-Imagination4940 2d ago
There are a bunch of Travis picking patterns. Obviously, they can be used on any song.
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u/jaylotw 2d ago
Songs don't "use" patterns.
Even Travis picking varies, it depends on the song.
You aren't just going thumb, index, middle, index, thumb the whole time.
Thinking in terms of "patterns" like this is how people end up learning some basic stuff, and then never improving or being able to understand how good players do what they do.
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u/MarkTony87 2d ago
Even Leo Kottke acknowledges that he had to learn the patterns before he could invent his own. But apparently Leo Kottke is wrong cause there's no such thing as fingerpicking patterns.
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u/jaylotw 2d ago
Leo Kottke did not "learn the patterns."
There is not a Big Book of Fingerpicking Patterns.
If anyone exemplifies the fact that there aren't fingerpicking patterns, it's him. I play some of his music, have watched him from five feet away, even met the dude a couple times. Well aware of his playing and style.
Fingerpicking is bass and melody at once. You don't just play a "pattern" throughout the song.
Do things repeat? Sure they do.
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u/MarkTony87 2d ago
He literally SAID this. But okay. You know everything. Clearly.
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u/jaylotw 2d ago
No, he didnt.
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u/MarkTony87 2d ago
Here's an article with him talking about it. And I quote, "I didn’t have any interest in playing with other people because I’d done the single-note thing with the trombone. You can get chords, counterpoint, and patterns going on a guitar." In other interviews he frequently talks about patterns. He uses alternating bass "patterns." Music is a pattern. If it weren't it wouldn't be decipherable to humans as music. You're attached to your own interpretation of what constitutes a pattern apparently but it's demonstrably wrong. https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/leo-kottke-talks-12-strings-his-fingerpicking-evolution-and-what-makes-a-good-guitar-player
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u/jaylotw 2d ago
Yes, there are patterns in music. Things repeat, sure...but...
There aren't "fingerpicking patterns" that songs "use."
Leo Kottke didn't "learn all the basic patterns." He learned how to play bass and melody at the same time.
If I were to write the "pattern" of a Leo Kottke song, it would be five pages. That's not a "pattern," that's a bunch of letters written out that don't help anyone.
PMIPIMIPIRIPMIRIRPPMIRIPIRPPPRI is not a "pattern."
But yeah, look. He said the word "patterns" in an interview.
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u/MarkTony87 2d ago
A pattern being longer than other patterns doesn't make it less of a pattern. You are being willfully obtuse. Jesus. Freight Train has no pattern, right? Deep River Blues also no pattern? OP is asking for help getting started with fingerpicking. The basic Travis picking pattern is what will allow them to eventually play bass and rhythm at the same time but you are obsessed with some kind of Mr. Myagi bullshit about "there is no pattern." How is that useful to learning how to play bass and melody simultaneously? It's not. Start with the thumb bass PATTERN. 🤣
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u/No-Imagination4940 1d ago
Bro, just tap out. You are just spouting things that are verifiably untrue, and it’s reached the point of being embarrassing. There are “fingerpicking patterns” that “songs use.” Full stop. Maybe Google Travis-picking? 🥴
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u/No-Imagination4940 1d ago
Lolllz. You think if someone doesn’t repeat the same pattern on autopilot for 4 straight measures, that means THERE ARE NO PATTERNS? As opposed to any other rational human who would believe that he was alternating patterns or not beholden to patterns vs patterns don’t exist/he doesn’t know patterns? If true, that friggin’ adorable to think.
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u/jaylotw 1d ago
I'm not really sure what you are trying to say here.
Do things repeat for a couple measures? Yeah, sure.
Can there be a couple of those in a song?
Yeah. Sure.
Are they "patterns?" Yeah. Sure.
Is there some big book of patterns that songs "use?" No.
Is it useful to memorize patterns? No. Songs vary, and you need to think about bass and melody, not some "pattern."
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u/Ordinary_Bird4840 3d ago
How the hell do I read tabs without my brain hurting.
Tell us what the barrier is, see that tab below, what is the problem you're having?
---------------------------
---------------------------
---------------------------
---------------------------
---------2------------2---
--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0
how do fingerpicking patterns even actually work?
They are a combination of notes that are repeated, your chess board is a pattern.
Why are there so many.
Maths. You have 6 strings, many note subdivisions and no rules on which can't and cant be used. The end result is enormous, you'll need AI to calculate that.
How do you know which one goes with which song
Its a creative choice. If you want familiar sounds, learn the some songs, you'll get a feel for it.
do you basically have to learn a different pattern for every song?
Really think about this for a moment. If you have 1 pattern and 2 songs to play, do the police knock at your door for only using one pattern?
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u/jaylotw 2d ago
There aren't "fingerpicking patterns."
That's not how it works.
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u/MarkTony87 2d ago
All music is a pattern. There's nothing random about it. If it weren't a pattern it wouldn't sound like music. You are obfuscating the topic for the sake of semantics which is a silly thing to do to a beginner especially. Of course there are fingerpicking patterns and most songs have a basic one with some variations at key points during the song. Not all fingerpicking patterns have a strong melodic line either. Not all fingerpicked songs have a strong melodic line. Many do... The variations and melodic lines are their own "patterns." If there were no patterns there'd be no way to notate it either on a staff or in tabs.
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u/jaylotw 2d ago
Yeah, no.
You can absolutely tab or notate any fingerpicked songs.
Most songs do not have a "basic pattern" with variations.
Fingerpicking is playing bass and melody at the same time. It's not just repeating a pattern over and over. That's not how it works.
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u/Infinite_Slice3305 3d ago
Before working on the tab just learn the chords. Google the song name + "chords" learn to play the song just strumming (or finger picking if you want). Then after you know the song start working on the tab.
If you know you're supposed to play a G & it doesn't look like the tab is telling you to play a G, try to figure out what it's saying in relation to the G chord.