How to read Praise and Worship TABS

As shown in the diagram below, tablature has six lines. Each line represents one string. The top string represents the first string on the guitar. The bottom string represents the 6th string. For a bass guitar, the praise and worship TABS would have just four lines, representing the four strings.

The frets for praise and worship tabs are represented with numbers. 0 is no fret, or the open string. 1 is the first fret, 2 is the second fret, etc.

E- – – – – -3- 3 – 5- 5- -3 – – –
B- -1- 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – –
G- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
D- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
E- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Do you recognize this tune? It starts on the second string, first fret. Play it twice than jump up to the first string, third fret. Like a book, tablature reads from right to left. This first example was a single note melody. For chords, you just stack the numbers.

E- – – -2 – – – – – – – – – – – – –
B- – – -3 – – – – – – – – – – – – –
G- – – -2- – – – – – – – – – – – –
D- – – -0- – – – – – – – – – – – –
A- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
E- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Do you recognize this chord? It’s a D chord, a common one in praise and worship tabs.

There are other symbols that you could encounter in praise and worship tab. Two are the hammer on, h, and pull off, p. These are both made with the left hand, or hand holding down the strings.

A hammer on is when you pluck the initial note with your left hand, but make the next note sound by hammering on it with a finger from your left hand. Here’s a blues scale with hammer ons.

BLUES SCALE...

E- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 0h3- – – – –
B- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -0h3- – – – – – – –
G- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 0h2- – – – – – – – – – – – –
D- – – – – – – – – – – -0h2 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A- – – – – – -0h2 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
E- – 0h3- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Pluck the 6th string open, then with all your strength hammer it with the 3rd finger of your left hand, hit the third fret, etc.

Pull offs are just the reverse. Again plug the note using your right hand, but then plug it with the finger you’re using to hold the note, on the left hand. You’ll see both these symbols in praise and worship tabs.
Here’s that scale in reverse, using pull offs.
E- – 3p0- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
B- – – – – – 3p0- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
G- – – – – – – – – – – 2p0- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
D- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -2p0 – – – – – – – – – – – – –
A- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 2p0- – – – – – – – –
E- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 3p0- – – –

Bends, b, and returns, r, work best on electric guitars. If you see, for example 11b13. That means to pluck the 11th fret, then bend it to the pitch that would sound on the 13th fret. That’s easy on electric guitars because the strings are so thin. Not as easy on higher tension acoustic guitar strings. The r stand for releasing the bend.

Slides are written with either an s or a slash, / or \\\\\\\\. A slide is again where you pluck the first note with your right hand, but get to the next note by keeping the weight down with your left hand and literally sliding it to the next note. You’ll hear all the notes between them. 5/8 would mean to pluck the 5th fret, then slide up to the 8th fret with the finger holding the string down.

A v stands for vibrato, shaking the note with your left hand. A t stands for tap. You tap with the strumming hand. And the x stands for a muted string.

 

Did you know that playing a musical instrument is like taking your brain to the gym for a workout? Can you imagine how strong your muscle can develop by working out with weights. That’s nothing compared to the way playing a musical instrument can work out your brain! Check out the cute video below that shows what happens to your brain when you play a musical instrument.

There are many studies showing how beneficial it is for developing brains to learn a musical instrument. Like muscles in our bodies, it is beneficial for ALL ages to  play a musical instrument!

How Playing An Instrument Benefits Your Brain

I found it interesting that listening to music is good for your brain, but playing it is much better! Both sides of your brain. This is why the part of your brain called a ‘Corpus calosum’ increases in both volume and activity. It’s the bridge between the two hemispheres.

The video talks about musicians having enhances memory functions. We know that these benefits are unique to musicians as compared to other activities like sports and painting. The activities in your brain when playing an instrument are different than any other activity.

With the modern tools, we can actually take a peak in our brains to see what they do when performing different activities.

There are many reasons to learn to play an instrument. Helping your brain to develop is a good one to consider. This is especially important for kids as their brains are beginning to develop.

At a Home-school Convention a number of years ago, a mom ran to our booth. She wanted to let us know that her teenage daughter just loved our program.

She told us that not only did her daughter love learning to play the guitar but all of her grades were going up too! I’m not surprised knowing what playing an instrument actually does to your brain!

Besides making you smarter, playing music is very therapeutic. Another student always told me that playing the guitar took him to a different place. All the stress of everyday life disappears.

Playing an instrument has a lot of benefits, but when it’s connected with worship, it’s in another whole category. We can connect to our living God through music!