How Do You Read Bass Guitar Sheet Music?
Reading a bass guitar “tab” is different than reading standard sheet music, and easier. This is the key difference between tablature and standard notation, as standard notation is more complex. Bass tab does not require knowledge of note names, and rhythm does not need to be “read,” either (indeed, tabs do not appropriately convey rhythm). Instead, the structure of tabs requires only an understanding of numbers, as well as a few special symbols. This means that, unlike standard sheet music, bass tabs are more easily found on the Internet, thanks to the ordinary characters that are involved. Pick up your bass guitar and determine the number of strings it has. Many bass guitars have four strings, while some have five or six. Look at the bass-guitar tab. Each line on the tab represents the strings on your bass guitar, with the first line representing the thinnest string on your bass and the last line representing the thickest string on your instrument. Look at the numbers that are found o
