Before we get into this, let me first encourage you to trust your ears more than anything. Tabs are a great tool, but you never want to rely on them 100%. The real superpower for metal guitar players is combining solid ear training with the ability to read tabs.
That said, this post is your quick-start guide to learning how to read guitar tabs – specifically for playing metal riffs. Once you understand these basics, you’ll be able to read and play almost any metal guitar rhythm or riff you come across.
Prefer to learn by watching? Here’s the full lesson in video form 👇
📥 Want riffs with tabs and backing tracks? Grab my free Metal Riffs & Licks guide.
What Are Guitar Tabs?
Tabs (short for tablature) are a simple way of writing music for guitar without needing to read traditional music notation. And it’s a much faster way to show exactly what’s being played on guitar.
Here are the basics of reading guitar tabs:
- The six lines represent the six strings on your guitar
- The numbers tell you what frets to play
So, instead of this (traditional music notation):
You get this (guitar tabs):
The Basics of Reading Metal Guitar Tabs
Now, let’s dive deeper into the basics and how that translates tabs to what to play on guitar. After that, we’ll expand and apply them to some actual metal riffs.
Six Lines of Tabs = Six Strings on Guitar
As you can see below, each line represents a string. And the easiest way to remember where to start is that the lowest line represents the lowest string, your low E string. From there, you just go up through the rest of the strings from the low E, A, D, G, B, and the high E.
Here’s what that looks like on your guitar. Simple. Easy.
What the Numbers Mean
The numbers you see on those lines represent frets that you will play. In the example below, there is a ‘2’ and ‘3’ on the lowest line, followed by a ‘2’ on the line above, then you go in reverse with the ‘3’ and ‘2’ played on the first line again.
On guitar, you’ll play:
- Frets 2 then 3 on the Low E string
- 2nd fret on the A string
- Frets 3 then 2 on the low E string
Let’s go over another riff example, but this time, we won’t start on the low E string. Here are the tabs for the next riff:
On guitar, you’ll play:
- Frets 5, 4, and 2 on the D string
- Frets 3 and 2 on the A string
Open Strings (The “0”)
Oftentimes, especially with metal tabs, you’ll come across a ‘0,’ which means you’ll play that string open. Let’s go back to the first riff above and add a ‘0.’
What you’ve seen so far is the beginning of playing single-note metal riffs. Now you’re starting to see how this works and how easy it is to read guitar tabs.
Numbers Stacked Vertically (Power Chords in Tabs)
Another thing you’ll see a lot in metal guitar tabs is two numbers stacked on top of one another. When the numbers are stacked vertically, it means you play them together. This is how power chords (the backbone of metal) are written.
Here’s an example of a power chord progression:
This progression of power chords is: E, F, G, B, B flat.
Below is a visual reference of a G power chord (E string = 3rd fret with A string = 5th fret):
Common Metal Guitar Tab Symbols
Now that you know the basics for reading tabs, there are a few symbols you’ll likely come across for metal guitar rhythms and riffs. In this section, I’ll cover:
- Palm muting
- Hammer Ons and Pull Offs
- Slides
Palm Muting (PM)
In some tabs, you may see ‘PM’ written above a riff. This will usually be on the very top of the tabs, above the first line, and will pertain to the numbers (notes) under the ‘PM.’
That means palm mute the notes for that classic metal chugging sound. In the example below, you’ll palm mute that open E string.
In cases like this, where you’re palm muting the same note consecutively, you may see ‘PM’ followed by dashes, as seen above.
Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs
Curved lines connecting notes mean hammer-ons or pull-offs. An ‘h’ or ‘p’ may also appear above the notes. Here’s a riff example with a hammer-on/pull-off on the A string at the end.
You can see the curved line starts on the 7th fret of the A string. That note is picked. The 8th fret is for the hammer-on, followed by pulling off of that fret, which will make the original note (7th fret) resonate.
You can also see the ‘h’ and ‘p’ at the top, where the hammer-on and pull-off are applied. This is also known as legato picking. Playing notes without picking those notes.
Slides
A straight diagonal line means sliding from one fret to another. This is also a technique you’ll hear often in metal riffs and see in tablature.
This riff below has you sliding from the 7th to the 10th fret on the A string. So, you’ll pick that note on the 7th fret and slide your finger to the 10th.
This is a cool technique to use when you want to add something different to your riff – it can really make the riff come alive. And know you’ll know what to do when you see this symbol in the tabs.
More Symbols for Techniques and Timing
There are many more symbols for techniques like string bending and vibrato (mainly seen in tabs for guitar solos), legato, harmonics, and several others for guitar. Not all tabs will have these additional symbols, but some may.
There is also the timing of notes like whole, half, quarter, 8th, 16th notes, and so forth. I’ll dive deeper into this in another post and video. Right now, I encourage you to focus on using what you’ve learned here to learn your favorite riffs.
The intent of this post was to help you build your foundation in learning metal guitar tabs without overwhelming you. The idea is to get you playing some riffs, not overthinking.
Always Trust Your Ears
As I mentioned in the beginning, always trust your ears. Tabs are helpful, but they’re not always accurate. I started playing guitar in 1989, and I can’t tell you how many times the tabs in those old guitar magazines (that’s how we learned back then!) were a little off.
That’s why it’s so important to build the skill of listening and figuring riffs out on your own. In fact, I often encourage you to try doing that first – before looking at any tabs.
Yes, use tabs. But don’t let them hold you back if you don’t have them. You want to be able to listen and pick out the majority of the notes you hear.
Combine ear training with tabs, and you become an unstoppable metal guitarist (the word ‘unstoppable‘ came to me from Joe Satriani’s album ‘Unstoppable Momentum‘).
Next Steps for Metal Guitar Players
Tabs are just the beginning. Once you’re comfortable reading them, you’ll be ready to dive into full riffs, licks, and songs.
📥 Want riffs with tabs and backing tracks? Grab my free Metal Riffs & Licks guide.
🎸 Ready to go deeper? Join the Jason Stallworth Guitar Academy for full courses, lessons, tabs, and tracks.
Keep it Metal,
Jason
