8,720
edits
Changes
m
Here the Notice tab shows how the frets to hold to play each chord. Sometimes Since chords are often played repetitively, tabbing out chords can be unnecessary and distracting. Also, tab doesn't indicate the preferred fingering to use. Instead, tab or sheet music will usually give ''chord charts '' for all of the ''chord shapes '' used in the song before the song starts. For the above example, you'd see:
→Writing Conventions
== Writing Conventions ==
Usually the short name in the far right column in the table above is used to denote a chord. This includes the root and an optional quality. When only the root is present, this indicates a major chord. Chord symbols typically appear above sheet music or tab as follows:
C Am F C
e-0----|0----|1----|0----|
e------|-----|-----|-----|
C Am F
|o|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-| |-|i|-|-|
Sometimes, the tab/sheet music will not have numbers or notes as we typically see but a strumming pattern. This may be above the tab/sheet music, with the actual tab being reserved for a melody line. It contains markings that look similar to notes, indicating the duration of each strum (quarter note, eighth note, etc.).
For example, the tab above can be represented as:
C Am F C
/ / / /
The slashes here indicate to strum the chord, with the spacing used to roughly indicate timing. Conventionally, chords get played for a whole or half measure, so there is no need to provide any more info here. If the strumming pattern were more complex, or there were chords that only lasted a quarter note, etc., then we would additionally need the note durations or numbers to indicate where each strum falls in relation to the beat.
== Inversions ==