'Lo, all. I am pretty confident on how to read and interpret tabs, but I have encountered a couple of problems.

1) I encountered this while attempting to play "By the Way":

E------
B------
G------
D--10--
A---8--
E------

As you can see, It appears as if I have to play both strings at the same time. I find this fairly difficult because it produces a disjointed sound. Any tips? I suppose, with practice, it would become possible. However, "Under the Bridge" is much harder:

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

This appears much harder: the two strings are far apart yet I am supposed to play them at the same time. Is this the case? If so, any tips?

2)On some tabs, there are symbols such as Am and h2p20. Are these chords?

3) How do you play a string that says 4/6? It defirs the laws of physics! You can't possibly play the string at two different frets at the same time with one strum... Or can you?

4) How come guitarists can play songs really quickly? They seem to zoom through tabs, moving their fingers into precise locations and strumming the correct string without making any mistakes. I, for one, am constantly putting my fingers on the wrong fret and pausing halfway through a song to count how many frets down I should be and checking I have the correct string. Is it just practice that makes you learn it off by heart? Not to mention that some guitarists can dance, jump, and sing while not looking at their guitar and not make any mistakes.

TIA.

1.) Yes, you play those two strings at the same time. As that is a perfect fifth interval, it should not sound disjointed. Check your tuning.
For the "Under the Bridge" part, yes, as well. For that song, I pluck each string instead of strumming. Basically, I use my thumb and one finger to pull up and let go on each string.
2.) Yes, those are chords. Am is A-minor. Minor chords tend to sound more "dark," or "sad" than major chords. I'm not fiamiliar with h2p20.
3.) I have no idea. Sorry
4.) Practice, practice, practice. Some people are born with a natural ability that makes it easier for them, but 99.9% of the world (myself included) had to work at getting faster at placing fingers, switching notes, chords, singing while playing, playing without looking at my hands, etc.

<font color=pink>The same with any musical instrument, its a matter of memorization. Keep practicing and soon your fingers will memorize where each string and fret is, just as a woodwind player would memorize what keys to press down for a certain note. As for speed, don't try it at the tempo if you can't keep up, start it slow and build it up until you're there.</font>

Practice.

Can you talk while riding a bike? Can you breathe while alking? Just as your body learned to do those things, so will you, with practice, be able to dance/play/sing etc.

Also, your ear improves, so that when you do make an error, you can correct yourself quite quickly.

Many guitarists make subtle mistakes all the time - diverging from their intent - but, because you're unaware what the intent was, you won't hear it. Dancing around for example, can create subtle timing errors, but the average person won't hear them.

So, practice practice practice. If you can get past disappointment and frustration, and literally dedicate yourself you will find a rapid improvement after you jump that hurdle.


As for tabs.... I never use them. I play by ear. I got shown a few chords, and worked the rest out by finding natoes that sounded nice. Experiment, try stuff, make mistakes. The guitar is an incredibly satisfying instrument.

And... buy a metronome. ;)

Very good advice. If you practice fast you only reinforce mistakes. Practice perfection at slow tempos and speed up. If you make mistakes slow down again, and gradually speed up so your brain recognises what is correct.

Mental practice goes a long way also. Visualise your hand movements whenever you can.

The h2p20 thingy is a hammer on/pull off. Kinda hard to explain it in words without a guitar in my hands to show it, but a hammer on is a technique in which you, well, hammer your finger down hard on the indicated string and fret, so that the tone sounds without you having to strum or pluck it. A pull off is the same idea, only now you kinda strum the string while you take your finger off the fret, so that a tone which you have defined with another finger will sound.

For example, if you read h12p10, you can put the index finger of your left hand on the 10th fret (don't strum the string yet), then hammer the fourth finger of the same hand (or the middle finger, whichever you prefer) onto the twelfth fret, producing the desired note, then pull the finger off, "strumming" the string with said finger while you do it. This is used to quickly alternate between two notes without the need of having to strum very quickly with your right hand.

As I said, kinda hard to explain it without the upportunity to show how it's done.