How to Read Sheet Music for Guitar (Beginners Guide)

If you are a beginner guitar player, reading sheet music can be hard to wrap your head around. The ability to play guitar is a great skill to have, but this skill requires practice and study. Having sheet music in your arsenal can be helpful to you as a guitar player.

Knowing how to read sheet music is not necessarily required for you to learn how to play the guitar. There are many great guitarists who never learn this. But it is an excellent skill to have as it allows you to easily communicate with other musicians and makes you dedicate more time to practicing, which turns you into a better overall guitar player. We’ll explain how to read sheet music.

How to Read Guitar Sheet Music- The Basic Definitions

Guitar sheet music is a fairly complex subject, as it is somewhat of a language in and of itself.

If you have ever learned a new language, you know that you will often start with basic words that will let you have simple forms of communication, as this is the bedrock on which you build your knowledge of the language.

The same idea is applied to learning the language of guitar sheet music. You need to know the basic meanings of the notation symbols you will find on the sheet music before getting into the more complex meaning behind those terms.

Here is a list of the symbols that you will find on sheet music that is in standard notation:

Staff– this is what holds all the notation, it is made up of five lines and four spaces.
Treble Clef– all guitar music is written on the treble clef, also known as the G clef.
Ledged Lines– lines above and below the staff, that do not fit on the staff itself.
Key Signature– sharps or flats after the clef indicating the key of the composition.
Accidentals– sharp, flat, or natural (♮) that appears next to the note, instead of next to the clef. They alter the pitch of the individual note they precede.
Time Signature– this is what determines the meter of the music.
Bar: they separate measures.
Notes: the symbols that you see on the staff. (The video in the link is probably for kids but it explains the notes extremely well)
Tie- an arc that connects the heads of two notes together. There are also slurs which are ties that indicate hammer-ons and pull-offs.
Repeat sign– two dots (like a colon : ) that indicates that section of the staff should be repeated.

There you have it. Now, you have a basic understanding of the language of sheet music!

Now that you have a basic idea of the meanings of these concepts, we will dive a bit deeper into what some of these mean for you as a guitar player.

Before we move on, remember to look back at these definitions if you forget what they mean. That way, you will not get lost on this expanded section on how to read sheet music for guitar.

Diving into the Details

Now, it is time to dive into the more detailed information of reading sheet music for guitar. Don’t start to worry though, we aren’t going to bog you down with a ton of complex, hyper-academic concepts. After all, you only just started learning this new language of standard sheet music.

Instead, we are just expanding a bit further into the topics we already covered. The ideas we will cover are still basic, though, and with a little practice and memorization, you will be able to pick up on them in no time!

The Acronyms of the Staff

The staff, lines, and spaces each have their names. Even if you don’t read sheet music, you need to know that these are in order to properly play the guitar.

Before we move on, you should know that the top string of the guitar is the thinnest one, the low E string. So, the top part of the staff corresponds to the thinnest string on your guitar.

The staff lines, starting at the bottom, are EGBDF. An acronym to remember this that is popular among guitarists is: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge or Every Good Boy Does Fine.
The names for the spaces between the lines, starting from the bottom, are FACE. This is much easier to remember, as all you must remember is the word FACE.
Together, starting from the bottom and going to the top, they are EFGABCDEF.

Knowing these acronyms is vital if you want to understand the musical directions of a sheet of music.

When you go to play, the line or space on which the note rests is the indicator as to whether the note you are supposed to play is an E note, B note, etc.

There are several of each note on the fretboard. If you are supposed to play a specific one, it will be indicated by a circled number above the note. So, if the note is resting on A and has a circled 3 above it, you play the A, the third string of the second fret.

To avoid confusion, we will clarify that if you see a number next to the note, this indicates what finger you need to use to play that note (not where to play it on the fret board).

Understanding Key Signatures

Key signatures are the symbol(s) that appear next to the clef:

A ♭ means it is flat. Flat means that a note decreases the pitch by a half step. Essentially, you play the note one fret down the neck from its normal position, toward the body of the guitar.
A ♯ means it is sharp. Sharp means that a note is increased by a half step. That means you play the note one fret up the neck from its normal position, toward the guitar’s head.

How to Read the Time Signature

The time signature, as you remember, is what determines the meter of the music. In case you are unaware, meter, “organizes the rhythm of the music.”

The time signature, which appears after the key signature on the staff, looks like a fraction, with one number on top of another. The most common time signature is:

4/4. In 4/4, the beat is counted as ‘1, 2, 3, 4.’ An example of a song in 4/4 time is CCR’s ‘Have You Ever Seen the Rain.’

Another common time signature is:

3/4, the beat is counted as ‘1, 2, 3.’ It is often used for the waltz. An example is Dimitri Shostakovich’s ‘Waltz No. 2.’ The Beatles ‘A Taste of Honey’ is also in 3/4.

In time signatures, the top number, “corresponds to the number of beats to count.” That is how many beats are in each measure (we will talk about measures soon). They often fall between 2 and 12.

The bottom number “corresponds to the type of note to count… whether you need to count the beat as quarter, eighth, or sixteenth notes.” The bottom numbers are:

4, which indicates a quarter note.

2 which indicates a half note.
8 which indicates an eight note.
16 which indicates a sixteenth note.

What the Notes Look Like

Another important aspect of understanding standard sheet music is recognizing the notes. Below is a list of the notes you will commonly see:

Quarter notes are a solid oval with a stem.
Half Notes are an empty oval with a stem.
Whole notes are an empty oval.
An eighth note is a solid oval with a stem and flag attached.
A sixteenth note is a solid oval with a stem and two flags attached.
A whole rest is indicated by a black bar attached to the top of the second line from the top of the staff.
A half rest is indicated by a black bar resting on the middle line of the staff.

The eighth and sixteenth notes also have variations:

The two-beamed eighth note and four beamed eighth note. These are a group of two or four eighth notes that drop their flag and are connected by a beam.
The two-beamed sixteenth note and four beamed sixteenth note. These are a group of two or four sixteenth notes that drop their flags and are connected by two beams.

Explaining the Bars

The bars are the vertical lines that pass through the staff, which represent the different measures of the piece. The beats of the piece are with the measures.

The number of beats within each measure is determined by the time signature. So, if the time signature is 4/4, there would be 4 beats in the measure. If it is 3/4 there are 3 beats in the measure.

Rhythm Based on the Notes and Time Signature

Now, it is time to bring these past few sections full circle, and learn basic rhythm.

For the sake of simplicity, we are going to stay with the 4/4-time signature.

With a 4/4-time signature, you will get four beats per measure. When you apply the notes, this means that:

A quarter note is worth 1 beat, so it is strummed on each beat of the measure.
A half note is worth 2 beats, so it is strummed on two of the four beats within the measure.
A whole note is worth four beats to it is strummed once on the first beat of every measure.
An eighth note is worth one-half a beat, so it is strummed eight times in the measure, twice on each of the four beats.
A sixteenth note is one-fourth of a beat, so it is strummed sixteen times in the measure, four times on each of the four beats.
A rest means that you do not play.

For visual learners, this video will be helpful in showing you how to apply these rhythms based on what you see on the sheet music. This video just shows the sheet music and plays the guitar audio. So, I also recommend this video which shows a live demonstration of the concept.

Once you have the basic rhythm down, you can start applying it to some strumming patterns. Strumming patterns are a bit difficult to explain on paper though, since they can have lots of variation in them. Due to this, I recommend watching this video at 7:20 if you want to get more information on strumming patterns that you can use that are based on the basic rhythmic patterns.

Do You Need to Learn Sheet Music to Play Guitar?

If you feel a bit daunted by this information, don’t worry. Learning how to read standard sheet music is a nerve-wracking, but rewarding, tasks. Like we said, it’s pretty much like learning a new language.

But maybe you don’t want to do this. Maybe you don’t feel like it is worth it for you. You may be wondering if it is necessary to learn the language of standard guitar sheet music. Well, to be frank, you don’t technically need to learn it. If you are playing guitar just for a hobby, or if you are focusing on genres such as rock or pop, it really is not necessary.

In fact, there are many famous, and hyper-successful musicians, who can’t, or couldn’t, read music. Some examples include:

Learning how to read standard sheet music is helpful, and necessary in some cases, though. This is especially true for those who want to play classical guitar, have goals of playing in an orchestra; it is needed any genre that requires lots of technical know-how when it comes to music.

The most important thing though, is that you have fun. Playing guitar should be restful, not stressful. If you have a hard time reading standard music, don’t burn yourself out. This will just make you hate playing, which is the last thing that should happen.

The good news is that standard notation is not your only option when it comes to reading music! In fact, you have two other sheet music options that you can choose from!

An Alternative to Standard Sheet Music: Tablature

If you feel that standard sheet music is a bit too large of a learning curve, at least for the time being, don’t worry, there are other options to choose from.

One such option is called tablature, most often referred to as tabs.

Unlike standard notation, it uses normal numbers, so you don’t have to learn any symbols. There are also six lines that perfectly match the six strings of the guitar.

Know the Name of The Strings

Before you start, you need to know the names of the strings.

Just as before, if you are holding your guitar in a playing position, the string that is thinnest, the one at the bottom, is considered your top string, and it is presented that way on tabs.

With this in mind, the strings are listed as:

e|———–|

B|———–|

G|———–|

D|———–|

A|———–|

E|————|

[The lines after the letters are representative of what you will see in the tabs].

You probably noticed that there are two E’s; one is capitalized while the other is lowercase. On the guitar, both the top and bottom strings are in E. On the tabs, the top e string is lowercased in order to distinguish it from the bottom E string.

An acronym, to help you remember the strings, going from the bottom string to top string to the top is:

Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye eddie

How to Read Guitar Tabs- What are Those Numbers For?

Now that you aware of how your guitar and the tabs match up, it is time to learn how to read them. I promise you; it is a whole lot easier than standard notation. If you work at it, you may be able to learn a simple melody, such as Mary Had A Little Lamb, by the end of the day!

Let’s get into learning how to read these tabs! So, just like with standard notation, you read the tabs left to right. When you get to the end of a staff, you go to the next line and repeat until the end of the song.

When looking at tabs, you will notice numbers. For example:

e|————–|

B|————–|

G|————–|

D|————–|

A|–3———-|

E|—————|

These numbers indicate what fret will be held down on that string. So, with the example above, you would hold down the third fret on the A string.

You may also notice numbers that are stacked on top of each other:

E |–3————-|

B |–0————-|

G |–0————-|

D |–0————-|

A |–2————-|

E |–3————-|

This means you will depress the third fret of the low E string and the high e string. You will also depress the second fret of the A string. You play all of them together, including the D, G, and B strings. The 0 just represents that you play them open without depressing anything.

A tab that looks like this often represent a chord. The example provided is a G chord.

You should note though that, if a line is blank, then you do not play that string. For example, In the case below, you would only play the A and D strings.

E |—————-|

B |—————-|

G |—————-|

D |–2————-|

A |–2————-|

E |—————–|

How to Read Guitar Tabs- Special Symbols

With the knowledge you just gained, you would be able to pick up your guitar and play a few simple songs with tabs.

But some tablature that you will find may have bit more to it, in terms of special symbols that you will eventually want to know the meaning of.

These symbols are what adds a bit of flair to the songs you play. They indicate when you need to perform techniques such as

Hammer-On’s: indicated by an ‘h’ or a swoop between the two numbers.
Pull-Off’s: indicated by a ‘p’ or a swoop.
Slide Up /
Slide Down \

You won’t necessarily need these at first, but they are good to know, and getting used to them early will only help you. This link provides a complete list of all the symbols that you may encounter when reading tabs.

Disadvantage of Using Guitar Tabs

Unfortunately, there is a big disadvantage that comes with using guitar tabs.

You probably noticed on the tabs that there is no indicator for rhythm. Because of this, it makes it harder to figure out the rhythm of the song that you are playing. Often, you will have to find the song itself, and figure out the rhythm by listening to it a few times over.

Another Option: Chord Sheets

The final major option you have when it comes to sheet music is chord sheets. In this style, the chords are written with the lyrics of the piece underneath them. It is an easy way to write out the song, but there are some issues with it.

The biggest problem with this is that there is no staff. This means no bar lines, nothing to indicate the strumming pattern, not repetition symbols, etc.

Without these, it is hard to determine how the piece should be played. If you have a little bit of a guitar background, you may be able to get a general sense of what to do from what you see written. But you will really need to be familiar with the song to properly play it.

Andy Guitar shows that there is a way to break down these chord sheets, adding things such as bars and repeat signs. Using the method that he shows makes it a bit easier when it comes to playing along with the song.

When it comes down to it, though, these chord sheets are best when you use them to learn songs that you are already very familiar with.

Where to find music

Now you have a basic understanding of how to read standard sheet music for guitar. You hopefully also have a good understanding of tablature and chord sheets too. With this knowledge, you are probably ready to start learning some of your favorite songs. But where can you find the sheet music for them?

Go Old School, Get a Book

One way you can get sheet music is by going online, or to your local music store, and buying music books. There are hundreds of songbooks to choose from such as:

These books will often show standard sheet music right along with the tabs. That way, you can choose whatever one you are more comfortable with. Unfortunately, it may be harder to find one that uses chord sheets since those are more commonly found online. I have a ton of “Guitar Books” and I love them. Many have been handed down from other guitar players and I will eventually hand them off to someone else. I have learned a whole lot from these books.

Go Modern, Go Online

With the dawn of the internet, it really is not always necessary to buy a book. You can really search up any song online and find standard sheet music, tabs, or chord charts. Some websites you can use are:

The downside to these sites is that anyone can post, so you may find something that is completely incorrect. Of these, when it comes to accuracy, Ultimate Guitar is the best. They have a rating system for user submissions. They also have a subscription service where you can get official versions of the songs.

Another incredibly fun option is Rocksmith. This is a videogame, available on

Xbox 360 and Xbox 1
PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4
PC

It has a massive collection of songs, and dozens of lessons. It is presented in a format similar to tabs, except they move across the screen as you play the song. When you play a new song, it starts off easy, just presenting you with a few notes. As you progress, it gets harder and harder, presenting you with more and more notes until you finally master it enough to play the whole song.

If you are interested in it, this article shows how you can play it with an acoustic guitar. If you have an electric guitar, you just connect it to your system via the cable that comes with the game. I bought this game and find it fun.

Practice Writing Your Own Music

A fun exercise to practice is writing your own music. Writing your own songs is rewarding, because it lets you see how far you have come in your understanding of sheet music, and it also will help solidify all that you have learned.

If you want to try writing your own music, there several methods you can use.

One method is to buy a blank sheet music notebook, where you can write your ideas down.

You can also print blank sheet music from different online sources. If you go with this free option, make sure you put your work into a folder, that way you don’t lose the music that you write.

If you are not a fan of pen and paper, I would go with an online music writing software such as Notion 6. This lets you write your music all from your computer.

Whether you do it by hand or on the computer, I recommend trying your hand at writing a song. It will be a fun experience that will help you become a more well-rounded musician.

Conclusion

Learning how to read sheet music is like learning a new language. It is difficult, and it takes lots of practice. But, once you gain the knowledge, it is quite rewarding and it is a useful skill to have, especially if you want to make a career in music.

But, if you feel standard sheet music is not for you, don’t worry. Tabs and chord sheets work well too and are perfect for the hobby guitarists or those playing more mainstream genres like rock and pop.

When learning and playing guitar though, keep in mind that music should be a passion, an escape, a hobby, or a job you love. Don’t turn it onto something you hate by stressing yourself out in your lessons. Have fun with guitar, learn all you can, and proudly show the world what you accomplish with it!