Guitar tabs are a popular way for guitarists to learn and share songs. However, one thing that confuses many beginners is why tabs are written with the lowest string at the top, appearing upside down from the perspective of reading sheet music. There are logical technical reasons behind this format that actually make a lot of sense once understood.
How Guitar Tabs Work ?
Guitar tabs use a system of numbers (0-5) to represent the frets that should be played on each string. The lowest pitched 6th string is placed at the top, with the other higher pitched strings below it descending in pitch order. Each string is assigned a number with 0 meaning an open/unfretted note.
For example, a basic E chord tab would look like:
e|--02220
B|--02220
G|--02220
D|--00022
A|--00022
E|--00000
This allows the guitarist to easily visualize which fret to press for each note without knowing formal music theory. Just read top to bottom as you would the strings on a guitar.
Why is the Lowest String on Top?
When reading sheet music, the lowest sounding note or instrument is placed on the lowest line or space. However, tabs follow a different logic that actually makes more intuitive sense for the physical layout of the guitar:
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Follows Fretboard Layout: Placing the thickest 6th string at the top of the tab matches its positioning as the highest string on the fretboard when holding the guitar. This mimics the visual relationship between tab and fretboard.
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Finger Positioning: Having the top string represent the finger positions on the highest frets makes logical sense. As frets get higher up the neck, they are closer to the top of the instrument. This aligns with how tabs are read.
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Hand Position: Guitarists generally play with their hand hovering over or behind the fretboard from above rather than lifting the guitar neck up to eye level to read upside down. Top to bottom tab flow matches this natural physical posture.
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Right Hand Patterns: Rhythm playing patterns that involve downstrokes on the top few strings and upstrokes on lower strings are easily discernible when viewing tab from top to bottom as your picking hand would naturally move.
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String Tuning: Standard guitar string tuning progresses from the thick low E string as the highest pitched note down to the high e string as the lowest pitched note. Tab placement mimics this descending tuning order.
So while initially unintuitive, the upside down tab format was thoughtfully designed this way to align with how guitars are physically handled, read and played in a natural left to right fashion matching human eye movement. It puts function over notation convention to create learning efficiency for guitarists.
Benefits of the Upside Down Tab Format
There are several key advantages to guitar tabs adopting this top-to-bottom, lowest-string-at-the-top orientation:
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Mimics the Actual Fretboard Layout: As mentioned, it replicates the visual relationship between tab and guitar neck so players can easily translate fingering positions between the two.
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Matches Natural Eye and Hand Movement: Our eyes sweep left to right, as do our picking hand patterns. This makes for an instinctive reading flow compared to constantly having to flip an orientation.
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Reinforces String Names and Tuning Order: Beginners more easily learn and remember which string is which, and their tuning order, by visualizing it matches tab placement.
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Fosters Proper Physical Posture: Encourages guitarists to read tab in a proper above-the-fretboard hover hand stance rather than a strained upside down neck hold that would happen if lowest string was on bottom.
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Speeds Up Learning Curve: Players new to reading music pick up on tab more rapidly by leveraging natural motion pathways hardwired in our brain from infancy, avoiding confusion of unfamiliar perspectives.
So while jarring for classically trained musicians, guitar tabs leverage ergonomic and cognitive learning advantages by adopting this to many, upside down orientation. It creates an intuitive visual language optimized specially for how guitarists read, play and physically interact with their instrument.
Evolution of Tab Formats
Over time, guitar tab notation has expanded from its original basic fret number system to accommodate more advanced styles and features:
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Rhythm Indicators: Arrows, slashes and other symbols were added to denote things like hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, vibratos etc. for clearer rhythm communication.
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String Indicators: Numbering became complemented by letter naming individual strings (EADGBe) to remove ambiguity when sharing more complex arrangements.
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Standard Notation: Some integrate traditional note values, clefs, time signatures for those fluent in formal sheet music who prefer a hybrid approach.
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Reference Materials: Examples like chord diagrams, scale patterns and so on get included as supplemental learning aids within the tab format.
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Digital Advancements: With software like Guitar Pro and online tab sharing sites, digital tabs may include MIDI/audio playback, dynamic difficulty filters, scrollable arrangements, alternate tunings and more.
Despite these enhancements, the enduring upside down lowest-string-at-the-top tab structure has remained the standard, demonstrating how its optimization for the instrument has served guitar education so well for generations of players.