How To Read FiddleHed Tabs
Tabs tell you what fingers to use and where, but they don’t tell you rhythm.
Think of them as GPS coordinates for your left hand… while your right hand freelances the groove.
Here’s the core idea
- Open strings are shown as the string letter + 0
- D0 = open D
Finger numbers show which finger you use on that string
- D1 = 1st finger on D
Low or high positions get letter tags:
- DL2 = low 2
- DH3 = raised 3
- DL4 = low 4
Pickups are written in parentheses
- (D0-1) = play these notes before the downbeat
Triplets are shown with brackets
- [D1-2-1] = counted “1-2-3”
Double stops stack notes
- D0A1 = play open D and 1st finger on A together
To make the tabs easier to read, the letters don’t change if you’re on the same string. For example, A0-1-2-1-D3 means you play four notes on the A string-open A, first on A, second on A, first on A, and then third on D string.
And remember:
Tabs show pitch, not the rhythm. Use the play-along tracks to hear the rhythm, swing, pulse, and phrasing.
Example: Oh Susannah
First quarter
Example: Oh Susanna
(D0-1)-2-A0-0-1-0-D2-0-1-2-2-1-0-1
Second quarter
(D0-1)-2-A0-0-1-0-D2-0-1-2-2-1-1-0-0
Third quarter
D3-3-A1-1-1-0-1-0-D2-1-1
Fourth quarter
(D0-1)-2-A0-0-1-0-D2-0-1-2-2-1-1-0-0
To make the tabs easier to read, the letters don’t change if you’re on the same string.
For example, A0-1-2-1-D3 means you play four notes on the A string-open A, first on A, second on A, first on A, and then third on D string.
Duplicated parts are color coded to make them easier to read and to give you an overview of the structure. In the example above, the second and fourth quarters of the A part are identical so they are both color-coded red. Gray text indicates unique parts.
Left-Hand Finger Numbers
Download and print:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Try as I might can’t find which lesson I haven’t completed in this 1.2 module
Hi Reg, Thanks for your patience with the progress tracker function. Jason is working towards a whole new system for guiding students within the course.
Please click here for the main module 2 page, to support you to navigate where you are at.
There is also a function near the bottom of each module lesson (just above the practise toolkit), where you can click on the text to go to the next lesson, or to the main module page.
Please reach out anytime 🙂
Hi Reg
I had the same issue.
I think the problem is with the core lesson on ‘how to read Fiddlehed tabs’ as there’s no box to tick to show you’ve completed the lesson.
I do not see the notes being stacked in the second quarter, it looks the same as the first. How am I supposed to tell when they’re double stops if they look the same?
Great point Sara 🙂
You’re right, I draw the chords/double stops 1 over the other by hand, but digitally it isn’t always easy to do. As one can see in the section ‘Notating two notes at once’, Jason has simply omitted the dash (-) between the notes, to identify they are played at once. I think the two tabs put together in that way is what Jason means by ‘stacked’.
2nd quarter does not contain any stacked notes.
Please let me know if this can be explained further.
This is the first time I encountered the “double stop”, namely in the call-and-responses, so I had to google it. It means to play two strings at once.
Hi Adam, great point on that term. Thanks for sharing your experience and the definition you found.
Also, here are a variety of lessons and posts related to double stops on FiddleHed:
https://fiddlehed.com/?s=double+stop
I can read music but I’m not very fast at it so tabs help me a lot. To help me, I print out the sheet music and write the tabs over each note. By viewing the notes, I can tell if I should be playing eighth notes, quarter, or half notes. After I write the tabs, I study each measure and clap out the notes to get a better sense of the timing. I like your idea of saying the notes out loud as I play.