How To Read Ukulele Tab For Beginners

Learn how to read ukulele tab easily in this 5 minute video.
More tips on reading tab over at ukulelego.com/l...
To begin with, ukulele tab can look a little daunting but the reality is it's quite easy to learn. If you commit a little time to understanding it you'll be playing along in no time.
The lines on ukulele tablature (or tab for short) represent the 4 strings of your ukulele. Frustratingly, the top line of tab represents the bottom string on your ukulele. It seems counter-intuitive at first but it quickly becomes second nature. (Check out the video for my quick tip that will help this become second nature).
The numbers on those lines represent the frets that you need to hold in order to match the tab. For example a 2 on a line means you need to play at fret 2 on that particular string.
A zero in tab means you play that particular string open (without fretting). An x means that string need to be muted so it cannot be heard.
Chords are represented in ukulele tab by a series of stacked numbers. Each number will tell you exactly which fret of which string you should be pressing.
In reality, ukulele tab seems more difficult to understand than it actually is. With a little practice you'll quickly learn to master it and it will open up a lot of new opportunities with your playing in the future - there's an awful lot of ukulele tab out there!

[@Sawlon]

Very good tutorial, David!

[@UkuleleGo]

Sawlon Thanks David!

[@paddingtondad]

Thanks - made a lot of sense.

[@UkuleleGo]

Paddington Dad Really pleased it helped!

[@SturdyKatherine]

You make it soooo easy to understand! Thank you very much :)

[@yolowell9564]

Thank you! I’m a beginner and I’ve put off songs that have any finger picking tabs because I get sooooo overwhelmed. This helped and was easy😀

[@UkuleleGo]

Excellent, I'm glad that it's working for you

[@gosulivan]

Brilliant teacher. 😘

[@UkuleleGo]

Thank you very much!

[@maeverichmond555]

mind blown

[@UkuleleGo]

Oh really? I'm pleased if it's helped you

[@iang.9904]

I use a pick because I hate strumming with my bare fingers. But it looks like I’ll need to learn how because of the Xs :(

[@UkuleleGo]

Not at all, Xs are the same on guitar and ukulele and most guitar players use a pick

[@iang.9904]

Ukulele Go how do you pluck like how he showed in the video with a pick?

[@UkuleleGo]

@@iang.9904 if you're using a pick and you need to play 3 strings like I do in the video and miss one out you can mute that string with your left hand. Lightly rest a finger on that string without pressing down and it will stop it ringing, you can then just strum all the strings

[@iang.9904]

Ukulele Go OH! Thank you! I am a baby beginner and never thought about that! Thanks!

[@UkuleleGo]

@@iang.9904 it can sometimes be quite tricky, the other alternative is just strumming less strings. It won't be perfect but will get you by.

[@Terry-hw1ws]

What if there are 4 x's

[@UkuleleGo]

4 X's is a completely muted strum. You can just rest your fretting hand on the strings (without applying any pressure) and strum (or pluck). Hope that helps.

[@Terry-hw1ws]

@@UkuleleGo ty !

[@UkuleleGo]

@@Terry-hw1ws my pleasure

[@radioboys8986]

but learning to use sheet music is not that much harder, tabs will not tell you if a note is a half note or whole note
just try playing a tune you have never heard before using tabs it is a cluster blank
also find the tabs in method books to be such a distraction i blank them out with a marker pen

[@UkuleleGo]

I would say it is a fair bit harder to learn sheet music. Tab can be learned very quickly and you're absolutely right it does have it's limitations but it's a fairly accessible way for those not familiar with any form of reading music.
I'd recommend learning both, but I think tab has got its place.

[@UkuleleGo]

I would say it is a fair bit harder to learn sheet music. Tab can be learned very quickly and you're absolutely right it does have it's limitations but it's a fairly accessible way for those not familiar with any form of reading music.
I'd recommend learning both, but I think tab has got its place.

[@Bevieevans8]

Brilliant. Thank you for a quick and easy video to follow. I get it now 😊

[@mycaj.9546]

What's the meaning of 2p0, 5h6, 3h5, 5s7?

[@UkuleleGo]

Good question Myca. 2p0 means play second fret then pull off to zero. 5h6 is play 5th fret hammer on 6th (3h5 is the same). 5s7 is play 5th slide up to 7th.
I have a video on hammer one and pull offs that should help.

[@reallywhat158]

omg thank you this was very easy to comprehend and you explained very well! now i know how to play with tabs🤗

[@UkuleleGo]

You're welcome, I'm glad it helped

[@Supernidyastar78]

Simple but well explained

[@chawpork7108]

Thank you for this Tutorial

[@UkuleleGo]

You are very welcome indeed