What exactly is a guitar tab? Are guitar tablatures identical to guitar tabs? For the last couple of days, I decided to do some research to offer an easily digestible guide to finally let you interpret guitar tabs. With this article, I am going to disclose all my findings.
Before we go deeper into this subject, you have to know what "tablature" means. On Wikipedia, it is defined as: Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches. In English, it means tablature is an easier alternative to musical notes.

Many people think that only guitars have tablatures, which is a mistake. In fact, many instruments have tabs. If that instrument has strings and is fretted, most likely it would have its own tablatures, like the violin.

Okay, now that you know what a tablature is, I will begin the topic. Guitar tabs are made up of 6 lines, one for each string found on your guitar. The thinnest string, also known as the High E is the 1st line, and the thickest string, also known as the Low E is the 6th line.

The first thing you see in guitar tabs are numbers. Tons of it. These numbers are really important, as they tell you what chords or notes to play. If the chord Am is played anytime in the song, the numbers will instruct you to do so. The author will number the lines as such to play the chord of Am: 1 on the 2nd line, and 2s on the 3rd and 4th line. When you reach that particular part, simply strum the Am chord. But what if there is only one number at that line? That means to pluck that note on that line, with your finger pressing on the fret as told by the number.

Below is an example of a guitar tablature(a random set that consists of NO melody).

G....Am..................Scales

--3--------------------------------------0-1-3----------------
-------1--------------------------0-1-3-----------------------
-------2-----------------------0-2----------------------------
-------2-----------------0-2-3-------------------------ETC-
--2----------------0-2-3--------------------------------------
--3---------0-1-3---------------------------------------------

In the above example, the first 2 chords to strum are G and Am, followed by a C major scale. Just press on the numbered fret and strum/pick the strings involved and you have successfully learnt how to read guitar tabs!

Guitar tabs act as an easy alternative to musical notes. You can easily play any songs almost instantly if you can read guitar tabs, all you have to do is to remember which fret to be press and you're good to go! Nonetheless, guitar tabs will never replace musical notes. A strong understanding of musical notes is required to play more intricate, detailed songs. Therefore, do not stop learning even after you have obtained the skill to interpret guitar tabs.