# Reading & TAB

Bass TAB mirrors guitar (G on top). Rhythm is required. Bass clef orientation helps walking and theory.

## TAB

G D A E; numbers = frets; spacing ≠ clock.

## Symbols

h p / \ x harmonics slap/pop marks — publisher-dependent.

## Bass clef

Link open E A D G to notation; build from there.

## Rhythm first

Clap before fretting.

## Read it, then hear it

Five cells on the page, all the same two notes (open E and G on the E string), so
the only difference is rhythm: whole notes, quarters, straight eighths, a gallop
cell (eighth + two sixteenths), and roots with ghosts on the ands.

Say the counting line out loud first, then press Play and check whether what you
said matches. The TAB columns are evenly spaced on purpose — two cells can look
nearly identical in TAB and sound nothing alike, which is why the counting line
and not the spacing carries the rhythm.

## Reading gallops

Label dah da-da or 16th counts above TAB.

## Common faults

Spacing as rhythm, pitched ghosts, never naming pitches.

## Practice ladder

Name opens → fretted → clap gallop → self-transcribe.

## What good sounds like

TAB, names, and syllables agree.

## Self-TAB habit
Encode your own 2 bars with rhythm syllables.