From theory — Sight Reading. The lessons are on Sight Reading Practice, with the ukulele on that page. Rhythm room: Dividing the beat names the note lengths you read.

Reading primer

This page adds rhythm, lead-sheet letters, and the staff on top of tablature. Grid and symbols live on Foundations · Tablatures — How to read tabs. Interactive staff lessons are Sight Reading Practice. Durations are on Western theory · Note values; you strum them on Strumming. First-position seats also sit on Classical · C ladder.

From tablature to this page

Full tablature reference stays on Foundations · Tablatures — How to read tabs. Continue here for how long, chord letters, and staff pitch at the end of the page.

Rhythm reading cards

You already read where from TAB. Clap, or play open G (one pitch, so the job is duration). Count out loud. The names are on Western theory · Note values.


        

          
        

        
A rest is silence of that length — keep counting. Beams on eighths show the
          beat. Stem rule still applies; here every attack is the same open G.

      

    


    

      
Chord symbols above the staff

      

        
Lead sheets put chord letters above the melody staff. This room
          usually prints the letters and TAB without a melody (no copyrighted tunes). The idea
          is the same: play the harmony from the letters while someone else has the notes
          — or while you strum and sing.


     G                 C                 D                 G
A|--2-----------------3-----------------0-----------------2--
E|--3-----------------0-----------------2-----------------3--
C|--2-----------------0-----------------2-----------------2--
G|--0-----------------0-----------------2-----------------0--

        

          
        

        
The staff would hold a melody we do not print. You own the letters. Same G–C–D
          map as Play along.

      

    


    

      
Staff reading

      

        
Ukulele music is written in Treble Clef at concert pitch. In standard re-entrant tuning (G C E A), your open G string is G4—the exact G circled by the treble clef curl on line 2! Middle C (C4) sits on one ledger line below the staff, played as your open C string.

        

          For the complete beginner's guide to staff geometry, visual landmarks, reading intervals, duration pyramids, and key signatures, visit the master Sight Reading Hub.
        

        

          
        

        
G on the second line (written). Play sounds the open G string
          — an octave below the written pitch.

        

          
          
        

      

    


    

      
Combining Tab and Staff — First-position notes

      
First position means every note sits in frets 0–4 with one finger per
        fret (index 1, middle 2, ring 3, pinky 4) and your hand never slides up the neck. The drill
        below shows the same pitch three ways: written on the staff, the full C ladder
        on TAB, and the neck under both. Press Play; each step updates
        all three.

      

        

          

            
Staff (written)

            

              
            

          

          

            
TAB · C major scale

            

          

          

        

        
Press Play. Staff, TAB, and neck move together.

        

          
          
        

        

          Play C major scale follows the TAB left to right — staff and neck step
          together. Play all first position naturals swaps TAB, staff, and neck to the
          full walk. Read all three as one picture.

      

    

    

      
Ready when

      

        
Move on when all of these are true on a normal day, not your best one:

        
    
          
  • You can clap or play open G through the six rhythm cards (from four quarters up to a quarter plus two eighths plus two quarters) counting out loud.
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  • A chord-symbol line like G · C · D · G over TAB plays as four quarter-note strums per chord, reading the letters above and the frets below together.
    • 
          
  • You can name the staff lines (E G B D F) and spaces (F A C E) without the mnemonic, and say that the treble clef curls around G.
    • 
          
  • You can play the first-position C major scale (frets 0–4, one finger per fret) while saying each note and finding it on the staff, the TAB and the neck.
    •