Hello Good People – David Taub here from Next Level Guitar and we have a new DVD that will really help you in your guitar journey. We have developed a two-hour DVD explaining tablature and chord charts. Tablature, or tabs for short, is a wildly popular musical notation system that graphically represents the guitar fretboard. The system consists of numbers, characters, abbreviations, and symbols written out graphically on a staff that displays a piece of music that you can play on a stringed instrument.

You probably have seen this system of tablature but man, at first it sure can be overwhelming to understand with all those lines, numbers and symbols – what do those symbols mean?, what are the lines?, why does it look upside down?, what are all those abbreviations? - where do I even start?

These are common questions we get here at Next Level Guitar. So we developed a two-hour DVD that breaks down the tablature system and will get you not only reading tabs fast, but also playing them on the guitar. We have all been there in our guitar journeys where we are so frustrated with tabs. Well, we have the answers for you in this DVD. I will teach you all you need to know about tablature, but I will break it down and go about in very systematic manner where you will be picking it up and understanding tabs in the fastest and most efficient manner.

In this DVD I will be utilizing a big white board to draw out many tablature examples while explaining not only what they mean, but also how to take the tabs and translate them to playing them on the guitar. We go over it all and you will be rocking out with tabs and chord charts in no time.

We teach thousands of students all over the world through our website and DVD products and we get their playing to the next level in the fastest and most efficient manner. Our methods work – they get results. Give them a try and I know they will exceed your expectations. Feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions. Rock on!

-David Taub

DVD Introduction– in this brief DVD introduction section David goes over the format for the coming lessons and how to use tablature as a tool to get your playing to the next level.

Tablature Chords & Notes Explained - in this section David teaches the basics of tablature and how it is graphically represented through the staff and numbers. He also teaches you how to understand the system and then play it on the guitar. David explains how to read the tab system and staff. He will teach you how to read each string and translate it to the guitar. David breaks it down and starts with easy ways to learn the open strings and then starts explaining the numbering and symbol system used in tablature. David uses the white board and writes out examples and goes over every note and explains in detail how to read the system and then he plays the examples on the guitar so you learn exactly how to take the tab and put it on the guitar. Single notes and chords are explained as well as open strings, arpeggiating, chord names on the staff, chord progression examples, and then mixed examples of chords and single notes. David also draws out longer tablature examples demonstrating and tying together all the concepts you are learning as you go along in the lesson. David also discusses the importance of picking out accurate tabs, ear training and development, practicing, as well as the proper way to use tablature and songs to get your playing to the next level.

Symbols - this section has two lessons covering tab symbols and abbreviations. In these two lessons David continues drawing out tablature examples on the white board and teaching the common symbols used in tablature. David draws out each symbol and explains the tablature designations and abbreviations for each and then he plays each example on the guitar. This way you see the tab, understand it, then see it transcribed and played on the guitar. Learn all the symbols and guitar techniques for hammer-ons, pull-offs, trills, slides, vibrato, wide vibrato, pick slides, natural and artificial harmonics, fretboard tapping, palm muting, tap harmonics, tremelo picking, and muffled strings. David then teaches the tab and techniques for all kind of string bending – techniques like bend and release, bend & vibrato, unison bends, and pre-bends. As you go along in the lesson David draws out long tablature lick examples demonstrating all the concepts you have learned so far. So you get all the tablature tied together in real examples plus you learn some cool licks to boot!

Chord Charts - this section is broken down into two lessons on reading chord charts and reading chord lines. David goes over the graphic notation for reading chords graphically charted and also chords written horizontally with numbers. David first explains the chord charts and the matrix that makes the chart work. He explains what each vertical and horizontal line is and how you translate that to the guitar. David breaks it down and makes it easy and fun and you will be reading chord charts fast, fun, and easy. He goes all the charts in depth and explains the symbols used, letters, finger placements, and chord fingering. David draws out chord charts on the whiteboard and goes over them in detail tying it all together. So you learn what strings to play, what strings not to play, what fingers to use, and at what frets do you play. Open chords and bar chords are explained and drawn out in depth with many examples of the different types utilized. David also teaches the popular method of writing chords out in a horizontal line using numbers and letters. You see chords written out quite a bit in this manner – XX0232 – learn what it means and how to understand this extremely popular method of chord notation. David explains the numbers and the letters and translates them to the guitar – with David’s teachings you will understand this fast and popular chord reference tool it in no time at all.

DVD Outro – in this outro module David ties up the DVD and has a little review session on what has been taught in this DVD. David also discusses the importance of reading music in standard music notation and how that learning to read music can make you a better musician. David also discusses how to move forward on the guitar and as a musician you always want to keep your musical mind open and take on challenging things on guitar. He also discusses the importance of practicing the right things and following a structured musical plan.

Bonus Lessons - there are three bonus lessons on this DVD to help you in your guitar journey:

Bonus Lesson 1 – Guitar Tuning Tips - in this lesson David gives you a boatload of tips to help you ensure that your guitar stays in tune. There is nothing worse than a guitar that keeps coming out of tune. David goes over many common reasons why guitars go out of tune. He also teaches you the proper way to tune your guitar to help ensure your guitar stays in tune. He goes over the technique of tuning up to a given note and why this is so critical for tuning purposes. David also discusses string life and how oil and salts from our hands can affect string life and tuning. David discusses how often you should change strings and the proper way to wrap strings around the posts to help the guitar stay in tune.

Bonus Lesson 2 – All About Eb Tuning - E flat, (Eb), tuning is a very popular tuning using in many genres of music. In this lesson David teaches all the ins and outs of Eb tuning. David teaches how to tune the guitar to Eb and also why players use this tuning and why it is so popular. David also teaches you how to tune your guitar to Eb using a tuner and also by using your ear. David also discusses the importance of being in pitch with the CD when trying to figure out pieces of music by ear.

Bonus Lesson 3 - Learn The Notes On The Neck - in this lesson David will teach you all the notes on the guitar neck by first teaching you the 12-note scale. He then will teach how that scale applies to the guitar neck. Knowing the notes on the neck is absolutely critical and here you will learn them in a fun and fast manner. David will build a solid foundation in this lesson for future lessons you may want to tackle on music theory. Knowing the notes on the neck will open so many doors for you in your guitar journey and will make things easier as you move your playing forward.