Playing a melody in the first position is often not the best option. Sometimes the fingering is more awkward than in other higher positions. So here are some references to help you find where to play all of the notes up to the 12th fret. Each string will have the sharps ascending, and the flats descending. To find the best position and fingering to play a piece of music is going to take a little detective work on your part. There is sometimes more than 1 good option. As you become more comfortable with where the notes are on the neck of the guitar this task will become much easier.

Notes on the 1st String – Natural Notes & Flats

Notes on the 2nd String – Natural Notes & Flats

Notes on the 3rd String – Natural Notes & Sharps

Notes on the 3rd String – Natural Notes & Flats

You now have the tools necessary to convert most notes in standard notation to guitar tablature. You will still need to deal with the rhythmic notation, and there is no short cut there. If it is a familiar song you are playing, you may already know the rhythms. Or if you have a recording you can learn the rhythms by ear. But of course learning how to decode rhythmic notation is definitely a skill worth developing, even if you are a “tab only” player.

• Be sure and check out the Reading Music main page for more lessons on how to read both guitar tablature, and standard notation.

Page 1 - Basics of converting notation to guitar tablature

Page 2 - Converting notation to tab in the first position

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