How to read tenor banjo tab
Four lines show the strings. The numbers show the frets. Follow a two-bar example, hear how it sounds and play it back at your own pace.
By TradTabPublished Updated
This lesson uses GDAE tuning, from low to high. Check your tuning before you begin.
1. Find the four strings
The top line is the high E string. Below it are A, D and low G. Read along a line to see which frets to play on that string.
Four-string GDAE tab also works on mandolin and octave mandola in GDAE. They may sound in a different octave. A GDAD bouzouki has a different top course, so choose that instrument in the converter to regenerate its tab.
Five-string banjo tab has five lines and a different tuning. Its first string is still shown at the top and its fifth string at the bottom. The chart is not reversed.
2. Read the numbers as frets
A 0 means an open string: pick it without pressing a fret. A 2 means press just behind the second fret wire on that string. The number names a fret, not a finger.
For example, 0, 2, 4 on the D string gives D, E, F-sharp. The same numbers on the A string give A, B, C-sharp. The line matters as much as the number.
Read from left to right. Notes stacked vertically are played together. In a single-note melody, the numbers usually move between the lines as the tune changes strings.
3. Count the rhythm
On TradTab, the standard notation above the tab shows note lengths and rests. Follow the playback while reading the fret numbers below. Some other tab formats include their own rhythm stems, so check the format you are using.
Our example is in 6/8. Each bar contains six quavers, grouped into two beats of three. Say “1 and a 2 and a” evenly, with a little more weight on 1 and 2.
The vertical bar line marks the end of a bar. A repeat sign tells you to go back to the matching repeat mark, or to the beginning if there is none. This short exercise repeats its two bars.
4. Play your first two bars
Press play and listen once. Then pick out the first six notes: D, E, F-sharp, G, A, B. On the tab, those are D-string frets 0, 2, 4, 5, then A-string frets 0, 2.
In the second bar, start on D at fret 5 of the A string. Come back through B and open A, then G, F-sharp and open D on the D string.
You can tap a note in the sheet to start from that point. The metronome panel counts dotted-quarter beats for this jig, with three quavers per beat.
5. Take it into a tune
Start with the first eight bars of The Rakes of Mallow. Its repeated opening gives you a short phrase to find before adding more movement.
Sources and further lessons
The worked exercise and string diagram are original TradTab teaching examples. Jens Kruger’s introduction to tablature explains the fret-number principle on five-string banjo. For tenor-specific playing lessons, see OAIM’s Banjo Basics course.
Updated 5 September 2026 with a playable lesson and corrections to the previous explanations of five-string tab and GDAD bouzouki.
Questions about reading tab
The top line is the first string, high E. Below it are A, D and low G. The bottom line is the fourth string.
Play the string open, without pressing a fret. Other numbers tell you which fret to press on that line’s string.
No. They are fret numbers. A 3 means the third fret; it does not tell you to use your third finger. Choose a comfortable fingering for the phrase.
Tab gives you the string and fret. You can learn the timing by listening, then use the notation above the tab to check note lengths and rests.
Five-string tab uses five lines and a different tuning. Its first string is still the top line and its fifth string is the bottom line. It is not a reversed four-string chart.
A mandolin or octave mandola in GDAE uses the same fret numbers. A bouzouki in GDAD needs different top-course fingerings; use the converter to generate those.