the six lines of the tab map onto the six strings of your guitar:
E:--------
B:--------
G:--------
D:--------
A:--------
E:--------
The numbers are frets that are fingered and 0 is an open string. If the numbers are aligned vertically all the notes are played together as a chord. So a C-chord looks like:
E:--0-----
B:--1-----
G:--0-----
D:--2-----
A:--3-----
E:--0-----
Most tabs are just fingering charts - they assume you know the rhythm of the song already.
I hope that helps.
-rich
edit:
also, a good summary can be found here:
http://www.basstabarchive.com/howto.html
Chorus
Out of the Ground, Into the sky , Out of the sky, into the dirt.
A C E A C E A C E A C E A C E
0 3 7
2 5 9
2 5 9
2 5 9 ..same ..same .same .............
0 X 7
X X X
So on the left here it is showing us what strings to use to make each chord... the strings run upside down, just to keep us learners on our toes!
A
0
2
2
2
0
X
In this tab they are showing how to do the chord... so if you want to do the A play botom open... bar the next 3 up on the second fret... and the 5th string up is also played open....
You can mute the Heavy E String, or not strum it... that is what the X means.
o is open
x is don't play
numbers are the frets to place your fingers at for each string.
The words to the song are usually written with the chords right where they belong... and there is usually a key of some kind to tell you how to play the chord. If you don't understand the chord you can look it up in a real book to use with the tabs.
Therer are more complex tabs I don't understand either... but I hope this info helps some.
Here is a song I downloaded last night and can actually play!
FROM:"David Boyle"<boyledeggs@hotmail.com>
TITLE:Jesus do'nt want me for a sunbeam
ARTIST:NIRVANA
ALBUM:MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK
I Find this sounds better when adding the Asus4 crd after
every A crd then repeating the A crd
TUNING:half step down
INTRO:E D A Asus4 A (2x)
E D A Asus4 A
Jesus Do'nt Want Me...
E D A Asus4 A
Sunbeams Are Never...
E D A D
Do'nt Expect Me To Cry, For all............................
E D A Asus4 A
Do'nt Ever Ask Your Love Of Me
CHORUS:
E D
Do'nt Ex...
E D
Do'nt Ex...
E D A Asus4 A
Do'nt Expect Me To Die For Thee
(REPEAT 1st STANZA THEN REPEAT CHORUS)
Didnt change this much but it does sound better.
Listen to the song to get the a to asus4 change right.
http://tabs.guitartabs.com/show.php?songid=175