Free Guitar Tablature Paper
for Teachers
Free guitar tablature paper is a necessary tool for the guitar teacher! Check out these EIGHT sizes of blank free guitar tabs -- they are offered in different sizes so you can choose what works best for you.
Just because a student can't read standard notation yet is no reason for them not to play actual songs.
Show your beginning guitar player how to read tab during their first lesson or two, and it will be for them a "Eureka!" moment -- as exciting as discovering how to decipher Morse code -- but so much easier!
SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE for the links to the free printable PDFs of tablature sheets.
Reading guitar tablature is really fun. You may worry that you won't be able to wean a student off of it.
Well, I read both standard notation and guitar tab, and find that they both have their uses!
Just be sure you are bringing your beginning guitar player's note-reading along with a beginning guitar book that slowly teaches note-reading (with no tablature on the page) and they will do fine.
Something I have discovered is that using a staff or tablature WITHOUT BAR LINES is much more efficient!
Little boys - and other people, too - have trouble squeezing an unknown melody into a small space (unknown, that is, if I am dictating to them)!
So this new tab paper without measure lines is my new favorite:
Below is the same blank tablature paper, but much smaller:
And here are two GIANT tablature staffs, horizontal:
This is a very handy size for children. Today I had a little boy write the guitar tabs for "Jingle Bells" in the key of G onto this paper, as I slowly played it (again and again).
IT MADE SENSE TO HIM, and he is one who has struggled to be able to read tablature well.
Here is a horizontal tablature staff even larger:
This page has twenty-eight measures:
Tablature with thirty measures:
My favorite, a standard staff together with guitar tablature:
I have one nine-year-old guitar student who claims he doesn't read yet (and his mother agrees). He cottoned on to guitar tab right away... piano notation, standard notation would have been much MUCH harder.
Guitar can be a good choice for a student who is a slow or non-reader. On piano, ten fingers. On guitar, one pick.
For starters, anyway...later on, finger-picking won't seem so overwhelming, especially if you start with a super-easy chord accompaniment such as my version of Down in the Valley.
So do your young guitar students a favor, and write songs out for them on tab sheets! Check out Pizza, Please, (my version of Hot Cross Buns) for a super-easy guitar song for beginners.
The tab sheet with treble clef staff is my personal favorite, because producing a piece of music using both staff types allows any other musician to join along.
Links to the guitar tab paper:
Download printable free guitar tablature paper 16 measures to the page
Download big blank guitar tablature paper with no bar lines
Download guitar tablature paper with no measure lines, small
Download horizontal giant tablature blank for guitar
Download VERY large guitar tab staff
Download 28-measure printable free guitar tabs sheet
Guitar tab sheet 30 measures to the page
Here is guitar tab together with treble clef
When there is a sister or a brother (or grandma, or dad, or...) in the family who also plays an instrument or sings, well, they will all want to get into the act!
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All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
Becky:
A thousand thanks for your beginning piano and guitar songs.
I've already printed several for my children, including the Pretty Little Horses TAB and Carol of the Bells for piano. What a wonderful resource!
Matt:
THIS SITE IS AMAZING!!
I've been teaching guitar for about 5 years now, and I've only just found your website! (I could really have used it 5 years ago) :-)
I teach at primary schools every week day for about 4 hours, so the beginner tabs you have are ideal. Thank you so much for your hard work getting these on the web, you have made many children very happy!!
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About the Author
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.
Recent Articles
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When He Cometh "Jewels" Hymn: Piano, Guitar, Vocal
When He Cometh or "Jewels" is an old-timey sounding hymn. Very sweet & very simple, this is one your piano students & vocalists can learn from! -
Moonlight Sonata: How to Play This Piece Full of Black Keys & Triplets
Moonlight Sonata: How to play this difficult piece full of black keys & triplets? Use large notes, lots of white space, & letters inside the note heads - easy!