Have you ever wished you could play a melody on your guitar? Now you will learn how to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star without sheet music! Let me take you to the first note of the song with the help of guitar tab notation!
Here you have the first note written with number guitar tablature:
03
The first number tells you which fret to play, in this case you will not press down any fret which is indicated with the number 0. This is called to play an open string. The second number indicates which string to play. In this melody you will start with the third string.
The strings are numbered starting with the bottom string on your guitar. You will use three strings to play the melody. The first string or the bottom string is called E, the second string B and the third string G. We will give the G-string a number instead and as you already have seen call it 3.
Now it is time to start playing the melody. Here is the first line of lyrics with the corresponding melody written with number guitar tabs:
(G)Twinkle, twinkle, (C)little (G)star
03 03 32 32 01 01 32
32 means, press down the third fret on the second string and play the note! As you can see I have included the suggested chords to use in brackets before the syllable where you are to change chords. Great if you are two guitarists playing together!
Here are the next guitar tabs:
(D7)How I (G)wonder (D7)what you (G)are!
12 12 02 02 23 23 03
I suggest that you use your right hand index to play the notes on the first fret, the middle finger for notes on the second fret and your middle finger for the third fret notes!
You might feel that it is a bit difficult to use your left hand fingers this way but if you are patient you will find that you are able to keep your hand in the same position as you play which will help you when you play more advanced melodies!
Another advantage is that your fingers will have their fixed frets to work with which will help you find your way better on the fretboard and you will be able to play without looking at your fingers all the time!
(G)Up a(D7)bove the (G)world so (D7)high
32 32 12 12 02 02 23
(G)Like a (D7)diamond (G)in the (D7)sky!
32 32 12 12 02 02 23
The actual length of the individual notes in the melody is not indicated with this type of guitar tab notation but as you already know the melody I suggest that you learn how to play the rhythm by singing the melody aloud or in your head!
(G)Twinkle, twinkle, (C)little (G)star
03 03 32 32 01 01 32
(D7)How I (G)wonder (D7)what you (G)are!
12 12 02 02 23 23 03
Now you have learned how to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on your guitar!
As I mentioned, I call this type of notation number tablature and it is a convenient way to display melodies in text form but a more common way to show guitar tabs is by using a staff with six lines representing the strings and numbers on the lines indicating the frets. You will find this notation on many guitar sites!
I suggest that you memorize the melody line by line instead of looking at the numbers. This way you will have access to the melody whenever a guitar is available!