Got great dreams of taking the stage with a guitar and inciting screaming fans into convulsions and mesmerized teens into virtual hero worship? It's a long road to the top, but every rock star started with that same hope; they all had to start at the bottom when it came to learning music.. Guitar tablature, or tabs, is a style of universal music notation for stringed instruments.

Unlike normal music notation for piano and wind instruments, picking up guitar basics is not that difficult. Tablature is more visually representative of the guitar, for one thing. Think of it as shorthand compared to dense written prose. Once you understand how to translate the style of notation, guitar tabs make it easy to learn to play the music you love most. Later, when your own artistic juices start flowing, this style of notation makes transcribing your own music simple and quick.

For guitar purposes, tablature appears as six lines, each one indicating a string on the guitar. The top line indicates the first, or slimmest string; the bottom line is for the sixth or thickest string. Between the lines are small numbers. These tell which fret should be pressed upon when playing that note. Sound simple? Once you put it in practice, it is a breeze to figure out.

After you master the basics, the sky's the limit. Lots of guitar tabs for incredible songs are found online. There are lessons from real pros, videos of all sorts of groups and rock star dreamers, and detailed instructions on how to execute lots of guitar licks. You can even add your own tabs, if you want.

Nothing compares to the feeling of finally mastering a favorite song, even if you never perform in front of hundreds of screaming fans. Rocking out in your own room is pretty satisfying, too, and it has never been easier to pick up guitar than now, with the assistance of the internet.