Best Guitar Tab Books for Beginners

Verdict at a glance: for your first songbook, start with Simple Songs - the most streamlined arrangements here. Then choose by style: First 50 Acoustic for strummers, First 50 Rock Songs for electric riffs. If you want lessons in tab rather than just songs, get the Guitar Tab Method All-in-One, the only pick here with online audio you can slow down. Church players: Favorite Hymns for Easy Guitar for traditional hymns, or Top Worship Hits for contemporary worship songs. Both are in tab.

Editorial shortlist from the publisher's own product listings - not hands-on testing. We show no prices; Amazon shows the current price.

Tab songbook or method book?

They do different jobs. A method book teaches skills in order - first notes, first chords, rhythm, reading - with exercises built around each lesson. A tab songbook is a collection of real songs arranged so you can play them, with tab for the riffs and melodies and chord names and lyrics for the strumming. If you want a structured course that teaches standard notation, see our best beginner guitar books (method books) page. This page is for players who want songs - or a method that teaches only in tab.

A practical pairing for most beginners: one lesson source (a method book, an app or a lesson platform) plus one tab songbook in the style you love. The songbook is what keeps you practising.

How to pick a tab book

1. Check the notation type

Publisher listings tell you exactly what is on the page, and it varies more than covers suggest:

• Tab + chords + lyrics (the First 50 tab titles and Simple Songs): tab for the important guitar parts, chord names over the lyrics for strumming. The friendliest format if you can't read music.
• Easy Guitar TAB (Favorite Hymns): Hal Leonard's easy-guitar series format, with simplified parts written in tab.
• Easy Guitar with Notes & Tab (Top Worship Hits): simplified arrangements with standard notation and tab together, so you can read either one.
• Check before you buy: not every beginner songbook has tab. Some Hal Leonard "First 50" titles - First 50 Worship Songs, for example - are listed as standard notation, chords and lyrics only. If the format line on the listing doesn't say TAB, assume it has none.
• Tab-only methods (the Guitar Tab Method books): every lesson is taught in tab, with no notation reading required.

New to tab? Learn the six lines and the numbers first with our how to read guitar tabs guide - it takes one short practice session.

2. Easy arrangements or the real recording?

Beginner songbooks use simplified arrangements: the key riff, the chord changes and the lyrics, not every overdub. That is what you want in year one. Hal Leonard also sells note-for-note transcriptions (its "Guitar Recorded Versions" series), which copy the recording exactly, solos included. Those are a later step. If a listing says "recorded versions" or "authentic transcriptions", it is not a beginner book.

3. Pick your genre first

Fifty songs you love beat a hundred you don't. Read the song list on the publisher's page before buying: every book here publishes its full list. If you recognise fewer than ten titles, choose a different book.

4. Binding and lay-flat

All eight picks are 9x12-inch softcovers, not spiral-bound, so a new book will try to close on you. Use a music stand with page clips, or a pair of binder clips. Some players press the spine flat gently, a few pages at a time, so it stays open. A digital edition on a tablet is the other fix; Hal Leonard sells one for most of these titles.

5. Audio access

Only one pick here lists online audio: the Guitar Tab Method All-in-One. Its PLAYBACK+ player lets you slow tracks down without changing pitch and loop a hard bar. The Acoustic Guitar Tab Method Book 1 linked here is the Book Only edition (32 pages). Hal Leonard sells a separate "Book with Online Audio" edition under a different ISBN, so check the edition on the listing if you want audio. For the songbooks, play along with the original recording, or slow it down with any speed-change player.

The shortlist

At a glance: format and audio

Formats and page counts are from each Hal Leonard product page, checked Oct 2026. "None listed" means the publisher's listing for that edition does not mention audio.

How to practise from a tab book

1. Tune first, every time. Our free tuner takes 30 seconds, and an out-of-tune guitar makes correct tab sound wrong.
2. Choose one song and play only its main riff or first chord change - not the whole page.
3. Read the tab slowly, then play it from memory. Glance, play, glance again. Your eyes should leave the page as soon as you can manage it.
4. Add rhythm with a metronome. Start around 60 BPM on our free metronome and raise it a few beats only when you play three clean repeats.
5. Listen to the recording. Tab shows where to put your fingers; the recording shows timing and feel. Use both.
6. Keep a song list. Mark each song "learning", "can play slowly" or "can play along". Come back to the earlier ones weekly. Our practice timer and log helps.

Want free songs to try first? Our easy songs by chord count hub has public-domain songs written out in full, like Amazing Grace and House of the Rising Sun.

Safety notes

• Fingertips hurt for the first few weeks. Practise in 10-20 minute blocks and stop if you feel sharp pain or numbness, not just soreness.
• When playing along through headphones, keep the volume moderate and take listening breaks.
• Kids' books: an adult should check the guitar size and string height so small hands are not over-stretching. See guitar sizes for kids.

FAQ

What is the easiest guitar tab book for a complete beginner?

Among our picks, Simple Songs - The Easiest Easy Guitar Songbook Ever, which Hal Leonard describes as streamlined arrangements of 50 songs with tab, chords and lyrics.

Do I need to read music to use these?

No. Every book on this list includes tab. Top Worship Hits prints standard notation alongside the tab, and you can ignore the notation.

Which tab book has audio?

Of these eight, only the Guitar Tab Method All-in-One lists online audio, with a PLAYBACK+ player that slows tracks down and loops them.

Are these books spiral-bound?

No. All eight are softcovers. Use a music stand with clips, or a digital edition where Hal Leonard offers one.

Should I buy a tab book or a method book first?

If you have a lesson source already, add a tab songbook. If you have nothing, start with a method - in tab (the Guitar Tab Method) or in notation (see our method books page).