Printable Guitar Tab and Staff Paper
Combined manuscript: a standard five-line music staff above a six-line tab stave, joined by a bracket with bar lines running through both. This is the format published guitar music uses, because tab alone can't express rhythm.
- Free, no signup
- Exact-scale vector PDF
- Letter, A4, Legal & more
- Commercial use OK
Sets the staff space; every other proportion follows from it.
0 leaves the systems open.
36pt is half an inch — safe on virtually every printer.
Free, no signup. Print at 100% scale (not “fit to page”) so the measurements come out exact.
Live preview — US Letter (8.5 × 11"), portrait · updates as you change any setting.
Why the two are paired
Standard notation carries rhythm, dynamics and pitch precisely, but doesn't tell a guitarist which of several possible positions to play a note in. Tablature does the opposite — it's unambiguous about position but silent about timing. Printed together, each covers the other's blind spot, which is exactly why essentially every commercial guitar publication uses this layout.
Keeping the two aligned
The value of the format depends entirely on vertical alignment: a note in the staff must sit directly above its tab number. Pre-dividing the systems into bars makes this dramatically easier when writing by hand, because each measure gives you a fixed horizontal window to work within on both staves at once.
String count
The tab stave takes 4 to 8 lines, so the same sheet works for standard six-string guitar, bass, and extended-range instruments. The music staff stays five lines regardless, as it always does — remember that guitar music is written an octave higher than it sounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why use tab and staff together?
Tablature shows exactly where to put your fingers but not the rhythm; standard notation shows rhythm and pitch precisely but not the position. Together they're complete, which is why published guitar music almost always prints both.
How many systems fit on a page?
Three to five is typical, since each system is two staves tall. Set your preferred number and the layout caps it at what fits and spreads the systems evenly.
Is guitar music written at concert pitch?
No — guitar is a transposing instrument written an octave higher than it sounds, so the staff is read an octave down. That's independent of this paper, but worth remembering when writing.
Can I use it for bass?
Yes. Set the string count to 4, 5 or 6 and write a bass clef on the music staff. Bass is also written an octave above sounding pitch.
Printing Tips
- Print at 100% scale.Turn off “fit to page” and “shrink oversized pages” — otherwise your printer rescales the sheet and the measurements no longer match.
- Match the paper size. Choose the same size here as the paper in your tray. Printing a Letter PDF on A4 (or the reverse) scales it.
- Lighter lines print better. A light grey or blue guides your work without competing with it — and it uses far less ink.
- Use heavier paper for wet media. 100gsm and up for fountain pens and markers; standard copier paper is fine for pencil.