: The top line is the 1st string (High D), and the bottom line is the short 5th string (High G). This layout mirrors what you see when you look down at your banjo while playing.
Bluegrass banjo tablature (tab) is the standard visual roadmap for learning the fast-paced, three-finger picking style popularized by Earl Scruggs bluegrass banjo tab
Don't read the tab linearly. Scan it for clusters of three or four notes that form a "lick." For example, the "G Lick" (3rd string open, 2nd string 3rd fret, 1st string 5th fret) appears in every single bluegrass song. Once you learn to spot these shapes, you stop "reading" and start "playing." : The top line is the 1st string