The present invention includes a plurality of thin film magnetic heads which are arranged in a linear array with a spacing D between adjacent heads. The pole pieces of the magnetic heads are positioned in a side by side relationship in contrast to the normal pancake type of magnetic head. The linear array is angled at a skew angle .theta. with respect to the direction of travel of the magnetic medium. The track pitch is then D sin .theta.. The track width is substantially equal to the thickness of the pole tips P1T and P2T of the magnetic heads. This thickness can be in the order of 3 .mu.m. With such a pole tip thickness the track pitch of each magnetic head in the linear array can be 3-4 .mu.m. A plurality of narrow data tracks can then be provided with minimum pitch by a corresponding number of magnetic heads. The write signals are simultaneously fed to the heads or the read signals are simultaneously fed to the heads. This allows high data rates to be processed. The invention also provides different azimuth between adjacent heads to minimize cross talk between the tracks caused by track misregistration. Additional magnetic heads can be employed for servo control as needed.