What is a piano tab? A tab or tablature is a simple way to notate a piece of music. It gives you instructions on how to play a specific song. In order to play a specific song, you must know which key to hit and when. In this article we'll go through the basics of how to read piano tabs.
Tabs are easier to read than traditional sheet music and that is the main reason why they are so popular. Most beginners start with them. But because of their simplicity, they are not as detailed as standard musical notation. You should know that they have some serious disadvantages.
Fine, let's begin. We'll start with something easy, something that everybody knows. How about Mary Had a Little Lamb? Okay, here is a piano tab for Mary Had a Little Lamb: 4|e--dc-d-|e-e-e---|d-d-d---|e-g-g---|. As you can see there are no notes. Piano tabs are made only of letters, numbers, and some symbols. No notes here. Let's go decipher this, it's really not that difficult.
Most tabs that you will come across will probably consist of several lines. Our simple example only has one. Every line starts with a number - in our case 4. What does the number mean? It indicates an octave in which the notes on the line are in. The notes in our example are in the fourth octave.
The letters that you see correspond to the notes you play. Lowercase letters are regular or natural notes (the white keys), while uppercase letters stand for flats or sharps (the black keys). You play the notes from left to right.
There are also some symbols in our example, what are those? The vertical lines are there to separate measures. The dashes indicate timing. And that's about it.
As you can see, piano tabs are not extremely difficult to decipher and are great if you want to learn melodies fast. But remember, they are not a substitute for standard notation. - 32526
Tabs are easier to read than traditional sheet music and that is the main reason why they are so popular. Most beginners start with them. But because of their simplicity, they are not as detailed as standard musical notation. You should know that they have some serious disadvantages.
Fine, let's begin. We'll start with something easy, something that everybody knows. How about Mary Had a Little Lamb? Okay, here is a piano tab for Mary Had a Little Lamb: 4|e--dc-d-|e-e-e---|d-d-d---|e-g-g---|. As you can see there are no notes. Piano tabs are made only of letters, numbers, and some symbols. No notes here. Let's go decipher this, it's really not that difficult.
Most tabs that you will come across will probably consist of several lines. Our simple example only has one. Every line starts with a number - in our case 4. What does the number mean? It indicates an octave in which the notes on the line are in. The notes in our example are in the fourth octave.
The letters that you see correspond to the notes you play. Lowercase letters are regular or natural notes (the white keys), while uppercase letters stand for flats or sharps (the black keys). You play the notes from left to right.
There are also some symbols in our example, what are those? The vertical lines are there to separate measures. The dashes indicate timing. And that's about it.
As you can see, piano tabs are not extremely difficult to decipher and are great if you want to learn melodies fast. But remember, they are not a substitute for standard notation. - 32526
About the Author:
If you want to learn more, please visit how to read piano tabs. Probably the best way to learn is to play your favorite songs. Take a look at how to play Let It Be on piano.
