To really learn to read piano sheet music is a goal worth striving for. It will open a world of music waiting to be played by your fingers. However, it will take some time to really master the art of reading sheet music.
Piano tabs are tools that can help you learn melodies fast. They are not a complete substitute for sheet music notation but can be an easy way to learn easy melodies as you develop your sight reading skills.
There is an established system for reading and writing piano tab notation. In this system you will have to learn the names of the white keys on your piano. The first note to find is middle c. This note is located at the middle of a piano keyboard. If you take a closer look at the black keys you will find that they are organized in groups of two or three keys.
The middle c is located immediately to the left of a group of two black keys in the middle of your keyboard. It is sometimes called c4 as it is in the fourth octave of an ordinary piano. On a keyboard with a less number of keys the key at the middle of the keyboard will still be called c4.
What is an octave?
If you start with the note c and play the notes to the right of c you will play a c-major scale. The notes are c d e f g a b. The note that comes after b is the next c. As you can see the next c has the same position to the left of two black keys as the middle c. This c is sometimes called c5 because it is in the fifth octave of a piano or grand.
The notes you play from c to the next c is called an octave. Octave means eight and you have played eight notes when you play from c to the next c. This interval is repeated all over the keyboard. c3 is the c to the left of middle c and so on.
The piano tab notation we will use in this article is a simplified form of the piano tabs used on the Internet. Here are the rules:
1. The white keys we will use are notated with lowercase letters. That is, c d e f g a and b.
2. The octave in which you are to play the notes are indicated with a number. c4 means middle c. If the following notes are in the same octave there will not be any numbers after the notes until you change octave.
3. If you are to play a black key it is indicated with an uppercase letter. C means the black key immediately to the right of c. In ordinary sheet music notation this note is written C#.
Now it is time to try to play the first notes of Yesterday by Beatles with the help of our simple piano tab notation. I will show you the first line of lyrics and below the corresponding melody written with piano tabs.
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
d4 c c e F G a b c5 b4 a a
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
a4 a g f e d f e e
Oh, I believe in yesterday
d4 c e d a5 c4 e e
Now we have completed the first verse. The second verse have the same melody so we will jump right into the bridge:
Why she had to go I don't know, she wouldn't say
e4 e a b c5 b4 a b a g a e
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday
e4 e a b c5 b4 a b a g b c5 g4 f e
After this you can complete the melody by playing the verse again. I recommend that you memorize the melody one line at a time. This little piano tab exercise is an introduction to the complete tab notation system you will find on the net.
To play the notes at your piano on the right keys and with timing does not mean that your notes will be played with mathematic precision. That would probably not be music.
This is why a metronome will only help you halfway to this goal.
You have to learn timing together with other people and by listening to good musicians.
You learn timing when you learn to react musically upon other musicians playing.
In music there is usually a pulse. To be able to discern this pulse and become a part of this groove is something we can develop. When you have acquired this skill your own playing will contribute to a good end result musically.
Well, how then can you feel this pulse in music?
You can dance or just move to music. When your whole body feels the pulse you are certainly on the right track. How the actual dancing is performed is no big deal, at least not as far as developing your pulse is concerned.
I guess the most important matter is to cultivate the feeling of floating or surfing on the waves of music without any effort.
Another important and effective way to develop timing in your piano playing is to play drums.
I think this would be of great benefit to all musicians. To be able to create rhythmic patterns when drumming will help you a lot as a pianist.
Actually, drums are not necessary! They can be quite expensive as we all know. You can improvise rhytmic patterns on you laps using you own hands. Quite cheap solution, really.
Just one example, try to play eights by alternating between your hands and place the accent in different hands as you play. I feel that this is a very stimulating exercise for my mind. Maybe a form of meditation.
Another way to develop your sense of pulse in your piano playing is to buy a metronome. This is nowadays a very little musical device that will give a 100% even pulse and it will help you learn to play in different tempos.
As it is 100% accurate it is best not you use it all the time you play. Another more sophisticated rhythmic aid is a rhythm machine. Can also be bought as software to your computer and it has nearly unlimited possibilities.
As before mentioned the art of timing is not the same as mathematically perfect piano playing. Well, in some music styles it might be appropriate to play piano in this way.
When I use my recording software and for example take a look at the bass parts I produce I can see on the graphic representation on my computer screen that I often play before or after the beats on my bass guitar.
As you probably know the notes can be quantisized with the help of the software to play exactly "accurate". Well, what mostly happens is that the whole production loses something very important. The music disappears.
I usually play the bass guitar parts either ahead of the beat or a bit laid back to create energy in the music.
My definition of pulse is something that is musical and a form of painting feelings with rhythm and notes. To be on time in music is to share your musical feelings with others.
Peter Edvinsson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Guide Guitar, Programming and Guide Guitar. Peter Edvinsson invites you to download your and piano tabs at. Peter Edvinsson's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.