Learning to play the piano can be a challenging and lengthy process. Aside from learning melodies and expressing your creativity, learning to read sheet music is another skill to develop that lengthens the learning process. By using piano tabs, you can cut out the time spent learning sheet music and get right to creating beautiful music.
Note the Position on the Piano
To play a song in the right key and tone, each note’s position on the piano is important. If even one or two notes are in the wrong place, the whole song will sound wrong and be hard to listen to. The staff shows note position on sheet music, but piano tabs employ a different method.
With a color-coded piano keyboard, you can easily see which note should be played. Because the piano is separated into seven different notes, along with their half tone sharps and flats, these note names repeat up and down the piano. By color coding the octaves, which are the repeating sections of the piano, piano tabs make sure you know which note should be played. Whether playing a high C or a low C, you’ll be able to tell exactly where it is on the keyboard.
Hand Positioning
Another key aspect of playing the piano is hand positioning. Without proper hand placement, movements become choppy and awkward. While this detracts from the visual performance, it also transfers to the keys and can change the flow of the notes within the song.
Unlike regular piano sheet music, piano tabs tell you which finger is needed to play the notes. This makes it much easier to position your hands properly and increases the flow of your playing.
Piano tabs use a simple finger numbering system. Both the left and right hands are numbered one through five, with the first finger being the thumb and the fifth being the pinky. By following this numbering system for both hands, your playing will sound connected and smoother.
Length of Notes
If every note in a song were the same length, the song would quickly lose coherency and become an obnoxious cacophony rather than a beautiful melody.
In sheet music, different types of notes and rests are used to show different lengths. Whole notes are most commonly used for long notes, while quarter notes are shorter. The many different types of notes along with a range of time signatures can make timing a difficult part of learning how to read music.
Piano tabs simplify the entire process. Rather than requiring you to memorize and count the beats of every note, piano tabs use shapes to indicate how long each note or rest should be held for. Notes that are meant to be held for longer have a wider shape on the tab while shorter notes appear smaller. With just a little practice, anyone can play tabs without having to understand the variety of notes and rests that are found in traditional music.
Finding Easy-to-Read Piano Tabs
Because the whole point of piano tabs is to make reading sheet music simpler, you’ll want to find the style that is easiest for you to read. When condensing sheet music into short sound bites of information, some tabs can become equally complex and difficult to read.
Look for piano tabs that are easy to understand, use simple instructions, and have a wide range of arrangements available. The best piano tabs also have educational videos to help you get started. Generally, a simple and bold notation will be the easiest to read at a glance. With some songs moving at breakneck speed, being able to read the note in an instant is crucial. When you’re learning, it can be difficult to remember what each note or color octave is, so having an on-hand reference for the tabs you use can also be helpful.
Playing with piano sheet music can be a steep learning curve. Endless notes densely packed on a page can be difficult to recognize and convert to the keyboard. With easy-to-read piano tabs, you can remove the hassles of reading sheet music and get started creating beautiful music. With timing, note length, and phrasing included in the tabs, the world of music is at your fingertips.