2/26/2016 HowtoReadPianoTabs:8Steps(withPictures)wikiHow

HowtoReadPianoTabs
TwoParts: PlayingaPianoTab ReadingSpecialCharacters QuestionsandAnswers

Tablature(usuallyshortenedto"tab"or"tabs")isatypeofmusicalnotationthat
usescommontextcharacterstorepresenttheprogressionofnotesandchords
inasong.Becausetabsaresimpletoreadandeasytodigitallyshare,they
havebecomeapopularalternativetosheetmusicintheonlineage,especially
amongamateurmusicians.Differenttypesoftabsusedifferentwaysofof
notatingmusictabsforpianomusictypicallyindicatethenotesthatthe
musicianshouldplaybyspecifyinganoteandtheoctaveonthekeyboardin
whichthatnoteislocated.SeeStep1belowtostartlearninghowtoreadpiano
tabs.

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Part
1 PlayingaPianoTab

1 Breakthekeyboardintooctaveswhichcorrespondtolinesonthetab.Piano
tabsusuallytaketheformofaseriesofhorizontallines,eachlabeledwithanumber
atitsfarleft,likethis:

5|
4|
3|
2|

Thoughthisarrangementmayatfirstseemtobearnoresemblancetotheblackandwhite
keysofakeyboard,pianotabsactuallyrepresentdifferentregionsonthekeyboardthrough
clevershorthand.Thenumberattheleftofeachlinerepresentstheoctavethatthenotes
representedonthelinearelocatedin.PianotabsdefinetheiroctavesrelativetotheC
scalestartingfromthefarleftofthekeyboard,thefirstCnoteonthepianobeginsthefirst
octave,thesecondCnotebeginsthesecondoctave,andsoonuptothehighestCnote.
Forinstance,inthesampletablinesprovidedabove,thelinesrepresent,starting
fromthetop,thefifth,fourth,third,andsecondoctavesfromthefarthestleftC,
respectively.It'snotnecessaryforpianotabstoincludelinesforeveryoctaveon
thekeyboardjusttheoctavesinwhichnotesareplayed.

2 Locatethenotesinthetabbasedontheoctaveofthelinethey'reon.Theletters
AthroughGshouldbespreadthroughoutthelinesofthepianotab,likethis:

5|adf
4|adf

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3|cDefG
2|fedc

Youmayhavealreadyguessedthateachlettercorrespondstoanoteinthescale!
Lowercaseletterssignify"natural"(notsharporflat)notes,whicharethewhitekeysonthe
keyboard.Uppercaseletterssignifysharps,whicharetheblackkeys.Forexample,"C"is
theblackkeytotherightof"c",whichisawhitekey.Notesonthelinesofthetabare
meanttobeplayedintheoctavethatcorrespondstotheline.Forinstance,notesonline4
inthesampletababoveareplayedinthekeyboard'sfourthoctave.
Forsimplificationofwritingandtoavoidconfusionbetweentheflatsymbol,which
resemblesalowercase"b",andthenote"b",therearenoflatsinpianotabs.
Instead,allflatsarewrittenastheequivalentsharp(eg:Dflat("Db")iswrittenas
Csharp("C")).

3 Readtabsfromlefttoright,payingattentiontoanymeasurebreaks(marked
withI's).Likepiecesofsheetmusic,tabsarereadfromlefttoright.Thenotesatthe
farleftofthetabareplayedfirst,followedbythenotestotheright.Ifthetabislongerthan
thescreenorpage,itcan"wraparound"beloweachtimeitreachestheedgejustlike
sheetmusic.Often,butnotalways,pianotabsincludeverticallinesmarkingthebarrier
betweeneachmeasureusually,thesearerepresentedwithcapitalletter"I's"orwith
verticallinecharacters,likethis:

5|adf|
4|adf|
3|cDef|G
2||fedcIfso,treatthespacebetweeneachsetofvertical
linesasonemeasure.
Inotherwords,forsongsin4/4,therearefourquarternotesbetweeneachsetof
lines,forsongsin6/8,therearesixeighthnotes,andsoon.

4 Playnotessequentiallyasyoureadfromlefttoright.Startreadingapianotabat
itsfarleftandplaythenotesinorderfromlefttorightasyouencounterthem.Iftwoor
morenotesaredirectlyaboveeachother,playthematthesametimeasachord.
Inourexampletab:

5|adf|
4|adf|
3|cDef|G
2||fedc

...wewouldfirstplaytheAinthefifthoctaveandtheAinthefourthoctave,then
theDinthefifthoctaveandtheDinthefourthoctave,thentheFinthefifthoctave
andtheFinthefourthoctave,thenthenotesC,Dsharp,E,andFinsequence,
andsoon.

Part
2 ReadingSpecialCharacters

1 Readrepeatingnumbersaboveorbelowthetabasbeats.Oneweaknessoftabs

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2/26/2016 HowtoReadPianoTabs:8Steps(withPictures)wikiHow
ingeneralisthatitisdifficulttoexpressrhythmviabasictablaturenotation.Thiscan
becomeproblematicwhendealingwithsustains,rests,syncopatedpassages,etc.Asa
workaround,sometabwritersactuallycountthebeatofthesongbeloworabovethetab.
Suchatabmightlooklikethis:

5|adf|
4|adf|
3|cDef|G
2||fedc
||1234|1234Inthiscase,thenotesroughlyabove"1"are
roughlyonthefirstbeat,theonesroughlyabout"2"areroughlyonthesecondbeat,andso
on.Thisishardlyaperfectsystem,butitmakesthemostofthelimitationsofthetab
format.
Somepianotabsincludeoffbeatmarkings.Often,thesetaketheformofan
ampersand("&")tomirrorthecommonmethodofcountingoffbeats,asin"one
andtwoandthreeandfourand..."Suchatabmightlooklikethis:

5|adf|
4|adf|
3|cDef|G
2||fedc
||1&2&3&4&|1&2&3&4&

2 Learnhowrestsandsustainsareexpressedintabs.Anotherweaknessofthetab

formatisthatit'sdifficulttoexpresshowlongtoholdacertainnoteorhowlongtorest
betweennotesviatabs.Sometabsdon'tmarkrestsandsustainsatallafteraheldnote,
forinstance,therewilljustbetheseriesofdashesthatmakeuptheline.Othertabswilluse
aseriesof">"charactersafternotestoshowthattheyshouldbeheld.Seebelow:

5|adf|
4|adf|
3|cDef|G
2||fedc>>>>>>
||1&2&3&4&|1&2&3&4&Inthiscase,wewouldholdthefinalCnotefrom
beat3totheendofthemeasure.

3 Playnotesmarkedwithaperiodasstaccato.Staccatonotesaretheoppositeof
sustainednotestheyareshort,sharp,andtruncated.Manypianotabsuseperiods
todenotecertainnotesasstaccato.Seebelow:

5|a.d.f.|
4|a.d.f.|
3|cDef|G
2||fedc>>>>>>
||1&2&3&4&|1&2&3&4&Inthiscase,weplaythefirstthreeoctavechords
asstaccato.

4 Lookfor"R's"and"L's"ontheleftofthetabasaguideforwhichhandtouse.
Usually,butnotalways,thehighernotesinapieceofpianomusicareplayedwiththe
righthand,whilethelowernotesareplayedwiththelefthand,soit'susuallysafeto
assumethatthehighestnotesinatabareplayedwiththerighthandandthatthelowest
notesareplayedwiththeleft.However,sometabsspecifyexactlywhichnotesshouldbe

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playedwitheachhand.Inthesecases,lineswithan"R"atthefarleftofthetabareplayed
withtherighthandandlineswithan"L"atthefarleftofthetabareplayedwiththeleft
hand.Seebelow:

R5|a.d.f.|
R4|a.d.f.|
L3|cDef|G
L2||fedc>>>>>>
O||1&2&3&4&|1&2&3&4&Inthiscase,thefourthandfifthoctavesare
playedwiththerighthand,whilethesecondandthirdareplayedwiththeleft.
Notethatthe"O"atthefarleftofthebeatmarkingsatthebottomofthetabwas
usedsimplytofillspaceandhasnobearingonthetabitself.

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Tips

Whenlearningasongthatrequirestwohands,learnonehandfirst.Theright
handisusuallyplayingthemorecomplicatedpartsofthesong.
Playslowlyatfirst.Asyourememberthetabbetter,youcantrytospeedthe
notesup.
Learntoreadsheetmusic.Itcangiveyouamoreroundedperspectiveona
piece.Pianotabscannotreplacesheetmusicwhenitcomestoquality

ThingsYou'llNeed

Pianoorkeyboard

SourcesandCitations

http://www.wikihow.com/ReadPianoTabs 4/5
2/26/2016 HowtoReadPianoTabs:8Steps(withPictures)wikiHow

http://www.tabnabber.com/documents/howtoreadtabs.asp#readTabs

ArticleInfo

Categories:PianoandKeyboard

Inotherlanguages:

Espaol:leertablaturasparapiano,Deutsch:Pianotabslesen,Portugus:LerTablaturasde
Piano,Italiano:LeggereleTablatureperPianoforte,:
,Franais:liredestablaturesdepiano,:TAB,Bahasa
Indonesia:MembacaPianoTab,Nederlands:Pianotablatuurlezen

Thankstoallauthorsforcreatingapagethathasbeenread209,862times.

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