People have been using guitar tabs to make music more accessible for decades. These tabs take traditional music and convert it into an easier to understand notation style. Now, innovative and easy-to-read tabs are available for piano players as well! These tabs are changing the ways in which people learn and play piano music, but not all tabs are created equally. It is important to choose the right piano tabs to make sure that each song sounds great.
What are Piano Tabs?
Piano tabs take the important information contained within traditional note-and-staff music and transform it into an easier-to-read format. For those who are not trained in music theory, traditional music can be incredibly intimidating. Some say that learning how to read music is as difficult as learning how to speak another language. Piano tabs take the difficult task of reading music and make it simple and easy.
Piano tabs themselves contain all of the information a piano player needs, including the note, where the note is located on the keyboard, which finger to play the note with, and how long to hold the note for. The best piano tabs are designed to convey all of this information in a quick glance. They use colors, numbers, and shapes to make learning how to play the piano simple enough for anyone.
What to Look for in Piano Tabs
There are a few different styles of piano tabs available, but they are not all easy to use. Some tabs are incredibly complicated and are not necessarily easier to understand than traditional music. It takes skill to create a tab system that incorporates the information needed to play the piano in an intuitive format.
The first step when looking for the best piano tabs is to find a system that is visually appealing. It should have a clean look that makes it easy to distinguish between notes. Trying to decipher a complicated tab system takes the fun out of playing. The best types of tab systems are color coded so you can quickly determine in which octave to place your fingers. They should also have easy to read text that includes the note name (A, B, C, D, E, F, G), any accidentals (flats or sharps), as well as a number that represents which finger to use. The tab should also make it clear which hand is playing which note.
Good piano tabs also make the rhythm of the music obvious. A great tab uses the lengths of each shape to indicate how long to hold that particular note. A smaller shape means a shorter note and a longer shape means a longer note. It should be that simple.
Choosing the Best Piano Tab System
While there are a few different types of piano tabs available, some of them are incredibly complicated. There are piano tabs that are actually as complicated as learning how to read traditional music, which defeats the whole purpose of tabs!
When choosing the best system, look for one that is accompanied by clear video instructions, as well as audio samples. One of the easiest ways to learn how to play a new song on the piano is to have easy-to-understand tabs along with a pre-recorded track of the complete song. Also look for tabs that are created by an actual teaching musician.
It is also important to find and learn a tab system that has a number of great songs in tab formats. Remember that as players progress and hone their skills, they will want to start playing a wider range of music types. Look for piano tabs in a range of skill levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced), as well as a variety of musical genres. While someone may want to start playing rock or pop tunes, they might eventually want to progress to classical music, jazz, ragtime, or American classics.
Making Beautiful Music Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
Learning how to play the piano does not have to be hard. With the right tab system, anyone can learn how to make beautiful music. All it takes is a little time for practice, a willingness to learn, and a great system. Finding the best piano tabs is the first step towards learning a rewarding new skill.