How to Read Piano Tabs

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A piano tab is a simple and easy way to notate a piece of music. It is often used by amateur musicians as an alternative to sheet music, and has gained popularity because it is also easy to distribute over the internet. Playing piano tabs can be fun and easy for anyone. Different authors use different conventions, but these basics should be enough to allow you play most piano tabs on the computer

Steps

1. Familiarize yourself with the general format of piano tabs. They consist of several lines. Each line begins with a number and bar:5|4|3|2|The number indicates the octave the notes on the line are in. To determine the octave, count up starting from the first C. When you get to the second C, you are in the second octave. The third C begins the third octave, and so on...
   
2. Look at each line. On each line there will be letters that correspond to the notes you play.5|c d e f g a b 4| c d e f g a bLowercase letters mean the regular notes (the white keys). Upper-case letters mean sharps (the black keys). For example, C means the black key to the right of c. In tabs, all flats are written as the same note with a sharp (eg: D-flat is written as C-sharp.)
   
3. Play all notes sequentially as you move left to right. If two notes are directly above each other, play them at the same time. In the following piece, you play G-sharp and B at once...3|a G4| ceab
   
4. Notice that dashes might indicate a hold or may just be inserted for readability. Dashes are often used for spacing between the notes. Sometimes, a dash or a ">" symbol that follows a note means to hold that note. In the following piece, you hold A-sharp and C until you have played the three F's.4|A>>>c>>>4|-fff-fff
   

Tips

• Play slowly at first. As you remember the tab better, you can try to speed the notes up.
  
• When learning a song that requires two hands, learn one hand first. The right hand is usually playing the more complicated parts of the song.
  
• Learn to read sheet music too. It can give you a more rounded perspective on a piece. Piano tabs cannot replace sheet music when it comes to quality.
  

Things You'll Need

• Piano or keyboard
  
• Piano tabs
  

Sources and Citations

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

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