How to Read Piano Tabs & Chords

Concert piano.

Tablature, or tab for short, is a form of written music usually associated with stringed instruments, and in particular, guitar and banjo. There is a similar form of tablature for piano that uses numbers and symbols to help pianists with no music reading skills to be able to read a song. While piano tablature is less popular than tablature for guitar, some beginning piano players find it easier to understand than traditional music.

Things You'll Need

• Piano
• Piano tabs

Instructions

1. Look at the four horizontal lines of the piano tab. Each of these lines include vertical lines that separate the song into measures of music. Each measure will contain letters and symbols to indicate the notes you should play. Piano tab doesn't supply a great deal of information about the rhythm of a song or how long notes are held, so it is best if you are familiar with a song you'll be reading from tablature.

2. Locate the numbers along the left-hand side of the horizontal lines. These numbers will range from 1 through 7. The number beside each line tells you the octave you'll be playing the notes on the corresponding line in. When you encounter a new number on that line, you'll switch to the new octave. The number one represents the lowest octave.

3. Play the notes as you encounter them, in the order you encounter them. If the notes are written lower case, play the corresponding note. A lower case c means to play the c natural note. Capital letters tell you to play the note sharp. If the letters you encounter are in line with one another, play the notes together to form a chord. In some cases, chords will simply be written over the tab lines like this: Am, C, D7, etc.

4. Read additional symbols as they appear. If you encounter this symbol (>), cut the note before it short. If you encounter a vertical line, you are in a new measure. An underscore tells you to play nothing for a beat.

5. Keep track of your timing by following the line. Numbers tell you the count. Four evenly spaced numbers (1-4) equal quarter-note beats. Numbers without spaces equal eighth-note counts. If you encounter a single number or two numbers with two spaces between them, these equal a whole note and a half-note respectively.

References

• Piano Tabs: Piano Tab Music and Instruction