Tablature for instruments other than guitar and bass?

[Fassa Albrecht]

Someone's told me you can get tab for piano and keyboards, which got me wondering whether this is actually true.

He says it's a two numbered method- one number represents the octave of the note you need to play, the other represents the actual note you need to play.

Anyone help?

[tplyons]

I've seen 'em, but they're not prevalent from what I can tell.

Same with Harmonica too. Blow or draw and the whole in which to do it.

[baalroo]

It's hard for me to see what the advantages would be for tab on most instruments since a large majority have only a single way to play each note. The reason tab is great for guitar/bass is there are multiple positions to play the same note in the same octave... each with different tonal characteristics. Playing an open C major sounds ALOT different than a Barred C Major. So Tab is actually a fantastic and is more accurate when accompanying the regular sheet music than without out. Since a piano (for example) only has 1 example of each note per octave then there is no advantage to learning an alternate system over the more readily available one.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by baalroo

It's hard for me to see what the advantages would be for tab on most instruments since a large majority have only a single way to play each note. The reason tab is great for guitar/bass is there are multiple positions to play the same note in the same octave... each with different tonal characteristics. Playing an open C major sounds ALOT different than a Barred C Major. So Tab is actually a fantastic and is more accurate when accompanying the regular sheet music than without out. Since a piano (for example) only has 1 example of each note per octave then there is no advantage to learning an alternate system over the more readily available one.

Not only that, but it would take an incredibly long time to work out the rhythm and timing of said songs.


One of the reasons I rarely use tablature on bass

[Deluge Of Sound]

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

Not only that, but it would take an incredibly long time to work out the rhythm and timing of said songs.


One of the reasons I rarely use tablature on bass

Don't forget, Tablature has been around since the Middle Ages--while internet tabs might be completely useless for rhythmic purposes, proper tab did indeed have some indicators.

You could also argue that tablature offers more to the performer in that way, as it is up to the discretion of the preformer when to end each note.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by Deluge Of Sound

Don't forget, Tablature has been around since the Middle Ages--while internet tabs might be completely useless for rhythmic purposes, proper tab did indeed have some indicators.

You could also argue that tablature offers more to the performer in that way, as it is up to the discretion of the preformer when to end each note.

Yes, but if my history is correct I seem to remember that even the Ancient Greeks used a form of sheet music, which would seem to suggest to me that tab was used AFTER sheet music.


EDIT: Just checked the Oxford Classical Dictionary. The Greeks actually had TWO musical notation systems. The most common looked like a modern chord chart.

[funkalicious101]

Tablature was, and is, used for lute notation. But instead of numbers, which would be far too simple, letters are used. And they skip i, because it looks to much like j, you know, to make it less complicated...

[GeneralElectric]

Piano tabs I've seen often show the chords (and where to play them) and thats it

[Fassa Albrecht]

Now I know why I always use Nashville notation......