Tab (tablature, tabulature) for the Piano
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches. |
Tab (tablature, tabulature) is an ancient form of music notation that was mostly used for stringed fretted instruments (guitar, bass, lute, archlute, theorbo, angélique, mandora, gallichon, banjo, and vihuela ).
This is probably the first really user-friendly tab for the piano.
This is a great tool for those who want to play the piano as a rhythm instrument to accompany any music style.
Songwriters who do not write music will also find this a very simple way to write down the harmony for their musical ideas.
The Shape of Sound
The Shape of Piano Harmony
Piano harmony that is expressed on a staff using music notation can also be expressed using geometric shapes.
Geometric shapes add a visual component to the harmony that will make it easier for the player to remember.
In Fig. 1 we have three inversions of the C major triad: root, 2nd position (inversion), 3rd position (inversion.)
The x’s indicate the spacing between the notes. The root inversion has three equally spaced notes, the second inversion has two equally spaced notes and one further away, the third inversion has one note then two equally spaced notes further away.
Fig. 1
If you take these patterns on the staff and rotate them 270% and fit then over the keys on the piano, you will see that the keys on the piano are spaced exactly as the notes on the staff, see Fig. 2.
Fig. 2
When black keys are in the chord we will use connecting lines to show the shape of the chord as indicated in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3
How can we use these shapes?
We can add these shapes to the music sheet to give a visual reminder of the shape of the chord, see Fig. 4.
And maybe in the future we can use these visual symbols to teach hearing impaired people to play the piano.
Fig. 4
Amazing Grace
Note: All the chords on the piano can be represented by only sixteen shapes.
The following information is obtained from US patent # 7,554,025.
Explanation of diagrams:
Fig 1A , 1B - The shapes for all triads on the piano.
Fig 9A, 9B, 9C - The shapes for all the 4-note chords on the piano.
Fig. 10, 10A – Enhancements since the patent was granted.
The following enhancements were added after the patent application and are not part of the patent.
Fig. 10
‘X’ is used instead of ‘o’ to show chords with only white notes.
Form 1 x x x x
Form 2 x x x x
Form 3 x x x x
Form 4 x x x x
Form 5 x x x x
When the interval between two adjacent white notes or black notes is less than a minor third, double xx is used to show interval.
E.g. G7 = x x x x or x x x x or x x x x
B7 = 
Bb7 = 
End of enhancements
