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How to Convert Guitar Tabs to Piano Music

Guitar tab is a type of musical notation specific to the guitar. Guitar tab is written on a graph that features six lines representing the strings of the guitar. Numbers are placed on the lines to indicate the frets to be played. Many guitarists find this type of notation easier to read, but to enable other musicians to read the same music you read, it's often necessary to convert guitar tab to piano music. Here's how you can turn your guitar tabs into piano music that other musicians can read and play.

Things You'll Need

  • blank staff paper
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Instructions

    • 1

      Purchase blank grand staff music paper or download it free online (see Resources). The grand staff paper has both the treble and bass clefs on it, which you will need to accurately convey your guitar tablature through traditional piano notation.

    • 2

      Start with guitar chords. Any notes played simultaneously should be considered a chord and transcribed to the bass clef on the grand staff. In simple piano music, most players play chords with their left hand and expect chords to be indicated on the bass clef of the grand staff. This doesn't mean every chord should be notated on the bass clef, but to avoid conflict with the melody line and other musical lines indicated in the guitar tab, try keeping chords to the bass clef whenever possible. A good piano player will voice the chords as she sees fit.

    • 3

      Write melody lines and any chords you want to include on the treble clef next. Use standard musical notation of whole notes, quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes as well as appropriate rests when notating piano music. You can refer to a standard notation guide as needed, which you can download for free on the Internet (see Resources). Most of your notation will be written from middle C on the piano and above, which is the same as the third fret on the fifth string of your guitar. Refer to this note as the base note around which you will transfer your guitar tab to piano music.

    • 4

      Add additional music symbols to indicate dynamics (loudness or softness) for the music to be played and piano ornaments to indicate sliding between notes. Since the piano has different sound characteristics than a guitar, some of your tab, such as note bending, will have to be adapted to the piano. You can refer to your musical notation chart for appropriate musical symbols.

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