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I am a beginner in music, and I like both piano and electric bass guitar. I can spend 2,3 hours per week on music (Online Learning and playing). I am not a musician, but I am playing for joy. I’ve started practice in the bass, and I like the tab notation. Is there anything similar for piano (except the standard music notes notation)? Is it preferable to stick and learn the bass currently and later start playing the piano using the standard note notation?

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    There are always fakebooks, which don't capture everything, but make learning new songs very easy and fun. Typically you read a chord symbol plus as much of the melody/accompaniment as you have brainspace for. When you know your chord symbols on piano, you can get away with a lot this way.
    – Luke Sawczak
    Dec 27, 2021 at 14:03
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    A fret board being a two dimensional "grid" of note positions, it's well suited to shorthand like tab. The most obvious equivalent for a piano would be numbering the keys from 0 to whatever! ; )
    – Grimm The Opiner
    Dec 29, 2021 at 8:30

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In the modern world, the most popular alternative piano notation is probably the vertical scrolling layouts that you see in videos like this one:

Adele

You can't guarantee that you'll find a tutorial video like that for every piece you want to play, but then you could say the same for sheet music!

Standard notation can be awkward to learn, but it's possibly less awkward to learn it for a keyboard instrument like the piano where the layout of the instrument (with black keys and white keys) actually reflects more of the concepts that standard notation is based on (in particular, sharps and flats).

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    Note that as far as I know, layouts like that don't provide dynamics or other additional information that sheet music can contain.
    – Arcanist Lupus
    Dec 28, 2021 at 1:29
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    @ArcanistLupus the graphical layout itself may not, but it's usually presented as part of a video with accompanying audio.
    – Нет войне
    Dec 28, 2021 at 1:37
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    I wouldn't call anything that requires a video playing to be "notation", plus this style of delivery has some serious drawbacks.
    – whatsisname
    Dec 29, 2021 at 16:04
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    @whatsisname that's a fair point, but you can make similar observations about standard notation - very often, a stylistically-plausible performance relies on the performer making small timing and dynamic adjustments that generally aren't (and could not practically be) marked on a score. And for many styles of music, standard notation can't hope to usefully convey the timbral characteristics that a piece may rely on. IOW if a format of presentation needs to stand alone to be considered 'notation', standard notation doesn't make the cut either.
    – Нет войне
    Dec 29, 2021 at 17:14
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There's nothing that seriously challenges standard notation for piano. For bass guitar you need to understand both tab and notation. For piano you need notation. There's little point in searching for something 'easier'. Notation already IS the 'easiest' part of piano playing, a minor skill that unlocks all the other, greater ones. Treat it that way, rather than as an obstacle!

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  • The way I see it, the notation is difficult for complete beginners when all they want is learn a very simple and tiny piece. But when it comes to learning something advanced, nothing can describe it as precisely.
    – Clockwork
    Dec 27, 2021 at 15:50
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    Who learns the piano just to be able to play one piece? No, if you want to learn it, youd want to stick with it enough that you have the skill to learn any piece that's within your ability. Even for a beginner, there are many books of easy pieces. And all written in standard notation. Learning standard notation is worth the study, even for a beginner.
    – Rosie F
    Dec 31, 2021 at 15:20
  • @RosieF I tend to agree with your viewpoint. Thing is, there's always people who just want to... "brag" among their friends without the willingness to actually learn.
    – Clockwork
    Jan 1, 2022 at 13:30
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There is klavarskribo( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klavarskribo), invented in 1931 to simplify music notation for keyboard instruments, to enable more people to enjoy music. It has obviously not become the new standard, but it has lasted a long time (compared to other alternative notations), and many classical songs have been transcribed in it.

It looks like tablature for key instruments:

example of klavarskribo

I would not advise you to use it, but it's an interesting concept.

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    Interesting re-invention of the wheel, what happens when the music goes higher or lower than that span, though..?
    – Tim
    Dec 27, 2021 at 14:07
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    @Tim just add as many lines as you need. The lines of cis and dis closest to Central c are always dotted.
    – user132647
    Dec 27, 2021 at 14:24
  • Interesting! This notation seems to be the parent of vertical scrolling layouts (synthesia), but in paper. It looks simple and convenient. I will try to play some songs along with synthesia, before learning with notes notation. Thanks for sharing!
    – ssavva05
    Dec 28, 2021 at 9:07
  • There's an article mentioning klavarscribo that I just looked up in one of my old Electronics and Music Maker magazines, from September 1981: muzines.co.uk/articles/organ-talk/3561 That's the only time I've seen it mentioned anywhere in any context.
    – Brian THOMAS
    Dec 28, 2021 at 16:42
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Most piano players start with r.h., and learn through the standard dots. That's good, but when l.h. comes out to play, there's often a hurdle in the way - the bass clef is similar, but not the same as the treble.

You could do yourself a favour, and learn bass guitar first, using bass clef. Then on to piano, where that will be familiar.

Also the bonus of being a bass guitar reader will pay dividends later in life - most of us aren't brilliant readers, and lose playing opportunities because of that.

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    Reading notation allows you to work on any instrument. While tab is useful on bass, notation will get you a further & is well worth learning. It'll allow you to easily read melody lines in fake books, or play written lines in pieces that have a line written out. And to easily share that knowledge with others in any language. Or to play music written for other instruments on your bass and/or piano. I started on piano in 2nd grade. Moved to trumpet in 4th grade. Played that through college & then picked up bass. I still use a treble "Real Book" on bass & can noodle on piano reading sheet music.
    – chadbag
    Dec 28, 2021 at 6:03
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EZ Play Today song books offer a stepping stone into reading notation. They are available in a wide variety of musical genres. They feature melodies in single notes with the note name within the note accompanied by the lyrics and the appropriate harmonizing chord. You gradually begin reading simple standard notation without reference to the printed name.

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    EZ Play is a good recommendation, but could you say a bit more about them?
    – Aaron
    Dec 28, 2021 at 19:17

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