Situations when an existing musical notation needs to be turned into a digital for another instrument or into tablature are common. If you know a little musical notation, it will not be difficult to do this.
What is needed for this?
You need, of course, musical notation - for example, for a piano, but you can take it for another instrument as well. Piano notes are simpler because they use the popular keys, that is, the treble and bass. In the notes for some instruments, there are other keys - for example, alto or even Old French. Overcoming this obstacle will not be difficult, you just need to look in the appropriate reference book for the system of musical notation in this key. Basically, your job is to find the chords and write them down in a way that is convenient for you. To do this, you will also need:
- determinant of chords;
- a table of guitar sequences;
- tonality table;
- music book;
- sheet with the text of the song;
- paper;
- pencil.
Determine the tonality
The key is determined by the key marks and the last lowest sound. Determine what the sound is, then see how many sharps or flats there are in the clef and look at the key chart or chord identifier. First of all, pay attention to the keys, in the names of which there is the name of the sound with which the melody ends. Find other chords that will be the reference for the given key using the guitar sequence table. They are built on the fourth and fifth steps. The identifier usually contains their names.
You can use not only the basic chords, but also their inversions. Look at the notes where one chord should replace another. As a rule, the permutation goes to the strong beat. An exception is the dominant seventh chord, which can appear on a weak beat, and even on the last sound of the chorus, so that the next verse or loss starts from the root note. Write down the chord names above the notes. Remember that not all harmonic constructions, even for popular pieces of music, are built in a square.
Refer to the sequence chart to see what other chords might be in the given key. For example, these can be diminished chords resolving into a tonic triad. Most often they sound at the end before the final chord, but they can also occur during the transition from chorus to verse or from failure to verse. Write them down as well. After that, you can write the usual digital, that is, put down the names of the chords directly above the text of the song, and not above the notes.
Compose tablature
Having to calculate the position of your fingers every time you move from chord to chord can discourage even the most stubborn guitarists. It is better to write down the position of the fingers once, and then play with these symbols. Draw six or seven rulers, depending on how many strings you have on your guitar. Indicate the mode you want. Draw a couple of adjacent ones to it - even more is possible if the chord is complex and you have to stretch your fingers over several frets.
Label the string numbers. The first is the thinnest, the sixth or seventh, respectively, the thickest. Draw circles where you put your fingers when you play a given chord. Mark these circles with numbers from one to four. The first finger is the index finger, the fourth is the little finger. Above the tablature, write which chord the given finger position corresponds to. Make the same tablatures for all chords.
