Explanation of Keyboard and Vocal Tablatures By Sean Jones and Branden Robinson Keyboard and vocal tablatures must necessarily differ significantly from guitar, bass, and even drum tablatures, where one horizontal line corresponds to one string or percussive instrument. Standard notation would be ideal, but it is impossible to practically represent this in ASCII. However, there are significant similarities to conventional tab and standard notation. Time (note lengths and rests) is still represented in the horizontal axis; that is, whatever is in a vertical line sounds simultaneously, and as you read from left to right, your progress through the song. Vocal tablature is pretty simple to represent; for each voice, there is a horizontal line on which pitch is indicated. Consider the beginning of "The Spirit of Radio": h q e e q e e e e e+ e q e q q 4:|--------E4-|--G#4--G#4--G#4--F#4--E4--F#4----|----G#4--F#4--D#4-----------| 4: Be- gin the day with a friend_____ -ly voice,__ The h's, q's, and e's above the tablature line indicate half, quarter, and eighth notes respectively, just as they do in guitar, bass, and drum tabs. In a full tablature, the tempo would also of course be provided (for the above verse, the tempo is 135 bpm). Note that "+" represents a tie. The time signature is given on the left, as digits followed by colons. The time signature may be repeated only when it changes, or more frequently as a reminder; this depends on the person doing the transcription. Several of the length indicators have nothing below them; this indicates a rest. We then get to the tablature line itself. The dashes are simply spacers for other information, and of no intrinsic meaning. The vertical bars are bar lines. The pitch notation is the most important difference from guitar and bass tab. Unlike guitars and basses, a single voice or keyboard has only way to produce a given pitch. The octaves are numbered such that the lowest C on an 88 key piano is C1, the next octave is C2, and so on. C4 is middle C (The C just below a treble clef staff). The notes below C1 on a piano are B0, Bb0, and A0. We therefore can see that Geddy, true to form, is singing above middle C. (Almost all contemporary sheet music writes vocal lines an octave higher than they actually are -- just like guitar notation -- so that it fits better on the treble clef. So if you're doing a transcription with reference to sheet music, keep this mind, and notate the actual pitches, instead of the ones notated. I.e., tranpose the vocal in the sheet music down an octave.) The lyric line is very much as you would find it in standard notation. If there is a harmony or backing vocal, the parts are stacked as you see below, in an excerpt from "Dreamline": Q e e e e e+ e e e q q e+ w Melody Vocal ||-4:-R-E4----E4-E4-E4-E4---|---E4---E4----G4-F#4-D4--|---| Backing Vocal ||-4:-R-B3----B3-B3-B3-B3---|---B3---B3----D4-C#4-A3--|---| We're on-ly at home when we're on the run____. wing___. fly____. If multiple vocal lines are present with different rhythmic characteristics, they may be presented separately, but there will be some indication that are indeed simultaneous rather than subsequent parts (such as the vertical line that connects the bass and treble clefs on the grand staff). We can now complicate the issue with keyboards; unlike the human voice, a keyboard instrument can produce multiple pitches simultaneously. In this case, we usually provide lines for as many voices as sound simultanenously in however many measures of music we fit on one screen line. Even if there is only one note sounding at a time for several measures, there may be a second line of tablature, just to accomodate the time signature. Consider the following excerpt from "Tears": H q+ w w w w w w w w+ w |-4:-R-F5-||---|-G5-|-D5-|-E4--|-D5-|-E4-|-D5-|-A4-|-----------|| |-4:---D5-||---|-E5-|-B4-|-C#4-|-A4-|-C4-|-B4-|-A3-|-----------|| |------A4-||---|-C5-|-G4-|-A4--|-F4-|-G3-|-G4-|----|-----------|| Here we see three lines, because there are at most three simultaneous notes being played in the number of measures we can fit across the 80-column screen. The exact same information could be expressed this way: H q+ w w w w w w w |-4:-R-F5-||---|-G5-|-D5-|-E4--|-D5-|-E4-|-D5-| |-4:---D5-||---|-E5-|-B4-|-C#4-|-A4-|-C4-|-B4-| |------A4-||---|-C5-|-G4-|-A4--|-F4-|-G3-|-G4-| w+ w |-A4-|-----------|| |-A3-|-----------|| The latter method is simply less efficient with screen space. The "R" is an explicit rest marker, and may be used if the transcriber feels that a blank (just a bunch of dashes) might be ambiguous. Now let us consider a complex song like "Distant Early Warning", where not only do we have chords being played, but multiple synthesizers playing at once. We will have to have multiple staves of tablature, one for each instrument. Just as full orchestral scores identify what staves refer to violins, trumpets, etc., at the beginning, so do we. Sound 1: PPG Organ Sound 2: Synth Bass (no modulation) Sound 3: Synth bells The sound # corresponds with the staff # below, so when the staff has a 1: in front of it, it should be played with sound 1, the fat PPG sound, 2: a Taurus Pedal sound, and 3: a bell-like synth sound (also PPG). Throughout this song, there is some digital noise or static. It is not indicated it in any of this tab, since there is no actual note or pitch value for it. A song may have performance notes, which explain how the song is to be performed (which hand/foot plays what, what is sequenced, etc). Performance notes: The Synth bell sound is sequenced, triggered by Geddy with a foot switch. The bass and PPG sounds are played with Ged's left and right hand's respectively on the same keyboard w/ the keys split left and right with bass and PPG sounds. Recall our system of pitch notation; in the first measure, staff 1 has C, D, and G all over an octave above middle C as the first chord (an inverted Gsus4), while the bass sound in staff 2 is the same as an open A string on a bass in the first measure. q q Q 4x Q q Q q q Q 1:|-4:-14 mm.-||:-7:-G5-F#5-E5-:||:-5:-F5-G5-|-7:-F5-G5-G5-:||-18 mm.-||:-7:-G5 |-4:-rest---||:-8:-D5-D5--C5-:||:-8:-C5-D5-|-8:-C5-D5-D5-:||- rest--||:-8:-D5 |-----------||:----C5-C5--A4-:||:----A4-B4-|----A4-B4-B4-:||--------||:----C5 |-----------||:--------------:||:----F4-G4-|----F4-G4-G4-:||--------||:------ | | q q Q 4x Q q Q q q 2:|-4:-14 mm.-||:-7:-A1-A1--A1-:||:-5:-F1-G1-|-7:-F1-G1-G1-:||-18 mm.-||:-7:-A1 |-4:--rest--||:-8:-----------:||:-8:-------|-8:----------:||--rest--||:-8:--- For the staves below, the PPG is the top staff, the bass sound is the middle staff, and the bell sound is the lower staff. q Q 4x Q q Q q q w 16x 1:|-F#5-E5-:||:-5:-F5-G5-|-7:-F5-G5-G5-:||-4:-R-----------------------:||--- |-D5--C5-:||:-8:-C5-D5-|-8:-C5-D5-D5-:||-4:-------------------------:||--- |-C5--A4-:||:----A4-B4-|----A4-B4-B4-:||----------------------------:||--- |--------:||:----F4-G4-|----F4-G4-G4-:||----------------------------:||--- | | q Q 4x Q q Q q q w 16x 2:|-A1--A1-:||:-5:-F1-G1-|-7:-F1-G1-G1-:||-4:-R-----------------------:||--- |--------:||:-8:-------|-8:----------:||-4:-------------------------:||--- | | 4x Q+q Q+h e e e e e e e e 16x 3:|--------:||:-5:-R-----|-7:-R--------:||-4:-D6-A5-D6-A5-D6-A5-D6-A5-:||--- |--------:||:-8:-------|-8:----------:||-4:-------------------------:||--- q q Q 4x Q q Q q q w 1:|-24 mm.-||:-7:-G5-F#5-E5-:||:-5:-F5-G5-|-7:-F5-G5-G5-:||:-4:-R-------------- |--rest--||:-8:-D5-D5--C5-:||:-8:-C5-D5-|-8:-C5-D5-D5-:||:-4:---------------- |--------||:----C5-C5--A4-:||:----A4-B4-|----A4-B4-B4-:||:------------------- |--------||:--------------:||:----F4-G4-|----F4-G4-G4-:||:------------------- | | q q Q 4x Q q Q q q w 2:|-24 mm.-||:-7:-A1-A1--A1-:||:-5:-F1-G1-|-7:-F1-G1-G1-:||:-4:-R-------------- |--rest--||:-8:-----------:||:-8:-------|-8:----------:||:-4:---------------- | | h+Q 4x Q+q Q+h e e e e e 3:|-24 mm.-||:-7:-R---------:||:-5:-R-----|-7:-R--------:||:-4:-D6-A5-D6-A5-D6- |--rest--||:-8:-----------:||:-8:-------|-8:----------:||:-4:---------------- 16x w 8x q q 1:----------:||-8 mm.-||:-R-----------------------:||-8 mm.-||:-7:-G5-F#5--- ----------:||-rest -||:-------------------------:||-rest -||:-8:-D5-D5---- ----------:||-------||:-------------------------:||-------||:----C5-C5---- || 16x w 8x q q 2:----------:||-8 mm.-||:-R-----------------------:||-8 mm.-||:-7:-A1-A1---- ----------:||-rest -||:-------------------------:||-rest -||:-8:---------- || 16x e e e e e e e e 8x 3:-A5-D6-A5-:||-8 mm.-||:-D6-D6-D6-D6-D6-D6-D6-D6-:||-8 mm.-||:-7:---------- ----------:||-rest -||:-A5-A5-A5-A5-A5-A5-A5-A5-:||-rest -||:-8:---------- ----------:||-------||:-D5-D5-D5-D5-D5-D5-D5-D5-:||-------||:------------- Q 8x Q q Q q q w 28x w 1:|-E5-:||:-5:-F5-G5-|-7:-F5-G5-G5-:||:-4:-R-----------------------:||-R-|| |-C5-:||:-8:-C5-D5-|-8:-C5-D5-D5-:||:-4:-------------------------:||---|| |-A4-:||:----A4-B4-|----A4-B4-B4-:||:----------------------------:||---|| |----:||:----F4-G4-|----F4-G4-G4-:||:----------------------------:||---|| | | Q 8x Q q Q q q w 28x w 2:|-A1-:||:-5:-F1-G1-|-7:-F1-G1-G1-:||:-4:-R-----------------------:||-R-|| |----:||:-8:-------|-8:----------:||:-4:-------------------------:||---|| | | 8x Q+q Q+h e e e e e e e e 28x w 3:|----:||:-5:-R-----|-7:-R--------:||:-4:-D6-A5-D6-A5-D6-A5-D6-A5-:||-R-|| |----:||:-8:-------|-8:----------:||:-4:-------------------------:||---|| If you have suggestions for improvement of this explanation, please contact Branden Robinson . "The Spirit of Radio" copyright 1980 Core Music Publishing. Portions transcribed by Branden Robinson. "Dreamline" copyright 1991 Core Music Publishing. Portions transcribed by Sean Jones. "Tears" copyright 1976 Core Music Publishing. Portions transcribed by Sean Jones. "Distant Early Warning" copyright 1984 Core Music Publishing. Portions transcribed by Sean Jones. The transcriptions here are present to explain the tablature notation; they may be less correct than the versions in the tablature archive.