The Beginning of a Musical Connection Between Piano and Guitar

Learning and going from guitar to piano was kind of an awkward feeling for me. In guitar I use my left hand on the fretboard to hold down notes while my right hand strums or picks to create sound. In piano, you use BOTH hands to simultaneously play notes. The right hand in piano plays the melody and the left hand plays the bass. The hand-work for me was different; it is something that I have been trying to constantly improve over time (I still have a long way to go). However, what really amazed me about the piano was that the majority of what I could play on the guitar I could also do on the piano, if not more because of the left hand!

In music theory, the guitar plays treble clef notes; piano plays both treble clef and bass clef. Guitar does not have a bass clef, but is usually supported by rhythm that can be created from strumming chords or through other various techniques. In addition, the guitar is a common instrument seen in bands where vocals, bass guitar, drums, and even keyboards can all work together in order to create a song.   To me it is amazing how music is so interchangeable, yet all instruments have their own distinct sounds. It sounds simple and dorky I know. To me it really opened up doors for my music studies.

Here’s an example connection from some of my influences in music:

ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION (or AKFG) is an amazing Japanese rock band that has stuck with me forever. They have a very unique sound and a nice balance of melody, rhythm, and rock tone. Here is one of their live videos performing the song: Loop and Loop (ループ＆ループ).

Now, here is a rendition of Loop and Loop (ループ＆ループ) being played by batapy from Youtube, except it is in piano! I think this is quite amazing because of how different it sounds in terms of tone from the piano, but identical when it comes to the notes being played. Pretty cool right?

Sheet Music: Origins and Early Struggles

Ahhhh, Sheet music. A handwritten or printed notation of musical symbols written across paper. Sheet music is highly used within musical studies and performance where an individual will “read” the sheet and play the notes presented accordingly. The concept seems simple right? For me it wasn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world. When I took piano lessons as a kid I constantly struggled with this idea of recognizing notes on a staff. I had to see the exact notes that I was supposed to play instead of having all of these black dots running all over the pages of my beginner piano book. Something just wouldn’t click. I didn’t understand how I was supposed to read this strange form of notation. For me, it seemed like it was just not worth doing with at all.

However, sheet music has been around for such a long time. So much so that it is a staple of all music study. Whether playing the piano, guitar, trumpet, saxophone, or any other musical instrument, sheet music is always at the core. Music has always been written by hand in the past and has evolved due to the technological advances over time. Soon, music would be able to be printed on sheets using ink; in today’s society sheet music is everywhere due to the wonders of the internet and digitized forms of media. Many of the greatest classical composers that emerged in past history such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, and Franz Liszt changed the musical world for eternity, all on sheet music. The compositions, movements, and famous classical songs that many people can recognize just by hearing them were at some point written out in musical notation. The concept of sheet music has never really changed but has evolved in the way has been written over time.

The purpose behind sheet music is a lot deeper than I had originally thought. From my first piano lessons, I thought they were just black dots on lines that indicated what notes to play. I was correct, but there was so much more behind to what this form of musical notation presented. Sheet music requires an individual to READ. In order to comprehend this form of learning music, an individual has to understand and memorize musical literacy. Learning music is like learning another language. Studies have been conducted in which music education has been correlated to improving reading. Understanding what notes to play at the right time is something that is key in the realm of music. It allows for the analysis, studying, and recording of music in a condensed form. The ability to read sheet music also grants the ability to efficiently recognize rhythm through time signatures and notes that indicate the beat at which they should be played in (quarter, whole, half, eighth, and so forth). With constant practice over time, individuals may develop the ability to sight read which is the ability to perform an unfamiliar piece of music by just looking at the sheets.