How to Play Guitar Sheet Music on the Piano

Here's a little lesson for any guitarist aspiring to play their music on the piano or the pianist who desires to take music specifically arranged for the guitar to the piano. The translation process is actually much easier than you'd expect (that is, if you have already memorized the specific chords on the piano -- see String Theory: Guitar and Piano Chords in Parallel).

Guitar lead sheets are typically arranged and written so that each chord change (or rhythm chord) is represented by the chord letter name above the musical staff while the leading notes (or soloing notes) are specifed in the staff notation. See the example sheet music snippet below (disregard the TAB notation, this is for guitarist use only):

In this example, notice the G-D-G-D-GC rhythm guitar chords above the staff lines. Typically a rhythm guitarist would play these chords along with the lead guitarist who is playing the melody line in the staff notation. In the same way, a piansist can play the rhythm chords with the left hand while the right hand carries the melody line!

How to Play a Line of Guitar Music on the Piano

1. In the example above the pianist would play the G Major chord (G B D) at the same time they strike the upper G and D notes with the right hand.


2. Next he or she would finish off that bar of the melody line until the D Major chord change.


3. Playing the D Major chord (D F# A) again with the left hand along with the upper D and A using the right hand they can then finish out the melody line for this bar and so on...


4. One can continue this throughout the song using the left hand to keep the beat and the right hand to play out the melody.

Keep practicing, if you are new to the piano, it will undoubtedly take some time. Before you know it though, you will begin to develop the coordination and the sense of awareness to recognize the tune of a song coming through!