Tokatab and Music Theory

Let’s be honest, musical notation using music staves, which appeared in the 11th century, is a brilliant invention that revolutionized people’s relationship with music.

Source: BnF Gallica Missal, 11th century, Saint-Denis.

At Tokatab we’re all capable of reading music and we sincerely wish you to know how or to learn how to do it. Being able to one day place on your piano stand a score by Frédéric Chopin, Yann Tiersen, Michael Nyman or Norah Jones and decipher it, what pleasure!

But we also know that many dreamers wanting to get initiated with this magical instrument never lay their hands on it due to discouragement facing the fundamental approach that learning music theory represents. Learning note names by heart, in treble clef, in bass clef, understanding rhythms, deducing hand independence… Learning music is like learning a language, you can very well start speaking it before knowing how to read and write it.

This is the whole purpose of our approach with Tokatab: to enable those who would like to start or restart piano to get a foot in the stirrup, or rather, a foot on the pedal and fingers on the keys! White ones at first, if you’re a complete beginner.

Tokatab is a learning method without music theory focused on the main gestures necessary for playing piano. It will allow you to quickly feel good pianistic sensations while playing songs you love, whatever your starting level. It will also allow you, and this is very important to us, to truly develop your piano abilities. Our method allows progressive, personalized and above all, lasting learning! Beginners gradually feel their hands more and more available and adapted to piano playing gestures. For more advanced, even seasoned pianists, Tokatab will be a method that will allow them to see music and piano playing differently, while being challenged on their technical level which they can strengthen!

Tokatab is not a method that aims to replace music theory. It’s another learning path that seems to us completely compatible with subsequent learning of traditional music theory, in which case you’ll have already acquired a level of pianistic technique thanks to Tokatab and theoretical knowledge about how chords are constructed.

Consistent with these remarks, it’s important to emphasize that Tokatab will be in its first version, only a learning method for piano accompaniment parts of the most popular songs. This musical material that is piano-voice lends itself perfectly to our representation of music without music theory. Accompanying a song on piano is above all rhythm and some chords! Sometimes it’s also beautiful arpeggios, pretty introduction melodies, large complex chords, bass lines, riffs to groove and transitions to ensure well… In short, there’s plenty to learn!

In a second version, when we’ve refined our learning method, Tokatab will know how to teach you solo piano, notably classical piano. At that point, users will have the choice between our representation without music theory (which will also work very well with this music) or the traditional representation on staves. In both cases, each user will be accompanied in a personalized way in their learning.

We promise you to always respect the beauty, power and (sometimes) complexity of music as well as the intelligence of its composers, its authors.

See you soon on Tokatab, and at the service of your learning and musical pleasure!