tab rhythm notation wish list
I given some thought to what I, and many lutenists, would like to see implemented in museScore or any broadly usable tab editor. I realize that museScore has far wider scope than just tab, and it already does tab better than the big commercial programs like Sibelius. And the great thing is, it's open source, a quality it does not share with full-featured, dedicated tab editing programs. So here is my wish list for the implementation of rhythm signs, which Maurizio Gavioli has already done an astounding amount of good work on.
I am using a made-up piece to illustrate my points. A common way to display rhythms is using note-like symbols. These can either be "clean" -- with a new rhythm symbol happening only when the rhythm changes:
Or filled, with every chord having its own rhythm symbol:
On the other hand, the tab may use rhythm flags to illustrate the rhythm, cleaned:
filled:
or filled and beamed:
Comments
Filled and beamed would look like this:
![e.png]( "e.png")
This last format seems the most useful to me, as the rhythmic structure is clearest this way, and so that is what I have chosen to use on my website . Other people can make other choices. The proprietary software I use is fronimo, and it can toggle back and forth between note rhythm symbols or rhythm flags, between filled or unfilled, and between beamed and unbeamed.
Note that in bars 3-5 of the examples, a tie is shown by the last rhythm symbol of a bar linking to a rest at the beginning of the next bar. The tied note or chord is never repeated, and only the rhythm flags themselves are tied, not the notes. Note that in the majority of the tab I have seen, a "rest" rhythm symbol is identical to a regular rhythm symbol in shape, height, and placement. It aligns with the other rhythm symbols. Other features I find very useful are the capability of entering all the rhythm symbols first as "rests" before entering the underlying notes, and having a command to do a sanity check to see if all the bar lengths are in accord with the time signature. This approach makes data entry very rapid and maximally accurate.
1) Both styles of note values you show are supported by MuseScore 2.0.x (and a few more just got added).
2) When a note value is repeated, the actual visualisation of its symbol can be set to: "Always" (what you call "filled"), "At new measure", "At new system" and "Never" (what you call "unfilled").
3) The 'beamed' flags are being worked on in this github PR and will presumably get their way into the main programme soon.
4) As far as I know, ties never appeared in historic tablatures and I suspect the need for them might hint to a non-optimal choice of measure length and/or note values. Unless there are actual sources showing ties (without being an idiosyncratic feature of a single copyist), I am reluctant to implement them, as they raise their share of problems in vertical spacing and horizontal span (as your own examples show).
All in all, I would say MuseScore rates quite well against your requirements, doesn't it?
In reply to 1) Both styles of note values by Miwarre
You do cover the ground well with "filled and unfilled". Better, in fact, than the program I have been working with. And with type styles. But is my beloved "r" for "c" implemented? Beams, I understand, are a work in progress.
Ties do exist in historic tabs -- sorry about that. See attached examples from two very different time periods and styles. Examples Orphenica Lyra 1554 (penultimate system, bars 2-3, 8-9) and Piccinini 1639 (bars 6-7). I admit they are not super common. Often, instead, a tie is denoted by simply adding to the value of the last note in one bar (e.g., by adding a dot to it) and subtracting that value from the next. Or sometimes two bars are combined into one so a tie will not be needed. This might be because a slur or a tie might not have been an option to the typesetter. This is disturbing to compulsive people like me, who like measures to be equal in length (easier to check for errors that way). Also, a tie is easier for a modern player to wrap their wits around than having unequal tacti in different measures.
What about standardizing rest display in tab and the possibility of entering rhythm flags first, before entering the notes (my personal preference)? I haven't figured out how easy that will be, yet.
In reply to You do cover the ground well by sgerbode
1) "But is my beloved "r" for "c" implemented?": "the hunger comes while eating", as we say in Italian; there was no mention of this in the OP and it has not to do with rhythm notation ;) . Anyway, this shape is present in the styles in which it was actually used, see the "Bonneuil-de Visée", "Bonneuil-Gaultier" and "Lute didactic" fret mark styles.
2) "What about standardizing rest display in tab" (another new topic... ): how rest display should be improved?
3) "the possibility of entering rhythm flags first, before entering the notes": this has been discussed at length here ; in practice it is not possible for TAB's (as it is not possible for any other type of staff), at least not in a way which would make it really convenient, as rhythm flags only exist for chords (and for rests, with rest display turned on). You may try playing with re-pitch mode , though.
4) Ties: thanks for the fac-similes. I'll give them some thought, but I'm afraid nothing is going to happen any soon, because of other priorities at the moment (please don't forget we all do this in our free time).