Linking a new linked tab to an existing Bass score
Hey guys.
I have a music piece that I have added a linked tab to for the bass section. But the tab simply stays empty! Does anybody know how I can get it to actually link to the bass score directly above? It does not seem to do it automatically. And it also doesn't add anything to the bass tab when I add a note to the bass score above. Is there a magic button to actually activate the link somewhere?
Is there anybody with some experience linking tabs to existing scores who might be able to help me out?
I'm sort of stuck here. I'd be very grateful.
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| Musescore-not-linking-tab.JPG | 65.05 KB |
Comments
It should work by default. Can you attach musescore file?
In reply to It should work by default… by mercuree
Here is the file, Mercuree. It sure would be nice if it did work by default. In the end I have copied all the bars across to another file, where it did add the tab contents automatically upon pasting. Including both files here.
In reply to Here is the file, Mercuree… by marjoline
As TheHutch pointed out below, the Linked staff is not visible in this file. The MuseScore file does not match the screenshot you originally attached. I think I understand why, but that’s not important right now.
I can make a guess as to what happened.
You added another regular (empty) Bass staff, then added a linked staff to it and deleted the regular staff. This linked staff is not linked to anything and has never been linked to the first Bass staff, which is why you had no synchronization.
In reply to As TheHutch pointed out… by mercuree
Thanks Mercuree. After I had made the screen shot I was still trying stuff out, that's why they differed. Didn't think of that anymore at the later time of posting the file. Perhaps if it is not really linked, Musescore changes the name of the tab. I figured out where I went wrong now thanks to TheHutch. Will explain under Hutch's last post.
It sounds like you may have a misunderstanding. You don't add a tab staff and then try to link it to an existing standard staff. You create it linked.
So, go to the Layout panel (fka Instruments, yellow highlight). Click on the small triangle (green highlight) next to the instrument you want to create a linked tab for. This shows you the 'sub-items' on the instrument: namely, the staves assigned to that instrument. A piano will have two; an organ, three; while a guitar or bass guitar will have only one staff. Click the gear to the right of the staff (blue highlight). NOT the instrument, but the staff. Then, click the button to Create a linked staff (purple highlight).
This creates the new staff, linked to the old (yellow highlight). It will initially be identical to the old. To change it, click the gear to the right of the LINK staff (green highlight) and change the Staff type (blue highlight) from "Standard" to the appropriate one of the available options.
In reply to It sounds like you may have… by TheHutch
Didn't he do that? I see the [LINK] tag on his screenshot
In reply to Didn't he do that? I see the… by mercuree
Yes I did indeed, Mercuree.
In reply to Didn't he do that? I see the… by mercuree
a) The screenshot and score were posted after I posted my instructions above.
b) In the score OP posted, the tab staff is definitely not linked. I simply deleted the empty tab staff and created a new one (following the instructions I gave above). The notes appeared automagically and when I changed the Staff type to "Tab" it generated appropriate tab for the notes. Worked normally.
[A few moments later] Oh, I did not see the original screenshot. That's odd.
In reply to a) The screenshot and score… by TheHutch
That's hopeful, Hutch, thanks for testing it for me. It is past midnight here now, but I'll give it another go in the morning, to see if I can get it working, or whether there is something the matter with my software. I really appreciate you going the extra length, and will let you know tomorrow, after following your instructions carefully step by step, if I manage to create a new linked tab that actually does work!
In reply to a) The screenshot and score… by TheHutch
Hi again, and followed your instructions to the letter, Hutch, and Yey! It worked! Like magic.
Where I had gone wrong before, is executing all the steps in the order they presented. Because in the dropmenu the "Stave Type" presents before "Create a linked stave" I first selected the stave type before clicking "Create a linked stave". Following your steps and first selecting the "Create..." function, and then going back up to select the "Type" function, everything worked smoothly and synchronized perfectly! I am ever so grateful, Hutch, you're an Ace!
In reply to Hi again, and followed your… by marjoline
AHHHH! That definitely explains it.
The order on that dialog doesn't have anything to do with this process. As you have discovered, the Staff Type changes the type for the currently selected staff and the Create a linked staff" creates it for **the currently selected staff.
Here's a trick for you. Create a guitar or bass staff and give it some notes. Now, go to that dialog and change the staff type to tab, without creating a linked staff. You can literally switch that staff back and forth between notation and tab. You can even do whack-job things like change the staff from guitar tab to bass guitar tab to banjo tab to mandolin tab. (Might have to do some additional steps for the latter; I'm not sure.)
In reply to It sounds like you may have… by TheHutch
Thanks for thinking along, Hutch!
I did indeed have the Link tabs, but they weren't linking. In the end I created a workaround for myself by simply copying the score bars across to a new document, and then the links worked.