Transposing Guitar TAB
In the MuseScore 2 manual transposition by interval says that notes can be transposed "up or down in semitone increments".
This certainly works but I always find that a bit of guesswork is needed since the interval drop-down does not allow a number, (i.e. 1..12), of semitones to be chosen. Instead there's a list which starts, "Perfect Unison, Augmented Unison, ...".
I initially thought that the first option would be 1 semitone, the second option 2 semitones etc. but this is not the case. So, how do these names correspond to semitones?
Comments
There's no guesswork, just knowledge needed.
Unison is no change
Minor second = 1/2 step
major second = 1 step
minor 3rd = 1 1/2 steps
major 3rd = 2 steps
diminished 4th = 2 1/2 steps
perfect 4th = 3 steps
diminished fifth = 3 1/2 steps
Perfect 5th = 4 steps
minor 6th = 4 1/2 steps
major 6th = 5 steps
minor 7th = 5 1/2 steps
major 7th = 6 steps
diminished octave = 6 1/2 steps
perfect octave = 7 steps
The ones between that are not mentioned are synonymous with one of the others, but will spell some pitches different (like Bb rather than A#).
In reply to There's no guesswork, just… by mike320
Many thanks. It's cryptic but I'll keep a screenshot in my scores folder for reference.
Unison sounds like an unnecessary option.
I found some info online but gave up trying to make sense of it after reading that a musical third could span between 2 and 5 semitones!
In reply to Many thanks. It's cryptic… by yonah_ag
I think unison is there for completeness' sake and as a harmless default fallback if the user changes his mind and presses OK.
In reply to Many thanks. It's cryptic… by yonah_ag
I would say, don't give up, understand how intervals work is pretty crucial to understanding much about music.
Semitones are not precise - after all, from C to D# is a three semitones, but so is C to Eb. That is why there are different names for these as intervals, and why transpose needs to know which you mean. C to D# is an augmented second (any kind of C to any kind of D is always some kind of second), whereas C to Eb is a minor third (any kind of C to any kind of E is always some kind of third).
In reply to I would say, don't give up,… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks for the encouragenent.
I've got myself a copy of "Music Theory for Dummies" which may be helpful. Chapter 10 is all about intervals and I reckon that the first 6 chapters cover basics that I'm ok with, so I'll start at chapter 7 and see how I get on from there.
I had assumed that semitones actually were precise and that D# and Eb were exactly the same pitch – but maybe this is just a close approximation.
In reply to Thanks for the encouragenent… by yonah_ag
That's not quite what I mean. On some instruments, they are the same pitch, but MuseScore still needs to know which spelling you want. Just as in English, spelling matters! Otherwise MuseScore has to guess, and you get monstrosities like E major chords spelled E Ab B instead of the correct E G# B, or scales containing mixtures of flats and sharps and thus don't appear to just be steps.
In reply to That's not quite what I mean… by Marc Sabatella
In guitar TAB chords you don't need to know these differences since E major, (standard tuning), would be written as 022100 and there's no need to know what note names these fret numbers represent. On the whole I'm not aware of what note names I'm playing – apart from open strings. I only write TAB in MuseScore so I don't have any notation to consider.
I think that knowing some music theory will still be helpful and give me a better understanding of how music works.
In reply to Thanks for the encouragenent… by yonah_ag
They are the same pitch if the instrument is well-tempered (a euphemism for slightly detuned ;-) ). They are not in a strict physical/mathematical sense. And not in a logical/harmonical sense
In reply to They are the same if the… by Jojo-Schmitz
I don't deliberately detune my guitar so maybe it's bad-tempered.