Transposing a piano notation to guitar tabs

• Oct 8, 2023 - 23:21

I'm brand new to MuseScore and I’ve been having a hard time trying to transpose a piano part to guitar.
I imported a piano MIDI file I made on an online software to musescore 4 for the original piano notation and, when I try converting it to a guitar tab, it seems to only want to use the first string for all the notes (except for a single lower pitched note that has to be played on a lower string). I played around with some of the notation settings but just couldn't figure out how to get it to not clutter all the notes on the first string.

I included a couple screenshots of the original piano notation and the converted guitar tab, any help would be great.

Attachment Size
IMG_6355.png 37.74 KB
IMG_6356.png 24.28 KB

Comments

Try two steps:

1) Change the clef to an 8va Treble Clef.

2) Select all and press Control/Command down-arrow to drop all the pitches one octave.

These steps are necessary because Guitar is a transposing instrument, and naturally falls on the bass. 8va Treble Clef is the traditional way of notating guitar. (Many publishers omit the little dangling 8, which has generated some confusion.)

In reply to by scorster

Hi, thanks for the fast reply! It did work and I might just go with the lower octave version.

I tried sticking to the higher octave since my transcription was already transposed to an octave below the original piece but I did like the way it sounded lowered.

I might also have a go at composing a higher octave version myself since I plan on playing it on electric guitar and it would be a fun challenge since I’ve just recently started getting into sheet music.

Thanks again for the help Scorster!

In reply to by miguelferreir4

If you want to follow norms, as described, and want the higher octave playback, Edit Staff/Part Properties>Transposition would seem like the solution, but it actually keeps the pitch and transposes the notation, as for a players part. There may be a way to transpose the staff pitch output in MuseScore 4,

If you decide to stick with the higher octave and a regular treble clef you can get normal looking tablature with the following steps

• Right click the Tablature staff
    Select Edit Staff/Part Properties
• Click Edit String Data near the bottom left of the dialog
• Select the pitch of the 1st string>Edit String>Raise the pitch one octave>OK>OK
• Repeat for each string.
• OK the Edit Staff/Part dialog

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.