Don't understand tablature directions in handbook

• Feb 10, 2015 - 00:00

In the previous software I used in the past, Encore, to make guitar tab, you just highlight the notes you want, click make tab, and then it asks you the highest fret number, you enter it, and it makes the tab. In MuseScore, I don't understand how it works, even after reading the handbook page. Is there another tutorial or video perhaps?


Comments

Not that I know of, but could you ask a more specific question. The Handbook directs you step by step. At which step are you having problems? Unless you are in the instrument design and building business, you can skip the first few sections on confuring things and go directly to http://musescore.org/en/node/7845#inputting-new-notes.

I guess maybe you wish to not *enter* notes into tablature, but instead enter the notes onto a standard standard staff and then have them converted to tab? A simple direct way is to copy and paste the notes from a standard staff to a tab staff. but you can also set up linked staves as described here http://musescore.org/en/node/7845#multiple-staves, and then notes you enter onto one staff are immediately and automatically duplicatedon the other. No need to highlight anything or tell anyone the highest fret or anything - it should be completely automatic.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I'm a new user of MUSESCORE. I've down loaded version 1.3 Revision 5702. Does this version support linking a guitar tablature stave to a notation stave? I can't find/access any commands under Create >> Instruments that allows me to link a tab stave to my standard stave. Should I download the bet 2.0 version?

Just to clarify the reason of the complexity:

I do not know Encore, but from your description it looks like it is tailored for guitars. Tablatures have been used for half a millennium and for a wide variety of instruments (lutes, and violas da gamba once upon a time; guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukulele, balalaika nowadays, to name just a few); even for guitars alone there are several styles in current use.

MuseScore defaults to the most commonly used guitar style and setup and you should be able to work on guitar tablatures rather quickly, but the configurability for other types is there should you need it (and several users do need it, as rather esoteric requests collected so far show).

As Marc said, if there are specific points in the documentation you find obscure, please tell and we'll try to improve them.

Thanks,

M.

In reply to by Miwarre

I created a blank score with a guitar and tab staff. when I enter notes, it automatically puts the tab too, but the tab is incorrect because I don't see a way to specify the highest fret. Is there a way to make the tab as I go along and be able to specify the highest fret for each set of notes?

In reply to by mikec

Ah, so the question isn't so much about how to create tablature, but how to override the specific decisions MuseScore makes about which string to use when asking MsueScore to create tablature for you from notes that were actually entered on a standard staff.

I'm not aware of any way to set a global "don't go above fourth fret" option or whatever. But you can move a note from string to string using Ctrl+Up/Down as described in the Handbook. When creating tablature yourself, of course, you would simply tell MuseScore what fret and what string to use.

EDIT: Hmm, but actually, your picture tells a different story. MuseScore is already picking the simplest string. Not sure what makes the bottom example "correct" except that it might be how it was actually played, but I can't really imagine any way MuseScore or any other program could figure that out automatically. It's unavoidable you'd have to use Ctrl+Up/Down to override decisions in cases like this.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I see, ctrl up and down seems to work. Except for the last 4 notes of the last measure. when I ctrl down, it gives me 6 5 8 6 instead of 6 5 4 6 so I have to select the 8 and then ctrl up to get it to change to 4 on the other string. I think it's workable though, thank you for helping me out!! :)

In reply to by mikec

Were you trying to move them all at once? If so, then it seems it is just doing what you asked - moving all the notes down a string. It wouldn't know you only wanted the first, second, and fourth notes moved. So only select what you want moved, or just move things one at a time. Or, as I saqid, just enter the notes onto the tab in the first place. If you already know exactly what strings you want used for what notes, it seems this would be quicker and more effective than entering onto the standard staff and then trying to coerce MuseScore into representing this in tab the particular way you want.

In reply to by mikec

If you really, really, want or need to limit the max fret for whatever reason (didactic or whatever), once the score with the tablature staff is created:

  1. Right-click on an empty spot (no note, no rest, nothing) of the tablature staff
  2. Select "Edit string data"
  3. Change "Number of frets" to your liking
  4. Press [OK] until you come back to the score.

This change only affects the current staff of the current score; note that, after, you will not be able to enter any fret mark greater than the limit you set.

All of this is documented here .

Note also that, if you want to achieve a specific fretting, you always can enter the notes directly in the tablature, with full choice of string and fret.

In reply to by Miwarre

I believe your instruction just changes the maximum number of frets available on the instrument, correct? That's fine to do, but it would not affect the particular fingering such as if a note is instructed to be played on a particular string and fret as opposed to another (yes, for educational purposes)

In reply to by mikec

"I believe your instruction just changes the maximum number of frets available on the instrument, correct?"

Correct indeed.

"it would not affect the particular fingering such as if a note is instructed to be played on a particular string and fret as opposed to another"

If you are after a specific fretting pattern, then enter the notes directly in the tablature staff: you are completely free to choose string and fret.

In reply to by mikec

I do not myself, understand tabs work, or how Beta 2 works with converting staffs to tabs.
But would the clef have any effect?
In the top image (the one marked as wrong), the clef has the number 8 beneath it, while in the lower image, (the corrent one), there is a normal clef.
My musical knowledge is quite basic, although I am trying to teach myself, so I could be incorrect.

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