Tab Challenged
I figured out how to put a tab # in a measure but if I want to put additional #s in the same measure, I can't figure out how. The right arrow on my keyboard just jumps to the next measure.
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP. This is really driving me nuts (A short drive but one nonetheless)
Comments
Press ; (semicolon) to enter a rest of the selected duration (where there is no tab # in the measure).
See:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/tablature#enter-notes
In reply to Press ; (semicolon) to enter… by Jm6stringer
Thank you. I do appreciate. Unfortunately, I must be doing something fundamentally because none of that is working. As you can see from the attached....and to be honest, I don't even know how I created something with 4 measures but for my purposes, it's fine. As you can see, I have the 0 3 vertically but I can't put any notes next to them on any line. It jumps to the next measure. :(
Any thoughts? (Other than giving up on this and the guitar) :)
In reply to Thank you. I do appreciate… by RandyNYC
This might be something you have already tried, but what is your Time Signature, and what is the value of the note entered? If you are using, say, 4/4, and you entered a whole note, it would only allow one note per measure. I use 1/8 or 1/6th when I am entering scales. And often I change the time signature to allow more notes per measure. If your stems are turned on, you can see the value of your tab notes. Don't give up! :)
In reply to Thank you. I do appreciate… by RandyNYC
Rather than attaching a "picture" of the score, please attach the actual MuseScore (.mscz) file - which contains much more (not visble in the picture) information about your TAB.
Then, please explain what you are trying to enter next, how you are trying to enter it, and what occurs.
Are you composing a brand new tune, or is it an existing one which you are trying to "save on paper" from memory, or are transcribing from another source (e.g., TAB scrawled on an old shoebox)?
Regards, and welcome aboard.
In reply to Rather than attaching a … by Jm6stringer
Thank you SO MUCH for your help. This is really nice of you. I have attached the file and uploaded a different photo.
As you will see in the photo, everything is already hand written.... considering I have way too much time on my hands right now and I'm anal-retentive and probably a bit OCD, I liked the idea of transcribing all my music onto neatly typed sheets. :) Of course, there are the occasional symbols but I will hand write those since I'll never figure out how to do it here.
Okay..... so....... as you can see, I have 0 and 3. I wanted to add the rest in that measure... the 0, the vertical 1 & 0, the 0, the vertical 3 & 2, 0.
Can't seem to do it....everything I try, the blue rectangle jumps to the next measure.
I hope this makes sense to you. I don't want you wasting your valuable time. THANK YOU AGAIN
In reply to Thank you SO MUCH for your… by RandyNYC
Ah...
It makes more sense now that I see what you are trying to do. (It looks like you're a 'fingerpicker'.)
Your handwritten TAB image is of a very basic style. It is a map of "what fret on what string" finger placement. Apparently, you already can 'hum' the tune and wish to notate where on the fretboard to play the notes - because there is neither timing information like note durations nor time signatures in that TAB.
So....
To get you started follow these steps:
1. Open your MuseScore file "Blackbird.mscz" and use menu item: Edit -> Instruments to open the 'Instruments' dialog.
2. Click on 'Piano' and then on 'Remove' to get rid of the invisible staff. (If you don't need it.)
3. Click into the drop down list (where it says 'Tab. 6-str. common' and change to 'Tab. 6-str. simple', then 'OK'.
4. Back in the score, and to start anew, delete any notes already entered, click on the first measure, press 'N' (to enter note entry mode). Be sure that the quarter note duration is highlighted on the note toolbar (you can press Shift+5 if not sure).
5. Enter the fret/string notes.
This should get you started, but be advised that...
1. Since your handwritten TAB shows no timing or meter, the 'barlines' in MuseScore won't match your picture, but they can be 'fixed' (actually broken) to match. Don't fret about it.... ;-)
2. Playback may sound wonky because without meter and note durations, MuseScore can't hum the tune (which is in your head).
Here's your attachment with the above steps implemented and the first notes entered:
Blackbird2.mscz
(I named it Blackbird2 to distinguish it from your posted file.)
In reply to It makes more sense now that… by Jm6stringer
I can't begin to thank you enough. This was extremely kind of you. I wasn't creating this to actually listen to. I just wanted a neater version of what I hand wrote so I thought this would be perfect. I planned on transcribing all the tabs for the songs I play (not all are finger picking) and then print and put in my book to play from.
I followed your directions but it's still not working. At one point, the blue rectangle had a mind of it's own and moved from measure to measure.
I don't want to waste anymore of your time. I'm thinking of just sticking with the handwritten version. I've been playing with this for so many hours..... if only I practiced the guitar this much. :)
Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!
In reply to I can't begin to thank you… by RandyNYC
You wrote:
I wasn't creating this to actually listen to. I just wanted a neater version of what I hand wrote so I thought this would be perfect.
MuseScore is perfect for creating printable (and editable) copies of your TAB scores. Once you get going, it should take minutes to transcribe that image. (You did successfully enter those first numbers.)
You wrote:
At one point, the blue rectangle had a mind of it's own and moved from measure to measure.
If you pressed the spacebar, you may have started playback. Press it again to stop it.
Earlier you wrote:
Okay..... so....... as you can see, I have 0 and 3. I wanted to add the rest in that measure... the 0, the vertical 1 & 0, the 0, the vertical 3 & 2, 0.
To save time please try this:
Open my attachment Blackbird2 which I posted earlier. You can see I have entered the 0 and 3, and also the next 0.
So, to add the following vertical 1 & 0 :
1. Click on that (last) 0 and press N to enter notes entry mode (the 0 will show a blue rectangle).
2. Press right arrow to advance to next position and use up/down arrows to move to the strings where the vertical 1 & 0 need to be entered and type them in.
If all is good, continue forward... (if not, please explain what goes wrong)
3. Press right arrow to advance and enter the next 0 onto the third string.
4. Press right arrow to advance, etc.
Don't worry about the barlines and number of measures per line. Once everything is entered, final formatting is even easier.
P.S. Having seen your other post in the forum let me add:
When an instruction (here or in the handbook) mentions to press (or type) N, it means to press the N key on the computer keyboard. (It does not mean to use the Shift key in combination, as if to type a capital letter.) The same applies to the other letters of the alphabet.
In reply to You wrote: I wasn't creating… by Jm6stringer
I believe it now works and I can get off the ledge. I was considering throwing my laptop AT my guitar. LOL
Do you work for musescore or are you just a really nice person? Considering how cynical and negative I can be, I am always pleased to discover there are a couple of nice people out there. Don't worry, if you say you work for Musescore I won't think less of you for getting paid for helping idiots like me. :)
THANK YOU AGAIN. I'll probably annoy you when I screw up something else. (kidding...sort of)
BTW...... I used to make my living as a stand up comedian. If you youtube search: Randy Levin Comedian you will find me. I'm definitely better at comedy than computers and my guitar.
Greatly appreciated the time you took on this to help me and perpetuate my OCD LOL
In reply to You wrote: I wasn't creating… by Jm6stringer
I didn't expect to bother you again (especially this soon). SORRY. Please feel free to tell me to go away before the restraining order arrives (I hate those things) :)
I have attached the file (again). After plugging in the last tab (THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME HOW), I still need to plug in a vertical 3 & 2 and then a 0. It jumps into the next "box" which I assume is called a measure. I looked it up and was able to stretch it....but again, the next attempt to plug in a tab # jumped to the next "box" or measure (See EXAMPLE file)
I don't know how I can ever repay you!!!!!!!!!
In reply to I didn't expect to bother… by RandyNYC
You wrote:
It jumps into the next "box" which I assume is called a measure.
Since you are not concerned about playback, but only to archive your handwritten TABs, don't 'OCD' about getting the "exact" placement of those vertical (bar)lines. That is a formatting issue which can be dealt with later. For now, keep focused on entering the correct fingering numbers onto the TAB staff. In fact, if you look at this part of your TAB image, there are no (bar)lines at all:
![TAB_snippet.png]( "TAB_snippet.png")
OK, so...
Opening your 'Blackbird' attachment, I see you have entered the vertical 1 & 0 successfully and then continued to enter the next 0 onto the third string (again, successfully). At that point you should have kept on with using right arrow to advance and not worry about 'stretching' anything.
Opening your 'Example' attachment, I see you have additionally entered the vertical 3 & 2 and then the 0. That's good, but then it seems you tried to format stuff by 'stretching', or whatever, with this result:
![Example.png]( "Example.png")
![Example2.png]( "Example2.png")
The numbers on the first line are spaced far apart.
Please continue using that file since it has more notes entered...
Delete that line break (an arrow points to it) to get something like this:
Then click on the last 0, press N (to enter note entry mode), then right arrow to advance, then up/down to enter the stacked 12 & 10. Then right arrow, etc.
Do not obsess about any (bar)lines, or measures, or jumping to 'boxes', or 'stretching', etc.
Just get the fret numbers entered correctly (using arrow keys and numbers).
In reply to You wrote: It jumps into the… by Jm6stringer
WOW. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Do you work for them or are you just a really nice person? :)
In reply to You wrote: It jumps into the… by Jm6stringer
Please let me know when I'm becoming a pain in the butt...... I don't want to take advantage of your kindness.
So, as you will see, I decided to put Blackbird aside and do a Blues Riff. I ran out of lines and couldn't figure out how to add...part of the issue is that I probably don't have the correct vocab... measure, line, etc. I have also attached the handwritten version so you'll see where there are line breaks. I am aware that I have a bunch of other musical symbols but I plan to hand write them in....if I try to figure out all the different notations and how to place them, my head will explode. It's going to be easier to hand write it once I print. :)
So I guess my two questions:
1) How do I add lines?
2) How can I delete line breaks so they can match my hand written version?
THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN
In reply to Please let me know when I'm… by RandyNYC
Looks like you know how to enter TAB numbers now, so to answer your questions:
1) How do I add lines?
Actually, it's measures that are added. As measures get filled they expand and (over)flow into a new line - actually termed a 'system'.
Use menu item: Add -> Measues -> Append Measures and enter a number, then click OK. (Entering a larger number than needed is good - when finished entering notes, any extras can easily be deleted.)
2) How can I delete line breaks so they can match my hand written version?
To delete line breaks - actually termed 'system' breaks - click on that bent arrow at the end of a line and press Delete. (See the Blackbird image I posted in my earlier reply above which shows "Click on this and press Delete".)
Also:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/breaks-and-spacers#breaks
Your IMG 2582.jpg looks a bit more complicated than Blackbird because it has what looks like some timing information. However, I see you have simplified your Blues Run 1.mscz to look more like the simple TAB in Blackbird. (That makes it much easier to notate.)
Also, looking at Blues Run 1.mscz I am wondering why all the blank measures on the second line (system).
In reply to Looks like you know how to… by Jm6stringer
Hey. Please don't think I forgot about your incredible help!!!! I had to put this project off and get work done (plus actually practice the guitar). I plan to get back to this shortly so I anticipate screwing up and needing your help :)
Thanks for all the help and advice so far. It's GREAT appreciated