Tablature in latest Nightly Build
I need to input guitar tab into a lead sheet. I downloaded the latest Nightly Build because from what I gathered online, tab is coming in the next update which isn't completely edited and released yet.
However what I'm running into now is that the type of "tablature" in this edit is a huge picture of a guitar neck that runs across the entire system, like what you see in a beginning guitarists' tablature notebook, where the player doesn't know the neck yet. But this isn't a format that works for most music considering guitarists like to change chords! It will be a huge waste of paper and space to have this whole guitar neck running across every system, as it significantly limits the number of measures you can have in a system.
Unless, is there an additional step that I am missing in inputing the notes, that would make all the rest of the neck disappear after I write in my chord? Or, are there any plans to make a plugin so that we can enter an image of only the fret/frets the chord involves, and indicate which fret it is with a number, like what they do in guitar songbooks? There has to be a way to do that. It's far more efficient and makes a ton more sense.
Thanks!
Comments
Maybe you want fretboard diagrams rather than tablature?
Yes, I think two totally different features are being confused here.
Tablature is a style of notation that isn't for individual chords - it is a way of notating entire melodies. What you see stretching across the paper isn't a picture of a guitar neck onto which you place a single chord. It is more like a traditional 5-line staff that is meant to be read left to right - each beat is further to right than the last, just like traditional staff notation. You can fit about the same number of measures across the page in tablature as standard notation. It's not at all what you seem to be thinking it is, which would indeed be only be only for complete beginners.
Fretboard diagrams appear above a standard 5-line staff and contain a picture of a portion of the freboard to show how to play that particular chord. They aren't read left to right at all, or top to bottom - they are just a single snapshot of a single chord. This is not at all the same as tablature.
Both tablature and fretboard diagrams are features of 2.0. Fretboard diagrams are accessed by first creating a *standard* five-line staff and than adding the fretboard diagrams above via the Symbols palette. I believe you can probably hide the staff itself if you want *only* the fretboard diagrams and perhaps lyricvs. I personally disiike that style of notation greatly, as unless you already know the song well, you won't have any idea *when* to change chords. So I always prefer to see the staff so I can see barlines, and ideally the melody too.
In reply to Yes, I think two totally by Marc Sabatella
Thank you for the clarification. I think I may actually need both, though. It's fretboard diagrams I want for depicting the exact placement of the chord on the fretboard, but I believe I may need the tab for the picking notation. I'm using alternate tunings, and I often use the same or similar chords voiced differently in one song, so, I need as much information in the score as possible. It might end up looking clunky to have both; is that possible in MuseScore?
Thanks again!