Better Tablature Font

• Oct 19, 2024 - 00:58

The notes on the staff are great for following along when others are playing or as a reminder when playing a tune I know. They're easy to see, you can see the up and down movement, and read the pauses. All swell stuff.

But when I'm learning a tune, I often need to resort to tablature. When I do, I need to be able to READ the tablature. Currently, tablatures use a small, light font that is all but unreadable without a magnifying glass--or unless I stick my nose in the page and peer at it.

What I'd like:
1. BOLD font for tablature
2. Font size that goes from a pixel or two below the line above to a pixel or two above the line below.

Obviously, font control would be swell, but that's a heck of a lot of work. And font size has to be balanced against horizontal space that notes use. But it's a virtual certainy that the current font choice can be improved!

tia
P.S.
I'd be happy to learn that I've missed something I need to know...

Comments

• Oct 19, 2024 - 05:04

There's a Github request to allow Tablature fonts besides those supplied by MuseScore. and it's currently assigned for MuseScore Studio 4.5.

Unfortunately, MuseScore currently has no built-in option for bold font.

Regarding TAB number font size ... that's adjustable in Staff/Part Properties> AdvancedStyleProperties, so you should be able to make the font larger. You can also scale the TAB staff or increase the space between lines, which allows for an even larger font.

I think these are the only steps for opening the AdvancedStyle Properties:

     • right-click and empty portion of the staff
     • then choose Staff/Part Properties
     • and in the dialog click the AdvancedStyleProperties button.

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• Oct 19, 2024 - 16:29

THANKS. Helps a ton!

Now then, I would love for the MuseScore help writers to understand that as great as their help pages are, they're virtually useless without Navigation guidance.

This page tells me everything I could possibly want to know about the Staff properties dialog--EXCEPT HOW TO GET THERE: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/staffpart-properties

All it takes is a single line of breadcrumbs at the top of page. (A pain to update in new version, but oh, so vital.)

Thanks to Scorster's comment, I know what I'm looking for. Now if I can just FIND it...
Grrr...
:__)

  1. I don't see "Advanced Settings" or anything similar anywhere. Scorster, are you on MuseScore 3?

  2. After examining the oh-so-many options in MuseScore 4's pull-right menus, I came across this:
    Format > Style > Text Styles > Fret Board Diagram Fret Number

I changed it from 6pt normal to 10pt bold. But even after closing the dialog, I don't see any change. I guess "Fretboard Diagram" isn't the same as "Tablature"?

(The [Apply to All Parts] button is never activated, either. Could be because my simple test tune doesn't have any parts. Or maybe because the Mandolin staff is linked to a violin staff (sounds better when playing).

  1. Format > Style > Text Styles > Staff has the Edwin font. I belief that's the musical-note font used in the treble clef. I changed it to 12pt, but don't see any difference when I close the dialog.

  2. After scouring the interface, I've to see anything I can change that has any effect, and I've to find any "Advanced" anything.

So close! It's a great program. If I only it were possible to figure out how to use it!

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• Oct 19, 2024 - 17:10

> This page tells me everything I could possibly want to know about the Staff properties dialog--EXCEPT HOW TO GET THERE: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/staffpart-properties

Actually reading the Overview section, reveals that ...

The Staff/Part Properties dialog allows you to change display properties of one Staff and the properties of the Musescore Instrument it belongs to. To open the dialog:
* Right-click onto either an empty area in a staff, or the instrument name, and select Staff/Part Properties….

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• Oct 19, 2024 - 17:18

Ouch. Thanks a ton.
It's right there in the "Overview" section, like you said.
I examined that part, too. But got distracted by what a "part" and was back in the program to see what it meant before I got to the critical navigation text.

I still suggest a single breadcrumb line at top of page:
Empty area of staff > Rt Click > Staff/Part Properties

(I'd put it in bold, if I could, but I don't seem to have that option. How did you do it??)

As for the fix: Yeah. I was able to change the font size to something more readable (12 pt) and adjust the distance between lines (increase to 1.75 from 1.5).

The result is a hell of a lot more readable. That helps a lot. still can't make it bold. though.
Apparently there's a plugin I need to download & install to get that feature.

Then I need to save everything as my default style.
In the meantime, I'm making a cheatsheet for the next time I use this powerful puppy of a program.

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