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Tablature for mandolin, lute, banjo, ukulele and other fretted instruments

Tutorials  How To  Manual  MIDI and Audio

Creating tablature for mandolin, lute, banjo, ukulele and other fretted instruments is similar to creating guitar tablature, except that you choose a 4 or 5-string tablature staff instead of a 6-string (guitar) tablature staff. In addition, you set the tablature tuning for the instrument you want from Options>Tablature>5 String or Options>Tablature>4 String, depending on how many strings your instrument has.

To display a track with a 4 or 5-string tablature staff, in the Track Sheet, set the clef for your track to 4 or 5 String Tab.

You can also enter a 4 or 5 string tab clef symbol at the beginning of the track to display the track with the appropriate tablature staff. (While in the Score Editor, select the 4 or 5 string tab clef from the Clefs palette, select the pencil tool from the Tools palette and enter the 4 or 5 string tab clef at the beginning of the track.) When you have set your staff to display with a 4 or 5 string tab clef, your track will appear as a wide six-line staff. Your notes are represented as fret numbers on the appropriate string in tablature notation.

You can copy music from a regular staff to a tablature staff and vice versa. In fact, music on a tablature staff behaves much like music on a regular staff, with a few exceptions.

To enter new notes, first select the pencil tool. Click and hold down the left mouse button. Move the mouse to the position on the string where you want to enter your note. If you let go the left mouse button, the note is entered as fret 0 on the line (representing the appropriate string) your mouse is pointing at. To change the number of the fret, press the UP and DOWN arrow keys while you keep the left mouse button down. When you let go the left mouse button, the note is entered as the number you've chosen on the string you've chosen.

For example, to enter a note on the second fret of the highest string, click and hold the left mouse button on the highest string. Press the UP arrow key twice so that the number 2 appears. Now let go the left mouse button.

To move a note from one string to another, use the NS tool (the second tool from the end in the toolbar). When you grab and move a note up and down, the fret number will move from string to string. The pitch of the note stays the same as you move the note from string to string - the fret number will change to reflect this. The exception is when the note could not be played on the string to which you've moved the note. In this case the string is made open and the pitch of the note is changed to reflect this.

To change the number of the fret, choose the NS tool. After you select the note by clicking and holding the left mouse button over the fret number, press the UP and DOWN arrow keys while you keep the left mouse button down. When you let go the left mouse button, the note has the fret number you've chosen on the string you've chosen.

In addition to the fret numbers, notation for fretted instruments has a number of specialized symbols, such as hammer ons, pull offs and so on. In the guitar, adjustable and jazz symbol palettes are a rich selection of guitar symbols.