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3Tablature notation
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10</P>
11
12<H1>
13TABLATURE NOTATION
14</H1>
15<P>
16Mup can print tablature staffs. Tablature notation is commonly used for
17guitar and several other instruments. Mup supports tablature for 1 to 9
18strings.
19</P>
20<P>
21Mup will automatically create a normal 5-line staff above each tablature
22staff, giving the equivalant music on that staff.
23This staff will be referred to as the &quot;tabnote
24staff.&quot; Normally, you will input music just for the tablature staff, and
25the tabnote staff will be derived from that. However, for any given measure,
26you can explicitly input music for a tabnote staff,
27which will turn off the automatic
28translation for that measure. If you only want either the tab or tabnote
29staff to be printed, you can mark the other one as invisible
30<A HREF="param.html#visible">(see the "visible" parameter).</A>
31You should specify the appropriate
32<A HREF="param.html#clef">clef</A>
33and
34<A HREF="param.html#key">key signature</A>
35for the tabnote staff, so that Mup can make the best derivation.
36</P>
37<H2>
38Specifying a tablature staff
39</H2>
40<P>
41To set up a tablature staff, you use the
42<A HREF="param.html#stlines">stafflines parameter.</A>
43To get a standard 6-line guitar tablature staff, you can just say
44<BR><PRE>
45score
46 staffs=2
47staff 2
48 stafflines = tab
49</PRE><BR>
50There are 2 staffs, because there is both the tablature staff and the
51automatically generated tabnote staff. The tablature staff is always
52immediately below the corresponding tabnote staff.
53Setting the
54<A HREF="param.html#stlines">stafflines parameter</A>
55to &quot;tab&quot; marks staff 2 as a tablature staff.
56</P>
57<P>
58If you want tablature for an instrument other than a 6-string guitar with
59standard tuning, you specify
60the pitches of the strings from top to bottom
61within parentheses after the &quot;tab.&quot; For example:
62<BR><PRE>
63stafflines = tab (e a d&amp; g)
64</PRE><BR>
65would define some instrument that had 4 strings, with the string on the
66top line of tablature staff being an e string, the next a, the next d flat,
67and the bottom g.
68As shown in the example, pitches can include a # or &amp; if necessary.
69Strings are assumed to be in octave 4 unless otherwise marked.
70You can specify a different octave by specifying an
71<A HREF="chordinp.html#oct">octave number</A>
72after the
73string's pitch (using either an absolute octave number or pluses or minuses).
74If the instrument
75has more than one string with the same pitch
76(even if they are in different octaves),
77they must be distinguished by adding one or more ' marks after the
78pitch. The tablature definition for standard guitar is
79<BR><PRE>
80stafflines = tab (e5 b g d a3 e'3)
81</PRE><BR>
82This specifies that the top string on the staff is e in octave 5.
83The next three strings
84are in the default octave of 4, and the last two strings are in octave 3.
85Since there are two different strings with pitch letter of e, the lower e is
86marked as e'. Note that the octaves given are how they
87should be printed on the tabnote staff. A standard guitar actually sounds
88an octave lower than written. If you just use &quot;stafflines = tab&quot; without
89specifying any strings, Mup not only assumes the standard guitar layout,
90and prints in the appropriate octave,
91<A NAME="autotran">but it also automatically</A>
92<A HREF="trnspose.html">transposes</A>
93the
94<A HREF="midi.html">MIDI output</A>
95to the actual pitches an octave lower. If you specify
96strings explicitly, you will have to specify the octaves and any
97desired MIDI transposition values yourself. Stated another way,
98<BR><PRE>
99score
100 staffs = 2
101staff 2
102 stafflines = tab
103</PRE><BR>
104is equivalent to
105<BR><PRE>
106score
107 staffs=2
108staff 2
109 stafflines = tab (e5 b g d a3 e'3)
110staff 1
111 ifdef MIDI transpose = down perfect 8 endif
112</PRE><BR>
113Note from this last example that MIDI is taken from the tabnote staff,
114not the tablature staff, so MIDI directives should be placed with the
115tabnote staff.
116</P>
117<P>
118Mup should be able to handle almost any instrument with up to 9 strings.
119Several strings can have the same pitch; you just need to distinguish
120them with ' marks.
121The strings must be listed in whatever order the strings are to appear
122on the tablature staff.
123As another example,
124<BR><PRE>
125stafflines = tab (g3 d3 a2 e2)
126</PRE><BR>
127would define a standard bass guitar. Note that a bass guitar also sounds
128an octave lower than written, so it should be transposed for MIDI purposes.
129</P>
130<H2>
131Music input on tablature staffs
132</H2>
133<P>
134Input of tablature is similar to that on regular staffs. Each note in a
135chord is specified by a string and a
136fret.
137So fret 3 on the g string
138is designated by g3 or fret 0 on the e' string is designated by e'0.
139If your open string pitch includes an accidental, that would be included
140as well, so if you had an instrument with an f# string and wanted to
141play the 6th fret on that string, it would be f#6.
142Fret numbers can range from 0 to 99.
143If you want fret numbers to be placed inside parentheses,
144put parentheses
145around them in the input.
146You can also put both the string and fret within a set of parentheses,
147in which case, the note generated on the tabnote staff will have parentheses
148around it.
149Here are some examples of chords:
150<BR><PRE>
1512: d4; d5a3; b0 d(5); e2(b3)g2;
152bar
153</PRE><BR>
154<IMG SRC="mugex53.gif" ALT="Picture of Mup output"><BR>
155</P>
156<P>
157<A HREF="chordinp.html#duration">Time values</A>
158are specified just like on non-tablature staffs: a number
159optionally followed by one or more dots (like 4 or 8..),
160or a list of such numbers added together (like 2+8),
161preceding the chord pitches. Tablature staffs follow the same
162rules as non-tablature staffs for using time values from the previous
163chord if no time value is specified on the current chord. Similarly,
164if no notes are specified for a chord, the same notes used in the previous
165chord are reused. As an example:
166<BR><PRE>
1672: 4.e5; ;8;b2;
168bar
169</PRE><BR>
170<IMG SRC="mugex54.gif" ALT="Picture of Mup output"><BR>
171Since nothing is specified for the second chord, both time value (dotted
172quarter) and note (e string fret 5) are copied from the first chord.
173The third chord in the measure has only a time value
174(an eighth note) so the note (string/fret) is repeated.
175The final chord has only a note,
176so the previous time value is used.
177</P>
178<P>
179Rests and spaces can be specified with r and s, just like on non-tablature
180staffs. They result in nothing being printed on the tablature staff, and
181rest or space being printed on the tabnote staff.
182</P>
183<H2>
184Chord attributes
185</H2>
186<P>
187Any chord on a tablature staff can be preceded by a list of
188<A HREF="chrdattr.html#chstyle">chord attributes</A>
189in brackets, just like with non-tablature staffs. If you want a chord to be
190printed with X (for a muffled string) rather than a fret number,
191use [xnote].
192In this case, the fret number will be used only to determine where to put
193the X on the tabnote staff, and what note to use for
194<A HREF="midi.html">MIDI.</A>
195Using [diam]
196will have no affect on the tablature staff, but will cause
197diamond notes to be used on the tabnote staff.
198Using [grace] or [cue] will cause the fret numbers to printed in a smaller
199size, and the corresponding notes on the tabnote staff to be printed
200in a smaller size. Using [slash <I>N</I>]
201will cause <I>N</I> slashes to be printed below the chord on the tablature
202staff, as well as
203<A HREF="chrdattr.html#slashes">slashes</A>
204on the corresponding chord on the tabnote staff.
205You can use the other chord attributes (with, pad, and =tag) just
206like on a non-tablature staff.
207</P>
208<H2>
209Ties
210</H2>
211<P>
212From an input point of view,
213<A HREF="noteattr.html#ntie">ties</A>
214work much the same on tablature staffs as on other staffs.
215On output, tie marks on tablature staffs are normally not printed,
216and the frets are not printed on the tied-to chord. If a tie goes across
217to a new score, the frets are printed, but in parentheses, to indicate the
218chord is really just the continuation of a tie.
219</P>
220<H2>
221Slides
222</H2>
223<P>
224In Mup input,
225slides are shown with &lt;&gt;, rather like
226<A HREF="noteattr.html#nslur">slurs</A>
227on non-tablature staffs.
228There is a special variation used for slides that come from nowhere in
229particular or go to nowhere in particular.
230These are shown with &lt;\n&gt;, &lt;/n&gt;, &lt;n\&gt;, or &lt;n/&gt;.
231A slide is indicated on output on tablature staffs
232as a slanted line between 2 fret numbers on a string.
233On tabnote staffs, they as drawn as a slanted line between 2 notes.
234See the examples below:
235<BR><PRE>
2362: a5&lt;&gt;; a6; d3&lt;&gt;; d2;
237bar
238
2392: b4&lt;/n&gt;; e3&lt;\n&gt;; a2&lt;n/&gt;; e'5&lt;n\&gt;;
240bar
241</PRE><BR>
242<IMG SRC="mugex55.gif" ALT="Picture of Mup output"><BR>
243</P>
244<H2>
245Bends
246</H2>
247<P>
248A bend (stretching a string to make it sound higher than normal)
249is specified on tablature staffs
250by putting a text string after the string. The
251text string can be the word &quot;full&quot; or a number and/or fraction.
252Some examples:
253<BR><PRE>
2542: e4 &quot;full&quot;; e &quot;1/2&quot;; 2e &quot;1 1/2&quot;;
255bar
256</PRE><BR>
257<IMG SRC="mugex56.gif" ALT="Picture of Mup output"><BR>
258</P>
259<P>
260If you want to bend back down to having no bend (a release),
261the text string specifying
262the bend is just an empty string of &quot;&quot;.
263Note that if both a fret and bend other than &quot;&quot; are specified,
264<A NAME="prebend">this indicates a prebend,</A>
265whereas if only a bend is specified, this indicates a normal bend.
266</P>
267<P>
268Bends need not be an integer number of half steps, but if you specify a bend
269that falls between half steps, when it is used on the tabnote
270staff, the bend is rounded to the nearest half step, or rounded downward
271if it is exactly in the middle of a half step.
272When possible, bends of 1/4 step or less are shown on the tabnote staff
273by a small curve rather than by a separate note.
274</P>
275<P>
276You can specify bends on more than one string at once, but a continuation
277bend (bending to a new distance without replucking the string) is only
278allowed on a single string at a time. Here are some examples:
279<BR><PRE>
2802: g0b2e'0; e' &quot;1/2&quot; g &quot;full&quot; b &quot;3/4&quot;; e' &quot;&quot;; a2;
281bar
282
2832: a &quot;1/2&quot;; a &quot;full&quot;; a &quot;1/2&quot;; a &quot;&quot;;
284bar
285</PRE><BR>
286<IMG SRC="mugex57.gif" ALT="Picture of Mup output"><BR>
287</P>
288<P>
289If you have more than one voice on a tablature staff,
290bends on other than the top voice may collide with other voices in some
291cases, and if there are bends from more than one voice simultaneously,
292they may collide.
293</P>
294<P>
295On non-tablature staffs, bends are specified with a ^ symbol followed
296by the note to bend to. The note to bend to is specified by letter and
297optional octave (accidentals are not specified). If you want just a small
298bend (1/4 step), this is specified by ^/. For example:
299<BR><PRE>
3001: e ^f; f; b ^c5; c#5;
301bar
302
3031: d+^e+ g^a; e+a; g ^/; c ^/ c+^/;
304bar
305</PRE><BR>
306<IMG SRC="mugex58.gif" ALT="Picture of Mup output"><BR>
307</P>
308<H2>
309Miscellaneous
310</H2>
311<P>
312Note attributes of ~ for tie, ? for a small note, and = for a tag work the
313same on tablatures staffs as on non-tablature staffs.
314</P>
315<P>
316If bm, ebm, or esbm are given on tablature staffs they are
317transferred to the tabnote staff and used for
318<A HREF="ichdattr.html#custbeam">custom beaming</A>
319there.
320<A HREF="chrdattr.html#withlist">Items in "with" lists inside [ ]</A>
321are also copied to the tabnote staff.
322In general, unless otherwise specified here,
323if you want items such as
324<A HREF="stuff.html">tempo and dynamic marks</A>
325to appear on both tablature and tabnote staff, you
326have to specify them for both staffs.
327</P>
328<P>
329The
330<A HREF="ichdattr.html#alt">"alt" inter-chord attribute</A>
331is not allowed on tablature staffs.
332</P>
333<P>
334When there is a tablature staff, the
335<A HREF="midi.html">MIDI</A>
336is actually generated from the
337tabnote staff. There are some limitations.
338Currently, no MIDI pitch bends are generated; slides and
339bends are instantaneous rather than gradual.
340</P>
341<P>
342If a
343capo is being used, it probably better to declare a
344<A HREF="trnspose.html">transposition</A>
345of the tabnote staff rather than declaring the strings to be different
346notes. This is because most people would rather think of the original
347string letters when entering the tab staff information; and if you decide to
348put the capo on a different fret later,
349you only have to change the &quot;transpose&quot; line.
350<A HREF="tabstaff.html#autotran">The automatic MIDI octave tranposition for standard guitar</A>
351will also then still apply, on top of your transposition.
352</P>
353<P>
354If you specify an
355<A HREF="octave.html">octave mark</A>
356(discussed in a later section)
357on a tabnote staff, the derived music will be printed with the notes
358raised or lowered the appropriate number of octaves to correspond to the given
359octave mark interval.
360</P>
361<P>
362Since ties are not printed on tablature staff, and input notation for
363tablature slides is like what is used for slurs on ordinary staffs, if
364you want a curved line like a tie or slur on a tablature or tabnote staff,
365you have to use a phrase mark. See the section on
366<A HREF="phrase.html">phrase marks</A>
367for more details.
368</P>
369<P>
370The chord-at-a-time input style can also be used for tablature.
371The staffs being mapped to from a single input line must either be
372all tablature or all non-tablature, however.
373<BR><PRE>
374score
375 staffs=4
376 brace=1-2, 3-4
377 tabwhitebox=y
378staff 2
379 stafflines=tab
380staff 4
381 stafflines=tab
382music
383
384// The first two notes in each chord go to staff 2,
385// and the last two go to staff 4.
386[ 2; 2; 4; 4] : a2d0 g0b3; e'0a2 g0e0; 2 e'0d2 b0e3;
387bar
388</PRE><BR>
389<IMG SRC="mugex59.gif" ALT="Picture of Mup output"><BR>
390</P>
391<HR><P>
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