Reference Guide

1097
Tablature
Notation and lyrics
Tablature
The Staff view can display guitar or bass MIDI tracks as tablature. You can generate and edit
tablature or enter notes on either the fretboard or on the tablature staff to create a new track. You
can export tablature to an ASCII file for printing or distribution on the Web.
See:
“Tablature settings” on page 1097
“Changing Fretboard texture and orientation” on page 1098
“Quick TAB” on page 1099
“Regenerate TAB” on page 1099
“Entering notes from the TAB staff” on page 1100
“Single note editing from the TAB staff” on page 1100
“Editing chords or groups of notes from the TAB Staff” on page 1100
“Editing notes and chords from the Fretboard” on page 1101
Tablature settings
Both the Staff View Layout dialog box and the Tablature Settings dialog box create tablature
settings for a whole track at a time. To modify tablature for selected parts of a track, select part of a
track and use the Edit > Regenerate TAB command.
In the Staff View Layout dialog box you can choose a preset style of tablature by choosing from the
Preset pop-up menu, or you can define your own style by clicking the Define button in the Staff
View Layout dialog box to open the Tablature Settings dialog box.
To define a tablature style
1. Click the Staff view Edit menu and choose Layout to open the Staff View Layout dialog box,
then click the name of the track you want to define tablature for.
2. Click the Define button (lower right corner).
The Tablature Settings dialog box appears.
3. Click the Tablature tab and choose a tablature method from the Method drop-down list. There
are three methods to determine how the TAB is displayed:
• Floating. Which allows the notes to spread over the entire fretboard
• Fixed. This specifies where on the neck these notes should be played. When Fixed is
selected the Finger span and Lowest fret fields are used together to define the "box" where
the notes are displayed. The Finger span parameter determines how many consecutive frets
will be used to display the note. For example, if Finger span is set to 4, then SONAR will
attempt to place all the notes within those 4 frets. The Lowest Fret then determines where on
the fretboard the notes will be displayed within the Finger span. The red box in the fretboard