How do I make guitar tab with this?

Click a spot on the tab, or focus the tab and use the arrow keys, to pick a beat and a string, then type the fret number. Two digits typed within a second make one fret, so 1 then 2 is 12. Choose the note length in the Length row (whole to thirty-second, dotted or triplet); typing a fret after the last beat adds a new beat of that length, and several strings on one beat make a chord. The pad under the tab has a button for every step, including +10 for frets 10 and up, and Undo walks back through your edits.

How does the capo work in the tab?

Frets are counted from the capo, the way tab written for a capo is. With the capo on fret 2, a 0 on string 6 in standard tuning sounds F#2, and because the neck still ends at fret 24, the highest fret you can write with that capo is 22. Moving the capo is refused while it would push a note you have written past fret 24.

Can I use drop D, open tunings, bass or a 7-string?

Yes. The tuning list has standard, drop D, half and whole step down, drop C, DADGAD, open G, D and E, 7-string, 4 and 5-string bass and ukulele, and Custom takes any 4 to 8 note names, lowest string first, between B0 and E5. Each track keeps its own tuning, so a guitar part and a bass part can sit in one project. A tuning with fewer strings is refused while notes sit on the strings it would drop.

Which articulations can I add?

Hammer-ons and pull-offs, written h or p depending on whether the fret rises or falls from the note before on that string; slides, written / up or \ down; half and whole-step bends, written 7b8 and 7b9; and vibrato, written 7~. Playback approximates them with a softer attack for hammer-ons and pull-offs, a pitch glide for slides and bends, and a gentle wobble for vibrato. The project file keeps them; the MIDI file does not.

What goes into the MIDI file?

One MIDI track for each tab track, with its instrument, and its name, tuning and capo in the track name. Every note sits at the pitch its string, fret, tuning and capo give, starting and ending on ticks at 480 to a quarter note, with the tempo and time signature in the header, so four quarter notes at 120 BPM last 2 seconds when the file is read back. Hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bends and vibrato are not in the MIDI file: every note is written at the same velocity with no pitch bends, and the project file is the one that keeps them.

Can I open a tab I saved before?

Yes. Project JSON saves every track, tuning, capo, instrument, note length and articulation, and Open project reads that file back. A file over 4 MB, a file that is not a project from this page, or one with an impossible value such as fret 25 or a string the track does not have is refused with a message naming the problem, and the tab on screen is left as it was. The tab you are working on is also kept in this browser between visits.

Can it find the tab for a song?

No. It holds only the notes you enter: it does not search for, download or copy song tabs, and it does not transcribe audio.

How long can a tab be?

A project holds up to 8 tracks and 12,000 notes. A track holds up to 4,000 beats and 500 whole notes of time, which is 500 bars of 4/4. The tempo runs from 30 to 300 BPM, counted in quarter notes.

Guitar Tab Maker

Write tab the way it is read: pick a string and a beat, type the fret, and the tab redraws with every column lined up, two-digit frets included. Each track has its own tuning (13 presets from standard and drop D to bass and ukulele, or any 4 to 8 notes you type), capo and MIDI instrument, and the project has one tempo and time signature, so every note has a pitch and a time: the line under the tab reads out the bar, beat, note name, MIDI number, frequency and seconds of the selected note, and a bar that runs past the time signature is named. What it does differently is keep the tab and the timing together: note lengths from whole notes to thirty-second triplets space the ASCII tab, drive the synthesized playback and set the ticks in the MIDI file, and hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bends and vibrato are written in the tab, approximated in playback and kept in the project file. Save it as ASCII tab, SVG, MIDI or a project JSON you can open again. The tab is kept in this browser and nothing is uploaded.

TuningCapoInstrumentTrack name

Example riff in E, track 1 of 12 bars, 9 notes, E2 to E4

e|------------------------|------------------------|------|

B|------------------------|------------5~----------|------|

G|------------------------|------2--/4-------------|------|

D|------------------------|2--h5-------------------|------|

A|------------------------|------------------------|------|

E|0-----3-----5-----12----|------------------------|------|

selectedbar 1, beat 4: string 6, fret 12 = E3, MIDI 52, 164.81 Hz, quarter, 1.500 to 2.000 s

marksh hammer-on, / slide up, ~ vibrato, approximated in playback0:00.0 of 0:04.0

Move

Fret

Length

Mark

Open project

Title

Tempo

BPM, quarter notes

Time

Selected

string 6, fret 12

Pitch

E3, MIDI 52, 164.81 Hz

Length

2 bars, 4.000 s

With the tab focused: the arrow keys move between beats and strings, digits type a fret (two digits within a second make one fret, so 1 then 2 is 12), Delete clears the note, Insert adds a rest before the beat, h, s, n, b and v add a hammer-on or pull-off, a slide, a half or whole bend and vibrato, a full stop dots the length, t makes it a triplet, Space plays and stops, and Ctrl+Z or Cmd+Z undoes. The buttons under the tab do the same. The riff that opens here is an example; New clears it.

String 6, fret 12standard tuning, capo 0, open string E2
E3, MIDI 52, 164.81 Hz
Four quarter notes at 120 BPMone bar of 4/4, then exported as MIDI
0.5 s each, 2.000 s in all, the same in playback and in the MIDI file
Fret 25, or a note on string 7six-string track, frets 0 to 24
Fret 25 is past the last fret, 24. The tab is not changed.

Common questions

How do I make guitar tab with this?: Click a spot on the tab, or focus the tab and use the arrow keys, to pick a beat and a string, then type the fret number. Two digits typed within a second make one fret, so 1 then 2 is 12. Choose the note length in the Length row (whole to thirty-second, dotted or triplet); typing a fret after the last beat adds a new beat of that length, and several strings on one beat make a chord. The pad under the tab has a button for every step, including +10 for frets 10 and up, and Undo walks back through your edits.
How does the capo work in the tab?: Frets are counted from the capo, the way tab written for a capo is. With the capo on fret 2, a 0 on string 6 in standard tuning sounds F#2, and because the neck still ends at fret 24, the highest fret you can write with that capo is 22. Moving the capo is refused while it would push a note you have written past fret 24.
Can I use drop D, open tunings, bass or a 7-string?: Yes. The tuning list has standard, drop D, half and whole step down, drop C, DADGAD, open G, D and E, 7-string, 4 and 5-string bass and ukulele, and Custom takes any 4 to 8 note names, lowest string first, between B0 and E5. Each track keeps its own tuning, so a guitar part and a bass part can sit in one project. A tuning with fewer strings is refused while notes sit on the strings it would drop.
Which articulations can I add?: Hammer-ons and pull-offs, written h or p depending on whether the fret rises or falls from the note before on that string; slides, written / up or \ down; half and whole-step bends, written 7b8 and 7b9; and vibrato, written 7~. Playback approximates them with a softer attack for hammer-ons and pull-offs, a pitch glide for slides and bends, and a gentle wobble for vibrato. The project file keeps them; the MIDI file does not.
What goes into the MIDI file?: One MIDI track for each tab track, with its instrument, and its name, tuning and capo in the track name. Every note sits at the pitch its string, fret, tuning and capo give, starting and ending on ticks at 480 to a quarter note, with the tempo and time signature in the header, so four quarter notes at 120 BPM last 2 seconds when the file is read back. Hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bends and vibrato are not in the MIDI file: every note is written at the same velocity with no pitch bends, and the project file is the one that keeps them.
Can I open a tab I saved before?: Yes. Project JSON saves every track, tuning, capo, instrument, note length and articulation, and Open project reads that file back. A file over 4 MB, a file that is not a project from this page, or one with an impossible value such as fret 25 or a string the track does not have is refused with a message naming the problem, and the tab on screen is left as it was. The tab you are working on is also kept in this browser between visits.
Can it find the tab for a song?: No. It holds only the notes you enter: it does not search for, download or copy song tabs, and it does not transcribe audio.
How long can a tab be?: A project holds up to 8 tracks and 12,000 notes. A track holds up to 4,000 beats and 500 whole notes of time, which is 500 bars of 4/4. The tempo runs from 30 to 300 BPM, counted in quarter notes.

The tab holds only the notes you enter: it does not fetch song tabs or transcribe audio. Pitch follows your tuning and capo, with frets counted from the capo, so in standard tuning string 6, fret 12 is E3, and timing follows the tempo and note lengths, so four quarter notes at 120 BPM last 2 seconds in playback and in the MIDI file. Playback is a synthesized pluck that approximates hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bends and vibrato, and the MIDI file keeps the notes, timing, tempo and time signature but not the articulations, which the project file keeps with the tuning and capo.