Tablature

1. Notate the instrument’s music on a standard notation staff (transposed for guitar) as you would normally.

   Use the Setup Wizard to create a properly transposed guitar staff (written an octave up). If a TAB staff already exists below the standard staff, skip ahead to step 3.

2. In the Score Manager's Instrument List tab, click Add Instrument. Under All > Tablature, click the desired TAB staff (all TAB staves contain the text [TAB] following the instrument name). A TAB staff appears at the bottom of the score.

   To create a customized TAB staff, see To create a tablature staff manually.

3. Choose the Selection tool and select all of the measures of the notation staff. See Selecting music for some region-selecting shortcuts.
4. Click and drag the highlighted region down to the tablature staff. The Lowest Fret dialog box appears. If desired, edit these settings.
5. Click OK. The music will translate into corresponding fret numbers in the tablature staff.

   To copy a portion of your music into a tablature staff, simply highlight a smaller region of the standard staff before drag-copying it down. You can also use the Selection tool to copy music from a tablature staff into a standard staff: Finale translates the fret numbers into notes accordingly.

1. Choose the Simple Entry tool . The Simple menu appears.
2. Choose Simple > Simple Entry Options. The Simple Entry Options dialog box appears.
3. Select Select Tab notes on mouse entry.
4. Click OK.
5. Choose a rhythmic value from the Simple Entry Palette and click in the tablature staff. You will see a “0” on the line you clicked (or the number of the default lowest fret specified in the Tablature Staff Attributes dialog box).
6. Type the fret number on the numeric keypad.

   You can also hold down CTRL+SHIFT and type the number on your QWERTY keyboard. In addition to entering tablature by clicking, you can also use the Simple Entry caret.

7. Choose Simple > Simple Entry Options. Ensure Use Simple Entry Caret is selected and click OK. The Simple Entry caret appears in the score. If not, press ENTER.
8. Move the caret to the tablature staff. Use the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW keys to move the caret horizontally. Hold down CTRL and press the UP or DOWN ARROW to move the caret between staves. To activate the caret at a specific location, CTRL+click a fret number to select it and press Enter (or CTRL+click an empty measure). For detailed information on navigation using the Simple Entry caret, see Simple Entry.
9. Choose a rhythmic duration. Either click a duration icon in the Simple Entry Palette or hold down CTRL and ALT and type the desired rhythmic duration number on the numeric keypad. Or, hold down CTRL+ALT+SHIFT and type the duration on the QWERTY keyboard.
10. On the QWERTY keyboard, type the string number. For example, on a standard 6-string guitar tab staff, type 1 to move the caret to the top E string.
11. Type the fret number on the numeric keypad. Hold down CTRL to add a fret number greater than 9 (for example, type CTRL+numpad 2 to add 12). The caret moves to the right in preparation for the next entry.
12. To add a fret number with the caret, you can also press Enter to add a fret number (0) on the chosen string, and then hold down CTRL+SHIFT and type the number on your QWERTY keyboard. Do this if your computer keyboard does not have a numeric keypad.
13. To change the number of the fret number you just entered, hold down CTRL and type the new number on the numeric keypad. Or, hold down CTRL+SHIFT and type the number on your QWERTY keyboard.
14. To change the duration of the fret number you just entered hold down CTRL and ALT and type the desired rhythmic duration in the QWERTY keyboard.
15. To change the string of the fret number you just entered, hold down ALT and press the UP and DOWN ARROW.
16. To add another fret number to the previous entry, hold down ALT and type the string number in the QWERTY keyboard. Then, while holding down ALT, type the fret number in the numeric keypad. (Or, hold down CTRL+SHIFT and type the number on your QWERTY keyboard.)

    For a list of Simple Entry Tablature commands and their associated keystrokes, choose Simple > Tab Specific Commands.

For a list of Simple Entry Tablature commands and their associated keystrokes, choose Simple > Tab Specific Commands.

1. Choose the Simple Entry tool .
2. To move fret numbers to a different string, CTRL+click a fret number and drag to the appropriate string (you can also use the UP and DOWN ARROW to move selected fret numbers between strings).

   If the fret number turns orange after selection is cleared, it is outside the range of the string. Either change the string, fret number, number of frets, or string tuning so that the fret number is in the range of the string. For information on customizing the string tuning, see the Fretboard Instrument Definition dialog box.

3. To edit the fret, CTRL+click a fret number to select it, and then in the numeric keypad, type the new number.

   You can also hold down CTRL+SHIFT and type the number on your QWERTY keyboard.

4. To add a fret number to the entry on the same beat, CTRL+click a fret number to select it, hold down ALT, and type the new string number on the QWERTY keyboard. Then, on the numeric keypad, type the fret number.

   You can also hold down CTRL+SHIFT and type the number on your QWERTY keyboard.

Entering fret numbers with an external MIDI device is just as easy as entering standard notation. Do the following to prepare Speedy Entry for tablature entry. If you are using a MIDI guitar, make sure each string is assigned to a unique channel. See Tablature MIDI Channels dialog box.

1. Choose the Speedy Entry tool . The Speedy menu appears.
2. Choose Speedy > Use MIDI Device for Input. Finale is now ready for input with a MIDI device.
3. Deselect Speedy > Edit TAB as Standard Notation to tell Finale to display fret numbers as you enter them.
4. Click a measure to activate the editing frame and enter as you would normally. Fret numbers appear in the staff instead of notes.

   Finale calculates the appropriate string and fret number automatically.

See To enter music in step time using MIDI for details on entry with a MIDI device.

You can also use the Speedy Entry tool with your computer keyboard to manually enter and edit fret numbers.

1. Choose the Speedy Entry tool . The Speedy menu appears.
2. Deselect Speedy > Use MIDI Device for Input.
3. Deselect Speedy > Edit TAB as Standard Notation to tell Finale to display fret numbers as you enter them.
4. Click the first measure in which notes are to appear. The editing frame appears.
5. Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to place the cursor on the desired string. Press a number key (corresponding to a rhythmic value) to create a fret number. The fret number will always be “0” when first entered.
6. Press + (plus) to specify the fret number. Each time you press the plus key, the fret number increases by one. Press the - (minus) key to decrease the number by one.

The following steps show you how to construct and use a tablature staff. Keep in mind, however, that you can easily begin a new TAB document by selecting a fretted instrument and corresponding TAB staff with the Document Setup Wizard. See To create tablature notation for details. For instructions on how to edit your guitar tablature, see To edit guitar tablature, above.

1. In the Score Manager, click Add Instrument and choose Blank Staff > Blank Staff.
2. From the Notation Style drop-down menu, choose Tablature.
3. Click Settings. The Tablature Staff Attributes dialog box appears. Here you can choose or define a fretted instrument, lowest fret, as well as other parameters specific to TAB staves.
4. Select On “OK”, Reset Staff Attributes To Tablature Defaults. This tells Finale to configure the staff attributes for TAB staff settings.
5. Click OK. The tablature staff appears in the score.

   Notice items such as rests and ties are deselected under Items to Display as they are not needed in TAB notation.

1. Choose the Staff tool .
2. Double-click a tablature staff. The Staff Attributes dialog box opens.
3. Under Items to Display, select Stems.
4. Click OK. You return to the document with default beams and stems on the tablature staff.

   You can adjust the vertical or horizontal stem offsets or stem direction in the Staff Stem Settings dialog box.

1. Choose the Selection tool and select a region of the tablature staff. See Selecting music for some region-selecting shortcuts.
2. Choose Utilities > Change > Lowest Fret. The Change Lowest Fret dialog box appears.
3. For Specify Lowest Fret, enter a fret number. This tells Finale to place all fret numbers on the fret specified or above.
4. Click OK. Finale recalculates the fret numbers and places them on appropriate strings, all on the specified fret or above.

Tip: You can also specify the lowest fret while dragging music from a standard staff into a tablature staff.

Generally, a time signature is only used on a tablature staff if it is not accompanied by a notation staff. By default, Finale leaves time signatures off of tablature staves. If you are creating a document with a tablature staff only, you might want to add a time signature to the tab staff.

1. Choose the Staff tool and double-click a tablature staff. The Staff Attributes dialog box appears.
2. Under Items to Display, select Time Signatures.
3. Click OK. You return to the document. Notice the time signature is a bit small and not centered on the tab staff, so it will need to be adjusted.
4. Choose Document > Document Options and select Time Signatures. The Document Options - Time Signatures dialog box appears.
5. Choose Units > EVPUs. We’ll use EVPUsEVPUs, or ENIGMA Virtual Page Units, are Finale's flexible units of measurement used to calculate the size and spacing of your music, defined as 288 EVPUs per inch or 24 EVPUs per space. You can display the measurements in more common units such as inches, centimeters, points or spaces. as our measurement units.
6. In the Vertical Adjustment section, for Abbreviated Symbol, enter “-20”, Top Symbol, “-16” and Bottom Symbol, “-20”.
7. Click Apply.
8. Select the Fonts category. The Document Options - Fonts dialog box appears.
9. Choose Notation > Time.
10. Click the Set Font button for Notation. The Font dialog box appears.
11. Set the Size to 36.
12. Click OK to return to the Fonts options and click OK. Your time signature is now enlarged and centered on the staff.

    Make further adjustments to the placement and size by entering your own values in the Time Signature and Font options as needed. For example, if you want to place the time signature between the second and fourth tab line, in the Time Signature options, for Top Symbol, use -28 and Bottom Symbol, -10. Then in the Fonts options, set the font for Time to 26.