Guide

Turn a recording (MP3, WAV) into a guitar tab draft

Want to put your own playing, or a guitar-only recording, into tab? Upload the file and ShedTab drafts the tab for you, so you edit a draft instead of transcribing from scratch.

How it works

• Spotify's open note-detection model (basic-pitch) finds each note's start, length and pitch in the recording.
• Notes picked up by mistake, such as overtones or a string still ringing, are filtered out.
• Timing is fitted to an estimated tempo (or one you type in) and guitar fingering is chosen.

Recordings that work best

• One guitar on its own: band mixes with vocals, bass and drums come out far less accurate.
• Played to a metronome: the steadier the tempo, the better the rhythm.
• Little background noise: recorded close up in a quiet room.

Good to know

• The result is a draft: techniques like hammer-ons and slides aren't detected, and bars are 4/4.
• The analysis model downloads once; after that it takes a few seconds.
• Your file is not uploaded anywhere.

How to

1. Add the recording: upload an MP3, WAV, M4A or similar file on the home page.
2. Options: pick the tuning and capo, and type the tempo if you know it (leave it empty for auto).
3. Start practicing: when the analysis is done the draft opens and plays.
4. Edit: download .gp and fix wrong notes and rhythm in the studio.

Questions

• Can I paste a YouTube link? No. Only recording files you have yourself.
• What about full band songs? Other instruments get picked up as notes too, so the result is rarely usable. Use a guitar-only recording.

Try it now

More guides

• Play a PDF guitar tab and convert it to a Guitar Pro file
• Turn a text tab (e|--0--|) into a playable score
• Convert MIDI and MusicXML files to guitar tab
• An online guitar tuner that follows your score's tuning
• How to open Guitar Pro files (.gp, .gp5) without Guitar Pro
• Speed up a fast passage by practicing slowly