Guide

How to turn a guitar solo into tab (recording to tab)

Transcribing a solo note by note takes ages. Getting a draft from the recording first and fixing only the wrong bits is much quicker.

Recordings that work best

• One guitar on its own. In a full mix the vocals, bass and drums get picked up as notes too.
• Played to a metronome. A steady beat is what makes the rhythm come out right.
• Type the tempo if you know it. Left empty it's detected, but it can land on half or double time.

What you'll usually fix

• Bends, slides and hammer-ons aren't detected, so add them yourself.
• A note can be played on more than one string, so the fingering may not suit your hand. Move it to another string in the studio.
• Triplets get rounded to sixteenth notes.

Steps

1. Add the recording: upload an MP3, WAV or M4A on the home page and set the tuning and tempo.
2. Listen to the draft: press Start practicing to open it. Play it next to the original and note the bars that are off.
3. Fix it in the studio: download the .gp and open it in the studio to correct notes and add techniques.
4. Practice: save the finished tab to your library and loop the hard parts.

Questions

• Can I use a solo from YouTube? Not by link. Only recording files you have yourself.
• Does distorted electric guitar work? It works, but notes are picked up less accurately than with a clean tone. Record it clean if you can.

Open a tab

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
• Turn a recording (MP3, WAV) into a guitar tab draft
• An online guitar tuner that follows your score's tuning
• How to read guitar tab (numbers and symbols)
• Turn your fingerstyle recording into tab
• How to open Guitar Pro files (.gp, .gp5) without Guitar Pro
• Speed up a fast passage by practicing slowly
• Preparing for band rehearsal