# GUITAR PRO WTF



## Iheartmidgetbooty (Apr 22, 2011)

Ok wow, this program... Is hard to use, basically due to the fact that I have little experience in reading music, or even formally writing it. But - my band insists I tab my songs on it because my method of recording videos and sending notepad tabs to the bassist and rhythm guitarist isn't working for some reason. I am wondering... Is this going to defeat me, or can I work around this? Because it's basically like writing chinese... I don't know chinese but people insist I write chinese. I am an extremely off-the-wall guitarist, time signatures vary almost every riff and I play super fast. It's like Danza/Periphery/The Faceless type stuff. How the fuck do I use Guitar Pro, is there an 'easy' way to do this?


----------



## rug (Apr 22, 2011)

It's a pretty simple program. 

You set a tempo, type in what notes you want, and then mess with the note values until you get it sounding like what you play. It's midi, so it won't be spot on, but it'll do the job. 

Recording videos probably isn't working because you're most likely playing the riffs at full speed. Tabbing them out will allow your bandmates to loop a part at a slower speed so they can learn it correctly.


----------



## Iheartmidgetbooty (Apr 22, 2011)

rug said:


> It's a pretty simple program.
> 
> You set a tempo, type in what notes you want, and then mess with the note values until you get it sounding like what you play. It's midi, so it won't be spot on, but it'll do the job.
> 
> Recording videos probably isn't working because you're most likely playing the riffs at full speed. Tabbing them out will allow your bandmates to loop a part at a slower speed so they can learn it correctly.


 
Yeah but it irks me because I have no clue the exact measures I play in so it's all like "nope im gonna highlight this measure red because you have no clue what the fuck you are doing" lol

meh you make it sound so easy xD


----------



## aiur55 (Apr 22, 2011)

you can change time signatures and tempo anywhere in guitar pro. It isn't hard once you get the hang of it. I just sit there with my guitar in lap typing in the notes I want. Plus using guitar pro, you get a preview of what the whole composition sounds like. You don't really need to read music because everything can be done in terms of tabs.

Just read your post, because you replied while i did....

You can try inputing the riff and then changing the time signature to match after the whole riff has been inputted. Maybe not technically sound, but works.


----------



## concertjunkie (Apr 22, 2011)

Iheartmidgetbooty said:


> Ok wow, this program... Is hard to use, basically due to the fact that I have little experience in reading music, or even formally writing it. But - my band insists I tab my songs on it because my method of recording videos and sending notepad tabs to the bassist and rhythm guitarist isn't working for some reason. I am wondering... Is this going to defeat me, or can I work around this? Because it's basically like writing chinese... I don't know chinese but people insist I write chinese. I am an extremely off-the-wall guitarist, time signatures vary almost every riff and I play super fast. It's like Danza/Periphery/The Faceless type stuff. How the fuck do I use Guitar Pro, is there an 'easy' way to do this?



there is no "easy" way to do it. Was there an "easy" way for you to get where you are at in guitar playing? Doubtful, since it comes down to putting time in and playing alot. You probably will gain a lot from learning to tab your own songs, just need to be patient.

When guitar pro gives you the "dread red" bar, it just means you havent filled out the bar, meaning if you have a 4/4 bar, and you only fill 3.5 of the bar, then you will see red. You can tell how much of the bar you've filled in, sinc it is along the bottom of Guitar Pro on the left side. The first number indicates how much of the bar is filled thus far, the second number indication the total number of the bar (so 4/4 would read 4.000 : 4.000). And as a suggestion for writing this music for your band mates, instead of writing 32nd or 64th notes (unless it calls for it) use a tempo that seems more realistic. That way you dont show it to your band mates and the other guitarist gets it, but the drummer is like "WTF?" .

If you have further issues, feel free to PM me or continue writing in this thread. If it calls for it, I can help you tab it out (we can figure out how to go about this later)


----------



## SirMyghin (Apr 22, 2011)

Best work on learning basic music rhythm , then you will be able to quantify what you are doing in guitar pro.


----------



## Iheartmidgetbooty (Apr 22, 2011)

ITS SOOO HARD...Took me an hour to write one riff...This song is gonna take an assload of time to make. Thanks for the tip on the left hand corner...It's helping in choosing the correct time sigs.


----------



## concertjunkie (Apr 22, 2011)

Iheartmidgetbooty said:


> ITS SOOO HARD...Took me an hour to write one riff...This song is gonna take an assload of time to make. Thanks for the tip on the left hand corner...It's helping in choosing the correct time sigs.


No prob! WHen I first started tabbing out on GP, I was there, it was hard as f00k, but you know, once you get the hang of it and push past the being shitty part, you will be glad you did it (sound familiar?)


----------



## brutalwizard (Apr 22, 2011)

the best advice i have for guitar pro is to practice, and also look at how gp tabs for your fav songs and how they are written.


----------



## mountainjam (Apr 22, 2011)

rug said:


> It's a pretty simple program.


that might be the best example of "easier said than done". i also recently bought this program, its very intricate and there are many many options. yeah, tabbing an entire song in 1 time sig and tempo is pretty easy, but having every bar timed diff with proper tempo isnt. either is accentuating every note just right, and these drums are pretty tricky too. im sure once i figure it out, it will seem "simple", but thats a ways down the road for me.


----------



## gebgebgeb (Apr 22, 2011)

i remember when i tabbed my first song, it took me 4 hours. eventually you'll get the hang of it and you'll start memorizing when certain things call for certain techniques etc. 

you just have to stick with it and you'll get better over time.

it might help if you look at some songs that are already tabbed and try to learn from them. i guess what i'm trying to say is you can hear a riff and see what it looks like naw mean?


----------



## rug (Apr 23, 2011)

Iheartmidgetbooty said:


> Yeah but it irks me because I have no clue the exact measures I play in so it's all like "nope im gonna highlight this measure red because you have no clue what the fuck you are doing" lol
> 
> meh you make it sound so easy xD




Trust me, once you get something tabbed out, you'll be able to go back, listen to it, and then you can figure out the time signature from there. It's sort of a backwards way to do it...but that's exactly what I did when I first started using the program. 

As you do this more and more, you will start to think about the time signature as you're tabbing it...think of the drums while you're tabbing and you'll get the time signatures in there a lot quicker. 

Keep at it dude!


----------



## Kurkkuviipale (Apr 23, 2011)

What about you send me the videos and I tab out it.


----------



## Blind Theory (Apr 27, 2011)

Easy fix:
1) Record videos of you playing songs at full speed
2) Record videos of you playing songs at half speed
3) Tab out the song on guitar pro and don't worry about time signatures, etc
4) Now they are free to memorize the notes then go and play along with the half speed video then move up to the full speed video....


----------



## The Reverend (Apr 27, 2011)

GP is an amazing tool. I agree with the guys urging you to become familiar with it. I recently wrote an entire song on a 12-hour drive, including every instrument and some I just threw in for fun. There can be a few discrepancies when it works the other way, as in things just not sounding *perfect*, but your fellow bandmates will know how it goes.

Just keep plugging away at it. I sucked in the beginning too, but now it's like second nature to me. It also half-assedly taught me some basics about music notation, which is another plus to it .


----------



## hereticemir (Apr 28, 2011)

Help 

So right now I'm in the process of creating a song and having trouble with one of the bars. Th e song is very oddly structured and one bar i need 11 notes to fit to keep the rtythm but it not happening. Any suggesting.


----------



## HeavyRiffin (Apr 28, 2011)

hereticemir said:


> Help
> 
> So right now I'm in the process of creating a song and having trouble with one of the bars. Th e song is very oddly structured and one bar i need 11 notes to fit to keep the rtythm but it not happening. Any suggesting.



Depends what signature you are playing in, just play around with the different note values and some dotted notes (same value of note plus half that value)
Although if you really want to fit that within a certain timing it could sound really stupid or rushed


----------



## DVRP (Apr 28, 2011)

I have the same problem. Like people mentioned it just takes practice. And alot of trial and error when starting out.


----------



## Winspear (Apr 29, 2011)

hereticemir said:


> Help
> 
> So right now I'm in the process of creating a song and having trouble with one of the bars. Th e song is very oddly structured and one bar i need 11 notes to fit to keep the rtythm but it not happening. Any suggesting.



Time signatures 
11/8 will work if it's all 8th notes you're using.


----------

